Lord Hastings

“ Think on Lord Hastings. Despair and die.
[To RICHMOND] Quiet untroubled soul, awake, awake!
Arm, fight, and conquer, for fair England's sake!
Enter the GHOSTS of the two young PRINCES
GHOSTS. [To RICHARD] Dream on thy cousins smothered in
the Tower.
Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard,
And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death!
Thy nephews' souls bid thee despair and die.
[To RICHMOND] Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and
wake in joy;
Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy!
Live, and beget a happy race of kings!
Edward's unhappy sons do bid thee flourish. ”

“ This is my dowry,—it is all!”
“And all I ask or covet,” said Hastings. But his cheek had lost its first passionate glow. Lord of many a broad land and barony, victorious captain in many a foughten field, wise statesman in many a thoughtful stratagem, high in his king’s favour, and linked with a nation’s history,—William de Hastings at that hour was as far below as earth is to heaven the poor maiden whom he already repented to have so honoured, and whose sublime answer woke no echo from his heart. ”

“ Among them was Sir William Hastings, whom he created Baron Hastings of Ashby, &c., Steward of Leicester, and ambassador, with the Earl of Warwick, to treat for peace with Louis XI., King of France, who gave him a pension of 2000 crowns per annum. The first payment was made in gold, which Lord Hastings is said to have received with these words, “Put it here into my sleeve; for other testimonial (receipt) you shall get none: no man shall say that King Edward’s Lord Chamberlain hath been pensioner to the French King.” ”

“ I have a mind that can share thine objects, I have pride that can exult in thy power, courage to partake thy dangers, and devotion—" she hesitated, with the most charming blush—"but of that, sweet lord, thou shalt judge hereafter! This is my dowry,—it is all!"
"And all I ask or covet," said Hastings. ”

“ The gentleman reappeared. “Prince Richard besought my lord’s presence with loving welcome;” and to the duke’s apartment went Lord Hastings. Richard, clad in a loose chamber robe, which concealed the defects of his shape, rose from before a table covered with papers, and embraced Hastings with cordial affection.
“Never more gladly hail to thee, dear William. I need thy wise counsels with the king, and I have glad tidings for thine own ear.”
“Pardieu, my prince; the king, methinks, will scarce heed the counsels of a dead man.” ”

“ I tell thee that if thou dreamest that Lord Hastings loves Sibyll Warner as man loves the maiden he would wed, thou deceivest thyself to thine own misery. If thou wouldst prove it, go to him now,—go and say, ‘Wilt thou give me that home of peace and honour, that shelter for my father’s old age under a son’s roof which the trader I despise proffers me in vain? ”

“ He hath heard of your father's labours; he desires to learn their nature from his own lips. He is allowed to receive, by an order from King Edward's chamberlain, the visits of those scholars in whose converse he was ever wont to delight. Wilt thou so far aid the charitable work as to seek the Lord Hastings, and crave the necessary license? Thou seest that thy father has wayward and abstract moods; he might forget that Henry of Windsor is no longer king, and might give him that title in speaking to Lord Hastings,—a slip of the tongue which the law styles treason. ”

“ Lord Hastings threatened to depart instantly to his government of Calais: [**] the other nobles seemed resolute to oppose force by force: and as the duke of Glocester, on pretence of pacifying the quarrel, had declared against all appearance of an armed power, which might be dangerous, and was nowise necessary; the queen, trusting to the sincerity of his friendship, and overawed by so violent an opposition, recalled her orders to her brother, and desired him to bring up no greater retinue than should be necessary to support the state and dignity of the young sovereign. ”

“ Sir John Hastings never prosecuted the family claims, and having married Anne, daughter of John, lord Morley, died in 1471, and was buried in Elsing Church (see inscription given in Blomefield, ix. 519, and Gough, Sepulch. Monuments, ii. pt. 3, p. 369) . His descendants in the male line became extinct in 1542, and the barony of Hastings fell into abeyance till 1841, when it was revived in favour of Sir Jacob Astley, grandfather of the present Lord Hastings. The Earls of Kent, as representatives of Lord Grey of Ruthin, claimed the title of Hastings till 1639. ”

“ A street
[Enter a SCRIVENER.] SCRIVENER
Here is the indictment of the good Lord Hastings;
Which in a set hand fairly is engross'd,
That it may be to-day read o'er in Paul's.
And mark how well the sequel hangs together:—
Eleven hours I have spent to write it over,
For yesternight by Catesby was it sent me;
The precedent was full as long a-doing:
And yet within these five hours Hastings liv'd,
Untainted, unexamin'd, free, at liberty.
Here's a good world the while! Who is so gross
That cannot see this palpable device!
Yet who so bold but says he sees it not!
Bad is the world; ”

“ I don't agree with you at all about Lord Hastings; be assured there is not the most distant idea of sending him to Ireland. I am quite sure Canning distrusts and hates him too much to employ him if it be possible to keep him out, and I do not understand his reception at head quarters has been such as to satisfy him, or give him the hopes of employment. He is very low and disappointed, and is immediately going out of town. He has been profusely civil and attentive to Wynn, but is not come in the highest odour either with the Government or Court of Directors. ”

“ By his wife Katharine, widow of William Bonville, and daughter of Richard Nevill, Earl of Salisbury, Lord Hastings had issue four sons:—1. Edward, eldest son and heir; he married Mary, grand-daughter and heiress of Robert, Baron Hungerford, Bottreaux, Molyns, and Moels, and in right of his wife was summoned to Parliament, though still a minor, in 1483, by the title of Baron Hastings of Hungerford; he died in 1507.—2. Sir Richard.—3. Sir William.—4. Sir George; and one daughter, Anne, married to George Talbot, fourth Earl of Shrewsbury. ”

“ From that lere Prince Richard would say to you, 'Where a subject is so great as to be feared, and too much beloved to be destroyed, the king must remember how Tarpeia was crushed."
"I remember naught of Tarpeia, and I detest parables."
"Tarpeia, sire (it is a story of old Rome) , was crushed under the weight of presents. Oh, my liege," continued Hastings, warming with that interest which an able man feels in his own superior art, "were I king for a year, by the end of it Warwick should be the most unpopular (and therefore the weakest) lord in England!" ”

“ Lord Ashley bowed a respectful acquiescence.
“It’s horrible—horrible!” continued the King with nervous energy. “It’s easy enough to face death in a charge against the enemy as you soldiers face it, but to wait and watch day after day, day after day, never knowing from what quarter death may be creeping upon you from some lurking assassin—ah, that’s different. It’s horrible—horrible!”
Kearns looked upon the King and a feeling akin to pity came into his heart. ”

“ I have no intention of questioning your power, past or present, Milady, nor do I seek to have that power turned against me. I have enemies enough already. Won’t you now listen to my plan?”
“What is it?” asked Lady Brooke, still angry, but grown suddenly wary.
“This,” said Lord Ashley: “At fifteen and a half o’clock to-day, Captain Haslam, who is the officer of the day, will receive an order bearing the Royal seal, to release Captain Mortimer. This order he will immediately execute and then proceed to destroy the order and forget that he ever received such document. ”

“ Because I have gold, and land, and the king's love, and can say, as the Centurion, to my fellow-man, 'Do this, and he doeth it;' and yet I tell thee, Lord Montagu, that I am less worthy now the love of beauty, the right hand of fellowship from a noble spirit, than I was then, when—the simple squire—my heart full of truth and loyalty, with lips that had never lied, with a soul never polluted by unworthy pleasures or mean intrigues, I felt that Katherine Nevile should never blush to own her fere and plighted lord in William de Hastings. ”

“ Of course, his presence in the palace would be a danger and a menace.
Kearns listened to the end. Only the august presence in which he stood prevented him from laughing outright.
“And are these the disclosures Lord Ashley made to you, Sire?” asked Kearns, with a cynical smile.
“Such is, in brief, part of the report,” said the King. “What have you to say to it?”
“Simply this, Sire,” answered Kearns; “it shows how grievously a man will blunder when he dabbles in an art he doesn’t understand.” ”

“ Is not that correct, Milord?” he asked, turning to Lord Ashley.
“It is so recorded, Sire,” answered the Vice-Chancellor. “Our historians and our writers of fiction have alike presented to us Mr. Kearns as the great Chief of Secret Service of the Western world—the equal of Vidocq, or of Fouché, if not their superior.”
“Just so,” said the King; “and it is precisely a Fouché that we need at our court at the present time. Your old-time cunning is, doubtless, still with you?” ”

“ Liar!” he hissed between his set teeth.
“What!” cried Lord Ashley, his anger kindling, as fire kindles amid straw. “You dare to apply those epithets to me—the King’s Chancellor!”
“It is as man to man that we now speak,” retorted Mortimer, struggling with his rage. “Take your sword and defend your life!” He pointed across the apartment and through the open doorway of Lord Ashley’s private bureau. Against the wall, amid a panoply of arms, could be seen hanging the sword which the Chancellor had used during the earlier days of the Russian war. ”

“ Marry, Mistress Sibyll, there is a north country and pithy proverb, ‘Happy is the man whose father went to the devil.’ Had some old Hastings been a robber and extortioner, and left to brave William the heirship of his wickedness in lordships and lands, Lord Warwick had not called him ‘a new man.’ Master Hastings was dragged, like a serf’s son, before the earl on his dais ”

“ Armed men rushed in and arrested Hastings and Lord Stanley, Bishop Morton and Archbishop Rotherham. Hastings was borne off to immediate execution on Tower Green, the Protector swearing that he would not dine till he had seen his head off. Then Richard sent for some of the leading citizens, before whom he and Buckingham appeared in rusty armour which they had hastily put on, and told them they had just escaped a plot to assassinate them in the council chamber. ”

“ Lord Ashley proved to be engaged at the moment, but requested that he return in half an hour.
Kearns accordingly made his way back to his room. As he entered he halted abruptly and his heart gave a great bound. The aërestograph was vigorously signaling for someone to receive a message.
With an effort he controlled his excitement, ran to the instrument and signaled back. Communication established, Dean’s message began to come. His recent interview with the King in mind, Kearns sent back the warning message. ”

“ Hastings— Cates. The same. Glos. He bears me great good will. Cates. 'Tis true, to you, as to the lord protector, And Gloster's duke, he bows with lowly service: But were he bid to cry, God save king Richard, Then tell me in what terms he would reply. Believe me, I have prov'd the man, and found him: I know he bears a most religious reverence To his dead master Edward's royal memory, And whither that may lead him, is most plain. Yet more—One of that stubborn sort he is, Who, if they once grow fond of an opinion, They call it honour, honesty, and faith, And sooner part with life than let it go. ”

“ If a foreign nobleman, even a poverty-stricken German baron, or a beggarly Italian count, came into the country, he was fêted, entertained and run after by your Society and toadied to in a manner of which the smallest London shopkeeper, or the humblest bourgeois of the Paris faubourgs would have been ashamed. If an adventurer of that period called himself my Lord This or Sir Henry That, people straightway lost their heads and their money. ”

“ William de Warenne, afterwards lord of Lewes, came too, "his helmet setting gracefully on his head;" Robert earl of Mortaine, the future lord of Pevensey, "never went far from the duke's side, and brought him great aid; "Robert, earl of Eu, the counsellor of William, was there, and for his services received the rape of Hastings. He "demeaned himself as a brave man, and those whom his blows reached were ill handled." The names of D'Albini, De Aquila, Monceux, Mowbray, and Tregoz, all afterwards eminent in Sussex, also receive honourable mention in the Chronicle of Wace. ”

“ In March 1822 Canning was appointed his successor, and in the following May the court of directors passed a vote of thanks to Hastings for his zeal and ability. Hastings left India on 1 Jan. 1823, and was succeeded by Lord Amherst, Canning having given up the post in consequence of Lord Londonderry's death. Owing to the embarrassment, of his affairs, Hastings accepted the post of governor and commander-in-chief of Malta, to which he was appointed on 22 March 1824. ”

“ Before you can claim the right to cross swords as an equal, you must first clear yourself of the stigma of treason which at present defiles you!”
“You refuse!” retorted Mortimer, with a gesture of contempt. “Your refusal will avail you little. I will throttle you to death where you stand. What!” he continued, with biting sarcasm, “can it be possible that the uniform of the Guards has at one time covered the breast of a liar, a traducer and a—coward!”
As this final word left Mortimer’s lips, Lord Ashley’s face in turn became suffused with rage. ”