STUDENT YEARS 
39 
embarrassment. It may be truly said that Linnaeus 
was a favoured son of fortune, in view of the fact that 
wherever he went, he found hearty friends and 
generous patrons, who cleared his path of the severest 
economic shocks. The tales related by some of his 
biographers that his penury at Uppsala lasted long, 
are inaccurate, for his distress lasted only for a few 
months. Dean Olof Celsius, D.D., the elder, who 
now became a paternal friend and benefactor, was at 
that time one of the most eminent and esteemed 
professors of the University. Besides a solid and 
extensive knowledge in theologic and philosophic 
sciences, he possessed a great acquaintance with 
natural history especially comprising a lively interest 
in botany. In his garden he cultivated many rare 
plants, which he had obtained, not only from other 
gardens in the country, but also from learned foreigners 
with whom he was in correspondence. He took a 
special interest in investigating the flora of the province 
of Uppland, in which Uppsala is situated, and in 1729 
he informed the Royal Society of Science in that town 
of his botanic work, which the Society promised to 
publish in their Transactions. At the period in 
question he seems to have stayed in Stockholm as a 
member of the Ecclesiastic Deputation which in 
1727, began its work in revising Church law, and 
bringing it in consonance with the government of the 
“ Frihetstiden ” [Era of Liberty] and partly too, with 
the new common law which was also in progress. 
This stay in Stockholm explains how it was that 
Linnaeus until now, had failed to know him even by 
sight. 
It was during a sojourn at Uppsala in the spring of 
1729, more closely stated as 8th April, Old Style, that 
Celsius, led by his love of flowers, paid a visit to the 
botanic garden, which, although dilapidated, could 
still gratify his eyes and mind with some of the 
firstlings of spring. There he became aware of an 
unknown student sitting and describing certain plants. 
