Grant's Mission Scheme

CHARLES GRANT returned home from India in 1790 after 22 years' service determined to make progress with the 1786 missionary proposal discussed in the previous chapter. Unhappy with the reception the scheme had received from Lord Cornwallis in India, Grant set about trying to obtain more support for it in Britain. He had already sent a copy of the proposal to William Wilberforce, MP and personal friend of William Pitt, the Prime Minister. They soon met and thus began a close friendship, which was to have a considerable impact on the Company once Wilberforce had taken up the cause of Christianising India. In 1785 Wilberforce, like Grant earlier, had undergone an Evangelical conversion experience, which changed the direction of his life. Henceforward, his Christian beliefs would regulate everything he did and give urgency to his attempts to rectify a myriad of social and moral evils. His health was poor, yet he was able to direct his attention effectively for a long period over a wide range of issues. Wilberforce was a mesmerising speaker and was held in affection and esteem by most who had dealings with him. At the time he met Grant, he was immersed in trying to get a motion for the abolition of the slave trade through Parliament. Grant's role as one of Wilberforce's ‘most trusted lieutenants’ in the abolition cause did not, however, deflect him from India.