oints out that of industry the certain
consequence is plenty, a gradual enlargement of all the comforts of
society, the advancement of the useful, and the encouragement of the
elegant arts, the cultivation of talents, the refinement of manners, the
increase of population--all that contributes either to national
prosperity or to the rational enjoyments of life. The composition and
structure of the poem are less deserving of encomium than the wisdom of
its precepts. Like _Content_, it is tedious and dull, yet there is one
vigorous passage in it, beginning: 'A slothful pride! a kingdom's
greatest curse,' and dealing with the evils arising from the separation
of the classes, which has often been quoted. Nor must we forget _The
Vision_, which in the opinion of many must rank amongst the best of
Ramsay's productions. Published originally in the _Evergreen_, over the
initials 'A. R. Scot,' for some time it was believed to be the work of a
Scots poet, Alexander Scott, who lived in the reign of Queen Mary. But
Janet Ramsay put the matter beyond a doubt before her death by declaring
the poem to have been written by her father. The merits of _The Vision_
are considerable. The language is majestic and dignified, the ideas
lofty, and the characters drawn with vigour and precision. Had the
spelling not been so archaic, the poem would have been much more popular
than it is.

For Horace, Ramsay always professed a deep admiration. Upon the style of
the great Roman satirist he sought to model his 'Epistles,' which
undoubtedly deserve something more than mere passing mention. In them
Ramsay endeavours to give the friend, whom at the moment he addresses, a
glimpse into the pursuits with which, for the time being, he was
occupying himself. Taking this for his text, he digresses into apt and
amusing dissertations on any subject of public, municipal, or social
interest that might be engrossing the attention of the town. His
epistles to Hamilton of Gilbertfield, to James Arbuckle, to the Earl of
Dalhousie, to Mr. Aikman, to Sir W. Bennet, to William Starrat, to
Joseph Burchet, to Somerville the poet, to Gay, to Clerk of Penicuik,
and others, are altogether delightful--happy, cheery, humorous, gossipy
productions, neither too full of fun to be frivolous, nor too didactic
to be tiresome. Take, for example, his epistle to Robert Yarde of
Devonshire,--how apt are his allusions, how racy his tit-bits of local
news! He addresses the epistle

'