Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/544

512 it first came into reputation as a watering-place, Hastings consisted of two main streets; but since then many new streets and squares have been added, and St Leonards, at that time about a mile distant, is now connected with it by aline of terraces and parades, and forms its more fashion- able district. On the brink of the western clitf there still stand a square and a circular tower of the old castle, pro- bably erected soon after of William the Conqueror, ani the ruins, opened up by excavation in, of the castle chapel, a transitional Norman structure 110 feet long, with a nave, chancel, and aisles. Besides the chapel, there was also at one time a college, both being under the control of a dean and secular canons. The deanery was at one time held by Thomas a Becket, and one of the canonries by William of Wykeham. The principal public buildings are the old parish churches of All Saints and St Clements, both in the Perpendicular style, the former containing in its register for 1619 the baptism of Titus Oates, whose father was rector of the parish, and the latter two brasses to Thomas Weekes (d.) ard John Builey (d.); the town-hall, erected in 1823; the music hall, erected in 1859; the assembly-room, the Roman Catholic college, the Augustinian monastery, and the Albert memorial and drinking fountain, erected in 1864. Among the industries of the town are fishing, boat-building, and coach-making; but its prosperity depends chiefly upon its reputation as a watering-placs. Its popularity in this respect is owing to its historical interest, its picturesque situation, the many beautiful walks in the neighbourhood, its fine level sands, and its healthy climate, which, while bracing and vigorous in the higher parts of the town, is in its lower parts speci- ally suite, from its mildness, for sufferers from pulmonary complaints. The town is well supplied with hotels, read- ing rooms, and pleasure gardens, and possesses a line of pivades extending along the coast for nearly 3 miles. The Marini, a covered parade 690 feet in length, was built in 1825. There is a fine pier, opened in 1872, 909 feet in length, and possessing a pavilion capable of seating nearly 2000 persons. A public park, 70 acres in exteut, is at present being lid oat. The sewage of the town is con- veyed a consilerable distance out to sea before it is dis- charged. Th: area of the municipal borough is 1636 acres, and of the parliamentary borough 4617 acres. The population ef the municipal borough in 1871 was 29,29], and of the parliamentary borough 33,337.

1em  HASTINGS, (1732–1818), the first governor-general of British India, was born on the 6th of December 1732 in the httle hamlet of Churchill in Oxfordshire. He came of a family which had been settled for many generations in the adjvining village of Daylesford; but his great-grandfather had sold the ancestral manor-louse, and his grandfather had been unable to maintain himeelf in possession of the family living. His mother died a few days after giving him birth ; his father, Pynaston Hastings, drifted away to perish obscurely in the West Indies. Thus unfortunate in his birth, young Hastings received the ele- ments of education at a charity school in his native village. At the age of eight he was taken in charge by an elder brother of his father, Howard Hastings, who held a post in the customs. After spending two years ata private school at Newington Butts, he was moved to West- minster, where among his contemporaries occur the names of Lord Thurlow and Lord Shelburne, Sir Flijah Impey, and the poets Cowper and Churclull. In 1749, when his headmaster Dr Nichols was already anticipating for him a successful career at the university, lis uncle died, leaving hita to the care of Mr Chiswick, who was in the direction of the East India Company; and he determined to send his ward to seek his fortune as a “ writer” in Bengal. When Hastings landed at Caleutta in October 1750, the affairs of the East India Company were at a low ebb. Throuzhout the entire south of the peninsula French inflv- ence was predominant. The settlement of Fort St George or Madras, capture by force of arms, had ouly recently been restored in accordance with a clause of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. The lurid genius of Dupleix everywhere overshadowed the native imagination, and the star of Clive had scarcely yet risen above the horizon. The rivalry be- tween the English and the French, which had already convulsed the south, did not penetrate to Bengal. That province was under the able government of Ali Vardi Khan, who peremptorily forbade the foreign settlers at Cal- cutta and Chandarnagar to introduce feuds from Europe. The duties of a young “ writer” were then such as are im- plied inthe name. At an earlydate Hastings was placed in charge of an aurany or factory in the interior, where his duties would be to superintend the weaving of silk and cotton goods under a system of money advances, In 1755 he was transferred to KAsimbazar, the river-port of the native capital of Murshidabad. In 1756 the old nawib dicd, and was succeeded by his grandson Siraj- ud-Daulah, a spoilt bey of 19, whose name is indelibly associated with the tragedy of the Black Hole. When thit passionate young prince, in revenge for a fancied wrong, resolved to drive the English out of Bengal, his first step was to occupy the fortified factory at Késimbazar, and make prisoners of Hastings and his companions. Hastings was soon released at the intercession of the Dutch resi- dent, and made use of his position at Murshidébad to open negotiations with the English fugitives at Falta, the site of a Dutch factory near the mouth of the Hooghly. In later days he used to refer with pride to his serviccs on this occasion, when he was first initiated into the wiles of Oriental diplomacy. After a while, he found it necessary to fly from the Mahometan court, and join the main body of the English at Falta. When the relieving force arrived from Madras under Colonel Clive and Admiral Watson, Hastings enrolled himself as a volunteer, and took part in the action which led to the recovery of Calcutta. Clive showed his appreciation of Hastings’s merits, by appointing him in 1758 to the important post of resident at the court of Murshi-