he was admitted, we know not in what year, into Marischal College, where he went through the ufual courfe of Greek philofophy and mathematics. Being intended for the profesfion of the law, he ferved an apprenticeship to a writer to the Signet in Edinburgh; and to this circumftance, his biographer, differing widely in opinion from Swift concerning the general effects of legal ftudy, attributes his ingenuity in reafoning.

Becoming diffatisfied with the employment of a lawyer, which, he faid, had made him lofe a great part of the Greek that he had learned at college, he entered himself a student of theology, firft in the Univerfity of Edinburgh and afterwards in that of Aberdeen, and redoubled his affiduity to recover the language which he had loft. Not fatisfied with barely attending the prelections of the theological profeffors in the University of Aberdeen, he inftituted a theological club or fociety for the improvement of fuch students, as, like himself, were defirous of combining the pleasures of converfation with the pursuit of facred literature. This club feems to have been admirably calculated for the improvement of the young men who had the happiness to be members of it, and by its regulations did great credit to the judgment of its founder."

On the 11th of June, 1746, Mr. Campbell was licensed by the prefbytery of Aberdeen as a prelectioner or preacher of the gofpel; and, being in 1747, difappointed of a church living through the baleful influence of clanship, he was, next year, prefented to the church of Benchary Ternan, seventeen miles weft from the city of Aberdeen. This prefentation did equal honour to the patron and the prefentee. Sir Alexander Burnett of Leys-the patron-knew nothing of Mr. Campbell, but his fame as a preacher, and his general good character; and confidering patronage as a facred truft, he conferred the living upon a young man of fuch acknowleged merit, without having been folicited to do fo by a fingle individual, who knew even the Chriftian name of the preacher.

It was in the parish of Benchary Ternan, that he first conceived the idea of tranflating the four Gofpels; and in the fame fequeftered place, he composed a part of his Philosophy of Rhetoric.

On the 23d of June, 1757, he was tranflated to one of the churches of Aberdeen, when he became a member of the literary fociety, which was compofed of the professors of the two colleges of which the university of that city confifts. In the year 1759, he was prefented by His Majefty to the office of Principal of Marifchal College, procured for him by Archibald Duke of Argyle, not in confequence of his li

terary

terary eminence, but because he had defcended from the family of Argyle. He foon made it appear, however, that he was worthy of his new dignity. On the 9th of October, 1760, he preached, before the provincial Synod of Aberdeen, a fermon on the fubject of miracles in anfwer to Hume's artful effay; and being requested by his learned audience to publifh that difcourfe, he threw it into the form of a differtation, and gave it to the public in 1763. That differtation, of which the merit has been univerfally acknowleged-ackknowleged even by Hume himself-has had the honour not only of going through feveral editions at home, but also of being tranflated into the French, Dutch, and German languages. Previous to this publication, he had been created D. D. by the univerfity of King's College.

As principal of Marifchal College, and one of the ministers of the city, Dr. Campbell conducted himself in fo exemplary a manner as to gain the love and veneration of all with whom he was connected. On the 26th of June, 1771, he was elected, by the town-council, profeffor of divinity in the college over which he had prefided, with fuch credit to himself, for twelve years; and, in confequence of this appointment, he refigned his paftoral charge as one of the minifters of Aberdeen, though he was ftill obliged to preach every Lord's day in one of the established churches. He increased the duties of the profefforship, improved the plan of theological ftudy, and delivered thofe admirable lectures, of which his biographer gives fo extravagant a character. This compelled him to return to his ftudies, which we are here told he had for fome years neglected, and the fruits of those studies were the preliminary differtations published with his tranflation of the gospels, and the volumes of lectures which are now before us.

In 1766, he published, befides his Philofophy of Rhetoric, in two volumes, a fermon preached on the national faft, of fuch intrinfic merit, that 6,000 copies of it were afterwards printed and circulated, at the defire of Dean Tucker, through America. He published, indeed, at different times, many occafional fermons, which our limits permit us not to enumerate far lefs to characterize; but his greateft, though in our opinion not his happieft, work, was the tranflation of the Gofpels, which, with the preliminary differtations, ifsued from the prefs of Strahan and Cadell, in two vols. 4to. 1789.

After this period he continued to difcharge in that exememplary manner in which he had ever difcharged them, the duties of various offices, till feeling the powers of his nature much weakened, he offered (we know not in what year) to

refign the profefforship of divinity, provided any one of three gentlemen, whom he named, fhould be appointed his fucceffor. The terms were not agreed to by the town-council of Aberdeen, and he continued to hold the office till June 1795, when he refigned it in favour of Dr. William Laurence Brown, who had been driven from the univerfity of Utrecht for his loyalty to the Prince of Orange, and his attachment to his native country. Sometime afterwards His Majefty conferred upon Dr. Campbell a penfion of 300l. a year on condition of his refigning the office of Principal of Marifchal College, in which alfo he was fucceeded by Dr. Brown.

The well-merited bounty of his Sovereign, this great and good man did not long enjoy. On the fecond of April, 1796, a ftroke of pally deprived him of the power of speech, and apparently of all fenfibility; but he lingered not long under this heavy diftrefs, for, though Mr. Keith does not specify the day of his death, he informs us that his funeral fermon was preached by Dr. Brown on the 17th of the fame month in which he was first rendered speechless by the palfy.

Dr. Campbell was married, but feems from the narrative before us to have left no child behind him. From his character, as drawn by his biographer, he appears to have been as amiable in domeftic, as he certainly was refpectable in public, life; and we read, with peculiar fatisfaction, that this acute metaphyfician" highly difapproved of the modern Socinians or rationalifts, as they call themfelves, who attempt to explain away the peculiar doctrines of the Gofpel."

To his biographical sketch of Dr. Campbell, Mr. Keith subjoins a general view of his prelections in theology; from which we learn that he divided the fubject " into two principal heads, viz. theory and practice. By the theory he meant all that was (is) neceffary to be underflood by a young man in point of knowledge; by the practice, all that was (is) neceffary either for a minifter of a parish, or a student of divinity, to enable him to make a proper application of that knowledge, fo as to render it moft beneficial to others and most satisfactory to his own mind.” We know not what is meant by practice, enabling a student of divinity to make a proper application of that knowledge which, as a ftudent, he must be fuppofed not yet to have acquired, and which he is called upon by no duty to communicate to others. "Under the first head, or theory, Dr. Campbell included facred or church hiftory, facred criticifin, and polemic divinity. Under the fecond head, or practice, he included pulpit eloquence, propriety of character in private life, or teaching by example, and propriety of character in public life, or a proper difcharge of public duties, viz. catechizing, preaching, public worship, and adminiftering the facra

ments;

ments; as alfo a faithful difcharge of a minifter's duty, as a member of the Church courts of the Scotch eftablishment."

These are the outlines of a valuable courfe of theological lectures; and yet they have difappointed us. From a Profeffor of Divinity, eminent for his metaphyfical acumen, we should certainly have looked for, at least, one lecture on natural religion, if it had been only to guard the ftudents against being mifled by the ignes fatui of fyftem bearing that title. Whether there be any fyftem of religious truths and religious duties that can be called natural? If there be, to what truths and duties that fyftem extends? and in what fenfe fuch truths and duties are to be confidered as natural ? are queftions of the highest importance, which few men have been better qualified to answer than Dr. Campbell. We are, therefore, aftonished that he should have paffed them without notice, in a course of lectures meant to comprehend all that is necessary to be underfood here, whofe future deftination is to "feed the flock of Chrift," and defend it from "wolves who come in sheep's cloathing."

(To be continued.)

The poems of Allan Ramfay.-A New Edition corrected and enlarged, with a Gloffary.—To which are prefixed a Life of the Author, from authentic Documents; and Remarks on his Poems, from a large View of their Merits.-In two Volumes. 8vo. Cadell and Davis. 1800.

F all the occupations, in which talents and judgment can re no

ble, and certainly few more pleafing, than that of appreciating the merits of a celebrated writer. Not many, comparatively, are the men, whatever their genius may actually have been, who have received any thing like juftice, at the hands of their cotemporaries. It is only when they have paffed from the ftage of life, when the voice of envy, and the jarrings of competition are heard no more, that an after age is enabled to rejudge their exertions, and pronounce with candour. So ftrikingly true is, indeed, the remark, and fo capricious the allotment of literary reputation, that frequently the authors who have obtained the higheft niches in the temple of fame, are not thofe who, while living, were moft fondly idolized, but thofe, on the contrary, who were as ftrangely undervalued by their equals, until they were placed beyond the reach of cenfure or of praife.

The

The prefent editors of the poems of Allan Ramfay (for more than one person we must believe to be concerned in the work) are doubtlefs entitled to no inconfiderable portion of our applaufe, for the elegant and attractive manner in which they have brought forward, in this new edition, the very various, and as unequal compofitions of the Scottish Theocritus. To an author, who, during his life-time, was fo fedulous in collecting and publishing his own pieces, little, if any thing that is new, now remains to be added, after the lapse of more than feventy years: of course, there is little, in regard to original matter, that can be expected to call forth the examination of the critic. But, as the prefent editors have enriched their work with a new biography of their author, and a copious effay on his writings and genius; we are perfuaded we fhall both gratify our readers, and promote the main object of our defign, by giving fome account, not only of the poet himself, but of the merit of thefe his editors; pointing out, at the fame time, as our duty is, the tendency and effects, which the well known celebrity of the one, aided and embellished by the labours of the others, feems calculated to produce.

Allan Ramfay was born, as his prefent biographer informs us, on the 16th of October, 1686, in the parish of Crawfordmoor, in Lanerkfhire.

"A zealous genealogift," he fays, "could easily trace, Ramfay to the family of the Earl of Dalhoufie. His father was Robert Ramfay, who inherited, as it were, the management of Lord Hopeton's lead-mines, in Crawford-moor: his grand-father was Robert Ramfay, a writer in Edinburgh, who had the management of the fame mines his great-grand-father was captain John Ramfay, the fon of Ramfay of Cockpen, who was brother of Ramfay of Dalhousie. Of this genealogy our poet speaks proudly, when he recollects,

Dalhoufe of an auld descent,

My chief, my ftoop, my ornament.-PP. 5. 6.

While yet an infant, Ramfay had the misfortune to lose his father; and the marriage of his mother, which foon after happened, leaving him "without property, or the means of procuring any," he was, in 1701, in the fifteenth year of his age, fent to Edinburgh, and bound apprentice to a wig-maker; an occupation, as we may fuppofe, little fuited to his temper or genius. This profeffion, his laborious biographer is careful to tell us, is not at all the fame as that of a barber; adducing various evidence (by which we are not convinced) in order to prove, that, in the metropolis of Scotland, "the two trades were not co-incident in that age." If they were not then co-incident