Page:Cousins's Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.djvu/318

306 The best ed. of the Works is that of Elwin and Courthope, with Life by Courthope (10 vols., 1871-89).  PORDAGE,  (1633-1691?).—Poet, s. of a clergy man in Berks, ed. at Merchant Taylor's School, studied law at Lincoln's Inn, and made various translations, wrote some poems, two tragedies, Herod and Mariamne (1673), and The Siege of Babylon (1678), and a romance, Eliana. He is best known by his Azaria and Hushai (1682), in reply to Absalom and Achitophel, distinguished from the other replies by its moderation and freedom from scurrility.  PORSON,  (1759-1808).—Scholar, s. of the parish clerk of E. Ruston, Norfolk, was distinguished from childhood by a marvellous tenacity of memory which attracted the attention of the curate of the parish, who ed. him, after which he was sent by a gentleman to Eton. Subsequently a fund was collected for the purpose of maintaining him at Camb., where he had a brilliant career, and became a Fellow of Trinity Coll. This position he lost by refusing to take orders. In 1792 he was appointed Prof. of Greek in the Univ., but resided for the most part in London, where he was much courted by literary men, but unfortunately fell into extremely intemperate habits. P. was one of the very greatest of Greek scholars and critics; but he has left little permanent work of his own. He ed. four plays of Euripides, viz., Hecuba, Orestes, Phœnissæ, and Medea. His most widely read work was his Letters to Archdeacon Travis on the disputed passage, 1 John v. 7, which is considered a masterpiece of acute reasoning. He is buried in the chapel of Trinity Coll.  PORTER,  (1780-1832), PORTER,  (1776-1850). Novelists, were the dau. of an Irish army surgeon, and sisters of Sir Robert Ker P., the painter and traveller. After the death of the f. the family settled in Edin., where they enjoyed the friendship of Scott. at the age of 12 pub. Artless Tales, the precursor of a series of tales and novels numbering about 50, the best being Don Sebastian (1809). , though the elder by four years, did not pub. until 1803, when her first novel, Thaddeus of Warsaw, appeared. The Scottish Chiefs followed in 1810. Both of these works, especially the latter, had remarkable popularity, the Chiefs being translated into German and Russian. She had greater talent than her sister, but like her, while possessed of considerable animation and imagination, failed in grasping character, and imparting local verisimilitude. Both were amiable and excellent women. A romance, Sir Edward Seaward's Diary (1831), purporting to be a record of actual circumstances, and ed. by Jane, is generally believed to have been written by a brother, Dr. William Ogilvie P.  POWELL,  (1850-1904).—Historian, ed. at Rugby and Oxf., called to the Bar at the Middle Temple 1874, became an ardent student of history, and succeeded Froude as Prof. of Modern History at Oxf. in 1894. Absorbed in study, he wrote less than his wide and deep learning qualified him for. Among his works are A History of England to 1509, and he also wrote on Early England up to the Conquest, and on Alfred and William the Conqueror.