CONGRATULATIONS upon his acquittal poured in upon Has-
tings, not only from his own countrymen at home and in India,
but from his numerous Indian friends, as well as foreign ad-
mirers, who had followed his checkered fortunes with the greatest inter-
est and marveled at the way he had been treated -- the French especially,
who knew to their cost the immensity of the service that he had rendered
to his country. Big celebrations, too, followed the verdict. His neighbors
especially overwhelmed him with their expressions of joy. The bells rang
throughout the countryside. A band welcomed him back to Daylesford,
and the gentlemen of the district opened their houses and gave lavish
entertainments to all their friends. The Bengal Club held a great banquet
in London, "partaking more of the splendor of the East than anything
that was ever seen in this country." Five hundred were present. Mrs.
Hastings presided, and Lord Thurlow especially was fêted. In July Sir
John and Lady D'Oyly, old friends of Hastings in India, gave a fête-
champêtre at their country house in Hampshire, at which the bells again
rang joyfully. In a large pavilion, garlanded with flowers, Hastings's
portrait was hung, supported on each side by those of Thurlow and
Mansfield, and the guests were presented with bouquets tied with white
ribbons, inscribed in gold with the motto, "Virtue Triumphant." [ ¹ ]

But the excitement of the acquittal was soon over, and then Hastings
retired altogether from the public gaze, and, with a sense of unspeakable
relief, settled down to the pleasant life of a country gentleman as lord
of the Manor of Daylesford. He sternly put away all repining over his
lot, his defeated hopes of being able to combine this life of rural ease
with prolonged employment in the service of his country and of his be-
loved India -- "I love India a little more than my own country" was the
confession he once made -- and gave himself whole-heartedly to the enjoy-
ment of the good things in life that were still his to enjoy. The com-
panionship of his wife and Charles Imhoff his step-son -- whom he
regarded with as much affection as though he were his own son -- the

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