Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/55

Rh titles that often stamp the value of the man, and prove a passport to the substantialities of eminence and wealth. In 1834, his reputation was so completely fixed, that the university of Oxford, departing from its usual routine in behalf of the alumni of Scottish colleges, conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine, and on the following year he was elected Lord Rector of the Marischal college of Aberdeen. Besides these, he held other offices of distinction, most of which were connected with benevolent societies. In this way his life went onward, and while he increased in wealth and professional reputation, his piety made him the friend of the good, and his benevolence the honoured of the poor. But all was brought to an abrupt termination by his sudden death, at his house in York Place, on the 14th of November, 1844. On the morning of that day, having breakfasted at nine o'clock, he retired to his private room, while several patients were waiting for him, and his carriage standing at the door. As nearly an hour elapsed, his servant, alarmed at such unusual delay, entered the room, and found his master lying extended and lifeless on the floor, his death having been apparently all but instantaneous. It was found, on a p stpost [sic] mortem examination, that the cause of his death was the bursting of a coronary artery. Thus unexpectedly was closed the life of one whom all classes esteemed, and whose loss is still felt and remembered.

Dr. Abercrombie was distinguished not only as a most eminent and successful medical practitioner, but also as an able and eloquent writer. At first, his exertions in authorship were confined to the "Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal," and other similar professional periodicals; but when his literary strength was matured, he produced a separate treatise entitled "Pathological and Practical Researches on Diseases of the Brain and the Spinal Cord." Edinburgh: 1828. 8vo. This work, which abounds in pure scientific knowledge, and evinces his profound research into mental character, as connected with physical condition and action, was followed in the same year by another of still higher merit, having for its title, "Pathological and Practical Researches on the Diseases of the Intestinal Canal, Liver, and other Viscera of the Abdomen." Edinburgh: 1828. 8vo. These, however, though so highly meritorious, were but prelusive efforts to something still more important; and after a careful study and arrangement of the materials which he had been accumulating for years, he produced two works; the one entitled, "Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers, and the Investigation of Truth." Edinburgh: 1830. 8vo; and the other, "The Philosophy of the Moral Feelings." London: 1833. 8vo. Upon these works, of which the latter is a sequel to the former, his literary reputation will chiefly rest; and they will always continue to be prized by the reflective mind, from the views which they unfold of the intellectual and moral nature of man, and the harmonious combination which exists between the truths of science and the revelations of Christianity. Independently, however, of these writings, so distinguished by their profound medical, ethical, and metaphysical knowledge, and so practical in their bearings, Dr. Abercrombie's pen was employed on the subjects of humble every-day usefulness, and pure unmixed religion and vital godliness, so that shortly after the publication of his "Philosophy of the Moral Feelings," he produced his "Treatise on the Moral Condition of the Lower Classes in Edinburgh," and subsequently, "The Elements of Sacred Truth," which were first published singly and at intervals, and afterwards collected into a small volume. "These tracts," an able reviewer has observed, "reflect the highest honour on Dr. Abercrombie. It is beautiful to see an