304 



MILLAR 



Millar, 

 John. 



for his various lectures, lie afterwards found, that not- 

 withstanding his public duties, it was in his power to 

 do justice to such younjr men as might be entrusted to 

 his care as domestic pupils; and to their instruction he 

 accordingly dedicated a very considerable part of his 

 time. 



Such were his regular and stated occupations dur- 

 ing the winter. For some years after he was settled 

 at Glasgow, he was in the habit of spending a great 

 part of the summer with his father, at Hamilton ; 

 but as his family increased, this plan became more in- 

 convenient ; and his uncle, Mr. Millar of Milheugh, 

 ever attentive to the comfort of his nephew, gave him 

 the small farm of Whitemoss, near the village of Kil- 

 bride, about seven miles from Glasgow, where he 

 amused himself with agricultural improvements. 



In the year 178.5, Mr. Millar lost both his uncle and 

 his father, who uied within a few days of each other, 

 and in consequence, he succeeded to the property of 

 Milheugh, where he had an opportunity of gratifying 

 his taste for agricultural pursuits and rural embellish- 

 ment. During his residence in the country, however, 

 he also employed a great part of his leisure in perusing 

 such books as his other avocations in winter prevented 

 him from reading, and in preparing his own works for 

 the press. In 1771, he published his treatise On (he 

 Origin of th- Distinction of Ranks, which was very 

 favourably received, both in this country and on the 

 Continent ; and in 1787, he gave to the world his His- 

 torical View of the English Government, from the Set- 

 tlement of the Saxons in Britain to the Accession of the 

 House of Stewart. These two are the only works to 

 which Mr. Millar prefixed his name ; nor does it ap- 

 pear that he published any other tracts, except one 

 or two anonymous pamphlets on political subjects, and 

 a few articles in the Analytical Review. 



Amidst his other avocations, Mr. Mill.-ir found time 

 for some limited practice as a lawyer, giving opi- 

 nions, as a counsel, previous to the commencement of 

 law-suits, and acting occasionally as an arbiter. He 

 was also in the habit, for many years, of acting as coun- 

 sel for criminals at the circuit courts of justiciary, 

 where he exhibited uncommon skill and acuteness in 

 the examination of witnesses, and a powerful and 

 manly eloquence in his addresses to the jury. 



Mr. Millar paid two visits to London, one in 1774>, 

 and another in 1 792 ; at which latter period he arrived 

 in sufficient time to be present at several very import- 

 ant debates in both houses of parliament ; and he also 

 enjoyed the satisfaction of becoming acquainted with 

 Mr. Fox, and the other leaders of Opposition, to whose 

 principles he was warmly attached. The chief part 

 of his time, however, was spent in the society of his 

 former pupils, Lord Lauderdale and Mr. Adam, now 

 Lord Chief Commissioner of the Jury Court in Scot- 

 land, and in the family of his old and much esteemed 

 friend, Dr. Moore, author of Zeluco and Edward. 



Mr. Millar had been uniformly zealous in his attach- 

 ment to the party of the Whigs ; and the French Revo- 

 lution, at its commencement, rivetted his attention, and 

 in its early progress excited his fondest hopes. When 

 a similar spirit seemed to be called into action in this 

 country, by the force of example. Mr. Millar became a 

 member of the association known by the name of the 

 Society of the Friends of the People, and he took a warm 

 interest in all the political discussions of the times. Of 

 course, he was decidedly hostile to all the measures of 

 Mr. Pitt's administration, and in particular to those 



connected with the contest between this country and 

 revolutionary France, which, with many other indivi- 

 duals, he regarded as injurious to the cause of liber- 

 ty- 



In 1791) he lost his second daughter, who was car- 

 ried off by consumption ; and in 1795, his wife died 

 after a long and painful illness. In the spring of the 

 last mentioned year, his son, who had passed advocate, 

 and got into business at the bar, emigrated to America ; 

 but soon after his arrival, he was struck with a.C'p-de- 

 soleil, of which he almost instantly expired. This suc- 

 cession of melancholy events in his family, could not 

 fail to produce a deep impression on the sensible mind 

 of Mr. Millar ; but after the first shock, he seemed to 

 have recovered his self possession. About the end of the 

 year 1799, he was himself seized with a very danger- 

 ous inflammatory complaint, from which, however, af- 

 ter a few weeks of severe indisposition, he appeared 

 perfectly recovered. In the month of May, 1801, he 

 was again taken ill, after having exposed himself for 

 several hours to a hot sun ; and his complaint soon as- 

 sumed the appearance of the most dangerons pleurisy, 

 which terminated his life on the 30th of that month, 

 in the 66th year his age. 



In his person, Professor Millar was about the middle 

 stature ; of a strong, active, and athletic, rather than 

 an elegant form ; and his countenance was uncommon- 

 ly animated and expressive. He was very temperate 

 in his mode of living, and regular in his habits of ex- 

 ercise. His manner, upon first entering a room, was 

 not altogether free from formality and constraint ; but 

 this was only of momentary continuance. He possess- 

 ed a wide range of information ; and his conversation, 

 whether upon subjects of a lighter or a graver kind, 

 was lively, animated, and improving. He was com- 

 pletely conversant with literature and the belles leltrcs, 

 took great delight in the Classics, and was familiarly 

 acquainted with English, French, and Italian poetry. 

 He was fond of argument, and exhibited great skill and 

 dexterity in debate. On political subjects he always 

 argued with zeal ; and, towards the latter end of his 

 life, with a considerable degree of keenness. In his 

 political professions he was sincere, consistent, and dis- 

 interested ; and the open and decided expression of hia 

 sentiments excited no feeling of personal hostility, even 

 in the breasts of those who differed most widely from 

 him in their opinions. 



The style of his writings is very different from what 

 might have been expected by those who had felt the vi- 

 vacity of his conversation, and the copious diction of 

 his extemporary eloquence. His language, as has been 

 well observed by one of his friends, is the expression, 

 rather than the ornament of his thoughts. Clear, ac- 

 curate, and precise, it never fails to convey his ideas 

 with a distinctness which precludes all misapprehen- 

 sion ; but it frequently conveys them in a manner nei- 

 ther the most striking, nor the most alluring to the 

 reader. Simple correctness and accuracy seem to be 

 the only qualities he aimed at, and attained ; even 

 when he rises from plain narration to warmth and en- 

 ergy, the force is almost always in the principal idea, 

 seldom in the accessaries. It is owing to this cause, 

 perhaps, that his works are less popular than they 

 would otherwise have been, had the style of the author 

 been a little more attractive. 



See Mr. Craig's account of the life of Professor Mil- 

 lar, prefixed to the edition of his treatise On the Origin 

 of lite Distinction of Ranks, published in 1 806. (z) 



6 



Millar, 

 John. 



