Page:The advancement of science by experimental research - the Harveian oration, delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, June 27th, 1883 (IA b24869958).pdf/22

 research; the vague hypotheses that had been handed down from century to century had been the result of reasoning on insufficient data.

The times of Harvey were among the most eventful of English history; the liberty of religious thought was being felt and exercised its influence; the demand for civil and religious freedom was coexistent with scientific research, with literary advancement, and with extension of commerce. It is surprising, that the tumultuous years of civil strife did not check the ardour of the student of nature. Harvey was born at Folkestone in 1578, during the closing years of Elizabeth’s reign; and, it is probable, that when a boy of 10, he saw from the cliffs of his home something of the Spanish Armada, which was intended to stop the freedom of thought and of spiritual life in our favoured land. The facts of Harvey’s life are well known, how at 16 years of age he went to Caius College, Cambridge, took his bachelor’s degree in medicine, and then spent four years at Padua, where