Page:The Marquess of Hastings, K.G..djvu/21

Rh were other influences around his youth which helped to shape his mind. Among his ancestors there had been persons of religious zeal and of learning; his mother is described as having had a strong natural understanding, cultivated by a very refined taste; her own mother, Selina, daughter of Lord Ferrers, was a person of remarkable talent and character; she became the patroness of the Methodist reformers (Wesley, Whitfield, &c.) and devoted herself entirely to good works, founding the sect of methodists known as 'Lady Huntingdon's Connection,' — a religious association at that time much despised by the upper classes of society.

Francis Rawdon, who in 1761 became known by the courtesy title of Lord Rawdon, was educated at Harrow, when Dr. Sumner was Head Master, and where he was one of the pupils of Dr. Joseph Drury. He evinced early a strong desire to devote himself to a military career, and was gazetted Ensign in the 15th Foot in 1771, at the age of seventeen; shortly afterwards he matriculated at University College, Oxford, but took no degree there. Having made the usual continental tour, which in those days was considered to give the finishing touch to the education of a 'young gentleman of quality,' he was promoted to a lieutenancy in the 5th Foot in 1773, and embarked immediately for America to take part in the War of Independence.

He spent nearly eight years in America, and there he gained his first great experiences of life. When he