MEMORY OF LINNAEUS. 
253 
happened, that some eminent persons from Paris were present with the 
members, who had a certain acquaintance among the inhabitants of St. 
Germain. Meanwhile, several members had returned home at the com- 
mencement of the dispute. Those who still remained, also thought it 
adviseable to wait quieter times, a quieter place, and the assembling of 
an undisturbed and solemn society. Thus the revolutionary spirit pre- 
vented for this time the raising of the monument. 
A few days after the LinnjEan Society made a formal application to 
the National Assembly, to obtain permission to ere& the proje&ed 
monument in the royal botanical garden, under the highest cedar of 
Mount Lebanon. The Assembly, without the least difficulty, decreed 
that the request of the society be granted. 
In the evening of the 23d of August 1790, the bust of Linnaeus, 
■which was only made of stucco, imitating bronze, and standing upon a 
stone-pedestal painted in colours imitating porphyry, was solemly inau- 
gurated by the light of torches, and the names of all the Linnjeans 
present, were buried in a vase at the foot of the monument. 
Between this period and the close of the year 1790, the number of 
the members had so considerably increased, that the society found it 
necessary to hold their meetings in the great amphitheatre of the royal 
botanical garden. It then resembled one of those clubs which began at 
that period to become so numerous at Paris. Many of the members 
had not the smallest knowledge of natural history, and curiosity was the 
only motive from which they resorted to the meetings of the society. 
Under those circumstances, it was resolved to give to the society a 
proper constitution, to enaQ; laws and statutes, and thereby to ensure to 
it duration and greater utility. Between twenty and thirty of the mem- 
bers 
1 
