Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 38.djvu/10

Milman , moreover, such a memorial to his cathedral as few deans would have been able to bequeath, in his delightful history of the edifice, completed and published by his son after his death in 1868. In 1859 he had written, for the ‘Transactions of the Royal Society,’ a memoir of his friend Macaulay, which was prefixed to later editions of the historian's works. Some of his articles in the ‘Quarterly Review,’ to which in his early days he was a constant, and in later years an occasional contributor, including essays on ‘Erasmus’ and ‘Savonarola,’ were collected and published by his son in 1870. Milman died on 24 Sept. 1868 at a house near Ascot which he had taken for the summer. He was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, and a monument was erected by public subscription in the south aisle of the choir. On 11 March 1824 he had married Mary Ann, daughter of Lieutenant William Cockell, by whom he had four sons and two daughters.

Milman was highly esteemed in society, and his intimate friends included Macaulay, Hallam, Sydney Smith, Lockhart, and his publisher, John Murray. Mr. Lecky has eulogised him unstintedly, and has described the harmony and symmetry of his mind and its freedom from eccentricity or habits of exaggeration. Although he was far from contemptible as a poet, his reputation must rest on his historical work. ‘That such a writer,’ writes Mr. Lecky, ‘should have devoted himself to the department of history, which, more than any other, has been distorted by ignorance, puerility, and dishonesty, I conceive to be one of the happiest facts of English literature’ (European Morals, Pref. p. x). His intellect may have lacked originality, but he was a pioneer in the study of Sanscrit poetry and in the application of criticism to Jewish history.

A portrait by G. F. Watts belongs to his eldest son, the Rev. W. H. Milman. An engraving by W. Holl is prefixed to the fourth edition of the ‘History of Latin Christianity.’

[Annual Register, 1868; Encycl. Brit. 9th edit.; North British Review, vol. l.; Blackwood's Mag. vol. civ.; Fraser's Mag. vol. lxxviii.; Dean Stanley in Macmillan's Mag. vol. xix.; Quarterly Review, January 1854; Smiles's Memoir of John Murray, vol. ii.; Milman's own prefaces to his writings.]  MILMAN, ROBERT (1816–1876), bishop of Calcutta, third son of Sir William George Milman, bart., of Levaton in Devonshire, by his wife Elizabeth Hurry, daughter of Robert Alderson, recorder of Norwich, and nephew of Henry Hart Milman [q. v.], dean of St. Paul's, was born at Easton in Gordano, Somerset, on 25 Jan. 1816. He was sent when young as a day-scholar to Westminster School, where in 1833 he obtained one of the Ireland prizes (, pp. 520, 541). In the May of that year he matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford, where he obtained a scholarship n 1834, and having taken a second class in 1837, graduated B.A. in 1838, and proceeded M.A. in 1867, in which year he was created D.D. (, Alumni Oxonienses, iii. 960). He was a good linguist, and found the acquisition of languages easy. In 1839 he was ordained to the curacy of Winwick, Northamptonshire, and in 1840 was presented to the vicarage of Chaddleworth, Berkshire, by the dean and chapter of Westminster, on the nomination of his uncle, then canon of Westminster. There he had daily service, and, while working conscientiously as a clergyman, found time for much study, and wrote a ‘Life of Tasso’ and some smaller books. In 1851 he exchanged Chaddleworth for the larger living of Lambourn, also in Berkshire, at that time a wild and neglected place (Memoir, p. 4). He worked hard there, building a church and schools in the hamlet of Eastbury, and restoring the chancel of Lambourn church, chiefly out of his own pocket, holding daily service and weekly celebrations, and doing all in his power for the welfare of his parishioners. In 1858 his sister, Maria Frances Milman, went to live with him, and remained his companion during the rest of his life. At the request of the Bishop of Oxford (Wilberforce), who esteemed him highly, he accepted in 1862 the living of Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire, though the change was in every respect an act of self-sacrifice. While there he lectured frequently at Cuddesdon Theological College, being well versed in patristic learning and the history of the primitive church, and also conducted several clerical ‘retreats.’ His preaching was eloquent and his sermons full of matter.

Being appointed bishop of Calcutta in January 1867, he was consecrated at Canterbury on 2 Feb., and landed at Calcutta with his sister on 31 March. His diocese, which at that date included the Central Provinces, the Punjaub on the west, and British Burmah on the east, extended over nearly a million square miles. Milman performed the duties of his office with extraordinary energy, and during a large part of every year was travelling on visitation tours, visiting in the year of his arrival Burmah and the North-west Provinces. A dispute among the Lutheran missionaries in Chota Nagpore having led the Kôl converts to desire to join the English church, Milman received them in 1869, 