342 LIFE OF MILLER. 



exotics, and afforded to his countrymen the grati- 

 fication of beholding the finest specimens of vege- 

 tation which a tropical climate can produce, without 

 their being themselves exposed to its scorching and 

 oppressing influence. Thus has he, by the aid of 

 science, changed, as it were, the very climate of his 

 country, so far as his plants were concerned ; and, by 

 an intimate examination into the principles of vege- 

 tation, he has converted the most simple elements 

 of nature into the most beautiful specimens of 

 horticulture.* 



It is needless for the author to attempt to show 

 the numerous advantages that have resulted from 

 the labours of Miller. Medicine, botany, agricul- 

 ture, and manufactures are all indebted to him ; and 

 none will be disposed to deny the advantage of such 

 pursuits, or refuse to them the claim of usefulness. 



Miller, no doubt, possessed talents that peculiarly 

 fitted him for the study in which he was so long 

 engaged. But these talents, though aided by the 

 eminent advantages which he possessed, would not 

 have availed him as they did, unless he had pos- 

 sessed likewise that zeal for his profession which 

 first urged him forward in the career of improve- 

 ment, raised him to the zenith of his fame, and 

 supported him even in the active pursuits of his 

 declining years. 



In a work devoted to the subject of gardening, 

 the author could not refuse to pass what he con- 

 ceives to be a just eulogium on the memory of 

 one, whose acquaintance he had the honour to 



* Improvement on bulbous plants is here particularly 

 alluded to. 



