14 
LINNAEUS 
least some of the above named subjects was not below 
the general standard, this being proved by many 
circumstances. Especially was he good in Latin, for 
he had, during his school and Gymnasium period, 
applied himself particularly to this subject. The 
results appear from the ease with which afterwards 
he expressed himself in that language, both in speech 
and writing, and this in spite of his own testimony 
that in learning languages easily he was never an 
adept. On the other hand it may be taken as fairly 
certain that his knowledge of theology, Hebrew and 
the like, left much to be desired, even though it was 
not below the average. He seems to have been 
regarded by his teachers throughout his schooldays 
as belonging to the medium class. In the prescribed 
time he was moved from one division to another, as is 
shown by the place he occupied as the eleventh in 
order of fifteen which he took among the lower divi¬ 
sion of the Gymnasium, when in May, 1727, he was 
sent up to the University. 
Before Linnaeus reached this point, in September 
1726, an occurrence happened which determined his 
whole career. His father then came to Vaxjo to hear 
about his dear son and to consult Dr. Rothman about 
a disorder which had troubled him for several weeks. 
In the first case, he received information which came 
upon him like a thunderclap, and that the expectation 
which he had till then cherished, that his son would 
become a priest, was instantly destroyed. The pro¬ 
fessor of whom he inquired, declared emphatically 
that his son in the indispensable subjects for an 
intended priest was utterly deficient, and the words 
seem to have been used, that he was far better fitted 
for a workman, a joiner or tailor. Linnaeus himself 
at first attached but little importance to this statement, 
but in his later autobiographies, when his memory 
was failing, he seems to have attached too much 
weight to it. Deeply cast down, he afterwards came 
to Dr. Rothman, to whom he confided his trouble in 
