It is probable that his motives were of a mixed character. We do not believe that he attached much value to this kind of distinction, and that, had he availed himself of the offer, it would have been rather from a kind of deference to the recognition it afforded of the claims, and thus indirectly promoting the cultivation of Science, than for any other reason. It was not but that he held rank and station in the respect which is justly due to them; but that he regarded titles as no very certain tests of scientific distinction. Enthusiastic in his admiration of intellectual, still more of moral excellence, he had something scarcely less than coldness in regard to the value of mere titles; whilst he beheld, with something like repulsion, the flattery to which their possessors were so often exposed.
There are men who have so individualized themselves that they seem to obscure their identity by any new title. John Hunter was scarcely known by any less simple appellation. We hardly now say "_Mr._" Hunter without feeling that we may be misunderstood. It begins to have a sound like "Mr." Milton or "Mr." Shakspeare; Abernethy and John Abernethy are fast becoming the only recognized designations of our philosophical surgeon, for even the modest prefix of _Mr._ is fast going into disuse. Be this as it may, it is certain he declined the honour; and to us it is equally so that he felt at least indifferent to it; for although the good sense and good feeling implied in the reasons alleged were characteristic, yet, had they constituted the only motive, he might, with his abundant opportunities, have removed that objection in a very reasonable time, without difficulty.
It is perhaps significant of the measured interest with which Mr. Abernethy regarded the acquisition of a Baronetcy, that the family could not recollect the period at which it was offered. This information, however, I obtained from Sir Benjamin Brodie, who has kindly allowed me to record the fact in the following reply to my inquiry on the subject.
"My answer to your inquiry may be given in a very few words. I perfectly well remember the having been informed by the late Sir John Becket that he had been commissioned by Lord Liverpool to offer Mr. Abernethy, on the part of the Crown, the honor of being created a Baronet, which, however, Mr. Abernethy declined.