M I L 
fluently with the aftiftance of mere notes only. By this 
method his leftures were rendered full of variety and ani¬ 
mation ; and at the conclufion of each he was accuftomed 
to explain the difficulties and objeftions that had pre¬ 
ferred themfelves to his pupils, in a free and familiar con- 
verfation. His bufmefs as profefibr was that of comment¬ 
ing upon the Inftitutions and Pandefts of juftinian ; but 
to this he fubjoined a courfe of lectures on jurifprudence, 
or the general principles of law, as exilting in the codes 
of all civilized nations : he likewife employed an hour 
thrice a-week in leftures on government, and twice a-week 
on the law of Scotland. A fpirit of invelligation had 
given birth to a literary fociety among the clergy and 
profefl'ors of Glafgow, of which Mr. Millar became an 
aftive member. Few men were more ready at difcuflions. 
of the philofophical kind; and all the branches of fcience 
connefted with the ftudy of the human mind were ex¬ 
tremely familiar to him. In 1771 he publilhed a treatife 
on “The Origin of the Diftinftion of Ranks,” which 
contained a view of the changes produced in the feveral 
relations of fociety by the gradual progrefs of civilization 
and improvement. It was well received by the public, 
and went through feveral editions ; and a tranflation of 
it into French made it known and efteemed upon the 
continent. His enquiries into the Englifh government, 
which made an important part of his leftures; together 
with his zealous attachment to the principles of liberty, 
induced him, in 1787, to publilh “ An Hiltorical View of 
the Englilli Government, from the Settlement of the 
Saxons in Britain, to the Acceffion of the Houfe of Stuart.” 
In this work there is much refearch into the I'emote pe¬ 
riods of this government, and many difquifitions into the 
nature and limits of its conftituent parts; and, though 
the manner of treating the fubjeft was too profound to be 
popular, its intriniic merit carried it through three edi¬ 
tions. Of the ftyle of thefe works it is fufficient praile, 
confidering their ftriftly-didaftic character, to fay, in the 
words of his biographer, that “ perhaps it would be im- 
poffible to nnd a fentence which can require a fecond pe- 
rufal to be diftinftly underftood.” 
Among the parties which have divided the prefent reign, 
Mr. Millar attached himfelf exclufively to that of the 
Whigs, and particularly to that branch of them which 
had firft the marquis of Rockingham, and afterwards 
Mr. Fox, at their head. With the utmoft purity of mo¬ 
tives, and the mod independent fpirit, he warmly fup- 
ported their principles through all the viciftitudes of ad- 
miniftration and public opinion. He was always fulpi- 
cious of power; and, feeling a full conviftion of the truth 
of the declaration of the houfe of commons concerning 
the increafe of the power of the crown, he was a zealous 
friend to all attempts for reftraining it. It was probably 
in confequence of his jealoufy of authority, that, in the 
limited degree in which he ftill followed the profeffion of 
an advocate, he made it a conftant praftice to appear in 
the circuits as council for criminals ; and few pleader's 
furpaffed him in the acutenefs with which he examined 
evidence, and the force with which he addrelfed the feel¬ 
ings of juries. His abhorrence of flavery naturally led 
him to take an aftive part in the efforts for the abolition 
of the flave-trade ; and he was a conftant attendant upon 
all the meetings held at Glafgow by the friends of hu¬ 
manity for that purpofe. The fame principles led him to 
rejoice in the commencement of the French revolution, 
in which great event his fanguine difpofition beheld an 
opening for the rapid advance of mankind in focial im¬ 
provement. To its caufe he remained attached, even after 
a marked deteftation of it was become the teft of loyalty 
and patriotif'm in this country, and when he flood aim off 
alone, in his circle, as its advocate. 
Mr. Miliar’s refearches were by no means confined to 
politics and law. . He was an able and profound metaphy- 
fician : his acquaintance with the works of imagination, 
both ancient and modern, was alfo very extenlive; and 
his criticifms were at once ingenious and lolid, evincing 
Vol. XV. No. 1051. 
M I L 989 
an admirable union of acutenefs of underftanding with 
an elegant and correft tafte. Fie died on the 30th of May 
1801, at die age of lixty-nine, leaving behind him feveral 
manulcripts, from which, in 1803, were printed, in two 
volumes, his pofthumous works, confifting of a conti¬ 
nuation of his Hiftorical View of the Englifh Government. 
from the Acceffion of the Houfe of Stuart, and fome fe- 
parate diflertations connefted with the fubjeft. Account 
of the Life and Writings of John Millar, prefixed to the 
fourth edition of the Origin of the Bijiinttion of Ranks. 
MILLA'RES, or Mil'las, a town of Spain, in the 
province of Valencia, on the Xucar: eighteen miles north- 
weft of St. Felipe. 
MIL'LAS, a town of France, in the department of the 
eaft Pyrenees: nine miles weft of Perpignan, and twelve 
north-eaft of Prades. 
MILLE'A, J \ [named by Cavanilles in honour of Mr. 
JulianMilta, head gardener of the Royal Botanical Garden 
at Madrid.] In botany, a genus of the clafs bexandria, 
order monogynia, natural order coronarise, Linn, (lilia, 
Jrjf.) Generic characters—Calyx: perianthium none. 
Corolla : of one petal, funnel-fhaped ; tube elongated, 
ftraight; limb fpreading, deeply cloven into fix “ovate 
fegments, the alternate ones narrower, and tipped with a 
fhort hooked appendage. Stamina : filaments fcarcely 
diicernible 5 antherm fix, oblong, ereft, and approaching 
each other, almoft fefiile, oppofite to the fegments of the 
corolla, and inferred into the upper part or throat of the 
tube. Piftillutn : gernien fuperior, on a very long ftalk, 
triangular, inclofedin the tube ; ftyle thread-fhaped, pro¬ 
minent ; liigmas three, globular, covered with thick hairs. 
Pericarpium : capfule oblong, triangular, of three valves 
and three cells. Seeds: many in each cell, ovate, pointed, 
compreffed into the fhape of a little bag.— Effential Cha¬ 
mber. Corolla funnel-fhaped, with a fiat limb, deeply 
fix-cleft; anthene inferted into the throat of the tube ; 
germen ftalked ; capfule of three cells, with many feeds. 
Millea biflora, the only fpecies. A native of Mexico. 
It flowers and bears feed in the garden at Madrid in Oc¬ 
tober. Root an ovate bulb, with very-flefhy oblong fibres, 
covered with a thin reddifh (kin. Radical leaves a foot 
high or more, awl-fhaped, fometimes furrowed on the in¬ 
ner fide, finooth, and generally longer than the fcape. 
Stalks fcarcely a foot high, round, fluff, generally forked 
and two-flowered. Corolla white, each fegment of the 
limb ftreaked at the lower part with green. Seeds numer¬ 
ous, black. Cavan. Ic. ii. 76. 
MIL'LEBACH, a river of Germany, which runs into 
the Rhine a little to the eaft of Rheinfelden. 
MILLEFO'FIO AFFI'NIS. See Selago. 
MILLEFO'LIUM, J . in botany. See Achillea, 
Acrostichum, Ceratophyllum, Cotula, Gnapha- 
lium, Hottonia, Phellandrium, Ranunculus, and 
Utricularia. 
MILLEGRA'NA, f. in bqtarfy. See Herniaria. 
MIL'LEN, a town of France, in the department of the 
Roer : two miles north-north-eaft of Sittart. 
MILLENA'RIANS, f. [from mi He, Lat. a thoufand;] 
or Chiliasts, [from yjhias, Gr. a thoufand.] A feft 
among Chriftians, chiefly in the primitive church, who 
hold that Jefus Chrift is to come again, and reign on earth 
for the fpace of a thoufand years ; during which time, the 
faithful are to enjoy all manner of temporal bleffings; and, 
at the expiration of this term, the day of judgment is to 
take place. See Millennium. 
MIL'LENARY, f. The fpace of a thoufand years.— 
After the full accompliflunent of this myllmary of yeres. 
Bale's ARs of Eng. Vot. —In the fixth millenarie of. the 
world. Gregory's P oft hum. (1650.)—One who expedls the 
millennium.—The errour of the millenaries was very rife. 
llahewill on Providence. 
MIL'LENARY, adj. Confifting of a thoufand.—The 
millenary leftertium, in good manulcripts, is marked with 
aline croi's the top thus fig. Arbuihuut on Coins. 
MIL'LENBACH, or Mil'bach, a town, of Tranfyl- 
5 G vania j 
