Page:The Harveian oration 1905.djvu/27

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THE HARVEIAN ORATION.
23

his noble character and personal qualities, and the lasting and inextinguishable glory and distinction which he has reflected upon this College. Then we can never forget Thomas Linacre, the practical founder of the College of Physicians, which was inaugurated by charter in 1518, and who became its first President, continuing to hold this office until 1525. He has been well styled by our learned Librarian "the intellectual grandfather of Harvey." The College meetings were held in his private house, which he made over to the Physicians, and it was subsequently enlarged and used until 1614. Linacre also laid the foundation of our library. He translated Aristotle and Galen; and has been called "The Ornament of his Age," on account of his wisdom, scholarship and moral excellence.

The name of John Caius also stands out during the latter half of the sixteenth century as one of the most noteworthy men our profession has ever produced. He refounded Gonville Hall at Cambridge; and was the first to introduce and to teach practical anatomy in England. Dr. J. F. Payne has suggested that Harvey's lines of thought and study were probably much projected under the posthumous influence of the second founder of his College at Cambridge. Caius was President of this College from 1555 to 1561, and again in 1562 and 1571. The College is further indebted to him for first instituting its annals, and for a revision of its statutes.