Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/679

* HASTINGS. 621 HASWELL. scended from an ancient family long settled at Dayk'sfiiril. in Worcpstcrshire, he 'was born at Churchill, in Oxl'urdshire, on December G, 1732. He was early left an orphan ; but when only seven year.s old lie resolved to recover the estate which had passed out of the possession of his family. Kntering Westminster School, he became an excellent scholar, when, at seventeen, he w'as sent to India as a service writer in the East India Company's service. Having realized but a moderate fortune, notwithstanding the great temptation to enrich himself by means of his position, he returned in 1704 to England. In 170!) he again went to India, on his appointment as member of the Council at iladras. and in 1772 he became president of the Supreme Council of Bengal. When a little later Parliament created a Governor-Generalship of India, it bestowed that office upon Hastings, who entered lipon his dities at the beginning of 1774. The finances of his Government were in a disordered state, and the incessant demands of the East India Company for money led to some unscrupulous expedients for raising funds. For instance, Siraj-ud-Danla, Nawab of Oudh. having a claim vipon the rich provinces of Katahr, occupied by the RohilUis, asked of Hastings military aid in subduing these people. Hastings granted the request, as in fact a treaty with the Nawab required, and received for the service a large sum of money, which he used to supply a deficit in the Bengal treasury. The Xawab treated the conquered with great severity in spite of the intercession of Hastings. The condemnation and execution of the ambitious, intriguing Braliman, Nanda Kumar, is perhaps unjustly laid at his door. But to raise more money Hastings deposed Chait Singh, Rajah of Benares, for disloyalty and insurrection, and confiscated his possessions. He made an agreement also with Asaph-ud-Daula, son of Siraj-ud-Daula, under which he deprived the mother and grandmother of the Nawab of extensive domains which had fallen irregularly into their hands. The adminis- tration of Warren Hastings, although he was con- stantly tranmieled by orders from home, and frequently borne down by an able and factious ma- jority in his own council, was vigorous and suc- cessful, and his conduct of military afi'airs was no less efficient. He broke the power of Hyder Ali, Rajah of Mysore; he organized a system by which justice was dispensed, the revenue collect- ed, and peace maintained. It is greatly to his credit, too. that he encouraged Asiatic learning. When he left India in the spring of 17S.'i that great empire was tranquil. A treaty had been concluded with Tipu Sahib, son and successor of Hyder ; and the Carnatic had oeen evacuated by the armies of Mysore. On his arrival in England he was received w-ith distinction by George III. and the Court. The directors acknowledged his services by a imanimous vote of thanks. The Whig opposition was. however, loud and vehement against him, and succeeded in carrying in the Lower House a motion for his imix>achment at the bar of the House of Lords. The trial began in Westminster Hall, February 12, 1788, the managers of the impeachment being Burke, Fox, Sheridan, Windham, and Charles (afterwards Earl ) Grey. Burke opened the proceedings in a speech which extended over four sittings; Fox and Grey ursed the charge respecting Chait Singh ; and Sheridan was intrusted with the con- duct of the article relating to the begums or princesses of Oudh. The interest taken by the public in the impeachment began to decline after these great displays of rhetoric. The trial, not- withstanding, lasted for upward of seven years. On .pril 2:i, ll'.)r>, it terminated in the acquittal of Hastings. Of 400 peers only 20 voted. Hastings passed the last twenty-four years of his life at Daylesford in the pursuits of literature and in the occupations of a country gentleman, lie died on August 22, 1818, in his eighty-sixth year, and was buried behind the chancel of the parish church of Daylesford. A man of great industry, with an extraonlinary capacity for ad- ministrative details, lie undoubtedly labored for the good of India, often, however, by question- able methods. To him the English Govern- ment is laigelj' indebted for its political and judicial organization of India, and for its method of Indian administration. Consult: Gleig, Memoirs of the Life of Wnrrcn Hastings (3 vols., London, 1841), containing original docu- ments; Trotter, Warren Hastings (London, 1878) ; Bond, Hpeeehcs of the Managers and Counsel (London, 1859-61); Mill, History of British India (London, 1848); The Minnies of Eiidence (London, 17S0) ; History of the Trial (London, 1700) ; Debates of the House of Lords (London, 1707) ; Forrest, Administration of War- ren Hastings, 1772-1783 (Calcutta, 1802) ; Law- son, Private Life of Warren Hastings (London, 1895) ; Logan, lievieiD of the Principal Charges Against Warren Hastings (London, 1878) ; L}-all, Warren Hastings (London, 1889) ; Macaulay, Essay on Warren Hastings (biased) ; Malleson, Life of Warren Hastings (London, 1894) ; Strachev, Hastinqs and the Rohilla War (O.xford, 1892) ; "Busteed,'£c7ioc.5 from Old Calcutta (2d ed., Calcutta, 1888) ; Beveridge, Trial of Nanda Kumar (Calcutta, 1886) : Stephen, Dictionary of National Biography, xxv. (brief but excellent biography by Keene ) . HASTINGS, Lord William (c.1430-83). An English soldier in the service of King Edward IV. He was the son of Sir Leopold Hastings, and upon his father's death succeeded to landed es- tates in Warwickshire and Leicestershire. Upon the accession of Edward IV. to the throne in 1461, he rewarded Hastings, who, during the civil war, had been a faithful friend and retainer of his father, the Duke of York, with lucrative ofliees and grants of land. He was an energetic soldier in ail the King's wars, besides being an ambas- sador and negotiator for him on various occa- sions. He fought in Edward's Scottish cam- paigns, and upon Warwick's invasion, aided the King in escaping, raised forces in his behalf, and, after his return, commanded part of the army at the battle of Barnet. Having invaded France in 1475, he obtained a treaty of peace and an an- nuity from the French King. After the death of Edward IV. he was accused of treason by the Duke of Gloucester, and beheaded. HASTINGS SAND. See We.lden Foraia- HASTY PUDDING. A humorous poem, by Joel Barlow, published in 1796 at New Haven with a dedication to Martha Washington. HAS'WELIi, Charles Hatnes (1800—1. . American civil, marine, and mechanical engineer, born in New York City. He learned his profes- sion in a steam-engine factory, and in 1836 was appointed chief engineer in the United States