William MacGillivray

“ I have heard with the most sincere pleasure of your being appointed professor of botany at Upsal. You may now devote yourself entirely to the service of Flora, and lay open more completely the path you have pointed out, so as at length to bring to perfection a natural method of classification, which is what all lovers of botany wish and expect. I know of nothing new here except an essay on the natural history of Cayenne, and a catalogue of officinal plants. These little works will be conveyed to you by the surgeon of Count de Tessin, when he returns home. ”

“ It still, however, remains to be perceived, that in the construction of the familiar fly that buzzes through our apartments, not less than in the frame of the mighty elephant,—in the simple blade of grass that springs from between the stones of the pavement, not less than in the knotted oak or the graceful palm,—in the small cube of salt, not less than in the granitic mountain or the volcanic cone,—there is something of a mysterious nature, the comprehension of which would be a much more glorious achievement than any that the human intellect has yet performed. ”

“ He cannot understand argument. He denies the sexes of plants. He charges my system with indelicacy; and yet I have not written more about the polygamy of plants than Swammerdam has about bees. He laughs at my characters, and calls upon all the world to say if any body understands them. I am said to be ignorant of scientific terms. He judges me by the principles of Rivinus, and hundreds of the vilest scribblers. Inasmuch as the man humbles me, so do you, whose learning and sense have been made sufficiently evident, exalt me. ”

“ You have lost an affectionate parent, and I a most highly-esteemed patron. I trust that you, my honoured friend, will, with his blood, inherit his exalted genius, his ardent love of science, his kind liberality to his friends, and all the other valuable endowments of his mind. On my part, I shall show my gratitude to his memory by teaching and extolling the name of Linnæus, as the supreme prince of naturalists, even here under the equator, where the sciences are already flourishing, and advancing by the most rapid steps ”

“ The study of nature may be pursued in any degree, as a relaxation from other studies, as a pleasing occupation invigorating alike to the mind and the body, or as a science capable of calling into action the noblest faculties of man, and of affording employment to intellects of even a higher order than any of those who have hitherto acquired distinction in the walks of literature. ”

“ The ship that carries the adventurous merchant over the great ocean is an object worthy of our admiration; but how complicated is its apparatus, compared with the fins of the most common fish! The balloon that floats calmly in the atmosphere,—what an unwieldy instrument is it, compared with those beautiful organs of Divine workmanship by which the swallow is conveyed [Pg 19] from the equatorial to the polar lands, or pursues its prey through the pathless air!
Man, in the early stages of his existence, is drawn by an instinctive power to observe and admire nature. ”

“ We have nothing of much interest to offer from this quarter, as Buffon, who was the most popular naturalist of his time, showed himself the rival of the Swede and a despiser of all classifications; although, as Lord Monboddo says, "those who have merely made themselves acquainted with the first rudiments of philosophy, cannot possibly be ignorant, that a distribution into genera and species is the foundation of all human knowledge; and that to be acquainted with an individual, as they term it, or one single thing, is neither art nor science." ”

“ Natural history has already to boast of an Aristotle, a Ray, a Reaumur, a Linnæus, a Haller, a Hunter, and a Cuvier. What other science can rank abler men among its cultivators? And, as is remarked by one of the most eminent naturalists that this country has produced, the late president of the Linnæan Society, "How delightful and how consolatory it is, among the disappointments and anxieties of life, to observe science, like virtue, retaining its relish to the last!" ”

“ His rivals had shrunk from the contest, his calumniators had fallen into deserved obscurity, his merits had been acknowledged at home and abroad, his perseverance, his ardour, and his acuteness of observation, were duly estimated. While yet in the vigour of manhood, he had attained the honour and emolument that are often deferred to cheer only the declining years of the votary of science. On the other hand, how many individuals have toiled through a life of continued misery, without ever reaching that haven into which the gentle breezes of prosperity had already wafted our ardent adventurer. ”

“ Whilst the whole botanical world, like myself, has been looking for the most transcendent benefits to our science, from the unrivalled exertions of your countrymen, all their matchless and truly astonishing collection, such as has never been seen before, nor may ever be seen again, is to be put aside untouched, to be thrust into some corner, to become perhaps the prey of insects and of destruction. ”

“ Neither do we give place to them in politicks or morality; but in natural history and experimental philosophy we far transcend them. In the purely mathematical sciences, abstracted from matter, as geometry and arithmetick, we may vie with them, as also in history; but in astronomy, geography, and chronology, we excel them much. No wonder they should outstrip us in those arts which are conversant in polishing and adorning their language, because they bestowed all their time and pains in cultivating of them, and had but one, and that their native tongue, to mind. ”

“ Nothing, indeed, more excites my wishes, as a certain source of pleasure and improvement, than to be more deeply conversant with your writings; that I may not only profit by your genius, but, at the same time, have the information of the most eminent and approved writers in botany always ready at hand.
"I am disgusted with the coarse and malicious style in which some carping and slanderous critics have attacked these works of yours, the delight and ornament of botanical science. But such men are objects of pity rather than anger. ”

“ Let us endeavour to promote and increase this knowledge, and make new discoveries, not so much distrusting our own parts, or despairing of our own abilities, as to think that our industry can add nothing to the invention of our ancestors, or correct any of their mistakes. Let us not think that the bounds of science are fixed like Hercules' pillars, and inscribed with a ne plus ultra. Let us not think we have done when we have learnt what they have delivered to us. The treasures of nature are inexhaustible. ”

“ Certain highly-gifted individuals, again, shine as bright luminaries in the firmament of science, and extend their influence over the whole of the civilized world; while the labours of nearly all have been in some degree productive of good. Perhaps there is no order of men to whose charge so little positive evil can be laid; and if their studies do not always elevate the mind above the corroding cares and cankering jealousies of life, they at least tend to bring it into a more immediate relation with the great Creator and Governor of the universe. ”

“ But it is in the torrid latitudes that Nature displays all her magnificence. There the species of tribes, which in other climates are herbaceous, become shrubs, and the shrubs trees. Ferns rise into trunks equal to those of pines in the northern regions of Europe; balsams, gums, and resins, exude from the bark; aromatic fruits and flowers abound; and the savage, as he roams the woods, satisfies his hunger with the spontaneous offerings of the soil. Here also are all the climates of the globe, and almost all their productions united ”

“ The works they abuse shine brighter the more strictly they are scrutinized, and will certainly be read with delight by men in every age who are best qualified to appreciate their value. Your censors, when duly weighed themselves, seem to have acquired what they know by application rather than by any great powers of mind; and they make but a poor figure, with all that they can find to say, when they enter into a controversy with a man whose learning has received its last polish from genius. ”

“ It is perhaps impossible at the present day, when the investigation of nature is so much facilitated by the accumulated knowledge of ages in every department of physical science, by the commercial relations existing between countries in all parts of the globe, by a tried method of observation, experiment, and induction, and finally, by the possession of the most ingenious instruments, to form any adequate idea of the numerous difficulties under which the ancient naturalist laboured. ”

“ Such a man is undoubtedly worthy of more honour and admiration than the mere author, who, it may be from the most selfish motives, labours in solitude to enlighten the world and illustrate himself: "The good that men do too often dies with them," and as books are legacies of which the benefit is more extended than that of individual acts of generosity or patriotism, people are ever ready to laud an author, even although they may not clearly see wherein his merit lies; while the truly good, whose lives are a continued scene of beneficence, have but a slight hold on the admiration of posterity. ”

“ One of the sincerest pleasures of a great mind is to communicate to others all the blessings that it possesses. On other occasions he appeared to entertain a wish to mortify the philosopher by exalting his rival Xenocrates, who had nothing to recommend him besides a respectable moral character. It has even been asserted by some, that the conqueror, after he had put Callisthenes to death, intended the same fate for Aristotle. ”

“ By all that is great and good, I entreat you, who know so well the value of science, to do all that in you lies for the publication of these new acquisitions, that the learned world may not be deprived of them. ”

“ But before we proceed to offer a few remarks on the origin and progress of zoological science, it seems expedient to mark the subjects to which the attention of the naturalist is directed.
If we cast our eyes around, and survey, in a comprehensive manner, the objects which exhibit themselves to our view, we may form some idea of the occupations of those individuals who devote themselves to the examination of nature. The surface of the globe presents in part a vast expanse of water bounded by the sinuosities of the shores, and in part an undulating succession of plains and mountains. ”

“ It is not now required of us to point out the advantages that might result from the establishment of natural history as a branch of popular education. These advantages have been repeatedly pressed on the notice of the public; and, although the system has not been as yet adopted, the time cannot be far distant when the elements of mineralogy, botany, and zoology shall be taught in our schools, along with those branches of knowledge which at present occupy the field, to the exclusion of others not less adapted for the improvement of the youthful mind. ”

“ Aristotle was a universal genius; but with respect to natural history he is to be looked upon chiefly as a zoologist. Pliny was a collector of every thing known in his time, whether true or fabulous, that related to animals, minerals, and plants. Linnæus arranged all the objects of nature. He was perhaps greater as a zoologist than as a botanist, although, in the latter capacity, his labours have been more highly appreciated, because there have been more cultivators of the science of plants, of which the study requires less laborious investigation, and to many persons is more attractive. ”

“ The Swiss professor concludes one of his notes in the following generous terms:—"Farewell, my dear Linnæus! may you enjoy your health and your botanical pursuits, with every advantage for the prosecution of your labours! My studies and engagements, of a different kind, draw me unavoidably aside; but my inclination always leads me to the charms of Flora. To botany I wish to devote my leisure and my old age; and my fortune to the collecting of drawings, plants, and books. ”

“ When one reflects on all that an accomplished botanist ought to know, it is enough to frighten him. His memory is loaded with the names of twelve or thirteen thousand plants, and he is expected to be able to recall on occasion the image of any one of them. There is perhaps none of these plants that has not insects peculiar to itself; and some trees, such as the oak, give sustenance to several hundreds of different species. And, after all, how many are there that do not live [Pg 189] on plants! How many species that devour others! ”

“ They have always been the reward of the labours of great men; but nothing of all this can hurt a hair of my head. Why should I not tolerate the wretches, when I have been loaded with the praises of the most celebrated botanists, before whom they must bend in the dust. My age, my profession, and my character, prevent me from waging war with my opponents. I will employ the few years I have to live in making useful observations. In natural history, errors cannot be defended nor truths concealed. ”

“ And yet I do not take humility in man to consist in disowning or denying any gift or ability that is in him, but in a just valuation of such gifts and endowments, yet rather thinking too meanly than too highly of them; because human nature is so apt to err in running into the other extreme, to flatter itself, and to accept those praises that are not due to it; pride being an elation of spirit upon false grounds, or a desire and acceptance of undue honour. ”

“ Pliny was not such an observer as Aristotle; much less was he a man of genius [Pg 81] like that great philosopher, capable of apprehending the laws and relations according to which Nature has disposed her productions. He was in general merely a compiler, and even in many instances a compiler who, not having himself any knowledge of the objects concerning which he collected the testimony of others, was unable to appreciate the truth of these testimonies, or even in all cases to comprehend their precise meaning. ”