RAMSAY, ALLAN. 



EAMSAY, ANDREW MICJHAfiL. 



suit against him, whicb, after many years of Htigation, was decided in 

 his favour. 



Of the body of Hindu theology comprised in the Vedas there is an 

 ancient extract called the ' Vedant, or the Resolution of ail the Veds,' 

 written in Sanskrit. Rammohun Roy translated it into Bengalee and 

 Hindustanee, and afterwards published an abridgment of it for 

 gratuitous circulation; of this abridgment he published an English 

 translation in 1816. He afterwards published some of the principal 

 chapters of the Vedas in Bengalee and English. He was at different 

 times the proprietor or publisher of newspapers in the native lan- 

 guages, in which he expressed his opinion freely against abuses, 

 political as well as religious, especially the burning "of widows. In 

 conjunction with Dwarkanath Tagore and Neel Rutton Holdar, he 

 was proprietor of the ' Bengal Herald," an English newspaper. Dwar- 

 kanath Tagore, an enlightened Hindoo, of liberal opinions, very rich, 

 and a munificent benefactor to schools and charities, was born in 1795, 

 in or near Calcutta, and died in London, on the 1st of August 1346. 

 In 1820 Rammohun Roy published, in English, Sanskrit, and Bengalee, 

 a series of selections from the New Testament, entitled ' The Precepts 

 of Jesus the Guide to Peace and Happiness.' In this selection he 

 omits the miracles and doctrinal parts, and confines himself to the 

 simple religious and moral precepts. In 1830 he was engaged by the 

 King of Delhi to make a representation of grievances to the British 

 government, for which . purpose the king conferred on him by firman 

 the title of Rajah, and appointed him ambassador to the British court. 

 He arrived at London in April 1831. The British ministers recognised 

 his embassy and title, though the Court of East India Directors 

 objected to both. His negociation was successful, and added 30.000J. 

 a year to the income of the king. He intended to return to India in 

 1834, but he was taken ill when on a visit at Stapleton Grove, near 

 Bristol, where he died on the 27th of September 1833. He was 

 buried in a shrubbery of Stapleton Grove, without a pall over the 

 coffin and in silence. The Christian observances were carefully 

 avoided at his own request, lest it should be made an accusation 

 against him by the Brahmins, and, by causing him to lose caste, 

 deprive his children of their inheritance. 



Rammohun Roy was acquainted more or less with ten languages 

 Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Hindustanee, Bengalee, English, French, 

 Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Sanskrit and Arabic he knew critically, 

 and as a scholar ; Persian, Hindustanee, Bengalee, and English he 

 spoke and wrote fluently ; of the other languages his knowledge was 

 less perfect. He associated a good deal with the Unitarians in this 

 country, and frequently attended their chapels. He was a believer in 

 the divine mission of Christ, and seems to have considered the accept- 

 ance of the doctrines of Christ to be quite consistent with a belief in 

 the Brabminical religion as it is in the ancient Sanskrit authorities. 



(Review of the Labours, Opinions, and Character of Rajah Rammohun 

 Roy, by Lant Carpenter, LL.D.) 



RAMSAY, ALLAN, was born in 1685, of parents of the humblest 

 class, at a small hamlet or settlement of a few cottages on the banks 

 of the Glangonar, a tributary of the Clyde, among the hills that 

 divide Clydesdale and Annandale. His father is said to have been a 

 workman in Lord Hopeton's lead-mines, and he himself to have been 

 employed when a child as a washer of ore. When he made his first 

 appearance in Edinburgh, about the beginning of the last century, 

 Allan was apprenticed to a barber ; and he appears to have followed 

 that trade for some years. In course of time however he exchanged 

 it for that of a bookseller, led probably by a taste for reading which 

 he had acquired. He seems to have early in life enjoyed considerable 

 popularity as a boon companion, and we may presume that it was in 

 this character that he first gave proof of his poetic talents. He 

 gradually however obtained the acquaintance of many of the most 

 distinguished persons both iu the literary and fashionable circles of 

 the Scottish capital ; and in 1721 he published a volume of his poems, 

 which was very favourably received by his countrymen. In 1724 he 

 published in two small volumes ' The Evergreen, being a Collection of 

 Scots Poems, wrote by the Ingenious before 1600.' The materials of 

 this collection were cliiefly obtained from the volume called the 

 Bannatyne Manuscript, preserved in the Advocates' Library; but 

 Ramsay, who bad little scholarship, and who lived in a very uncritical 

 age as to such matters, has paid no attention to fidelity in making his 

 transcripts, patching and renovating the old verses throughout to suit 

 his own fancy. ' The Evergreen ' was followed the same year by 'The 

 Tea-Table Miscellany, or a Collection of Choice Songs, Scots and 

 English,' in 4 vola., which has been often reprinted. This collection, 

 besides many new verses contributed by Ramsay himself and some of 

 his friends, contains numerous old Scottish songs, which, he observes 

 in his preface, "have been done time out of mind, and only wanted to 

 be cleared from the dross of blundering transcribers and printers." 

 His scouring however went the length in many cases of rubbing away 

 the old song altogether; ?nd his substitutions are by no means always 

 a compensation for what he thus destroyed, though most of them are 

 clever and spirited, and have acquired general currency among Scottish 

 song-singers. Ramsay afterwards wrote many more verses in his native 

 dialect ; but his only two original performances of any considerable 

 pretension are his comic pastoral, the ' Gentle Shepherd,' published in 

 1729, and hia continuation of the old Scottish poem of 'Christ's Kirk 

 on the Green.' There is a good deal of rather effective though coarse 



merriment in the latter attempt. The ' Gentle Shepherd ' is, as a 

 whole, not very like anything else that Ramsay has written ; but 

 there seems to be no evidence for the notion which has been suggested, 

 that in this instance he fathered the production of some other writer. 

 The poem, although more careful and elaborate than anything else 

 that Ramsay has left us, is not without the wonted qualities of his 

 manner, both good and bad. It has no more elevation and refinement 

 than any of Ramsay's other works, though less that is offensively 

 coarse or boisterous than some of them ; both in the diction and the 

 thought it flows easily and smoothly ; and though there are not many 

 happy touches, and no daring strokes, there is a general truth of 

 painting about it in a quiet tone which is very soothing and agreeable. 

 It has also some humour, which however is rather elaborate and 

 constrained. 



Ramsay died in 1758, leaving a son, the subject of the following 

 article, who acquired distinction as a portrait-painter. 



RAMSAY, ALLAN, the son of Allan Ramsay the poet, was born in 

 1713, at Edinburgh. Although in the ficst instance self-taught, he 

 afterwards studied for a short time in Italy with Solimena and F. Fer- 

 nandi, called Imperial!. After practising a short time in Edinburgh 

 he settled in London, where he was introduced by Lord Bute to 

 George III. when prince of Wales. He painted two portraits of the 

 prince, which were engraved, one by Ryland and the other by Wool- 

 lett. At the death of Mr. Shakelton, in 1767, Ramsay succeeded 

 him as principal painter to the kiug : he retained the place until his 

 death, when he was succeeded by Sir Joshua Reynolds. He died at 

 Dover in 1784, on his return from a fourth visit to Rome. He had a 

 daughter, who was born in Rome. Ramsay, though not a good 

 portrait-painter, was superior to the generality of the painters before 

 Reynolds. Edwards says that Ramsay was not devoted to his art ; 

 he allowed literature to divide much of his time with it. He was 

 acquainted with Latin, French, and Italian ; and in his latter days 

 acquired some knowledge of Greek. He was the author of some 

 political papers. He was twice married : his second wife was a 

 daughter of Sir David Lindsay. His son and daughter survived him : 

 the son became a general in the British army ; the daughter was 

 married to Sir Archibald Campbell. 



RAMSAY, ANDREW MICHAEL, generally known as the Chevalier 

 Ramsay, was born at Ayr, in Scotland, in 1686. He was educated at 

 Edinburgh, where he chiefly devoted himself to the study of mathe- 

 matics and theology. The distinction he obtained as a scholar pro- 

 cured for him the appointment of tutor to the son of the Earl of 

 Wemys at the University of St. Andrews. Having entertained some 

 doubts respecting the tenets of the Protestant faith, he went to Holland 

 for the purpose of visiting a Protestant divine of the name of Poiret, 

 who had obtained a certain celebrity as one of the leaders of the 

 Quietist party. With him Ramsay entered into a religious contro- 

 versy, the fruits of which were an increase of his doubts and even an 

 inclination to general scepticism, on the great doctrines of the Christian 

 religion. In this state of mind he determined on having recourse to 

 Fe'ne'lon, who was at that time residing in his diocese of Cambray. 

 Fe'ne'lon in a short time made him a convert to the Roman faith. He 

 soon became the disciple of Fe'ne'lon, not only in religious matters, 

 but also in bis literary taste and opinions. His writings were formed 

 on the style and after the manner of his reat master, and he rapidly 

 acquired so perfect a knowledge of the French language as to become 

 an excellent writer. Some of his earlier productions were the means 

 of obtaining for him the situation of tutor to the Duke of Chateau 

 Thierry and afterwards to the Prince of Turenne ; he was also created 

 a knight of the order of St. Lazarus. His reputation induced the 

 Pretender, in 1724, to invite him to Rome, and to entrust him with 

 the education of his children. He remained however only a year in 

 that city, and left it in disgust with the petty intrigues which he found 

 to form the principal occupation of the miniature court of the son of 

 the exiled king. The next year he revisited Scotland, where he 

 remained a considerable time, which he employed in literary labour. 

 On visiting England he obtained, through the influence of Dr. King, 

 the degree of Doctor of Civil Law in the University of Oxford ; he was 

 also admitted a member of the Royal Society of London. After his 

 return to France he was appointed iutendant to the Prince of Turenne, 

 who afterwards became the Duke of Bouillon : he held this situation 

 till his death, which took place at St. Germain-en-laye in 1743. 



The writings of the Chevalier Ramsay are more remarkable for the 

 purity of their style and the perfect knowledge which they manifest 

 of the French language, than for their depth or originality of thought. 

 As a theologian he was visionary in the extreme, and his orthodoxy, 

 even according to the principles of the church he had adopted, is open 

 to considerable suspicion. It is said to be fortunate for his religious 

 reputation that he did not live to publish some philosophical works 

 which he was preparing, such as his answer to Spinosa, and a treatise 

 on the Progress of Human Understanding. The work by which he 

 is best known, is his ' Voyages de Cyrus,' a somewhat feeble imitation 

 of the Telemachua of Fe'ne'lon. The character of Zarina gave consi- 

 derable offence to the Princess de Conti, one of the most learned 

 ladiea of the age, who imagined that she was pourtrayed in it. There 

 is an excellent translation of that work, by Hooke, though said to 

 have been accomplished in the short space of twenty days [HOOKE, 

 NATHANIEL] ; it was for a long time mistaken for an original, 



