Beschreibung
An einen Freund mit Dank für dessen Brief, in dem er zum Tod von Hastings‘ Stiefsohn Julius Imhoff (1768-1799) kondolierte, der im September 1799 in Kalkutta gestorben war: „[…] The affection which it breathes for our poor departed friend, and the well drawn character which it expresses of him, have served more than any words of consolation could have done, to alleviate the sorrow of his excellent mother, and to render the cruel duty which had fallen to my lot, of communicating the dreadful intelligence […] She asked me earnestly, whether any notice had been taken either in the Consultations, or the General letter which announced his death, of the eminent services which he had performed in the office […] The first information which I received of this event was imported to me while Mrs. Hastings lay sick with a fever, and much reduced in strength by previous indisposition […] Her son Charles chanced to be with us at the time, which proved a great relief to her […] I think she has told me that she has already employed Captain Imhoff to convey her wishes respecting Julius’s children […] The large portion which the government exacts, for its enormous expenses, of every man’s fortune, and the more than doubled value of all the necessaries of life, require more than twice the same amount of income to live at the same rate as you could do when you were last in England: but you will have the advantage of choosing your style of living […] All men of the middle ranks of society, & fixed to long formed habits, are falling rapidly to ruin. I wish the state itself may not be in as bad a condition […]“ Daneben sehr ausführlich über Gesundheit und Kur seiner Frau Marian (geb. Chapuset; verh. von Imhoff; 1747-1837). – Hastings‘ Familienverhältnisse waren ungewöhnlich. Er hatte die aus Frankreich stammende Anna Maria Appolonia (Marian) 1772 dem Offizier, Porträtmaler und Abenteurer Christoph Adam Carl von Imhoff (1734-1788), „gegen eine ihrer Schönheit angemessene Abfindung“, wie Wilpert schreibt, angeblich abgekauft! Marian hatte ihre Söhne Karl (Charles; 1766-1853; seit 1798 Hauptmann beim Leibgarderegiment) und Julius mit in die Ehe gebracht. Julius hatte wiederum drei legitimierte Söhne aus seiner Verbindung mit einer Bengalin. – Wohlerhalten.
