Excerpt from Henry Dundas Viscount Melville In St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, the passer-by may see standing on a lofty pillar the statue of Henry Dundas, first Viscount Melville, the colleague and friend of the younger Pitt. The towering height of the monument is itself emblematic of the lofty position held by Dundas in his native country at the end of the eighteenth century. For many years he exercised in Scotland a sway so absolute that he was nicknamed "Harry the Ninth." The heaven-soaring statue proclaims to the world how great was his position in the eyes of his contemporaries. Beginning as Lord Advocate, he filled in a succession of British Governments the most important offices, and played an outstanding part in the history of his time. No Scottish lawyer has ever attained an influence or authority equal to that enjoyed by. Dundas. In the days of his greatness, the very streets of Edinburgh, as Sir Walter Scott said, were thought almost too vulgar for him. to walk upon. His word was law; his will was absolute. He was "the Pharos of Scotland," said Lord Cockburn. "Who steered upon him was safe, who disregarded his light was wrecked. It was to his nod that every man owed what he had got, and looked for what he wished." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.