143 
LINNjEUS at upsal. 
And in another letter, dated January 19, 1739, he mentioned again* 
what follows . 
u My determination of giving up the garden still remains the same. 
« I s h a ll on ly s tay here a few years longer, and can leave it to none that 
c< is worthier than yourself*.” 
Had this letter come to hand a few days sooner (it had been sent with 
the preacher of the German congregation at Stockholm ), Sweden would, 
perhaps, have lost the man, who afterwards became its boast, and the 
Hanoverian university would have enjoyed the distinguished honour of 
possessing the two greatest academical professors of our age. Lin- 
KiDs did not, however, receive the letter till the 12th of August 
1739, when his circumstances had changed much for the better, which 
induced him to deline the offer. 
The kindness of his friend, and the unforeseen chance of so fine a 
prospeQ. abroad, could not but make a deep impression upon him. 
Animated with the most lively sense of heartfelt gratitude, he returned 
the following answer to Haller “ A thousand times have I praised 
« Hermann t in his grave. While Tournefort was yet unprovided 
4 ‘ for, he was so uncommonly generous as to offer him his own place, 
« and to seek another. Hermann came afterwards to Paris , and 
« Tournefort in honour of him ordered the fountains to play in 
“ the royal garden. But how moderate was this gratitude towards the 
quidem, si tunc placuerit conditio, destinavi horti hteredem et qualiscunqiie honoris, et earn 
sententiam coram eis loculus sum, in quorum raanu sunt omnia. 
* De horto eadem mihi sententia cst, ego quidem panels annis his versabor, neque unquara 
trade re potero digniori. Sec Orb's Eruditi ’Judicium de C. Linnai, M. D. Scripts, page 9. 
t Hermann was a German, and professor of botany at Leydev, where he died in 1615. 
5t magnanimou* 
