however, set himself to establish a good educational system. He enlarged the curriculum at the college, and established chairs in languages, science, philosophy and divinity, which were confirmed by charter in 1577. His fame spread through the kingdom, and students flocked from all parts of Scotland and even beyond, till the class-rooms could not contain those who came for admission. He assisted in the reconstruction of Aberdeen University in 1575, and in order that he might do for St Andrews what he had done for Glasgow, he was appointed principal of St Mary’s College, St Andrews, in 1580. His duties there comprehended the teaching, not only of theology, but of the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac and Rabbinical languages. The ability of his lectures was universally acknowledged, and he created a taste for the study of Greek literature. The reforms, however, which his new modes of teaching involved, and even some of his new doctrines, such as the non-infallibility of Aristotle, brought him into collision with other teachers in the university. He was moderator of the General Assembly in 1582, and took part in the organization of the Church and the Presbyterian method. Troubles arose from the attempts of the court to force a system of Episcopacy upon the Church of Scotland (see Scotland, Church of), and Melville prosecuted one of the “tulchan” bishops (Robert Montgomery, d. 1609). In consequence of this he was summoned before the Privy Council in February 1584, and had to flee into England in order to escape an absurd charge of treason which threatened imprisonment and not improbably his life. After an absence of twenty months he returned to Scotland in November 1585, and in March 1586 resumed his lectures in St Andrews, where he continued for twenty years; he became rector of the university in 1590. During the whole time he protected the liberties of the Scottish Church against all encroachments of the government. That in the main he and his coadjutors were fighting for the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the Church is admitted by all candid inquirers (see in particular The History of England from 1603 to 1616, by S. R. Gardiner, vol. i. chap. ix.). The chief charge against Melville is that his fervour often led him to forget the reverence due to an “anointed monarch.” Of this, however, it is not easy to judge. Manners at that time were rougher than at present. When the king acted in an arbitrary and illegal manner he needed the reminder that though he was king over men he was only “God’s silly vassal.” Melville’s rudeness (if it is to be called so) was the outburst of just indignation from a man zealous for the purity of religion and regardless of consequences to himself. In 1599 he was deprived of the rectorship, but was made dean of the faculty of theology. The close of Melville’s career in Scotland was at length brought about by James in characteristic fashion. In 1606 Melville and seven other clergymen of the Church of Scotland were summoned to London in order “that his majesty might treat with them of such things as would tend to settle the peace of the Church.” The contention of the whole of these faithful men was that the only way to accomplish that purpose was a free Assembly. Melville delivered his opinion to that effect in two long speeches with his accustomed freedom, and, having shortly afterwards written a sarcastic Latin epigram on some of the ritual practised in the chapel of Hampton Court, and some eavesdropper having conveyed the lines to the king, he was committed to the tower, and detained there for four years. On regaining his liberty, and being refused permission to return to his own country, he was invited to fill a professor’s chair in the university of Sedan, and there he spent the last eleven years of his life. He died at Sedan in 1622, at the age of seventy-seven.
See McCries, Andrew Melville (ed. 1819); Andrew Lang, History of Scotland (1902). (D. Mn.)
MELVILLE, ARTHUR (1858–1904), British painter, was born in Scotland, in a village of Haddingtonshire. He took up painting
at an early age, and though he attended a night-school and
studied afterwards in Paris and Grez, he learnt more from
practice and personal observation than from school training.
The remarkable colour-sense which is so notable a feature of his
work, whether in oils or in water-colour, came to him during his
travels in Persia, Egypt and India. Melville, though comparatively
little known during his lifetime, was one of the most
powerful influences in contemporary art, especially in his broad
decorative treatment with water-colour. Though his vivid
impressions of colour and movement are apparently recorded
with feverish haste, they are the result of careful deliberation
and selection. He was at his best in his water-colours of Eastern
life and colour and his Venetian scenes, but he also painted several
striking portraits in oils and a powerful colossal composition of
“The Return from the Crucifixion” which remained unfinished
at his death in 1904. At the Victoria and Albert Museum is one
of his water-colours, “The Little Bull-Fight—Bravo, Toro!” and
another, “An Oriental Goatherd,” is in the Weimar Museum.
But the majority of his pictures have been absorbed by private
collectors.
A comprehensive memorial exhibition of Melville’s works was held at the Royal Institute Galleries in London in 1906.
MELVILLE, HENRY DUNDAS, 1st Viscount (1742–1811), British statesman, fourth son of Robert Dundas (1685–1753), lord president of the Scottish court of session, was born at Edinburgh in 1742, and was educated at the high school and university there. Becoming a member of the faculty of advocates in 1763, he soon acquired a leading position at the bar; and he had the advantage of the success of his half-brother Robert (1713–1787), who had become lord president of the court of session in 1760. He became solicitor-general to Scotland in 1766; but after his appointment as lord-advocate in 1775, he gradually relinquished his legal practice to devote his attention more exclusively to public business. In 1774 he was returned to parliament for Midlothian, and joined the party of Lord North; and notwithstanding his provincial dialect and ungraceful manner, he soon distinguished himself by his clear and argumentative speeches. After holding subordinate offices under the marquess of Lansdowne and Pitt, he entered the cabinet in 1791 as home secretary. From 1794 to 1801 he was secretary at war under Pitt, who conceived for him a special friendship. In 1802 he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Melville and Baron Dunira. Under Pitt in 1804 he again entered office as first lord of the admiralty, when he introduced numerous improvements in the details of the department. Suspicion had arisen, however, as to the financial management of the admiralty, of which Dundas had been treasurer between 1782 and 1800; in 1802 a commission of inquiry was appointed, which reported in 1805. The result was the impeachment of Lord Melville in 1806, on the initiative of Samuel Whitbread, for the misappropriation of public money; and though it ended in an acquittal, and nothing more than formal negligence lay against him, he never again held office. An earldom was offered in 1809 but declined; and he died on the 28th of May 1811.
His son Robert, 2nd Viscount Melville (1771–1851), filled various political offices and was first lord of the admiralty from 1812 to 1827 and from 1828 to 1830; his name is perpetuated by that of Melville Sound, because of his interest in Arctic exploration. His eldest son, Henry Dundas, 3rd Viscount (1801–1876), a general in the army, played a distinguished part in the second Sikh War.
See Hon. J. W. Fortescue, History of the British Army, vol. iv. (1907).
MELVILLE, HERMAN (1819–1891), American author, was born in New York City on the 1st of August 1819. He shipped as a cabin-boy at the age of eighteen, thus being enabled to make his first visit to England, and at twenty-two sailed for a long whaling cruise in the Pacific. After a year and a half he deserted his ship at the Marquesas Islands, on account of the cruelty of the captain; was captured by cannibals on the island of Nukahiva, and detained, without hardship, four months; was rescued by the crew of an Australian vessel, which he joined, and two years later reached New York. Thereafter, with the exception of a passenger voyage around the world in 1860, Melville remained in the United States, devoting himself to literature—though for a considerable period (1866–1885) he held a post in the New York custom-house—and being perhaps Hawthorne’s most intimate
