Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 7.djvu/23

Rh his earliest English patrons. He was also introduced by the earl of Bute to the prince of Wales, afterwards George III., of whom he painted portraits, both in full length and in profile, which were engraved, the one by Ryland, the other by Woollett. He practised portrait-painting for several years with distinguished success, being deficient, according to Walpole, rather in subjects than in genius. His portraits are distinguished by a calm unaffected representation of nature; and he is universally allowed to have contributed, with Reynolds, to raise this branch of art in Britain. He had not long been in practice before he acquired considerable wealth, which, it appears, he used in a liberal spirit. When his father died in 1757, in somewhat embarrassed circumstances, he paid his debts, settling, at the same time, a pension on his unmarried sister, Janet Ramsay, who survived till 1804.

In 1767, Ramsay was appointed portrait-painter to the king and queen, which brought him an immense increase of employment, as portraits of their majesties were perpetually in demand for foreign courts, ambassadors, and public bodies at home. He was, therefore, obliged to engage no fewer than five assistants to forward his pictures, among whom was David Martin, the predecessor of Raeburn. In consequence of his enlightened and amusing conversation, he became a great favourite with their majesties, the queen being particularly pleased with him on account of his ability to converse in German, in which he had not a rival at court, save amongst her own domestics. The state nobles, and other public leaders of that time, were also fond of the conversation of Ramsay, who is said to have taken more pleasure in politics and literature than in his art, and wrote many pieces on controverted subjects, with the signature, "Investigator," which were ultimately collected into a volume. He corresponded, too, with Voltaire and Rousseau, both of whom he visited when abroad; and his letters are said to have been elegant and witty. "Ramsay, in short," says Mr A. Cunningham, "led the life of an elegant accomplished man of the world, and public favourite." He was frequently of Dr Johnson's parties, who said of him, "You will not find a man in whose conversation there is more instruction, more information, and elegance, than in Ramsay's." He was noted in his own country for having, after the battle of Prestonpans, written an imitation of the song of Deborah in scripture, which he put into the mouth of a Jacobite young lady of family, and which displayed considerable powers of satire; and in the Edinburgh Annual Register for 1813, will be found a burlesque on Horace's "Integer Vitæ," which shows such a dexterous union of the Latin rhythm with the English rhyme, as none but a man of a singular kind of genius could have effected.

In consequence of an accident which injured his arm, Ramsay retired from business about the year 1775. He then lived several years in Italy, amusing himself chiefly with literary pursuits. His health gradually sinking, he formed the wish to return to his native land; but the motion of the carriage brought on a slow fever by the way, and he died at Dover, August 10, 1784, in the seventy-first year of his age.

John Ramsay, the son of the painter, entered the army, and rose to the rank of major-general. His two daughters, Amelia and Charlotte, were respectively married to Sir Archibald Campbell of Inverness, and colonel Malcolm o Ford farm, Surrey.