MEMOIR OF LINNAEUS. 
13 
ters of nobility, and the free exercise of his own religion. He 
returned his most grateful acknowledgments for the intended 
honor ; and his answer, that " if he had any merits, they were due 
to his own country," shows the sense of obligation which he felt 
to the countrymen who had raised him to such an eminence. 
The salaries which Linnaeus received from his various public 
appointments, had placed him in affluent circumstances, and al- 
lowed him to gratify a wish which he had long indulged, — the 
possession of a villa, where he could spend a part of his time, 
away from the hurry and bustle of a public life, and enjoy the 
quiet delights of a country retirement. He accordingly purchased 
the villa of Harmanby, about a league from Upsala; and, during 
the last fifteen years of his life, mostly chose it for his summer 
residence. Here he kept, comparatively speaking, a little univer- 
sity. His pupils followed him thither, and those who were for- 
eigners used to rent lodgings in the villages of Honby and Edeby, 
which wei-e both contiguous to his villa. At the distance of about 
a quarter of a league from this rural abode, he erected a little 
building upon an eminence, which commanded a view of the sur- 
rounding country. In this he kept his collections of natural his- 
tory, and delivered summer lectures in a familiar manner to his 
pupils, and foreigners, who came to reside at the above-mentioned 
villages. During these, the grave and solemn habit of a professor 
was laid aside, and that of a friendly companion, clothed in a 
dressing-gown, slippers, and a red fur cap, was assumed. 
To the titles with which King Frederick Adolphus honored 
our great naturalist, he added his private friendship ; and Linnaeus 
was often admitted to his company. Natural history was a favorite 
pursuit of this prince ; and a collection built in the castle of Ul- 
richsdale, about half a league from Stockholm, rapidly increased 
under the superintendence and arrangement of Linnaeus, and fur- 
nished the materials for one of his most splendidly illustrated 
works, entitled, " Museum Regis Adolphi Frederici." The queen 
