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LORD HASTINGS.
William Lord Hastings was one of the most remarkable men of the age.
Philip de Comines bears testimony to his high repute for wisdom and virtue.

Born the son of a knight of ancient lineage but scanty lands, he had risen, while yet in the prime of life, to a rank and an influence second, perhaps, only to the House of Nevile.

Like Lord Montagu, he united in happy combination the talents of a soldier and a courtier.

But as a statesman, a schemer, a thinker, Montagu, with all his craft, was inferior to Hastings.