marriage with a lady of the name of Frazer, who survives him. Having, while in England, obtained the promise of an appointment as a writer on the Bengal Establishment, he reembarked for India in May 1772, accompanied by his wife, her mother and sister, and Lieutenant Ferguson, a friend of the family. The party took their passage in the ship Vansittart, Captain Young, destined first to Bombay, and thence to proceed to Calcutta, where, on his arrival, he received his appointment, which is dated the 27th of November 1772. In the course of this voyage he formed an intimacy with the Rev. Christian Frederick Swartz, a Christian missionary, with whom he maintained a correspondence till the decease of the latter. During the same voyage, he had the misfortune to be present at the sudden death of his friend Ferguson, who was killed, while on shore, at the Cape of Good Hope, in an encounter with Captain Roche, also a passenger in the Vansittart.

Almost immediately after Mr Grant's arrival at Calcutta, on the 23d of June 1773, he was promoted to the rank of factor, and soon afterwards was appointed secretary to the Board of Trade, which office he held for upwards of eight years, performing its duties with exemplary industry and ability.

In 1781, the Bengal government relieved him from his secretaryship, and stationed him as the company's commercial resident, in charge of their valuable silk factory at Malda, a town upon the banks of the Ganges, and in the immediate vicinity of the venerable and stupendous ruins of the once magnificent city of Gour, the ancient capital of Bengal.

In June 1784, he obtained the rank of senior merchant, and in 1787 was summoned to Calcutta, that he might take possession of the seat and office

of fourth member of the Board of Trade, conferred on him by Lord Cornwallis, in consideration of his distinguished abilities and approved integrity. It may be necessary to observe, that the trade with India was at this time the company's chief concern and exclusive property; and that the board at Calcutta, in correspondence with the court at home, had the general management of the company's commercial interests. While his conduct as a member of this board added much to his reputation with the government, the discharge of the duties of the office considerably increased his commercial experience and general knowledge. But in less than three years after he had received this appointment, the impaired health of his family compelled him suddenly to quit India, and return to England. Lord Cornwallis, who had held frequent communications with Mr Grant, and entertained the highest regard for him, when solicited to allow him to quit the presidency, expressed regret at the necessity which deprived government of his services, considered as they were by his lordship so essential to the proper executive management of the commercial interests of the company, that he would in any case, not of the most extreme urgency, have requested him to continue. But this being impracticable, his return to England was accompanied by unusu ally strong expressions of the high satisfaction with which the government regarded his zealous and faithful services in the commercial department.

A distinguishing feature of Mr Grant's character while in India, appears to have been a solicitude to uphold, to the utmost of his power, both by his example and influence, the public profession of the Christian religion by the Europeans. In this cause his zeal upon some occasions surpassed that of his contemporaries

He not only contributed liberally towards the re-building of St John's church, in Calcutta, but promoted it by active exertions. It is also a fact not generally known, and to be recorded to his lasting honour, that he redeemed Bethtephillah, the Protes tant mission church, from desecration, at a personal expense to himself of 10,000 rupees, and vested it in trust for sacred and charitable purposes for

ever.

After a residence in India of, altogether, nearly twenty years, in the service of the East India Company, Mr Grant, with his family, re-embarked at Calcutta, on board the ship Berrington, and arrived in England in the autumn of 1790. His early promotion to stations of trust and emolument, for which he had been recommended by superior talent and tried integrity, had enabled him to acquire a respectable competency of fortune: and his residence in India, influenced, as he appears to have been, during the whole term of it, by a peculiarly strong sense of the obligations of religion, had matured his character to that of a Christian philanthropist, and inspired him with lively feelings of solicitude for the moral and intellectual welfare of the immense Mahomedan and Heathen population subject to the British government. He had instituted a close scrutiny into the character of the natives, which had resulted in the formation and establishment of opinions that governed his subsequent conduct upon occasions of great moral and political importance. His first employment, after his return to England, was to commit the result of his enquiries to paper, in a tract entitled, "Observations on the State of Society among the Asiatic Subjects of Great Britain;" which was written in 1792, although not submitted to perusal, out of the circle of his personal friends, till 1797. In that

year he laid it upon the table of the court of directors, with an introductory letter, stating his motives for so doing to be, a consideration of its relevancy to certain proposals for communicating Christianity to the natives of India, by granting permission for missionaries to proceed thither, which had been repeatedly pressed upon the court's attention. This paper will be again adverted to, in connexion with final and successful efforts of its author for the attainment of that object.

On the 30th of May 1794, he was elected a director of the East India Company, by the unanimous vote of the proprietors, not more than two months after he had declared himself a candidate for the direction. He was at this time in the 49th year of his age, and in the full vigour of an excellent constitution.

To attempt a detail of all the important measures connected with the India administration, in the discussion and adoption of which, Mr Grant, from this time, took an active and often a prominent part, would be here impracticable. But that a brief reference should be made to a few of them, seems necessary for the illustration of his character, as the attached and powerful supporter of the East India Company, and their zealous advocate in Parliament; and as the indefatigable friend and benefactor of the native population of British India.

The subject of greatest moment which Mr Grant found under the consideration of the court when he entered it, and which appears to have attracted his early attention, was a question respecting the freight paid by the company for the hire of their shipping. This suggestion for an economical reform had been for several years before the court of proprietors, but no effectual measures of relief had been determined upon. The friends of Mr Grant claim for him the credit

of having been mainly instrumental in effecting the salutary reform which afterwards took place. The value of this to the company may be estimated by the recorded fact as stated in the general court, that, within a few years, a sum of more than 10,000,000l. had been paid for freight above that which ought to have been paid, upon any principle of fair and open competition. The best testimony to Mr Grant's merits in the accomplishment of this change, is that furnished by its enemies, who, it appears, at the next election, made a vigorous but unsuccessful attempt to prevent his return to the direction.

Upon other important questions which were agitated about this time, particularly those respecting the opening of the trade of India, and the prevention of an illicit trade, it will not be disputed, by persons conversant with the subject, that Mr Grant strenuously and eloquently supported the company's rights, and rendered them eminent service.

Upon a question of equal moment, and peculiar delicacy, which first came under discussion in 1797, highly affecting the character of the directors, and thereby the vital interests of the company, the course pursued by Mr Grant was as honourable to himself as it was beneficial to the body of which he formed a part. This question was the alleged abuse of the patronage of the court, an imputation to which it was subjected, by the daily appearance of advertisements in the public papers, offering appointments to India for a valuable consideration. To prevent the appearance of such advertisements, the court, it was found, possessed no power, nor any means of compelling a disclosure of the parties who, there was reason to fear, were in some cases guilty of abusing the kindness of its members. Yet, restrained as they were by legal

obstacles, from either redressing or preventing the daily wrong done to their character, they judged it proper to use every possible means for their own exoneration. In September 1800, and in January 1801, the subject was warmly taken up in the general court; and, upon the latter occasion in particular, Mr Grant, in an argumentative speech of some length, declared himself favourable to the prosecution of inquiry in every possible way, considering " that the honour of the court, the satisfaction of the public, and the state of the subject, did require it." By the decision of a ballot, which followed this discussion, a majority of the proprietors of India Stock exonerated the court from suspicion, while the continuance and flagrancy of the grievance left the public mind unsettled upon the subject. At length an opportunity was afforded, by some disclosures which were accidentally made in the House of Commons, in the course of the enquiry into the conduct of H.R.H. the Commander-inChief, in 1809, of effectually tracing the evil to its source. Mr Grant, who had then a seat in the House, obtained the concurrence of the court of directors, and joined his brother director, Mr George Smith, in a request that the House would appoint a select committee for the investigation of the subject. The results of that investigation, which were exculpatory of the whole court, did not reflect more honour upon the gentleman who had sought it, than did the high tone of manly feeling and conscious purity with which it had been solicited.

In April 1804, he was, for the first time, elected deputy-chairman of the court of directors; the Hon. W. F. Elphinstone being at the same time chosen to fill the chair, to which Mr Grant succeeded in April 1805. From April 1806 to April 1807, he was out

of the direction by rotation. Upon his return to the court in April 1807, he was again elected deputy-chairman, his friend Edward Parry, Esq. being at the same time chosen chairman. This arrangement was continued from April 1807 to 1809, when Mr Grant was again chosen to fill the chair, which he held till April 1810. He was re-elected to it in 1815, and filled it till 1816, making altogether a period of six years, during which he held the office of chairman or deputy-chairman of the court. Those only who reflect upon the extent of the British territories and interests in India, and the constitution of the India government at home, have it in their power to form an adequate conception of the variety, importance, and intricacy of the subjects, which, in the course of such a protracted career of official duty, would occupy the mind and time of a gentleman thus distinguished by the confidence of the court. An entire devotion of time and talents is, in general, not more than sufficient for the discharge of the incumbent duties of either of these responsible situations. He conscientiously disapproved of many parts of Marquis Wellesley's administration, and joined in the motion of Sir Philip Francis, against the system of extended territory in India. He entirely supported Sir George Barlow, on the conduct held by him, on the critical occasion of the mutiny at Ma

dras.

The negotiation between the court of directors and his Majesty's ministers, for the renewal by charter of the Company's commercial privileges, which commenced in 1808, when Mr Grant was deputy-chairman, called forth an extraordinary display of the powers of his mind. This negotiation brought under review almost every right which the Company possessed, and involved in its progress

the discussion of every principle of colonial government applicable to the East Indies. To assist in an investigation so extensive, Mr Grant was peculiarly qualified, by the extent of his information, the soundness of his judgment, and the laboriousness of his habits; and very important services were, no doubt, rendered by him to the Company. He took an active, and sometimes a prominent part in all the proceedings. He was elected by the court a member of the deputation appointed to confer with his Majesty's ministers; was intrusted with the presentation of petitions to Parliament on the Company's account; and in the House of Commons asserted and defended their rights, and maintained their pretensions with great ability. But while Mr Grant thus supported the interests of the Company, he kept constantly in view the intellectual and moral wants of India; and, in meeting these, had to encounter difficulties as unexpected as they were extraordinary, partly occasioned by the fears, and in some instances arising out of the most surprising prejudices in favour of the Hindoo idolatry, which were entertained by Europeans connected with India. Among those who appeared to cherish prejudices in favour of the Hindoo idolatry, were the authors of several pamphlets circulated at the time, particularly the writers of one which bears the signature of a Bengal Officer; and among those who professed to entertain fears for the permanence of the British power in India, were two respectable proprietors of India stock, (one of whom was afterwards a director,) and who came forward avowedly to oppose missionary exertions, in pamphlets which bear their names. The one party maintained the purity of Asiatic morals, and the harmlessness of the Hindoo character; and the other,

the danger of meddling with Hindoo prejudices.

With a view to dispel the fears and remove the prejudices of the enemies to missionary efforts, many important documents were produced and laid on the table of the House of Commons, chiefly at the instance of Mr Grant; such as, proofs of the prevalence of infanticide in different parts of India-of the impurities and atrocities of Juggernaut, and of the great extent of the worship of that idolof the habitual falsehood and dishonesty of the Hindoos-and, on the other hand, of the long undisturbed existence of Christianity in some parts of India-lastly, Mr Grant's own tract, entitled, "Observations on the General State of Society among the Asiatic subjects of Great Britain with respect to Morals, and on the Means of improving it." This valuable paper was called for by the House of Commons, laid on its table, and ordered to be printed for the use of the members, on the 5th of June, 1813. It commences with a review of the British Territorial Administration in the East, from the first acquisition of territory there. It then exhibits a true picture of the moral character of the Hindoos, supported and verified by a great body of evidence, extracted from the printed works of persons who have been in India; an examination of the causes of that character, which are traced in the religion or superstition of the people, as well as in their corrupt, unequal, and defective laws, and in the absurd prerogatives and duties of the native magistracy. In entering into the measures which Great Britain might adopt for the removal of these evils, and the improvement of the state of society in India, Mr Grant refers to the introduction of our language as a circumstance arising almost necessarily out of our connexion with In

dia, and which rendered extremely easy, if it did not carry along with it, the introduction of much of our useful literature, and particularly our sacred Scriptures. Towards the last measure, with every more direct means of improvement, such as schools and missions, he considered it incumbent on the court of directors to manifest at least a friendly aspect, and, with respect to education, a cooperation.

On the 23d July, 1813, the Act of Parliament, 53 Geo. III. c. 155. commonly called the Charter Act, obtained the royal assent. It is well known that this statute, the fruit of much and laborious discussion, effected some considerable changes in the East India Company's commercial privileges, in which Mr Grant could not concur; but, on the other hand, it contained three important modifications of the law, which were in perfect accordance with the sentiments and reasoning above detailed, and the attainment of which, there can be no doubt, ought in justice to be ascribed, in a considerable degree, to his zeal and exertions.

The first of these was an augmentation of the ecclesiastical establishment of British India, and the institution of a bishop's see at Calcutta; the second, the privilege granted to European teachers of Christian morals, or missionaries, of enjoying a regulated access to the natives of India; and the last, the annual appropriation of the sum of one lack of rupees for the general promotion of education among them. These results appear to have been the fruit of a series of wise, persevering, and pious exertions, made by Mr Charles Grant, with a view to promote and secure the highest honour and truest interests of Great Britain in India, viz. the consolidation of her empire there, by the improvement of the intellectual and