Henry Dundas was the Scottish Lord Advocate, an MP for Edinburgh and Midlothian, and the First Lord of the Admiralty. Dundas was a contentious figure, provoking controversies that resonate to this day. While Home Secretary in 1792, and first Secretary of State for War in 1796 he was instrumental in deferring the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade. Slave trading by British ships was not abolished until 1807. As a result of this delay, more than half a million enslaved Africans crossed the Atlantic. Dundas also curbed democratic dissent in Scotland, and both defended and expanded British empire, imposing colonial rule on indigenous peoples. He was impeached in the United Kingdom for misappropriation of public money, and, although acquitted, he never held public office again.
Despite this, the Melville Monument at St Andrew Square was funded by voluntary contributions from British naval officers, petty officers, seamen, and marines and was erected in 1821, with the statue placed on top in 1827. In 2020 a plaque was installed beside the monument, dedicated to the memory of the more than half-a-million Africans whose enslavement was a consequence of Henry Dundas’ actions.
This caricature alludes to the failure of a 1793 bill intended to increase ministers’ stipends, a long-debated issue within the General Assembly. After earlier proposals by Sir Henry Moncreiff Wellwood had gained clerical support, a committee developed a scheme to fund augmentations from teinds, tithes, and vacant stipends, which was eventually drafted into a parliamentary bill by the Lord Advocate, Robert Dundas. Strong opposition from landowners and lukewarm support from the ministry forced the bill’s withdrawal, prompting frustration among some moderate clergy, who accused the government of ingratitude. A witty rebuke by Dr. Bryce Johnstone, likening such complaints to the submissive ass of Balaam, defused the debate, and the episode was soon satirised by Kay in the etching “Faithful Service Rewarded,” depicting Lord Melville as the ungrateful rider.
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