Chapter XVIII: Section III: Studies, Adventures, and Travels of Linnaeus, from 1733 to 1738

Linnaeus returns to Upsal--Is prevented from lecturing by
Rosen, whom he attempts to assassinate--Accompanies some
young Men on an Excursion to Fahlun, where he is introduced
to the Governor of the Province, with whose Sons he travels
to Norway--Returning to Fahlun, he delivers Lectures, falls
in Love, is furnished with Money by his Mistress, and
prepares to go Abroad for his Degree--He visits Hamburg,
detects an Imposture there, and is obliged to make his
Escape--Obtains his Degree at Harderwyk--Proceeds to Leyden,
where he publishes his Systema Naturae, and waits upon
Boerhaave--Goes to Amsterdam, is kindly received by Burmann,
and lodges with him--Is employed by Cliffort, publishes
various Botanical Works--Goes to England, visits Sir Hans
Sloane, Miller, and Dillenius--Returns to Holland, publishes
several Works--Goes to Leyden, and resides with Van
Royen--Publishes the Ichthyologia of Artedi, who was drowned
in Amsterdam--Becomes melancholy, and falls into a violent
Fever--On his Recovery goes to Paris, where he is kindly
received by the Jussieus--Returns to Sweden after an Absence
of Three Years and a Half.

On returning to Upsal, Linnaeus was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences; but this distinction was the only reward which he obtained for having undergone so many fatigues, excepting a small bursary, of which he was soon deprived. Now, however, he expected a more favourable reception in society, and in 1733 began to give public lectures on botany, chemistry, and mineralogy. Unfortunately for his success, he had not yet taken his degree,--a circumstance which legally disqualified him for such an office; and a rival, Dr Nicholas Rosen, professor of anatomy, instigated, it would appear, by motives of envy, denounced him to the senate of the university. He was summoned to appear before that august body; and, although several of its members were disposed to favour him, he was prohibited from continuing his course.

Fortune then seemed bent upon thwarting him in all his projects. Stimulated by revenge, he laid wait for Rosen, and, assailing him with the utmost fury, attempted to run him through with his sword, when the bystanders interfering, wrested the weapon from his hand. For this offence he would have been expelled, had not Celsius interposed, and got him off with no other punishment than a reprimand. Men of quick tempers seldom cherish hatred; but Linnaeus was of a peculiar disposition,--ambitious, confident of superiority, irritable, and obstinate. Moreover, he was in desperate circumstances, utterly destitute of all means of subsistence, and the world seemed to have conspired against him. He was still determined to stab his enemy to the heart, should he ever meet him in the streets. The conflict of his mind, under such excitement, must have been truly painful. He awoke one night from a dream of horror, seriously considered what he was about, and resolved, instead of assassinating Rosen, to expel the demon from his own breast.

An assistant-professorship being vacant in the University of Lund, he endeavoured to procure it, but, although his claims were supported by Stobaeus and others, was unsuccessful. Prohibited from lecturing, he was only prevented from falling into despair by the consciousness of superior intellect, by cherishing a plan of botanical reform, and by still fixing his eyes on the prospect, however distant, of future independence. In the mean time, some of his former pupils, resolving to make an excursion to Norberg, Bipsberg, Afwestadt, Garpesberg, and Fahlun, solicited the benefit of his knowledge and experience in conducting their researches.

At the last-named town, where he occupied himself assiduously in exploring the mines, he was introduced to Baron Reuterholm, governor of the province of Dalecarlia, who was fond of natural history, and especially of mineralogy. Having two sons whom he was desirous of sending upon a journey, for the purpose of improving themselves in that department of science, he resolved to place them under the guidance of Linnaeus. They set out in the spring of 1734, and extended their travels as far as the mines of Roraas in Norway.

Returning to Fahlun, he commenced lecturing on mineralogy, under the patronage of the governor, and found himself in all respects more comfortably situated than he had ever been at Upsal. He also obtained some employment in the medical line, and contracted an intimacy with John Browall, the tutor of the baron's children, who afterwards became bishop of Abo. Although he was now in comparatively easy circumstances, his friend advised him to procure a degree, and settle as a regular practitioner. This, however, being impracticable, on account of his want of funds, he turned his thoughts to matrimony, in the hope of being able to accomplish a suitable establishment.

There was a physician at Fahlun named More, or Moraeus, who was reputed rich, and in fact was one of the wealthiest individuals in the district. He had two daughters, of whom the elder, Sarah Elizabeth, was in all respects to the mind of Linnaeus, who became a frequent visitor, and soon ingratiated himself with the family. Finding that the object of his choice was not less pleased with his person and manners, he determined to ask her in marriage; and, summoning all his resolution, made known his views to her father, who, although he had no objection to the character of the suitor, was little satisfied either with his fortune or his prospects. However, he promised that, should he succeed in obtaining his diploma, the young lady should be consigned to him after a period of three years.

It was customary at this time for Swedish students to take their degree at some foreign university, where it could be procured at the least expense. Hitherto Linnaeus had been unable to qualify himself in this respect for the practice of his profession; but love now came to the aid of ambition. Miss Moraeus, who was thrifty as well as handsome, had saved about 100 dollars of the pocket-money which she had received at various times, and offered them to her lover. To this sum he succeeded in adding a little by his own exertions, though the whole did not amount to more than thirty-six Swedish ducats.

After visiting his friends, weeping over the grave of his mother, who had died some months before, preparing his academical dissertations, and arranging his papers, he set out from Fahlun, in April 1735, accompanied by a young man named Sholberg. Travelling through the southern provinces of Sweden, Jutland, and Holstein, he arrived at Hamburg, where he remained for some time, inspecting the collections and curiosities which that celebrated city contained. In the museum of John von Spreckelsen was a preparation of great value, presenting the appearance of a serpent with seven heads. It had even been pledged for a loan of 10,000 merks, and was in fact considered one of the most remarkable objects in the cabinets of the curious. Linnaeus, however, on minutely inspecting the monster, discovered that the heads consisted of the jaws of a small quadruped covered over with the skin of a serpent. The wonder ceased, Spreckelsen nearly became bankrupt, and the stranger was obliged to leave Hamburg in order to avoid the enmities in which his sagacity had involved him.

Continuing his journey to Holland, he arrived at Harderwyk at the end of May, and made application for his degree, which he received on the 24th June. His thesis was on intermittent fevers, one of the principal causes of which he maintained to be water impregnated with argillaceous substances. Though he had now accomplished his chief object, he resolved, before returning to Sweden, to make himself known to some of the Dutch literati; and for this purpose proceeded to Leyden, where he hired a lodging. Here he made the acquaintance of Professor Royen, Dr Van Swieten, Lieberkuhn, Gronovius, and several others.

By the advice and assistance of the last of these scholars, he published his Systema Naturae, in fourteen folio pages. This little work, containing a compendious classification of the three kingdoms of nature, was very favourably received. Boerhaave, one of the most illustrious physicians that the world has ever seen, was at the same time the most eminent individual in the University of Leyden. Linnaeus was therefore anxious to see him; but finding an interview impracticable in the ordinary way, on account of the great man's constant occupation, he resolved to send him a copy of his treatise, accompanied with a letter. The consequence was an invitation to meet him at his villa near the city, where he had a botanical garden. On entering into conversation with the young foreigner, the venerable professor, astonished at his knowledge, strongly advised him to remain in Holland, where he might be sure of making a fortune; but the other, prevented by poverty from adopting this counsel, was obliged to set out on the following day.

Arriving at Amsterdam with a recommendation to Professor Burmann, he was kindly received by that gentleman, who was then occupied with his description of the plants of Ceylon. Linnaeus himself relates the occurrences which took place during this interview: "'Do you wish to see my plants?' asked Burmann, 'which of them would you inspect?' He held out one, and observed, 'It is very rare.' I begged a single flower, which I examined after softening it in my mouth, and pronounced it to be a species of laurus. 'It is not a laurus,' said Burmann. 'But it is,' said I; 'it is the cinnamon-tree.'--'It certainly is the cinnamon,' rejoined Burmann. I then convinced him that this tree was a species of laurus, and so of other plants. At length he said, 'Will you help me with my work on Ceylon, and you shall lodge with myself?'" To this proposal the other assented, delighted with the prospect of at once adding to his reputation and his knowledge.

In Burmann's house he found a collection of natural objects and an extensive library, both of which were of great use to him. The time passed pleasantly enough, and he deferred his return to Sweden till the following spring; about which period, a circumstance occurred that proved of great advantage to him. Dr George Cliffort, burgomaster at Amsterdam and one of the directors of the Dutch East India Company, who was a zealous lover of natural science, was in need of a domestic physician to take daily care of his health. Boerhaave, who was his medical attendant, recommended Linnaeus, whom he represented as being also an excellent botanist, and capable of arranging his botanic garden. Cliffort accordingly invited Burmann and Linnaeus to Hartecamp, his villa, where they found many new plants from the Cape of Good Hope. The young Swede pointed out those which had not been described, and evinced so accurate a knowledge of botany, that the burgomaster made him a proposal of free board and lodging, with a salary of 1000 florins. The terms were accepted with no small satisfaction.

This year he published a tract which he had commenced at Upsal,--his Fundamenta Botanica,--in which he exhibited the basis of his new system in 365 aphorisms. About the same time he printed his Bibliotheca Botanica, another small work, the materials of which he had found in the libraries of Spreckelsen, Burmann, Gronovius, and Cliffort. A description of the banana-tree (_Musa paradisiaca_), which had flowered in the garden of his patron, formed the subject of a third treatise. The Imperial Academy of Naturalists at Vienna admitted him as a member, under the honourable appellation of Dioscorides the Second, and his name began to be known throughout Germany.

Cliffort being desirous of extending his collection by obtaining new species from England, resolved to send Linnaeus to that country, which he did in the latter part of July, limiting the period of his absence to twelve days. The passage from Rotterdam to Harwich occupied eight; and the stranger, finding himself surrounded by attractions, was in no haste to return, even to the elysium of Hartecamp. He arrived in London, with a letter of introduction from Boerhaave to the celebrated Sir Hans Sloane. Whether the venerable physician meant to make merry at the expense of the naturalists, or whether he really thought they both deserved the compliment which he paid to them in his note, let the reader determine:--"Linnaeus, who will give you this letter, is alone worthy of seeing you, alone worthy of being seen by you. He who shall see you both together shall see a pair, whose like will scarcely be found in the world."

Notwithstanding this high encomium, Sir Hans exhibited no kindliness of feeling towards him. He was in fact a person who had grown old in self-esteem. Cliffort was desirous of procuring some plants from the garden at Chelsea, and his agent accordingly waited upon Mr Miller, who listened to his request with very little respect. At a subsequent visit, however, the Englishman became in some degree sensible of the merits of the young foreigner, and furnished him with the specimens which he had solicited. Proceeding to Oxford, he presented himself before the celebrated Dillenius, professor of botany, who received him much in the same way as the others had done. "See," quoth Dillenius to his patron Sherard, who happened to be present at the interview, "this is the young man who confounds all botany." Although the Swede was ignorant of the language spoken by these islanders, he readily guessed at the meaning of "confounds," but thought it prudent to take no notice of the accusation. They then went to the garden, but the professor still treated the presumptuous youth with undisguised contempt. Next day, he waited upon Dillenius previous to his departure. "Before I go," said he, "I have one favour to request; tell me why you lately used those words about confounding botany." He refused to explain; but when Linnaeus insisted that he should, "Come this way," said he; so the sheets of half of the Genera Plantarum were referred to. On almost every page were the letters N. B. When he asked what they meant, Dillenius said they marked the false genera. He maintained that the genera were not false, and the Oxonian referred to a plant in the garden, which he and other botanists considered as having three stamens. It was found to have only one, as his opponent had alleged. "O!" quoth Dillenius, "it may be so accidentally in a single flower;" but behold, all the flowers were the same; for when they examined a number, all turned out as the Swedish youth had described them. The professor had been slow of belief, it is true; but he now gave due honour to his visiter, detained him several days, and supplied him with all the plants which Cliffort required.

In a letter to his friend Dr Richardson, dated August 25, 1736, Dillenius expresses the following opinion of him:--"A botanist is arisen in the North, who has founded a new method on the stamens and pistils, whose name is Linnaeus. He has published Fundamenta Botanica, Bibliotheca Botanica, Systema Naturae; and is now printing in Holland his Characteres, and his Flora Lapponica. He is a Swede, and has travelled over Lapland. He has a thorough insight and knowledge of botany, though I am afraid his method will not hold. He came hither, and stayed about eight days, but is now gone back to Sweden."

On his return to Holland, which took place in September, Linnaeus continued his researches with increased diligence. In the course of the year 1737, he laid before the scientific world about two hundred printed sheets, not of compilation, nor of fiction, but for the most part completely original. The Genera Plantarum, containing the characters of all the genera of plants according to the number, form, situation, and proportion of their organs of generation, was the first work published by him after his return from England. This treatise exhibited 935 genera, to which were added during the same year sixty others, in a supplement, to which he also appended a concise view of his system. A full account of the plants observed by him in Lapland, arranged according to the method invented by himself, formed his next undertaking. It was dedicated to the Royal Society of Upsal, and contained a brief physico-geographical description of the country. At the solicitation of Gronovius, he permitted one of the productions of that northern region to be named after himself, _Linnaea borealis_. The great object of his residence at Hartecamp was now completed by the publication of his Hortus Cliffortianus, in which were described all the species of plants cultivated in the burgomaster's garden. The Critica Botanica, in which he attempted to reform the absurd nomenclature that then prevailed, and the Viridarium Cliffortianum, describing the greenhouse-plants of Cliffort's establishment, were the other books published by him during this year.

Boerhaave, who had been in a great measure the author of his good fortune in Holland, now procured for him the appointment of physician in ordinary to the Dutch colony of Surinam, which, however, he declined, both on account of the insalubrity of the climate, and because he could now entertain the prospect of a more eminent station. He therefore recommended a young friend named Bartsch, who died in six months after his arrival in South America.

When about to depart from Leyden, Linnaeus went to take leave of Boerhaave. The interview, which, however melancholy, was very flattering, is thus related by him: "That great man, who was affected with a dropsy of the chest which forced him to keep himself always sitting in his bed to prevent suffocation, would not receive visiters, but admitted me to bid him farewell. Summoning the little strength that remained in him, he raised my hand to his lips, and said: 'I have finished my career, and all that I have been permitted to do I have done; may God preserve you, who have yet a greater task to perform! What the learned world expected from me it has obtained; but it expects much more from you, my dear son. Farewell, farewell, my dear Linnaeus!'"

Having gone with Cliffort to Amsterdam, and afterwards to Leyden, he visited among others his friend Van Royen, professor of botany, who having made proposals of marriage to Miss Boerhaave, the sole heiress of the great physician, had been rejected, and therefore vowed hostility to the family. The botanic garden there had been arranged and described agreeably to Boerhaave's method; but the other now resolved to alter the disposition, and adopt the system of Linnaeus. He accordingly offered him a salary of eight hundred florins, if he would live with him, and assist in the execution of this scheme. Influenced by respect for his deceased friend, he would not countenance the alteration, although he devised a plan by which neither his benefactor nor himself should receive the honour. He remained with Van Royen, classed the plants after a principle of his own invention, and drew up a catalogue of them, which was published in the name of that teacher.

The next work which he printed was produced by the genius and industry of Artedi. When he resided at Leyden, previous to his going to Hartecamp, he had the pleasure of meeting this friend of his youth, who had left Sweden in 1734, and gone to England to prosecute his scientific labours. From thence he went to Holland for the purpose of obtaining his degree, which he was unable to accomplish on account of his extreme poverty. Linnaeus recommended him to Seba, an apothecary at Amsterdam, and author of a large work on natural history, who received him as his assistant. But soon after, returning home in a dark night, he fell into a canal and was drowned. His countryman had the melancholy satisfaction of depositing his remains in the grave; and having induced Cliffort to purchase his manuscripts, which were detained for debt, he arranged and committed them to the press. This tract, in his opinion, was the best that had appeared on the subject of fishes. He also published his own Classes Plantarum, in which he presented a general view of all the botanical systems that had been previously proposed.

His ambition was now on the point of being attained. Not only were his works received with approbation, but his principles had been adopted by several teachers. He had also formed connexions in Holland which promised to be of the greatest advantage to him; and the Dutch, desirous of securing his services, proposed that he should make a botanical voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, with the promise of a professorship on his return.

But Linnaeus about this time was seized with an ardent desire to revisit his native country, and fell into a state of extreme depression of spirits, succeeded by a violent fever, which lasted upwards of six weeks. His excessive application to study may be considered as the source of his complaints; and perhaps to this may be added his disquietude concerning the daughter of Moraeus. But it does not, however, appear that his love for Elizabeth was equal to that for botany or even for his own renown; for though the stated period had elapsed, he still resolved to make a journey to Paris before returning to the place of his birth.

He reached that capital in the beginning of May 1738, and was kindly received by the two Jussieus, one of whom was the successor of Tournefort.--It is related by M. Fee, that on his arrival he went first to the Garden of Plants, where Bernard de Jussieu was describing some exotics in Latin. There was one which the demonstrator had not yet determined, and which seemed to puzzle him. The Swede looked on in silence, but, observing the hesitation of the learned professor, cried out,--"Haec planta faciem Americanam habet,--It has the appearance of an American plant." Jussieu, surprised, turned about quickly and exclaimed,--"You are Linnaeus."--"I am, sir," was the reply. The lecture was stopped, and Bernard gave the learned stranger an affectionate welcome. Through the kind offices of these amiable men and excellent botanists, he was introduced to many of the literati of Paris, and obtained access to the libraries, collections of natural objects, and public institutions. The French, however, were by no means disposed to adopt his views: "He is a young enthusiast," they said, "who confounds all, and whose only merit consists in having reduced botany to a state of anarchy." He was, notwithstanding, admitted a corresponding member of the Academie des Sciences. He then visited Versailles, accompanied by his two friends, who defrayed all his expenses, and showed him the public libraries, the museums, and the most celebrated private collections, especially that of Reaumur. "Linnaeus," says he, in his autograph memoirs, "was now desirous of returning to Sweden without further delay, for time seemed to him too valuable to allow him to engage in studying the manners and language of the French. He never had a genius for languages, nor could he ever render himself familiar with the English, French, German, or even the Lapland tongues. He felt the same difficulties with respect to Dutch, although he had resided three years in Holland. This, however, fortunately did not prevent him from making himself sufficiently understood. After seeing all the curiosities at Paris, he went to Rouen in the dog-days. There he embarked for the Cattegat, with a favourable wind, and after crossing the Sound landed at Helsingburg. He immediately visited his old father at Stenbrohult, rested there a few days, and set out for Fahlun. After being formally betrothed to his bride, he proceeded to Stockholm, where he arrived in September."

He had left his native country in April 1734, and returned in the autumn of 1738, having been absent three years and a half. In the course of this period, he visited Holland, England, and France, formed acquaintance with many eminent naturalists, obtained his medical degree, published numerous works on botany, and extended his fame over all Europe.

With respect to the improvements which he made in that branch of natural history, it is unnecessary here to enter into any detail, as it is proposed to speak particularly of them in a subsequent volume. It may be sufficient to remark, that there had not previously been any good arrangement of plants; that the principles of the science had not been laid down in a satisfactory manner; that the nomenclature was barbarous and unsuitable; the mode of distinguishing species rude and inefficient; and that, in short, the works on this subject were little better than a chaos of names and unintelligible descriptions. Some writers maintain, indeed, that he did more harm than good, when he became the legislator of botany. But their opinion can deceive those only who, too idle or too weak to judge for themselves, adopt the sentiments of their teachers with a deference unworthy of the student of nature.