Allan, a Scottish poet, was born at Ramsay, Leadhills in Lanarkshire, in October 1686. His father was employed in the management of Lord Hopeton's mines at that place; but died while the poet was yet in his infancy, in consequence of which and the marriage of his mother soon after his father's death, it seems probable that during the earlier part of his life he continued in rather a destitute situation. He remained at Leadhills till he reached his fifteenth year; and as we have been assured by the relations of some very old persons who were the contemporaries of Ramsay, and who died not many years ago, he was employed in washing, preparing the lead ore for smelting, and other operations about the works in which the children of miners and young persons are usually occupied. The period of his residence on his native spot is fixed by himself in the following descriptive verse which are part of a petition addressed to a Club in Edinburgh to be admitted a member.

Of Crawford Moor, born in Leadhill, Where mineral springs Glengoner fill, Which joins sweet-flowing Clyde.

Native of Clydesdale's upper ward, Bred fifteen summers there.

The extent of Ramsay's education, it may well be presumed, did not exceed what he could derive from the parish schoolmaster; and even the acquisition of what little could thus be obtained, from the circumstances that attended his early life, must have been often and greatly interrupted.

In 1701, when he was in his 15th year, he was bound apprentice to a wigmaker in Edinburgh, and it appears from the record of his children's birth in the parish register that he continued in the same humble profession till the year 1716: for in that register his designation is wigmaker. One of the earliest of Ramsay's productions now known, an address to the most happy members of the Eayl Club, appeared in 1712, when he was 26 years of age, and three years after he was humorously appointed their poet laureat. Many of his poems about this time were published in the form of separate pamphlets. When he had followed the occupation of a wigmaker for a considerable time, he at last abandoned it for that of a bookbinder, as being more congenial to the literary turn of his mind. His detached pamphlets were afterwards published by him in the year 1721, in one volume 4to, which was encouraged by a very liberal subscription. It was advertised as follows in the Edinburgh Evening Courant. "The Poems of Allan Ramsay, in a large quarto volume; fairly printed, with notes, and a complete glossary, (as promised to the subscribers) being now finished; all who have generously contributed to carrying on of the design, may call for their copies as soon as they please, from the author, at the Mercury, opposite to Niddry's wynd, Edinburgh." The first volume of his well-known collection, "The Tea-table Miscellany," was published in 1724, after which a second volume soon made its appearance; a third in 1727, and a fourth after another interval of time. He soon after published what is called the Evergreen, being a collection of Scots poems written by the ingenious prior to the year 1600. In 1725 appeared his Gentle Shepherd, part of which, called Patie and Roger, was printed in 1721, and Jenny and Meggy in 1723, the great success of of which induced him to form them afterwards into a regular drama.

In the year 1728, he published a second volume of his poems, which was afterwards reprinted in 8vo. These performances so rapidly enlarged the circle of his fame and reputation, that in 1731, an edition of his poetical works was published by the booksellers of London, and two years after they appeared at Dublin. He held an extensive correspondence with contemporary poets, among whom we find the facetious Hamilton of Gilbertfield, and the celebrated author of the Chace sent him two epistles. From his shop opposite to Niddry street, he removed to one at the east end of the Luckenbooths. In this shop he continued to sell and lend out books till he was far advanced in years; and we are informed that he was the first person who established a circulating library in Scotland. His collection of Fables appeared in 1730, after which period he may be said to have almost discontinued the occupation of an author.

Such, however, was his enterprising spirit, that he built at his own expense, the first theatre for dramatical performances ever known in Edinburgh, which took place in what is called Carubber's close, in the year 1736; but he did not long enjoy his character of manager, for the magistrates of Edinburgh required him to shut it up, as an act of parliament prohibited all such amusements without a special licence and his Majesty's letters patent. It is generally understood that he relinquished the trade of a bookseller about the year 1755, being then 69 years of age, and lived the remainder of his days in a small house erected by himself on the north side of the Castle-hill. A florid complaint attended with excruciating pain, deprived him of his teeth, and after corroding one of his jaw bones, put a period to his existence on the 7th of June 1758, in the 71st year of his age.

Ramsey possessed a considerable share of poetical genius: Of this his Gentle Shepherd, which will continue to be admired as long as the language in which it is written shall be understood, and especially by the natives of North Britain, to whom only the peculiarities of dialect by which it is distinguished can be familiar, affords the best proof. Some of his songs may contain far-fetched allusions and childish conceits; but many of them are equal, if not superior for their pastoral simplicity, to productions of a similar nature in any other language. Some of the imitations of the ancients by this poet are extremely happy, in particular Horace's Ode Vide ut alia fiet nive &c.; and some of his tales have all the excellencies of that species of composition. But of a great proportion of his other productions, it may be pronounced with truth that they are mere profane compositions filled with the most commonplace observations, and destitute even of the ornament of smooth versification and correct rhimes.

Ramsay, Andrew Michael, generally known by the name of the Chevalier Ramsey, was a polite Scots writer, born of a good family at Ayr in 1686. His good parts and learning recommended him to be tutor to the son of the earl of Wemyss; after which, conceiving a disgust at the religion in which he had been educated, he in the same ill humour reviewed other Christian churches; and, finding none to his liking, retired for a while in Deism. While he was in this uncertain state of mind, he went to Leyden; where, falling into the company of one Poiret a mystic divine, he received the infection of mysticism: which prompted him to consult M. Fenelon, the celebrated archbishop of Cambrai, who had imbibed principles of the same nature; and who gained him over to the Catholic religion in 1709. The subsequent course of his life received its direction from his friendship and connections with this prelate; and being appointed governor to the duke de Chateau Thierry, and the prince de Turenne, he was made a knight of the order of St Lazarus. He was sent for to Rome by the chevalier de St George, to undertake the education of his children; but he found so many intrigues and dissensions on his arrival there in 1724, that he obtained the chevalier's leave to return to Paris. He died in 1743, in the office of intendant to the duke of Bouillon, prince de Turenne. The most capital work of his writing is the Travels of Cyrus, which has been several times printed in English.

Ramsay, The Reverend James, so justly celebrated for his philanthropy, was born on the 25th of July 1733, at Fraserburgh, a small town in the county of Aberdeen, North Britain. His descent was honourable, being, through his father, from the Ramsays of Melrose in Berwickshire, and through his mother, from the Ogilvies of Purie in Angus. His parents were of characters the most respectable, but in circumstances by no means affluent. From his earliest years he discovered a serious disposition, and a strong thirst for knowledge; and after passing through the course of a Scotch grammar school education, he was inclined to pursue the studies requisite to fit him for the profession of a clergyman; an inclination with which the wishes of his mother, a woman of eminent piety, powerfully concurred. Several circumstances, however, conspired to divert him for a time from his favourite pursuit.

He was educated in the episcopal persuasion; and having been unhappy enough to lose his father while yet very young, he found, upon his advancing towards the estate of manhood, that the joint fortunes of himself and his mother could not bear the expense of a regular education in either of the universities of Oxford or Cambridge, which he doubtless thought absolutely necessary to one who aspired to respectability in the church of England. Yielding therefore to necessity, he resolved to study surgery and pharmacy; and was with this view bound apprentice to Dr Findlay, a physician (A) in Fraserburgh. But though obliged to relinquish for a time his favourite studies, he did not think ignorance excusable in a surgeon more than in a clergyman, or conceive that he could ever become eminent in the profession in which circumstances had placed him, merely by skill in setting a bone or compounding a medicine. He determined therefore, with the full approbation of his master, who

(A) In the remote towns of Scotland the same man generally acts in the triple capacity of physician, surgeon, and apothecary. who very soon discovered his talents for literature, to make himself acquainted with at least the outlines of the liberal arts and sciences; and with this view he repaired in 1750 to the King's College and university of Aberdeen, where he obtained one of the bursaries or exhibitions which are there annually bestowed upon such candidates for them as display the most accurate knowledge of the Latin language. The small sum of five pounds, however (which none of these bursaries exceed), was still inadequate to the expense of residence in college; but our young student was soon to obtain a more valuable exhibition, and to obtain it likewise by his own merit.

During the long vacation he returned to his master Dr. Findlay, and was by him intrusted with a very desperate case in surgery, of which his management may be said to have laid the foundation of his future fortunes. A female servant of one of the judges of the Court of Session, who, when the court was not sitting, resided in the neighbourhood of Fraserburgh, had been so dreadfully gored by a bull, that hardly any hopes were entertained of her recovery; but Mr. Ramsay, to whose care she was entirely left, treated the wound with such skilful attention, that, contrary to general expectation, his patient recovered. This attracted the judge's notice, who having informed himself of the young man's circumstances and character, recommended him to effectually to Sir Alexander Ramsay of Balmain, that he presented him with a bursary of 15 pounds a-year, which commenced at the next session or term, in the same college.

He now prosecuted his studies with comfort; and though he was detained in college a year longer than is usual, being obliged, upon his acceptance of a second bursary, to begin his course anew, he always considered this as a fortunate circumstance, because it gave him the celebrated Dr. Reid three years for his preceptor. To that great and amiable philosopher he so recommended himself by his talents, his industry, and his virtues, that he was honoured with his friendship to the day of his death. Nor was it only to his masters that his conduct recommended him; Sir Alexander Ramsay whom he visited during some of the vacations, was so well pleased with his conversation, that he promised him another bursary, in his gift, of 25l. a-year, to commence immediately on the expiration of that which he enjoyed. This promise he performed in the beginning of the year 1755; and at the solicitation of Dr. Findlay, even paid the money per advance to enable the exhibitor to travel for the purpose of improving himself in his profession.

Thus provided, Mr. Ramsay went to London, and studied surgery and pharmacy under the auspices of Dr. Macaulay; in whose family he lived for two years, carefully and esteemed both by him and by his lady. Afterwards, having passed the usual examination at Surgeons-hall, he served in his medical capacity for several years in the royal navy; but how long he was continued in the station of a mate, or when and by whom he was first appointed surgeon, we have not been able to learn. We can say, however, upon the best authority, that by his humane and diligent discharge of his duty in every station, he endeared himself to the seamen, and acquired the esteem of his officers.

Of his humanity there is indeed one memorable instance, which must not be omitted. Whilst he acted as surgeon of the Arundel, then commanded by Captain (now Vice-admiral Sir Charles) Middleton, a slave-ship on her passage from Africa to the West Indies fell in with the fleet to which the Arundel belonged. An epidemic disease, too common in such vessels, had swept away not only a great number of the unfortunate negroes, but also many of the ship's crew, and among others the surgeon. In this distressing situation the commander of the Guinea ship applied to the English commodore for medical assistance; but not a surgeon or surgeon's mate in the whole fleet, except Mr. Ramsay, would expose himself to the contagion of so dangerous a distemper. Prompted, however, by his own innate benevolence, and fully authorized by his noble beneficent commander, the surgeon of the Arundel, regardless of personal danger, and trusting in that God to whom mercy is more acceptable than sacrifice, went on board the infected ship, visited all the patients, and remained long enough to leave behind him written directions for their future treatment. If a cup of cold water given in charity be entitled to a reward, how much more such an action as this? But the rewards of Christianity are not immediate. Mr. Ramsay indeed escaped the contagion; but on his return to his own ship, just as he had got on the deck, he fell and broke his thigh-bone; by which he was confined to his apartment for ten months, and rendered in a third degree lame through the remainder of his life.

The fearless humanity which he displayed on this occasion gained him the friendship and esteem of Sir Charles Middleton, which no future action of his life had the smallest tendency to impair; but the fracture of his thigh-bone and his subsequent lameness determined him to quit the navy, and once more turn his thoughts towards the church. Accordingly, while the Arundel lay at St Christopher's, he opened his views to some of the principal inhabitants of that island, by whom he was so strongly recommended to the bishop of London, that on his coming home with Sir Charles Middleton, who warmly joined in the recommendation, he was admitted into orders; after which he immediately returned to St Christopher's, where he was presented by the governor to two rectories, valued at 700l. a-year.

As soon as he took possession of his livings, in 1763, he married Miss Rebecca Akers, the daughter of a planter of the best family-connections in the island, and began to regulate his household on the pious plan inculcated in his Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of the African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies. He summoned all his own slaves daily to the prayers of the family, when he took an opportunity of pointing out to them their duty in the plainest terms, reproving those that had done amiss, and commending such as had shown any thing like virtue; but he confessed that his occasions for reproof were more frequent than for commendation. As became his office and character, he inculcated upon others what he practised himself, and knew to be equally the duty of all. "On his first settlement as a minister in the West Indies, he made some public attempts to instruct slaves. He began to draw up some easy plain discourses for their instruction. He invited them to attend on Sundays, at particular hours. He appointed hours at home to instruct such sensible slaves..." as would of themselves attend. He repeatedly exhorted their masters to encourage such in their attendance. He recommended the French custom, of beginning and ending work by prayer. But inconceivable is the littlest-ness with which he was heard, and bitter was the censure heaped on him in return. It was quickly suggested, and generally believed, that he wanted to interrupt the work of slaves, to give them time, forsooth, to say their prayers; that he aimed at the making of them Christians, to render them incapable of being good slaves. In one word, he flood, in opinion, a rebel convict against the interest and majesty of plantership. And as the Jews say, that in every punishment, with which they have been proved, since the bondage of Egypt, there has been an ounce of the golden calf of Horeb; so might he say, that in every instance of prejudice (and they were not a few) with which, till within a year or two of his departure from the country, he was exercised, there was an ounce of his fruitless attempts to improve the minds of slaves. In the bidding prayer, he had inserted a petition for the conversion of those persons. But it was deemed so disagreeable a momento, that several white people, on account of it, left off attending divine service. He was obliged to omit the prayer entirely, to try and bring them back. In short, neither were the slaves, at that time, deafuous of being taught, nor were their masters inclined to encourage them.

That he was hurt by this neglect cannot be questioned, for he had a mind benevolent, warm, and irritable; but he still retained many friends amongst the most worthy members of the community; and as he was conscious of having done nothing more than his duty, he consoled himself with reflecting, that those are "blest whom men revile, and persecute, and speak all manner of evil against falsely, for the sake of the gospel."

Although his serious studies were now theological, he considered himself as answerable to God, his country, and his own family, for a proper use of every branch of knowledge which he possessed. He therefore took the charge of several plantations around him in the capacity of a medical practitioner; and attended them with unremitting diligence, and with great success. Thus he lived till the year 1777, when relinquishing the practice of physic entirely, he paid a visit to the place of his nativity, which he had not seen since 1755. His mother, whose latter days he had made comfortable by a handsome annuity, had been dead for some years; but he rewarded all who had been attentive to her, or in early life serviceable to himself; and he continued the pension to a sister who had a numerous family, for which her husband was unable to provide.

After remaining three weeks in Scotland, and near a year in England, during which time he was admitted into the confidence of Lord George Germaine, secretary of state for the American department, Mr. Ramsay was appointed chaplain to Admiral Barrington, then going out to take a command in the West Indies. Under this gallant officer, and afterwards under Lord Rodney, he was present at several engagements, where he displayed a fortitude and zeal for the honour of his country which would not have disgraced the oldest admiral. To the navy, indeed, he seems to have been strongly attached; and he wrote, at an early period of his life, an Essay on the Duty and Qualifications of a Sea-officer, with such a knowledge of the service as would have done honour to the pen of the most experienced commander. Of the first edition of this essay the profits were by its benevolent author appropriated to the Magdalen and British lying-in hospitals, as those of the second and third (which last was published about the period of which we now write) were to the maritime school, or, in the event of its failure, to the marine society.

Although cared for by both the admirals under whom he served, and having such influence with the latter as to be able to render essential services to the Jews and other persons whom he thought harshly treated at the capture of St. Eustatius, Mr. Ramsay once more quitted the sea-service, and retired to his pastoral charge in the island of St. Christopher's. There, however, though the former animosities against him had entirely subsided, and though his friendship was now solicited by every person of consequence in the island, he remained but a little while. Sick of the life of a planter and of the prospect of slavery around him, he resigned his livings, bade adieu to the island, and returned to England with his wife and family in the end of the year 1781. Immediately on his arrival, he was, through the intercess of his steady friend Sir Charles Middleton, presented to the livings of Telton and Nettlestead in the county of Kent.

Here he was soon determined, by the advice of those whom he most respected, to publish an Essay, which had been written many years before, on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies. The controversy in which this publication involved him, and the acrimony with which it was carried on, are so fresh in the memory of all our readers, that no man who thinks of the narrow limits within which our biographical articles must be confined, will blame us for not entering into a detail of the particulars. Torrents of obloquy were poured upon the benevolent author by writers who were unfair enough to conceal their names; and it must be confessed, that his replies abounded with sarcasms, which the most rational friends to the cause which he supported would not have been sorry to see blotted from his pages. The provocation, however, which he received was great; and Mr. Ramsay, though an amiable, virtuous, and pious man, had a warmth of temper, which, though not deserving of praise, will be censured by none who reflect on the frailties of our common nature. That the particular calumnies propagated against him on this occasion were wholly groundless, it is impossible to doubt, if we admit him to have been possessed of common understanding. When some years ago a story was circulated, of Swift's having, when prebendary of Kilroot, been convicted before a magistrate of an attempt to commit a rape on the body of one of his parishioners, it was thought a sufficient confutation of the calumny to put the retailer of it in mind, that the dean of St. Patrick's, though defeated by the most powerful faction in the kingdom, lampooned without dread, and with great severity, the dean of Ferns for the very crime, of which, had this anecdote been true, he must have been conscious that all Ireland knew himself to be guilty! Such conduct cannot be reconciled to common sense. Had Swift been a ruffian, though he might have been penitent, and reasoned in general terms against giving way to such licentious passions, he would never have satisfied Ramsey, a particular person for the crime of which he himself was found convicted. In like manner, had Mr Ramsey been a tyrant to his own slaves, though he might have argued against slavery in the abstract, on the broad basis of virtue and religion, he never could have arraigned for similar cruelty a number of individuals in the very island which witnessed his own enormities.

But the melancholy part of the narrative is behind. The agitation given to his mind by these calumnies, and the fatigues he underwent in his endeavours to rescue from misery the most helpless portion of the human race, contributed to shorten a life in no common degree useful. He had been for some time afflicted with a pain in his stomach, for which he was prevailed upon, though with great reluctance, to try the effects of air and exercise, by attempting a journey of 100 miles. But in London, being seized with a violent vomiting of blood, he was unable either to proceed or to be removed home; and in the house of Sir Charles Middleton he ended his days, on the 20th of July 1789, amidst the groans of his family, and the tears of many friends.—Thus died a man, of whom it is not too much to say, that "the bleeding of many that were ready to perish came upon him;" for whatever be the fate of the slave-trade (see Slavery), it is certain that his writings have contributed much to meliorate the treatment of slaves. He left behind him a widow and three daughters; and his works, besides those to which we have alluded, consist of a volume of Sermons, preached on board his majesty's ship the Prince of Wales, which show him to have been a matter of true pulpit eloquence; and a Treatise on Signals, which was certainly written, and we think printed, though we know not whether it was ever published.