ABERCROMBIE, JOHN (1780-1844).--Physician and writer on mental science, _s._ of a minister, was _b._ at Aberdeen, and _ed._ at the Grammar School and Marischal College there. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, in which city he practised as a physician. He made valuable contributions to the literature of his profession, and _pub._ two works, _Enquiry Concerning the Intellectual Powers_ (1830) and _The Philosophy of the Moral Feelings_ (1833), which, though popular at the time of their publication, have long been superseded. For his services as a physician and philanthropist he received many marks of distinction, including the Rectorship of Marischal College. ABERCROMBIE, PATRICK (1656-1716).--Antiquary and historian, was physician to James II. in 1685; he was a Jacobite and opposed the Union in various pamphlets. His chief work was _Martial Achievements of the Scots Nation_ (1711-16). ACTON, JOHN EMERICH EDWARD DALBERG-ACTON, 1ST LORD (1834-1902).--Historian, _s._ of Sir Richard A., and grandson of Sir John A., who was Prime Minister of Naples, was _b._ at Naples. He belonged to an ancient Roman Catholic family, and was _ed._ first at Oscott near Birmingham under Dr. (afterwards Card.) Wiseman. Thence he went to Edinburgh, where he studied privately, and afterwards to Munich, where he resided in the house of Dr. Dollinger, the great scholar and subsequent leader of the Old Catholic party, by whom he was profoundly influenced. While at Edinburgh he endeavoured to procure admission to Cambridge, but without success, his religion being at that time a bar. He early devoted himself to the study of history, and is said to have been on terms of intimacy with every contemporary historian of distinction, with the exception of Guizot. He sat in the House of Commons 1859-65, but made no great mark, and in 1869 was raised to the peerage as Lord Acton of Aldenham. For a time he edited _The Rambler_, a Roman Catholic periodical, which afterwards became the _Home and Foreign Review_, and which, under his care, became one of the most learned publications of the day. The liberal character of A.'s views, however, led to its stoppage in deference to the authorities of the Church. He, however, maintained a lifelong opposition to the Ultramontane party in the Church, and in 1874 controverted their position in four letters to _The Times_ which were described as the most crushing argument against them which ever appeared in so condensed a form. A.'s contributions to literature were few, and, in comparison with his extraordinary learning, comparatively unimportant. He wrote upon _Cardinal Wolsey_ (1877) and _German Schools of History_ (1886). He was extremely modest, and the loftiness of his ideals of accuracy and completeness of treatment led him to shrink from tasks which men of far slighter equipment might have carried out with success. His learning and his position as a universally acknowledged master in his