1 J 



MILLAI8, JOUK BVKBETT, A.R.A. 



MII.LKI:, iirnii. 



It wu la 1840 that the associated 'Brathm* nude their first 

 Mblic Mwy in iMr nrwlya lopu-d manner ; when Mr. Millais sent 

 to the lioysl A.Umj bis 'Isabella,' and Mr. Hunt bis -Kienri;' 

 but tie name ud ti thing wtn alike regard*! u * juvenile freak 

 asd rather wondered si than aerioiulr examined. In the exhibition 

 of the following year however tb7 reappeared in larger number and 

 tr atcr illH"i. and it became evident that thero wan deliberate 

 psjrnai* and nnqucttionaMe ability in the movement. Mr. MilUis 

 on this occasion contributed to the Academy exhibition ' Ferdinand 

 luitJ by Arirl,' and a nanmWs work. but which wo* really a repre- 

 anteUon of the ebild Jeu In the shop of bin reputed father 

 Joseph the Carpenter; and ill character may almost be gathered 

 from the explanatory text or motto in tha catalogue " And one 

 ball My unto lira, ' What ar- these wounds in thy hands ! ' Then 

 he thall answer, 'Thoee with which I wu wounded iu the home of 

 my Kiiend* : " it wu in fact detipied in the most extravsgant phase 

 of that 'religious tymboliam' hich the 'Brethren' in their early 

 carter retarded thenitelves is specially called to net forth. As might 

 have Ixm anticipated from its very mediaeval manner of looking at, 

 acriptural incident, or rather an incident iu which scriptural 

 personages were concerned, tbe picture wu eagerly panegyrised alike 

 by medncTil ecclesioaologists and ardent lovers of novelty, but found 

 little favour ith art-crii ics, whose opinions had been formed upon 

 the ftmly of the works of what are usually regarded as the great 

 masters of art, or even with tbo general public. It served howeve r the 

 great purpose of bringing the name of the painter prominently 

 before the public eye, aud of causing his next works to lie looked 

 forward to with much curioiity. In 1851 Mr. MillaU's pictures in 

 the Royal Academy Exhibition were, 'Tmnyson'a Mariana,' 'The 

 Woodman's Daughter,' aud the 'Return of the Dove to the Ark.' 

 To rn-ucitate the religious depth and sincerity of the early Italian 

 master* before it bad been corrupted by Uie worldly spirit of 

 BalaelU and bis famous contemporaries and successors, bad been 

 announced u one of the grand objects of the young band of painters ; 

 and Millais in his 'Christ in the shop of the Carpenter,' and the 

 'Rrturn of tbe Dove,' seemed to be resolutely entering upon the 

 titrrprise. But whether his heart failed, or he took another measure 

 of I.U own powern-or rave freer scope to hU natural inclinations 

 whatever in i-hoit be the reason certain it is that he has not (at 

 least in any picture* public-ly exhibited) recurred to these lofty themes, 

 but contented himself with a lowlier aim and a more subdued method 

 of ttvatmcct. Ilia subsequent pictures in the Academy exhibition 

 (to which we believe he has confined himself) have been ' The 

 Huguenot.' and ' Ophelia,' 1852 ; ' The. Order of Relcaee,' and ' The 

 Proscribed Kojali-t,' ISiS; 'The Rescue,' 1855; and Tea. 

 eluded,' ' Autumn Leaves,' < L'Knfaut du Regiment,' and the ' Blind 

 . ' 



The style of Mr. Mills!*, like that of tbe Pre-liophnelitei generally. 

 is marked by an extrcm.lv emphatic rendering of the details, aud 

 especially of the foreground details ; by absence of atmospheric 

 influence and consequent unsubdued richners of colour; and by 

 stu/li.d nnoonthnets of form. But it has many distinguishing and 

 some redeeming qualities. He displays great manipulative skill, and 

 be is fond of displaying it : thus in bis flesh-tints, where Titian and 

 tbe great colourisU laboured to blend their colours iu ono soft mellow 

 hue, unsnggsslive of thought of brush or colour, but rmooth, glowing, 

 s-.d meltiug aa fleah itself, he effects bis purpose by liboured stip- 

 pling of harsh yellows and purple* with a fine pencil, every stroke of 

 which U made palpable, Doubtless it is done with great ingenuity, 

 but like most Uicks of execution it is curious rather than felicitous ; 

 though ran to catch the applause of the uninitiated. But throughout 

 Mr. fiilbis seems, in his anxiety to show his acorn of old rales, eager 

 to call attention to bis tools. His reading of a well-known axiom 

 app. ars to be- "Tbe perfection of art is to di-pUy art" His great excel- 

 nee since his abandonment of 'religious art,' is his invention. 

 Some of hi pictures are in their conception genuine pictorial poems; 

 not translations into the lister art of some selected passage from a 

 pat or eren from a historian or rocinncist, but a happy poetic 

 feculent ronerived in the painter's own mind and at once written in 

 form and colour on the canvass. Bnch specially, and, allowing for 

 peculiarities of manner, told in the happiest and most perspicuous 

 way. arc Tbe Order of lielea**,' BO well known by the engraving, and 

 L Kuf.ul du Hrgimenf-a little child that baa been wounded by a 

 atray shot and b.s had iu wound bandaged, and beat laid asleep on 

 the monttawnt of some grim warrior of tha olden time, by a kind- 

 Marted mtuketeer, who ii now once more busy defending tho church 

 into wb.rh he sod bis comrades have made good their retreat Such 

 %,' U ^jL di ^ ttrid ** "ation ami all, elation, aro 'Th- 

 *, Th Huguenot,' and 'The Blind flirl.' But in tome of 

 these omi-po*tie wl.j-cts. aa for instance in the Peace Concluded,' 

 th OVcUtion and tbe mannerism predominate to such a degree as to 

 rwdw the Mure almost painful. From various indications it would 

 \, , . MUUU *" ** on a new career as a painter. If 

 S P L*V U ~," <*""' ?-* ~t anything, it is plain 

 MU.au U no Ior a 1're-KaphaaliU. Yet his late>t exhi- 



> t. retains a 



that 



^* old turn of 

 his position. If he U to paint 



u be appears now to have set himself the task the men he seea 

 about him, and those who have but recently passed away, and to 

 embody in form and colour the poetry and the instruction to be 

 found in ordinary life, it in plain that to produce the fullest result, 

 the uaturolUm which he so ostentatiously affects in tbe mere details 

 inii't be carried into the personages of the acetic ; and he will do 

 well to remember that truth and beauty of form, and grace, elevation, 

 and purity of expression, are essential to works which shall havo n 

 hating instead of an ephemeral popularity. Mr. Millais was elected 

 an associate of the Royal Academy in 1853. 



Ml 1. 1. All, JOHN (Professor), son of the Rev. James Millar, 

 of the parish of Shotts, was born in that p-iri-h on the '2-n.l 

 of .luno 1 ":!.">. Two years later, his father was translated to the parish 

 i.f Hamilton in tho Hume presbytery, aud young Millar wa- nimt tbe 

 same time placed under the charge of hi* uncle, Mr. John Millar of 

 Hilhaugh, in the neighbouring pariah of 111 mtyre. At tho age of 

 seven he was put by his uncle to tho school of Hamilton, and thence 

 sent to Glasgow college, where he distinguished himself by his diligence 

 and attention. He wu at first designed for the church ; but wliile at 

 college he adopted tbe resolution of studying for the b-ir. On leaving 

 college he became preceptor to the eldest sou of Lord Kan 

 whose family he spent two years, during which he formed an intimacy 

 with David Hume and other eminent individuals. On the '.'th of 

 February 1760 Millar passed advocate; but the cares of a family noon 

 compelled him to abandon bis prospects at the bar; and an opportune 

 vacancy having occurred in the chair of civil law in Glasgow college, 

 lie applied for and obtained that situation the following year (1701). 

 He now devoted himself entirely to the duties of his new sphere, and 

 by bis conduct in it raised the class from a very low aud languid 

 condition to be the most popular of the law chairs iu the kin 

 " His manner was familiar and animated, approaching; more nearly to 

 'ban enthusiasm; and the facts which ho had to state, or the 

 elementary positions he bad to lay down, were dven iu the rim pie, 

 clear, and unembarrassed diction in which a well-bred man would tell 

 a story or deliver an opinion in society. All objections that occurred 

 were stated iu a forcible, clear, and lively manner ; and tbe answers, 

 which were often thrown into a kind of dramatic form, were delivered 

 with all the simplicity, vivacity, and easy phraseology of good couver- 

 Kit i. m. His illustrations were always familiar, and often amusing; 

 and while nothing could be more forcible or conclusive than the 

 reasonings which he employed, the tone and style iu which they were 

 delivered gave them an easy and attractive air, and imparted to a 

 profound and learned discussion the charms of an animate I and into- 

 resting conversation." ('Edinburgh Review,' vol. iii.) But this was 

 not all. It was also in no small degree owing to his practice of examin- 

 ing hi* pupils, and prescribing essays on subjects previously discussed 

 in his lectures, that Millar acquired the high reputation as a profe-sor 

 of law which still attaches to his name. Every day before he began 

 his addrcs* from the chair be endeavoured to ascertain by examination 

 of his pupils whether they had followed his reasoning on the preceding 

 day ; and when the lecture was over be remained some time iu the 

 class-room to converse with such as were desirous of farther iufor- 

 By engaging with them in an easy dialogue he removed 

 obscurities and corrected misapprehensions; and the students w ,-ro 

 accustomed to acknowledge that it wu at these meetings they derived 

 the full benefit of the lectures. (Jardiue's ' Outlines of a Philosophical 

 Education,' p. 463.) Mr. Millar had also the good fortune, as we may 

 call it, of long having ecarco any rival chair to contend with ; for from 

 the time of Mr. Krskine's resignation iu 1765 onwards to the end of 

 the year 1786, when Dr. David Hume was appointed, the chair of 

 Scots law at Edinburgh was filled by Professor Wallace, who bad too 

 many employments to allow of his attention being devoted to any. 

 Such accordingly was the success which attended Mr. Millar's prelec- 

 tions, that his pupils rapidly increased iu number, and the profeocor 

 of i ivil law in the Edinburgh college, after tei ing his students propor- 

 tionally diminished, was obliged to abandon tbe practice, which had 

 till then prevailed iu his class, of lecturing in Latin, with the hope of 

 retaining the remainder. 



Although most of his lectures were attended with interest, yet 

 remarking a more than ordinary degree of attention manifest d to 

 such of them us referred to the progress of society and government, 

 Mr. Millar was induced from this circumstance to publish a short 

 treatise on tbe subject This he did in 1771, and the work was 

 favourably received. Some yean afterwards he began to turn his 

 attention in a particular manner to tbe nature and origin of the English 

 government; and in 1787 ho published his 'Historical View of the 

 English Government, from tbe settlement of tbo Saxons in Britain 

 to the accession of tbo House of Stuart,' a work which has not how- 

 ever secured for itself tbe character of an authority. Mr. Millar 

 continued in good health till about the und of tha year 1799, when he 

 was seized with an inflammatory complaint, from which however liv in 

 a certain degree recovered ; but having about a year and a half after 

 exposed himself to cold, he wu seized with a pleurisy, of which ho 

 died 80th of May 1801. 



MILLKH, HUGH, an eminent geologist. He was born at Cromarty, 

 in tbe north of Scotland, on the 12ih of October 1802. He ws 

 descended from a humble family, who had been long known in tho 

 parish of Cromarty u sailors. His father became eventually possessed 



