296 HISTORY OF 



celebrity in his profession ; but his diversified talents and 

 active mind soon took a wider range. From the com- 

 mencement of the revolution, he was an ardent patriot, 

 and exerted all his powers to promote the independence 

 of his country. From the declaration of independence 

 to the termination of the war, he was a member of the 

 privy council, and with two others of that body was 

 among the citizens of Charleston who, in 1780, were 

 banished by the British to St. Augustine. On an 

 exchange of prisoners, after an absence of eleven months^ 

 he was sent back to the United States. In 1782 he was 

 elected a member to Congress; in 1755, Mr. Hancock 

 being unable to attend. Dr. Ramsay was elected president 

 pro tempore, and for one year discharged the duties of 

 that station with ability, indastr}^, and impartiality. In 

 1786 he returned to Charleston, and resumed the duties 

 of his profession, and his historical labors, in which he 

 continued to be occupied during the remainder of life. 

 " The predominant trait in the character of Ramsay,'^ 

 says his biographer, " was philanthrophy." The experi- 

 ence of his philanthropy and beneficence in early life 

 in the attentions received from him at Charleston, and in 

 letters of introduction, which he spontaneously offered, 

 to the highly respectable family of Barnwell and to others 

 in Beaufort, and in a very obliging historical correspon- 

 dence of later years, has left an indelible impression on 

 the mind of the present writer, who must be indulged in 

 the concurrent testimony. He was also a man of exem- 

 plary piety. He was a member of the independent or 

 Congregational church in Charleston, and adorned his 

 christian profession. The last scene of his life furnished 

 bright evidence of his faith and piety, of his love and 

 charity, and of his immortal hope, " through the blood 

 of the Redeemer.^^ 



