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376 MELVILLE upon his foibles and vanity ; and being a mem- ber of a commission appointed in 1596 to re- monstrate with regard to certain measures in- imical to religion, he chided James so severely as to excite him to great anger, but finally sub- dued him and obtained every concession de- manded. James after his accession to the English throne continued his efforts to obtain control of the Scottish church, in which he had hitherto been thwarted in great part by Mel- ville. In May, 1606, he and other leading Pres- byterians were summoned to London under pretence of being consulted by the king upon Scotch ecclesiastical affairs. They obeyed, but soon discovered that they were not free agents ; and Melville, for having indited a Latin epi- gram expressive of his contempt for certain ceremonies he had witnessed at the royal chapel, was brought before the privy council, found guilty of scandalum magnatum, and committed to the tower, where he remained till 1611, when, at the solicitation of the duke de Bouillon, he was liberated on condition that he should expatriate himself. Retiring to Sedan, then belonging to the dukes of Bou- illon, he was appointed professor of theology at the university of that city. His earliest pro- duction was a volume of Latin poems (Basel, 1674). There is a MS. commentary by him on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, still ex- tant. See the " Life of Andrew Melville," by Dr. McCrie (2 vols., 1819). MELVILLE, Herman, an American author, born in New York, Aug. 1, 1819. At the age of 18 he shipped before the mast on a vessel bound for Liverpool, and in 1841 he embarked for the Pacific, as a sailor, on a whaling vessel, in which he cruised for 18 months ; but, unable to endure the harsh conduct of the captain, he deserted with a comrade at Nukahiva, one of the Marquesas islands. Losing his way, he wandered into the Typee valley, where the warlike people who take their name from the valley held him four months in an indulgent captivity. At the end of that time he was taken off by a boat from an Australian whaler, which conveyed him to Tahiti. He passed some time in the Society and Sandwich islands, and in 1843 shipped on board the frigate Uni- ted States at Honolulu, and arrived in Boston in October, 1844. "Typee," a narrative of his adventures in Nukahiva, appeared in 1846 in New York find London, and achieved an immediate success. It was followed in 1847 by " Omoo, a Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas," which recounts his escape from Typee and subsequent voyage. " Mardi and a Voyage Thither," a philosophical romance which was less admired, and "Redburn," founded on the incidents of his first voyage, appeared in the same year. He married in 1847 a daughter of Chief Justice Shaw of Mas- sachusetts, and resided for a few years in New York. He removed to Pittsfield, Mass., in 1850, and afterward returned to New York. His remaining works are : " White Jacket, or MELVILLE SOUND the World in a Man-of-War" (1850) ; " Moby Dick, or the White Whale" (1851); "Pierre, or the Ambiguities" (1852); "Israel Potter" (1855 ) ; " The Piazza Tales " (1856) ; "The Con- fidence Man" (1857); and "Battle Pieces and Aspects of the War," a volume of poems (1866). MELVILLE, Sir James, a Scottish soldier, born at Raith, Fifeshire, about 1535, died at Hal- hill, in the same county, in November, 1607. At the age of 14 he went to the continent, where he was taken into the service of the constable Montmorency, and made several campaigns in France and Flanders. In 1557 he took part in the battle of St. Quentin, where he was wound- ed and taken prisoner. In 1559 he went on a secret mission to Scotland, and after the fall of Montmorency he went to Germany and en- tered the service of the elector palatine, with whose son he visited France in 1561. After his return to Scotland he entered the ser- vice of the queen, who sent him twice on a mission to Elizabeth. After the murder of Darnley he remonstrated with her on her par- tiality for Bothwell, whereupon he lost favor, but nevertheless adhered to her until she was imprisoned in Lochleven castle. On the ac- cession of James he was made a gentleman of the bedchamber and a member of the privy council, and was even pressed by the king to accompany him to London when he went to take possession of the throne of England. He declined this invitation, and devoted his latter days to his " Memoirs of Sir James Melville of Hal-hill, containing an Impartial Account of the most remarkable Affairs of State during the last Age." The earliest edition is London, 1683 ; the best, Edinburgh, 1827. MELVILLE, Lord. See DUNDAS, HENRY and ROBERT. MELVILLE ISLAND. I. In polar America. See MELVILLE SOUND. II. An island lying off the N. W. coast of Australia, between lat. 11 8' and 11 56' S., and Ion. 130 20' and 131 34' E. ; area, about 1,800 sq. m. It is separated from the mainland on the east by Dundas strait, which is 15 m. wide, and on the south by Clar- ence strait and Van Diemen's gulf ; while on the west it is severed from Bathurst island by Apsley strait. The N. and W. coast is low, and indented with shallow bays, but elsewhere the coast is high and precipitous. In the cen- tre the island rises from 130 to 200 ft. Vege- tation is luxuriant. Several species of euca- lyptus are among the most abundant forest trees. The cabbage tree is common, and gin- ger grows wild. The fauna is identical with that of Australia. Alligators and turtles abound on the coast. The climate from October to May, owing to the great heat and humidity of the atmosphere, is unhealthy, but from May to October it is salubrious. The natives are chiefly hunters, and are more athletic and en- terprising than those of Australia. MELVILLE SOUND, or Parry Sound, a body of water in the north polar regions of America, lying between lat. 72 and 75 N., and Ion.