liminary stages of advocate-depute and solicitor-general, was appointed to the highest political office in Scotland, that of lord-advocate. He had in the previous year been elected member for the county of Edinburgh, which he represented till 1787, when he was chosen for the city; and though returned in opposition to the ministerial influence, he soon became a strenuous supporter of Lord North's administration. He now in a great measure abandoned the legal profession, and devoted himself to party politics. On the fall of Lord North's government Mr. Dundas, who had conducted himself with characteristic wariness and moderation during its death-struggles, continued to hold the office of lord-advocate in Lord Rockingham's administration. On the death of that nobleman and the dissolution of his ministry in 1782 Mr. Dundas was appointed treasurer of the navy under Lord Shelburne. On the overthrow of his administration by the celebrated coalition of Mr. Fox and Lord North, Dundas went into opposition. He was chairman of the committee appointed to inquire into the causes of the war in the Carnatic, and thus acquired that intimate acquaintance with the affairs of India which he turned to such good account in subsequent parliamentary conflicts. He took a prominent part in opposing Mr. Fox's famous East India bill, the rejection of which by the house of lords led to the downfall of the coalition ministry and the accession of Mr. Pitt to office. Mr. Dundas, who now resumed his office as treasurer of the navy, was chairman of the select committee which preceded the introduction of Mr. Pitt's India bill, and by his thorough knowledge of the subject and his dexterity as a debater, contributed greatly to the success of that measure. He was the chief adviser and supporter of Mr. Pitt in his arduous struggle against the hostile majority of the house of commons led by the most eloquent statesman of the day; and when the India bill became law, was rewarded for his services by his appointment to the office of president to the board of control. As treasurer of the navy he effected various important reforms in his department, which greatly increased the efficiency of that branch of the public service, and promoted the welfare of the sailors. In 1784 he introduced a bill for restoring the estates in Scotland forfeited on account of the rebellion of 1745—a well-timed and humane measure which produced a most beneficial impression on the minds of the Scottish people. Throughout the remainder of his parliamentary career his fortunes were closely connected with those of Mr. Pitt, and he was the unflinching supporter of that minister in the debates on the regency bill, and in his struggle with the French revolutionists; he yet differed from him in regard to the bill for the abolition of slavery, which Pitt supported and Dundas opposed. In 1791 he was appointed home secretary, retaining at the same time his other offices; and on the accession of the duke of Portland and his party he was transferred to the war department, which was created for him. He also held at this time the office of keeper of the Scottish privy seal, and was governor of the bank of Scotland. He retired from office along with Mr. Pitt in 1801. In the following year the Addington administration raised him to the peerage, by the title of Viscount Melville and Baron Dunira. On the return of Mr. Pitt to office in 1804 Lord Melville was appointed first lord of the admiralty, but shortly after, the report of the commissioners of naval inquiry led to a rigid parliamentary investigation, which terminated in the impeachment of the noble lord. Resolutions accusing him of gross malversation and breach of duty were moved by Mr. Whitbread in April, 1805, and carried by the casting vote of the speaker, to the great grief of Mr. Pitt who deeply felt the blow aimed at his friend. Lord Melville immediately resigned his office, and his name was erased from the list of the privy council. The principal charge brought against him was that he had allowed the public money to be employed in speculations in the funds by his confidential agent, Mr. Trotter, for his own private advantage. But the trial which took place in 1806, and was conducted with great ability and acrimony by the managers, terminated in his acquittal, by a large majority, on every charge. He was soon after restored to his place in the privy council, but he never returned to office. His death, which was very sudden, took place on the 27th of May, 1811, at Edinburgh, to which he had come for the purpose of attending the funeral of his old friend, Lord-president Blair, who lay dead in the next house. Lord Melville was possessed of vigorous natural talents, great shrewdness and knowledge of the world, and an extraordinary capacity for business. He was a clear, acute, and argumentative speaker, but had none of the powers of oratory, or of the graces of style. In private life he was easy, frank, cheerful and convivial, exemplary in his domestic relations, and a kind and zealous friend. For many years he was virtually sole minister for Scotland. "It was to his word," says Lord Cockburn, "that every man owed what he had got, and looked for what he wished. He was the very man for Scotland at that time, and is a Scotchman of whom his country may be proud."— (Life of Lord Jeffrey, vol. i.) Lord Melville was twice married; first to Miss Rannie, daughter of Captain Rannie of Melville castle, with whom he received a large fortune; and secondly to Lady Jane Hope, daughter of the earl of Hopetoun. He was succeeded by his only son Robert, who held the office of first lord of the admiralty under the duke of Wellington's administration in 1828-30.—J. T.
MELVILLE, Sir James, a Scottish statesman who flourished during the troublous times of Queen Mary and her successor, was born in 1535, and was the third son of Sir John Melville of Raith in Fifeshire. At the age of fourteen he lost his father, who had embraced the reformed faith, and was executed through the influence of Archbishop Hamilton. By the queen regent he was sent to France as page of honour to Monluc, bishop of Valence. He was afterwards (in 1549) taken into the service of the Constable Montmorency, accompanied him in several campaigns, and was present at the battle of St. Quentin in 1557, where the constable was wounded and taken prisoner. Melville attended his master during his captivity, and was with him at the conference of Chateau Cambrensis in 1559. He was shortly after sent on a secret mission to Scotland, which he discharged with fidelity and discretion. On his return to France, finding his patron in disgrace in consequence of having had the misfortune to kill the king in a tournament, Melville proceeded to Germany and entered the service of the Elector Palatine, and was employed by him on various diplomatic missions. In 1561 he visited France and made a tender of his services to Queen Mary, who was then about to return to her own kingdom. She received him graciously, but it was not until 1564 that he joined her majesty in Scotland. He served Mary with great fidelity; was repeatedly intrusted by her with embassies to the English court, of which he has given an interesting and graphic description; and seems to have possessed the confidence and esteem of his sovereign. He earnestly warned her against an alliance with Bothwell, a step by which he endangered his own safety. He adhered to his unfortunate mistress until her abdication at Lochleven. Under the government of the successive regents who ruled the kingdom during the minority of James, Melville took some though not a prominent part in public affairs; and after the minority of the young king had terminated, he was appointed a gentleman of the bed-chamber, and a member of the privy council. The notorious Arran disliked him, and caused his name to be expunged from the list of privy councillors; but he was still consulted by the king on important occasions. He declined, however, to accompany James to London on his accession to the crown, excusing himself on the ground of his great age; and died in 1617 in his eighty-second year. His well-known "Memoirs" written during the closing years of his life were first published in 1683; but an authentic copy did not appear until 1827, when it was printed for the Bannatyne Club. The work is a valuable accession to the materials for a history of Scotland.—J. T.
MELVILLE, James, a Scottish divine who took a prominent part in public affairs during the reign of James VI., was born in 1556. His father, Richard Melville, laird of Baldovy, near Montrose, and minister of Marykirk, was the elder brother of the celebrated Andrew Melville, and the friend of Wishart the martyr, and of John Erskine of Dun. James was educated first by Mr. Gray, minister of Logie-Montrose, "a guid, learned, kynd man," and afterwards at the university of St. Andrews. After quitting college, his studies were revised and extended under the superintendence of his uncle, whom he accompanied to Glasgow in 1574, when Andrew Melville was made principal of the university of that city. In the following year James Melville was appointed one of the regents, and taught his class Greek, mathematics, logic, and moral philosophy, with great diligence and success. In 1580 he removed with his uncle to St. Andrews, and was made professor of Oriental languages in the New college there. In 1584 when Andrew Melville quarreled with the king and privy council, James was also obliged to leave St. Andrews, and to take refuge in the north of England, where he resided for more than a year, when he was allowed to return home and
