“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”