116 
him a nbbleman. Such honours had 
never been granted to a protestant by 
the catholic court of Madrid. Linnaeus, 
however, declined the offer : and no 
doubt received his rank from his own 
sovereign, some time afterwards, with 
much more satisfaction than he would 
have felt had it been conferred by a 
foreign monarch. 
The empress of Russia, who was a 
liberal patronizer of the sciences, and 
of scientific men, sent him presents ; 
as also did the king of Denmark. 
Louis the Fifteenth complimented 
the king of Sweden, when he was at 
Paris, on possessing such a man as 
Linnaeus in his kingdom ; and gave or¬ 
ders that plants and seeds of the rarest 
description should be selected from his 
garden at Trianon to send to him. 
The empress of Germany, likewise, 
and the king of Sardinia, compliment¬ 
ed the Swedish ambassador in a similar 
