will be recorded in the annals of his country, will be sacred to every British soldier, and embalmed in the recollection of a grateful posterity."[1]
Sir Ralph Abercromby was married to Mary Anne, daughter of John Menzies of Fernton, Perthshire; by whom he had issue four sons and three daughters, who survived him. On the official account reaching England of the fate of her lamented husband, his widow was elevated to the peerage, May 28, 1801, as Baroness Abercromby of Aboukir and Tullibody, with remainder to the heirs-male of the deceased general; and, on the recommendation of his majesty, the House of Commons, without one dissentient voice, granted an annuity of two thousand pounds to Lady Abercromby, and the next two succeeding male heirs of the body of Sir Ralph Abercromby, to whom the title of Baron Abercromby should descend. The House of Commons, farther, sensible of the great merits of this distinguished British commander, voted a monument to his memory, at the public expense, which was subsequently erected in St Paul's cathedral.
ABERNETHY, John, an eminent writer on physiology. The birth and parentage of this gentleman were so obscure, that it is impossible to say with certainty whether he was a native of Ireland or of Scotland. It is even affirmed that he was himself ignorant of the country of his birth. Upon the supposition that he was born in Scotland, his name is introduced in the present work. The date of his birth is given loosely as 1763-64. His parents having brought him in his infancy to London, he commenced his education at a day-school in Lothbury, where he acquired the elements of classical literature. Having afterwards been bound apprentice to Mr Charles Blick, surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital, he had the advantage of attending that noble institution, where he eagerly seized every opportunity of making himself practically acquainted with his profession. He also had the advantage of attending the lectures of Mr John Hunter, at the time when that gentleman was commencing the development of those great discoveries which have made his name so famous. The curiosity which those discoveries excited in the public at large, was felt in an uncommon degree by Mr Abernethy, whose assiduity and ardour as a pupil attracted the notice of the lecturer, and rendered the latter his friend for life.
While as yet a very young practitioner, his reputation procured for Mr Abernethy the situation of assistant-surgeon at St Bartholomew's, and he soon after commenced a course of lectures in the hospital, which, though not very successful at first, became in time the most frequented of any in London, so as to lay the foundation of a medical school of the highest reputation in connection with this institution. On the death of Sir Charles Blick, his former master, Mr Abernethy, now considered as the best teacher of anatomy, physiology, and surgery in the metropolis, was elected surgeon to the hospital.
The first publications of Mr Abernethy were a few Physiological Essays, and one on Lumbar Abscess, which, with some additions, formed his first volume, published 1793-97, in 8vo, under the title of "Surgical and Physiological
- ↑ The following panegyric upon Sir Ralph in another character, was written before his death: "As a country gentleman, ever attentive to all within the circle of his movement, he stands high in the estimation of his neighbours and dependents; and when his military glory shall have fallen into oblivion, it will be gratefully remembered that he was the friend of the destitute poor, the patron of useful knowledge, and the promoter of education among the meanest of his cottagers: as an instance it may be mentioned, that in the village of Tullibody, on his paternal estate, a reading school, under his immediate inspection, was established many years back." Campbell's Journey through Scotland, 4to, 1802, vol. ii.
