Page:The Harveian oration, 1875 (IA b22314611).pdf/14
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the authorized version was first published when Harvey was thirty-three years of age; and which, laying hold of the minds of men by the sustained dignity of its language, its lofty poetry, its vivid and life-like narratives, and stirring them to their very depths by awful threats and precious promises, must have greatly added to the excitement and exaltation of the popular mind.
Harvey, then, as I have just stated, took in hand the work of discovery, with some obvious advantages. And, on the other hand, he had only to contend with the obstacles which beset all such paths as he was about to tread. He would arouse that spirit of opposition and detraction which springs up quite naturally in the minds of those who, having imbibed certain views, at the cost of much study, and from the lips of men whom they hold in respect, are asked to abandon not only the views themselves, but all that, in course of time, has grown up and clustered round them. To root up these weeds and keep them under, to select and sow the better seeds, to reap and gather in the harvest, is a work demanding both industry and patience.
Such a work Harvey took in hand "when he set