Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 47.djvu/244

 tion (1878), it had become a fairly large volume. Since the author's death a new edition has been prepared by Mr. H. B. Woodward. Ramsay was also a contributor to the ‘Saturday Review’ and other periodicals.

As a geologist his heart was in the physical side of the subject. He had no particular liking for palæontology, and almost a contempt for petrology, which sometimes led him into serious theoretical errors, thereby impairing the value of his work. To him the question of absorbing interest was the history and origin of the natural features of a district. In recording its stratigraphy he was a master; in the more speculative task of accounting for its scenery he was always suggestive. Perhaps a certain mental impetuosity sometimes carried him beyond the limits of cautious induction; but even those who criticised never failed to admit that his work bore the impress of genius. Among his more noteworthy papers may be named those on the ‘Denudation of South Wales’ (‘Mem. Geol. Survey,’ vol. i.), on the ‘Old Glaciers of Switzerland and North Wales’ (‘Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers,’ 1st ser.), and his contributions to the ‘Journal of the Geological Society of London’ on the ‘Red Rocks of England’ (two papers), on the ‘River Courses of England and Wales,’ on the ‘Physical History of the Rhine and of the Dee,’ and on the ‘Glacial Origin of Certain Lakes in Switzerland, the Black Forest, &c.’ (‘Journal,’ 1862, p. 185). With this last subject—that certain lake basins have been scooped out by glaciers, now melted away—Ramsay's name is inseparably connected. Few scientific papers have ever excited more interest or more controversy. The latter is not yet decided; but perhaps it is not unjust to say that the hypothesis has failed to gather its most ardent supporters from the ranks of those who have an intimate personal knowledge of the Alps. Still, whatever be its ultimate fate, the paper, beyond all question, was a most valuable contribution to a very difficult subject, and gave an extraordinary stimulus to the study of physiography.

Ramsay, however, was no mere geologist. Frank and manly in bearing, his well-cut features beamed with intelligence and candour. Ready in conversation, he possessed a wide range of knowledge, boyish exuberance of spirits, a rare simplicity and modesty of nature, sterling integrity, and generous sympathy. He was interested in every aspect of nature, an antiquary, and a lover of the best English literature. He could lecture, speak, and write well; could take his part at sight in a chorus, and could improvise humorous verse. He delighted in the open air, was a walker of unusual endurance, and in his forty-seventh year, after a breakdown in health, was one of the first party that climbed the Lyskamm. A portrait is in the possession of the family, and a bust at the Geological Society.

[Obituary notices appeared in the course of 1891–2 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, the Journal of the Geological Society, the Geological Magazine, Nature, and other scientific periodicals; but these are now superseded by the excellent and sympathetic memoir written by Sir Archibald Geikie (1895).]

RAMSAY, ANDREW MICHAEL (1686–1743), known in France as the Chevalier de Ramsay, was the son of a baker in Ayr, where he was born on 9 July 1686. He was educated at a school in Ayr and at the university of Edinburgh. After leaving the university he acted as tutor for some time to the two sons of the Earl of Wemyss, and about 1706 he went with the English auxiliaries to the Netherlands during the Spanish succession war. While on the continent he made the acquaintance of the theological mystic Poiret, and his religions views having, through Poiret's influence, undergone a change, he, after having left the army, went in 1710 to pay a visit to Fénelon, archbishop of Cambray. By the persuasion of Fénelon he entered the catholic church, and having gained Fénelon's special friendship, he remained with him till his death in January 1715. Fénelon left Ramsay all his papers. On Fénelon's death he went to Paris, became tutor to the Duc de Chateau-Thierry, and was made a knight of the order of St. Lazarus. While at Paris he also worked at his ‘Vie de Fénelon,’ which was published at the Hague in 1723, and was at once translated into English by N. Hooke. Its appearance brought him under the notice of the Pretender, James Francis Edward, who had been on terms of friendship with Fénelon. At the Pretender's request, Ramsay in 1724 went to Rome to be tutor to the Pretender's two sons, Prince Charles Edward and Henry, afterwards cardinal of York. He remained there for about a year and three months, the Pretender's alienation from his wife being probably the occasion of his resignation. After his return to Paris a proposal was made to him to become tutor to the Duke of Cumberland, third son of George II, but this he declined. In 1728, with the special permission of George II, he, however, undertook a journey to England, when he was chosen a member of the Royal Society, and received