508 HASTINGS subsequently defeated Greene at Hobkirk's hill. Keturning to England before the close of the war, on account of ill health, he was captured by a French cruiser. Soon after his release he was created Baron Rawdon and honored with several marks of distinction by the king ; and in 1793 he succeeded his father as earl of Moira. In the succeeding year he commanded a body of 10,000 men sent to relieve the duke of York in Flanders, which service he successfully per- formed. After various other services, he was in 1806 appointed master general of the ord- nance in the Grenville and Fox ministry, and after the assassination of Mr. Perceval in 1812 made an unsuccessful attempt to form a cabinet. Shortly after he was appointed governor gen- eral of India, where he remained till 1823. The most important event of his administration was the successful termination of the Nepaul war. He was subsequently governor of Malta. In December, 1816, he was created Viscount Lou- don, earl of Rawdon, and marquis of Hastings. HASTINGS, Warren, governor general of Brit- ish India, born Dec. 6, 1732, died Aug. 22, 1818. He was descended from the Hastingses of Daylesford, Worcestershire, but the estate had been sold, and of all their ancient posses- sions the grandfather of Warren held only the rectory of Daylesford, to which he had been presented by his father. He had two sons, Howard, who held an office in the customs, and Pynaston, the father of Warren. Pynas- ton, at the age of 15, imprudently married Hester Warren, the daughter of a small farmer, and being in great poverty abandoned his na- tive country, leaving two children to the care of his father. The rector, impoverished by a lawsuit, left Daylesford, and became curate at Churchill, where Warren was sent to the char- ity school of the village. In 1740, his uncle Howard having taken charge of his education, he went to a school at Newington, where he was well taught but badly fed; to the latter circumstance he was accustomed to attribute his diminutive stature and feeble health. At the age of 10 he was removed to Westminster. Here his mental powers became conspicuous, and at 14 he stood first among his competitors, and was already distinguished for ambition, resolution, and industry. His uncle dying, he was now left dependent upon a distant relative, who procured for him a writership in the East India company. In January, 1750, he went to India. Here he at once began to study the native languages, and was one of the first to make himself familiar with the history and literature of the people among whom he now lived. He was soon noticed by Lord Olive, and was employed in various commercial and diplomatic measures. In 1756 he married the widow of Capt. Campbell, who, together with the two children she had borne him, died be- fore his return to England. He remained in India 14 years, not distinguished in any remark- able manner, but acquiring knowledge and highly esteemed. In 1764 he arrived in Eng- land with a moderate 'fortune, which was soon, exhausted by his liberality to his needy rela- tives and his profuse generosity. His talents and his knowledge of East Indian affairs soon brought him again into the service of the company. In 1769 he returned to India, and was made second in the council of Madras, and in 1772 he became the highest official of the company, the president of the supreme council of Bengal. His power was next en- larged by a change made in the Indian con- stitution by an act of parliament, which con- solidated the separate governments into one, and Hastings became (Jan. 1, 1774) governor general of British India. The vast territory over which he ruled was composed of new conquests ; the English were few in number, and their supremacy was constantly endangered by Hyder Ali, rajah of Mysore, by the Mahrat- tas, and by other native powers. In these dangers the administrative talent and unweary- ing constancy of Warren Hastings established the British empire in India. He was unscru- pulous, resolute, and apparently cruel ; he perhaps depopulated whole districts by his exactions, and committed acts of signal injus- tice. But success followed him ; he defeated opposition in his council, and destroyed his Indian foes. He was not however sustained by the home administration, nor by the board of directors. Rumors of his tyranny in India were assiduously spread over England by his enemies, but the court of proprietors sustained him by large majorities whenever the attempt was made to remove him from his office. En- couraged by their support, he now neglected or refused to obey the orders of the board of directors whenever he thought them impolitic, overawed the minority of his council, and ruled with a power almost unchecked, until February, 1785, when he resigned his office, and set out for England, not unconscious of the danger that threatened him there. He left India, it is said, highly popular with the natives as well as the English residents, and followed by general regret. Upon his arrival in England, the opposition in parliament, led by Edmund Burke, introduced a resolution for an inquiry into his conduct, but the proceed- ings did not commence until the session of 1786, when Burke brought forward his articles of impeachment. Mr. Pitt, intimidated by the unpopularity of the accused, consented to the measure, and gave up Hastings to the opposi- tion. In the impeachment Burke charged him with numerous acts of oppression, with deso- lating whole regions of British domain, with peculation and corruption, with exciting useless wars, and with various acts dishonoring the British name. He divided his charges into four heads, namely, the oppression and final expul- sion of the rajah of Benares, the cruel treat- ment of the begums or princesses of Oude, un- fair contracts, and wasteful expenditure. The sessions of 1786-'7 having been consumed in preliminary measures, the house of lords met
