and among his other honours were honorary degrees at the universities of Oxford (9 June 1880) and Durham. He was an associate of the Institute of France, an honorary member of the Royal Scottish and Royal Hibernian academies, a member of the academies of Vienna, Belgium, Antwerp, and of St. Luke, Rome, and San Fernando, Madrid ; was an officer of the order of Leopold, of the order of St. Maurice, and of the Prussian order, 'Pour le Merite.' In 1886 a large collection of his works was exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery.
In 1891 his tenancy of Murthly expired, and he took a shooting with residence at Newmill, which was burnt down in January 1892. About this time his health began to fail. After a bad attack of influenza he was troubled with a swelling in his throat, and suffered much from depression. He still, however, worked whenever he could, and executed with enjoyment several pictures, including 'St. Stephen,' 'A Disciple,' and 'Speak ! Speak !' which was purchased out of the Chantrey bequest. The admirable portraits of Mr. John Hare the actor and Sir Richard Quain also belong to his last years. The last subject picture exhibited by him was 'The Forerunner' (St. John Baptist), which was painted as well as ever, though somewhat trivial in motive.
In 1895, in consequence of the illness of the president, Sir Frederic (afterwards Lord) Leighton [q. v. Suppl.], he was called upon to preside at the Royal Academy banquet, a task he accomplished with great difficulty, owing to the weakness of his voice. On the death of Lord Leighton, on 25 Jan. 1896, he was unanimously elected to succeed him in the presidential chair, but he did not live long to enjoy the honour. He gradually failed, and died of cancer in the throat on 13 Aug. 1896, and was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral on the 20th. He left a widow and six children ; Lady Millais died on 23 Dec. 1897 of the same disease ; a pencil drawing by herself of Millais's portrait of her is given in Millais's ' Life,' i. 218, and another portrait of her drawn by Mr. G. F. Watts, R.A., is the frontispiece of the second volume. Millais's eldest son Everett, who had succeeded to the baronetcy, died on 7 Sept. 1897. The present baronet is Sir John Everett Millais, son of the second baronet.
Notwithstanding the opposition he had to conquer as a Pre-Raphaelite, Millais's career was one of almost continuous success and prosperity, and perhaps there is no greater proof of his popularity than the number (over a hundred) of his pictures which were separately engraved on steel. The winter exhibition of the Royal Academy 1898 was entirely devoted to his works.
It is too early to fix precisely the position of Millais as an artist, but there is no doubt that he was one of the greatest painters of the nineteenth century, and that he did more than any other of his generation to infuse a new and healthy life into British art. There was nothing of the idealist or visionary in his designs, and he had not a great imagination ; but he could paint what he saw with a force and a truth which have seldom been excelled, and his intense love of nature and of his kind tilled his work with life and poetry.
As a man Millais was frank, manly, and genial, not over-refined, but devoid of affectation. Though of no great intellectual power, he had a strong fund of common sense, and, if not a great reader, was fond of poetry (especially Tennyson and Keats), of the best fiction, and of books of travel, and he could write graceful and humorous verses. In manner and appearance he resembled a country gentleman rather than an artist. He was devoted to his art, but not blind to the advantages of success and prosperity. He was the life of his own family, and regarded with affection by a very large and distinguished circle of acquaintance ; but he did not care for ordinary social gatherings, and preferred to spend his evenings at the Garrick Club, where he was sure to meet a number of congenial friends. In person he was very handsome, his face (which in his youth Rossetti described as that ot an angel) retained great beauty throughout life, and his figure grew well-knit and strong. His fine presence and cheery voice made themselves felt wherever he went, and there were few who knew him well who would not echo the words of Sir George Reid, P.R.S.A., who wrote of him as 'one of the kindest, noblest, most beautiful and lovable men I ever knew or ever hope to know.'
Besides the portrait of Millais which was painted by himself for the Uffizi Gallery, there are portraits of him by John Philip in 1841, by Mr. G. F. Watts, R.A., in 1871, and by Sir Henry Thompson, bart., in 1881. These, with sketches of him by his brother, W. H. Millais, John Leech, and others, are reproduced in J. G. Millais's 'Life and Letters' (1899).
The following works of Millais are to be found in public galleries. National Gallery, Trafalgar Square : 'Portrait of W. E. Gladstone' (1879) and 'A Yeoman of the Guard.' National Gallery of British Art :
