108 



Meywirs &f Eminent Persons. 



[JAN. 



of the late Marqness, are descendants 

 irom William de Hastings, summoned to 

 Parliament by the title of Baron Hastings, 

 of Ashby de la Zouch, in the county of 

 Leicester. He was murdered in the Tower 

 of London, by order of Richard, Duke of 

 Gloucester. 



John Rciwdon, created Baron Rawdon, 

 in 1750, and advanced to the dignity of 

 Earl of Moira, in 17C1, was thrice married. 

 His third wife was the Lady Elizabeth 

 Hastings, eldest daughter of Theophilus, 

 ninth Earl of Huntingdon, and sole 

 heiress of her brother, Francis, the tenth 

 Earl, on whose death, without issue, she 

 became Baroness Hastings, &c., in her 

 own right. The first male offspring of this 

 marriage, was Francis, the late Marquess, 

 to whom this sketch relates. 



As soon as his lordship had completed 

 his education, he made a short tour on the 

 Continent; then entered the army, and 

 embarked for America. He distinguished 

 himself at Bunker's Hill, and subsequently 

 in the attack of Fort Clinton. He after- 

 wards purchased a company; and, in 1778, 

 he was advanced to the rank of lieutenant- 

 colonel in the army, and appointed adju- 

 tant-general to the forces commanded by 

 Sir He.iry Clinton. He exerted himself 

 greatly in the retreat through the Jerseys- 

 embarked with the troops for Charlestown 

 was active in the siege of that place 

 after its surrender, joined Lord Cornwallis, 

 with a detachment and participated in the 

 victory at Camden. Lord Rawdon was 

 now left with a small division in South 

 Carolina; whence, after much active and 

 successful service, against the American 

 Generals Gates and Greene, he returned 

 to Charlestown in 1781. ., During his com- 

 mand at that place, an unpopular act of 

 public justice was executed. Isaac Haynes, 

 an American, who had been taken prisoner, 

 voluntarily took the oath of allegiance to 

 the British Government, and was set at 

 liberty. In violation of his oath, however, 

 he obtained a colonelcy of miiitia in the 

 enemy's army. He corrupted a battalion of 

 our militia - was taken in the act of carry- 

 ing them off tried by a court of inquiry, 

 found guilty, and executed. Lord Raw- 

 don privately exerted himself to obtain his 

 pardon, but without effect ; and, notwith- 

 standing his exertions, he was actually 

 charged with being the author of the man s 

 death, which was termed a wanton act of 

 military despotism. The affair made con- 

 siderable noise at the time, both in and out 

 of Parliament ; but his lordship amply vin. 

 dicated himself, and obtained an apology 

 from his Grace the Duke of Richmond. 



^Severe illness compelled his lordship to 

 return to England ; when, in 1783, he was 

 elevated to the British Peerage, made 

 aid-du-cam ) to the King, and promoted 

 to the rank of colonel in the army. "In 

 Parliament Lord Rawdon proved himself 

 a man of l>nin? ; he spoke with ease and 



ihiency, and appeared master of the sub- 

 jects on which he entered. In 1789, his; 

 maternal uncle, the Earl of Huntingdon, 

 died,} and left him the bulk of his fortune ; 

 a very seasonable acquisition, as by his 

 great liberality he had involved himself in 

 considerable pecuniary difficulties. His 

 lordship attached himself closely to the in- 

 terests of his present Majesty, then Prince 

 of Wales; a circumstance which brought 

 him into connexion with the opposition 

 party. He was also on terms of intimacy 

 with the Duke of York, to whom he acted 

 as second in his Royal Highness's duel 

 with Colonel Lennox, afterwards Duke of 

 Richmond. In the memorable discussions 

 on the Regency, his lordship took an active 

 part. 



When the war with France broke out in 

 1793, his lordship, then Earl Moira, was 

 appointed to the command of a force in- 

 tended to make a descent on the coast of 

 France. However, having been kept for a 

 long time inactive at Southampton, the 

 situation of the allied forces in Flanders 

 rendered it necessary to send a reinforce- 

 ment thither. The enterprize was hazard- 

 ous ; but his lordship landed at Ostend in 

 the very face of a formidable force, and, 

 without artillery, made a forced march, 

 and effected a junction with the Duke of 

 York at a very critical moment. He soon 

 afterwards returned to England ; had a 

 command little more than nominal at 

 Southampton ; was regular and active in 

 the discharge of his parliamentary duties ; 

 was accustomed to take the chair at Ma- 

 sonic and other anniversary meetings; and 

 acquired great popularity throughout the 

 country. In 1805 he was sent as com- 

 marider-in-chief into Scotland. 



His lordship having acted steadily with 

 the opposition, when they came into power 

 in 1806, he was made master-general of 

 the ordnance ; in which he continued till 

 the Tory partly regained their ascendancy. 

 In the inquiry into the conduct of the 

 Princess of W'ales, he took a most active 

 part in favour of the Prince, and co-operated 

 in promoting the inquiry into circumstances 

 which he considered as implicating the 

 honour of his royal friend. 



When the Prince became Regent, in 

 1811, the Earl of Moria received a carte 

 bla/iche from his Royal Highness to form 

 an administration of able and independent 

 statesmen. It was found impracticable, 

 however, to form a coalition of the oppos- 

 ing parties, and the object was abandoned. 

 Soon afterwards, the Regent, under very 

 flattering circumstances, conferred upon his 

 lordship the Order of the Gaiter. As 

 Lord Moira could not act with the ministry 

 then in power, he was appointed to the 

 Governor-generalship of India. Soon after 

 his departure, he was, by the first civil 

 creation under the Regency, raised to the 

 rank of Marquess of Hastings. Under his 

 lordship's government in India, the glory 



