Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/167

Rh At this time he also held the office of keeper of the privy seal of Scotland, and governor of the bank of Scotland; still retaining the presidency of the board of control and the treasurership of the navy, which last office he continued to hold until May, 1800; his other political offices he held until his resignation along with Mr Pilt, in 1801.

While in the house of commons, Mr Dundas represented first the county, awl afterwards the city of Edinburgh. He sat for the county from 1774, to 1787, and for the city, from the latter year, until 1802, when he was raised to the peerage. And during the whole course cf his official life he was considered as virtually the minister of Scotland. He had what is called the political patronage of that quarter of the kingdom; and so acted, as well in the discharge of his various public duties, as in the distribution of the favours of government, that he attached to himself, and to the administration of which he formed a part, the great majority of the men of rank, property, and influence in that country. It has been objected to him, that in the exercise of this patronage he looked too exclusively to his own political partisans ; but in justice to him, it must never be forgotten, that he held office in times when the acrimony of his opponents (to say nothing of the dangerous principles avowed by some of them) put conciliation entirely out of the question ; and besides, the charge is to a great extent unjust ; for on his trial it was admitted, even by his bitterest enemies, that in disposing of appointments in the navy and army he was remarkable for his impartiality and indifference to party distinctions. Nor is it possible to overlook the fact, that the political party by whom this charge was brought against Mr Dundas, had always been proverbial for their own adherence to the practice they were so ready to condemn in him.

When Mr Pitt retired from office in 1801, previous to the peace of Amiens, Mr Dundas followed his example. On that occasion he laid before parliament a very favourable statement of the condition in which the East India company's affairs then were ; and although his opponents did not fail to cavil at his views, yet all parties concurred in expressing the highest approbation of the manner in which Mr Dundas had discharged his duty as president of the board of con- trol. The court of directors were disposed to award him more substantial marks of their gratitude; but finding that he had resolved to decline any pecuniary remuneration, they conferred a pension of 2000 per annum, on Mrs Dundas. About the same time the town council of Edinburgh testified their sense of his merit, by resolving, at an extraordinary meeting called for the purpose, that a subscription should be opened for the erection of a statue of him as a tribute of gratitude for his lengthened and eminent public services.

In the year 1802, the Addington administration raised Mr Dundas to the peerage by the titles of viscount of Melville, in the county of Edinburgh, and baron of Dunira, in the county of Perth. On this event, the town council of Edinburgh again came forward, and in a letter addressed to him by the lord provost, in the name of the council, expressed their attachment to him and his family; their admiration of his talents ; and their gratitude for the many services which he had rendered to his counti-y, and particularly to the city of Edinburgh. This address lord Melville answered in person, taking occasion, in a speech delivered at a meeting of the town council, to touch on various interesting topics, and, in particular, to bring under their notice one of the practical blessings of the British constitution, of which his own life afforded a very striking example. "Having mentioned the constitution under which we have the happiness to live," said his lordship, "I trust I shall not be thought to deviate very far from the object of my present address, if I presume to trouble you with one observation, re-