Digital Rare Book:
The substance of the speech of the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, in the House of Commons, Tuesday, June 16, 1795, on opening the East India Budget
By Henry Dundas Melville, First Viscount Melville (1742-1811)
Printed for J.Debrett, London - 1795

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Image:
DUN-SHAW, 'One Foot in Leadenhall Street and the other in the Province of Bengal' - James Gillray (1788)

Here Gillray caricatures an ambitious politician, Henry Dundas, First Viscount Melville. Gillray depicts him in a mixture of Scottish and Indian dress, posed in imitation of the Colossus of Rhodes, astride the Leadenhall Street headquarters of the East India Company and Bengal, reaching for both the sun and moon.

The title of this aquatint mocks Melville's sense of grandeur; 'shaw' being a modification of 'shah', the Persian and Mughal title for king. Melville's political skills and ambitions earned him the nickname 'King Harry the Ninth', an epithet referred to in the crown he wears, with a legend suggesting that the monarchy should be transferred to him.

Melville saw Hastings as a threat to his own ambition. It seemed likely that Hastings would become Head of the East India Company's Board of Control upon his return to England; a post Melville wanted for himself. He set about securing the position. Perhaps because of this motive, he spent three hours in private consultation with the Prime Minister, William Pitt, on the day of Hastings' second charge in the House of Commons. There was widespread surprise when Pitt then unexpectedly voted against Hastings, supplying the catalyst for his impeachment. Melville became an influential figure in Indian affairs and legislation and was largely responsible for transforming the Company from a commercial operation to an imperial administration.

This aquatint was published in 1788, the year that Melville produced his Declaratory Bill on India. Ironically, Melville's own career was to end in an unsuccessful impeachment trial for financial irregularities during his time as First Lord of the Admiralty.

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