Page:The Harveian oration for 1874.djvu/41

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Harvey passed nearly five years at Padua, when he took his degree on April 25, 1602; and the names of Fortescue, Willoughby, Lister, Maunsell, Fox, and Darcy, who are mentioned as Englishmen present on the occasion, tell of the genial temper of the man who from youth to old age possessed the charm that drew around him ‘troops of friends.’ Returning to England soon afterwards, he became Doctor of Medicine of Cambridge in 1603; joined the College of Physicians in 1604; added to the honour of our Fellowship by being himself enrolled among the Fellows in 1607; married, settled in London, and commenced practice here, and in 1609 became Physician to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.

It is, perhaps, idle to wish that we could get a glimpse of Harvey’s home in these his early days; a young physician just started in London practice. All we can do is to mention a few of those who formed at that time the circle of his friends and acquaintances; and first among them we meet with two who were with him in his old Paduan days; Matthew Lister and Simon Fox, both of them men of mark. They were Harvey’s seniors in point of age, but