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undertaken to it from the most distant parts of India, the annual number visiting the great pagoda being estimated at 30,000.
RAM MOHUN ROY, rajah, a Hindoo scholar, born in the district of Burdwan, Bengal, about 1774, died near Bristol, England, Sept. 27, 1833. His family were strict Brahmans, but having studied the Koran he early renounced polytheism. In 1803, after the death of his father, Ram Mohun Roy published several pamphlets in the native and foreign languages, to show that the Brahmans had fallen away from their original faith, for which an attempt was made to deprive him of caste. He translated into Bengalee and Hindostanee the Vedanta, or body of Hindoo theology as contained in the Vedas, afterward prepared an abridgment of it, and in 1816 translated the abridgment into English. In conjunction with two other natives he published the "Bengal Herald," an English newspaper, and in 1820 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 he advanced Unitarian opinions, which involved him for several years in controversy with Dr. Marshman and other missionaries. He believed in the divine mission of Christ, and considered Christianity consistent with Brahmanism. He distinguished himself by his exertions to abolish the practice of suttee, or female immolation. In 1830 he was accredited to the British court by the titular sovereign of Delhi, to make a representation of grievances, and was successful in his mission. He visited England twice, and was buried there.
RAMORINO, Girolamo (according to some, properly Giovanni Pietro Remorino), a military adventurer, born in Genoa about 1792, executed in Turin, May 22, 1849. He was a natural son of a French officer, entered the ranks of the French army, and in the campaign of 1809 against Austria served as a common soldier, and in that of 1812 against Russia as captain of artillery. In 1815 the emperor appointed him officer of ordnance, and after the second restoration he retired to Savoy. He was one of the leaders of the insurrection in Piedmont in 1821. After the failure of the movement he fled to France, and at the beginning of the Polish insurrection of 1830 hastened to Warsaw to offer his services. He was first made colonel, and then general of a corps with which he gained numerous advantages, and his success alone saved him from the condemnation of a court martial on account of his frequent disobedience of orders. After the fall of Warsaw he went to France. In 1834 he commanded in the invasion of Savoy planned by Mazzini. At the beginning of Charles Albert's second campaign, in 1849, Chrzanowski placed him at the head of the fifth division, with orders to prevent the advance of the enemy from Pavia. Ramorino, mistaking the design of the Austrians, left the N. bank of the Po undefended and the direct road from Pavia to Turin open. The fatal issue of the battle of Novara, March 23, 1849, was the consequence. He was deprived of his command, arrested at Arona by the national guards, tried before a court martial on a charge of insubordination, and sentenced to be shot. He justified his course on the ground of the feebleness of his division, which rendered it impossible for him to prevent the advance of the Austrian army.
RAMSAY. I. Allan, a Scottish poet, born at Leadhills, Lanarkshire, Oct. 15, 1686, died in Edinburgh, Jan. 7, 1758. He was originally a wig maker in Edinburgh, and his first poem was written at the age of 26. He subsequently published on single or half sheets many poems on local or familiar topics. His first poem of considerable length was a continuation of King James's "Christ's Kirk on the Green" (1716). About this time he became a bookseller, being at the same time an industrious editor and author. In 1721 appeared a 4to edition of his collected poems. This was succeeded by his "Fables and Tales," "The Fair Assembly," "Health," a poem inscribed to the earl of Stair, and the "Tea Table Miscellany" (4 vols., 1724), a collection of songs, Scottish and English, which passed through 12 editions in a few years. His most important work was "The Gentle Shepherd" (1725), portions of which had appeared in his first volume of poems. He now removed to a larger shop, which soon became the resort of the wits and literary men of Edinburgh, and in which he established the first circulating library ever opened in Scotland. His last original work of importance was a collection of fables (1730). He retired from business in 1755. A complete edition of his poems, with a biography by George Chalmers, was published in 2 vols. 8vo in 1800 (new ed., with an essay on Ramsay's genius by Lord Woodhouslee, Paisley, 1874). II. Allan, a portrait painter, son of the preceding, born in Edinburgh in 1713, died in Dover, Aug. 10, 1784. He was a man of literary culture, settled in London, and was a visitor at the house of Dr. Johnson. Though raised to a momentary rivalry with Sir Joshua Reynolds, his works are not above mediocrity.
RAMSAY, Andrew Crombie, a British geologist, born in Glasgow, Jan. 31, 1814. He was early connected with the geological survey of Great Britain, of which he became a director in 1845, and director general in 1872. He was appointed professor of geology at University college, London, in 1848, and at the royal school of mines in 1851, which latter office he still holds (1875). He was president of the geological society in 1862-'3, and in 1872 succeeded Sir Roderick Murchison as director general of the museum Of practical geology. His works include "The Geology of Arran" (1841); "Geology of North Wales" (1858); "Geological Map of England and Wales" (1859); "The Old Glaciers of North Wales and Switzerland"
