394 MIL 
nance to that Tort of employment he went to Wadham 
college, Oxford; and, having completed the ufual courfe 
he took orders. While at the univerfity he wrote a fa¬ 
mous comedy, entitled “ The Humours of Oxford,” which 
was performed in 1729. He was author of feveral other 
pieces, of which the laft was a tragedy, entitled “Maho¬ 
met.” This had a confiderable run ; and, before its popu¬ 
larity was at all abated, the author died in 174.4. Betides 
thefe dramatic pieces, he wrote feveral political pamphlets, 
particularly one called “ Are thefe things fo ?” which was 
taken very great notice of; he w'as author of a poem, called 
Harlequin Horace, a fatire, occationed by fome ill treat¬ 
ment he had received from Mr. Rich, the manager of Co¬ 
vent-garden theatre ; and was likewife concerned, toge¬ 
ther with Mr. Henry Baker, F.R.S. in a complete tranf- 
lation of the comedies of Moliere, printed together with 
the original French, and publillied by Mr. Watts. JJio- 
grapliia Drdmatica. 
MILTER (Philip), a celebrated horticnlturift, born in 
1691, was ion to the gardener of the Apothecary’s Com¬ 
pany at Chelfea. He lucceeded his father in that office 
in 1722, and by great affiduity rofe to the frit rank in his 
profeffion, and made his name known to all perfons at 
home and abroad engaged in the culture of curious and 
ufeful vegetables. Foreigners ftyled him Hortulanorum 
Princeps, the Prince of Gardeners; and botanifts as 
well as gardeners held him in high efteem. By his cor- 
refpondence with fcientific travellers he received a con- 
ftant fupply of plants from various parts of the globe, 
which his (kill enabled him to cultivate with a fucc.efs be¬ 
fore unknown ; and under his fuperintendance the gar¬ 
den at Chellea became enriched with the vegetable trea- 
fures of both Indies. 
Philip Miller communicated in 1728 to the Royal So¬ 
ciety “a method of railing fome exotic feeds, which have 
been judged almolt impoffible to be railed in England,” 
which coniifted in firlt fuffering them to germinate in 
tanners’ bark, and then tranfplanting them in earth. By 
this means alone, feveral hard-ffielled nuts can bC made 
to vegetate in our doves : and indeed the practice is foun- 
ed on a judicious obfervation of nature’s operations. Two 
years afterwards, Mr. Miller made known, for the firft 
time, the prefent popular mode of cauling bulbous plants 
to flower in water. 
In 1730 he publiffied anonymoufiy a thin folio, accom¬ 
panied with twenty-one coloured plates, after the draw¬ 
ings of Van Huyfum, entitled “A Catalogue of Trees, 
Shrubs, Plants, and Flowers, both exotic and domeltic, 
which are prepared for Sale in the Gardens near London.” 
The preface is ligned by a fociety of gardeners, amongft 
whom the name of Miller appears. The work is much 
more than a mere catalogue, the generic characters being 
given in Englifh, and many horticultural and economical 
remarks fubjoined. Molt of the plates contain figures of 
feveral different plants. 
In 1731 appeared the firft edition of the “Gardener’s 
Dictionary,” in folio, the molt celebrated work of its 
kind, which has been tranllated, copied, and abridged, at 
various times, and may be laid to have laid the founda¬ 
tion of all the horticultural tafte and knowledge in Eu¬ 
rope. It went through eight editions in England, dur¬ 
ing the life of the author, the laft being dated 1768. This 
forms a very thick folio volume, and follows the nomen¬ 
clature and ftyle of Linnaeus; the earlier ones having 
been written on Tournefortian principles. A much more 
ample edition has been publiffied within a few years, 
making four large volumes, under the care of the Rev. 
Prof. Martyn. In this all the modern botanical dilco- 
veries are incorporated with the fubftance of the 8th edi¬ 
tion. Linnaeus has juftly remarked, that Miller’s was a 
botanical as well as a horticultural dictionary. We can¬ 
not but think that it has proved a powerful means of in¬ 
troducing a tafte for fcientific botany amongft thofe who 
at firft had recourfe to it merely as cultivators. 
This work has been preceded, in 1724, by an oCtavo of 
L E R. 
two volumes, called “ The Gardener’s and Florift’s Dic¬ 
tionary.;” and was foon followed by “ The Gardener’s Ka- 
lendar,” a tingle oCtavo volume, which has gone through 
numerous editions. One of thefe, in 1761, w r as firft accom¬ 
panied by “ A Short Introduction to a Knowledge of the 
Science of Botany,” with five plates, illuftrative of the 
Linnasan fyftem. Miller had been trained in the fchools 
of Tournefort and of Ray, and had been perfonajly. ac¬ 
quainted with the great Engliffi naturalift, of which he 
was always very proud. No wonder therefore if he proved 
flow in lubmitting to the Linnasan reformation, elpeci- 
ally as fir Hans Sioane, the Mecsenas of Chelfea, had not 
given it the fanCtion of his approbation. At length more 
intelligent advifers, Dr. Watfion and Mr. Hudfon, over¬ 
came his reluCtance ; and, his eyes being once opened, he 
was no longer behind-hand in deriving advantage from 
lo rich a lource. He became a correfpondent of Lin¬ 
naeus, and one of his warmed admirers. Although it 
does not appear that he had any direCt communication 
with Micheli, he was cholen a member of the Botanical 
Society of Florence, which feems to indicate that they 
were known to each other, and probably communicated 
through Sioane and Sherard, as neither w'as acquainted 
with the other’s language. Miller maintained an exten- 
live communication of feeds wdth all parts of the world. 
His friend Houlton fent him many rarities from the Weft 
Indies ; and Miller but too foon inherited the papers, of 
this ingenious man, amongft which were fome botanical 
engravings on copper. Of thefe he fent an impreffion to 
Linnaeus ; and fuch of them as efcaped accidents, after¬ 
wards compofed the Reliquiae Houjloniancc. See Hous¬ 
ton, vol. x. p. 432. 
In 1755 our author began to publifti, in folio numbers, 
his “Figures of Plants,” adapted to his Dictionary. 
Thefe extended to three hundred coloured plates, making, 
•with deferiptions and remarks, two folio volumes, and 
w'ere completed in 1760. They comprehend many rare 
and beautiful fpecies, there exhibited for the firft time. 
The commendable delign of the writer was to give one 
or more of the fpecies of each known genius, all from 
living plants ; which, as far as poffible, be accompliflied ; 
and each was accompanied with deferiptions according 
to the fyftems of Ray, Tournefort, and Linnaeus. On the 
whole it was one of the molt fplendid botanical works 
hitherto produced in England. The patriotifm of Mr. 
Miller induced him to publifti, in 1758, “The Method 
of cultivating Madder, "as it is praCtiied by the Dutch in 
Zealand,” quarto ; with a view of promoting the culture 
of that valuable dying-root in his own country, and 
thereby laving a great lum expended annually in its im¬ 
portation. 
Miller was a fellow of the Royal Society, and enriched 
its Tran factions with feveral papers. The molt numerous 
of thefe w'ere catalogues of the annual collections of fifty- 
plants, which were required to be lent to that learned 
body, from Chelfea-garden, by the rules of its founda¬ 
tion. Thefe collections are preferved in the Britilh Mu- 
leum, and are occaiionally relort.ed to for critical enqui¬ 
ries in botany. He wrote alfo on the Poifon Alii, or 
Toxicodendrum, of America, wdiich he believed to be the 
Japanefe varnilh-tree of Kaempfer.s a poiition controvert¬ 
ed by Mr. Ellis. The latter appears to have been molt in 
the right, wffiich may account for a certain degree of ill 
humour betrayed by Mr. Miller in the courfe of the dif- 
pute. » 
Miller continued to attend to his duties and his favou¬ 
rite purl'uits to an advanced age; but was obliged at 
length, by his infirmities, to refign the charge of the gar¬ 
den. He died foon after, at Chelfea, December 18, 1771, 
in his 81 ft year, and was interred in the church-yard there; 
but no memorial was railed to record his merits ; and it 
had long been the fubjeCl of regret to thofe who knew the 
benefits conferred by his labours on the practical gardener 
and botanift, that a public teftimony of thefe feelings did 
not exift. It was at length (in 1815) propofed in the 
Linnrean 
