54 
MEMOIR OF LINNjEUS. 
the king refused to deprive Hpsala of her chief splen- 
dour : hut he increased the salary, and allowed the 
young Linmeus to be placed as assistant to the pro- 
fessorship, under the superintendence of his father. 
Thus did Linmeus see the fulfilment of his brightest 
hopes, in the appointment of his son, at the early age 
of twenty-two, to a chair, which would have been 
looked upon through Europe, as the greatest and most 
difficult to be represented. 
Notwithstanding the relief which Linnaeus expe- 
rienced by the assistance of his son, he continued his 
public activity till two years before his death ; a mind 
so constituted, and a manner of life so habituated to 
activity, could not at once relapse into idleness. In 
1771, he is described by a traveller, as leading an 
active and bustling life, never seen at leisure, even his 
walks had for their objects discoveries in natural 
history ; and all his moments not embittered by a 
painful disease, were devoted to his darling science. 
In the following year he gave a proof of the remaining 
vigour of his constitution, by delivering a customary 
oration upon his resignation of office of rector in tho 
assembly, which he had already held three times. 
He chose as a subject tho “ Delicise Naturce,” and 
the whole academical forum found it so beautiful, that 
the students of the Swedish provinces sent deputies to 
him the next day, to entreat its translation into the 
language of that country. 
In 1773, he was chosen member of a committee to 
superintend a better translation of the Bible into 
