LINNAEUS IN ENGLAND. S 7 
the latter end of July, at Cliffort’s expence. No country could 
offer greater aliments for his desire of knowledge, nor was there one 
he had more anxiously wished to visit than this happy island. Clif- 
fort’s intention of enriching his garden with foreign, and especially 
with North- American plants, which were cultivated in the nurseries of 
Oxford and London , and of establishing fresh connexions for the bene- 
fit of his museum and garden, coincided with the desires of Linn^us. 
Cliffort, who did not like to be long deprived of the latter, limited 
the time of his absence to the short period of eight or twelve days. 
But LiNNiEUS was eight days on his passage from Rotterdam to Har- 
wich. He arrived at London with a letter of recommendation from 
Boerhaave to Sir Hans Sloane, Bart, then the greatest amateur 
and collector in natural history, and afterwards founder of the British 
Museum. This letter is still carefully preserved among the archives 
of that museum. The substance of this letter, to the honour of Lin- 
N .eu s, and as an exaft opinion of that great man, respeding the genius 
of our young botanist, deserves particular mention : « The bearer of 
« this letter ,” says Boerhaave, 46 is alone worthy of seeing you — alone 
« worthy of being seen by you. He who shall see you both together , shall 
u see two men, whose like will scarcely ever be found in the -world * ” 
But notwithstanding a recommendation couched in such expression 
as Boerhaave, whose mind was unsullied by flattery, had never 
written before, and which Sir Hans Sloane had nev^r leceived of 
any foreigner, Linneus did not meet with that warm and friendly 
reception which he had fancied. The old Baronet did not seem quite 
» Linnjeits qui has tibi dabit Litteras, est unice dignus, Te videre, unice dignus, a te vi- 
deri. Qui vas videbit simul, videbit hominum par, cui simile vix dabit orbis. 
I 
