ANECDOTES. 
278 
u consigned them to that obscurity and oblivion in which they have 
“ long ago been buried. Notwithstanding this, he could not easily for- 
ts give aggressions, and strained every nerve to erase them from the 
44 annals of literature. He was liberal in dispensing praise, because 
44 he was fond of being flattered ; and this, indeed, may be consi- 
44 dered as his greatest foible. At the same time, his ambition was 
44 founded upon the consciousness of his own greatness, and upon the 
44 merits which he acquired in a science, over which he had for 
44 so many years wielded the sceptre of sovereignty. Tournefort, 
44 as he often told me, was his pattern in his youth; he did all he could 
44 to equal him, and found at last, that he had left Tournefort at a 
44 great diftance beneath him. 
“ Linnaeus has been particularly charged with avarice. It cannot be 
44 denied, that his wa 'iving, considering his good circumstances, was 
44 ver 1 jderate, and that he surely did not despise gold. But if I weigh 
44 in my mind, those extremes of poverty, which so long and so heavily 
44 overwhelmed him, I can easily account for this parsimony. But I 
“ could not say, that his frugality ever degenerated into sordid avarice. 
a i can even prove quite the contrary by my own experience. After hav- 
44 ing given us lectures all the summer round, we were not only obliged 
44 to urge him to receive the fee due for these lectures, but even 
44 to leave the money slyly upon his chest, as he had signified his 
44 resolution not to take it, in a final and peremptory manner. 
44 He was not quite happy and comfortable in his own family. His 
44 wife was tall, robust, domineering, selfish, and destitute of every ad- 
44 vantage of a good education. She frequently robbed us of the joys 
44 which gilded our social moments. Unable to noid any conversa- 
64 tion 
2 
