Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 25.djvu/129

 in the defence of the little port of Burdzi, which was held by the Greeks. The town fell into their hands on 12 Dec. 1822. About this time Hastings raised a company of fifty men, whom he armed and equipped at his own expense. During part of 1823 he served in Crete as commander of the artillery, but was compelled to quit the island in the autumn of that year in consequence of a violent fever.

In the latter part of 1824 Hastings went to England to purchase a steamer, which was to be armed under his direction. In March 1825 the Karteria came to Greece and was put under his command. This steamer, the first seen in Greece, was armed with 68-pounders, and could throw red-hot shells and shot. Her crew consisted of Englishmen, Swedes, and Greeks. In February 1827 Hastings co-operated with (1788–1841) [q. v.], and made an attempt to relieve Athens, which was besieged by the Turkish commander Reshid, by steaming into the Piræus and shelling the enemy's camp. His attack was successful, but the city was afterwards forced to capitulate to the Turks on 5 June. Hastings interrupted the Turkish communication between Volo and Oropus, and captured several of their vessels. At Tricheri he destroyed a Turkish man-of-war, but in this encounter the Karteria suffered severely, and was obliged to go to Poros for repairs. On 29 Sept. 1827 Hastings destroyed the Turkish fleet in the bay of Salona. Ibrahim Pasha, who was at Navarino, resolved to take instant vengeance upon him, but the allied admirals kept his fleet closely blockaded there. On 20 Oct. 1827 it was annihilated at the great battle of Navarino.

On 29 Dec. 1827 Hastings took Vasiladi, the key to the fortifications of Mesolonghi. He released the prisoners whom he captured together with the Turkish governor (, ii. 187). Capodistrias now arrived in Greece as president, and Hastings, disgusted with the negligent conduct of the war, proposed to resign. But in May 1828 he was induced to resume active operations in command of a small squadron in western Greece. On the 25th of that month he was wounded in an attack on Anatolikon, and amputation of the left arm became necessary. He sailed for Zante in search of a competent surgeon, but tetanus set in before the Karteria could enter the port. On 1 June 1828 he expired on board the vessel in the harbour of Zante. His funeral oration was pronounced by Tricoupi, the future historian of the war. Finlay speaks of him as the best foreign officer who embarked in the Greek cause, and declares that he was the only foreigner in whose character and deeds there were the elements of true greatness.

[Finlay's History of Greece, ed. Tozer, vols. vi. vii. 1877; Tricoupi's Ἱστορία τῆς Ἑλληνικής Ἐπαναστάσεως, 1853; Blackwood's Magazine, October 1845.]  HASTINGS, GEORGE, first and third  (1488?–1545), son of Edward, second baron Hastings (1466–1507), by Mary, granddaughter of Thomas, third baron Hungerford, was born about 1488. [q. v.], who was executed in 1483, was his grandfather. He was made a knight of the Bath on 17 Nov. 1501, and succeeded his father as third baron Hastings on 8 Nov. 1508, being summoned to parliament in the following year. He was constantly at court, and took part in all the great ceremonies of state. The king appears to have frequently advanced him money. When an entry was made into France in 1513, Hastings was a member of the vanguard retinue; he was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold; he also was in attendance when Charles V visited England in 1522; and his name appears as a witness to the treaty of Windsor of that year. He joined Suffolk's expedition into France in 1523.

Throughout his life he seems to have been a favourite of the king, although early in the reign he had to appear before the Star-chamber for keeping too many liveried retainers. The king's favour procured him many profitable appointments; he was steward of various manors and monasteries, and a captain of archers in the royal service. In 1529 he was created earl of Huntingdon with an annuity allowed him of 20l. a year; he had long been a privy councillor; and his name was attached to the petition from the English nobles and lawyers to Clement VII praying that the divorce might be quickly settled. An account of Hastings's revenue from land has been preserved for 1532, and it appears to have been just under a thousand pounds. In 1533 he secured a long lease of land from Waltham Abbey, so that he must have been wealthy, in spite of his continual indebtedness to the king. He was present at the coronation of Anne Boleyn; at her trial; and at the trials of Lord Dacre and Sir Thomas More. Hastings was one of the leaders of the king's forces against the rebels in the Pilgrimage of Grace, and gave early information as to the outbreak. He was then living at Ashby-de-la-Zouch. He died at his seat at Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire, and was buried in the chancel of the church there. He had married, about December 1509 (Letters and Papers of Hen. VIII, ii. 1444),