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Paris, London, and Oxford. Everywhere he sought the
acquaintance of famous men, and always kept his one
aim, philological erudition, well in view. After his
return at 1733 he was chosen Professor of “Eloquence
and Politics ” at Upsala, an office which he held till he
died. Like his father, a man of choleric temper and of
witty repartee, he at times offended by his outspokenness.
Once during a hot discussion on natural and revealed
religion Ihre maintained that Reason had the same divine
origin as Revelation. This of course aroused the
indignation of the clergy, and in 1747 the Diet felt itself
constrained to issue a missive addressed to the University
of Upsala, in which it was requested that henceforward
philosophy should be kept clear of the hunting-grounds
of theology. Then Ihre, who felt himself particularly
aimed at, wrote, not without irony, to the Chancellor:
“ My Lord! I lecture on eloquence and political economy.
To become a heretic I possess neither sufficient genius
nor sufficient stupidity, still less sufficient ill-will. I am
therefore most willing to abstain from all interference
with theological questions, and to confine myself to what
may serve my own private edification and progress in
Christianity. I never intended to go further.” During
his time at Upsala honours were showered upon him.
In 1745 he was chosen a member of the Royal Academy
of Sciences at Stockholm; in 1756 he received the title
of Kanzleirat together with the patent of nobility. On
this occasion his wit again showed itself. Contrary to
the ordinary custom of changing his name on being raised
to a superior and privileged rank, he retained his plain
old name, saying that “he was not quite unknown under
that name in foreign countries, but if he were to call
himself Gyllenbjorn or Vargstjerna1 it would take ever
1 Gyllenbjörn means “Golden Bear,” Vargstjerna = “ Wolf Star.”
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