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 POKIER 725 against him. A court martial was ordered, which began its proceedings on Dec. 1, the charges being now brought, not by Pope, but by Gen. Roberts, who had been Pope's in- spector general. The trial continued till Jan. 10, and resulted in a verdict of guilty; and Porter was sentenced, Jan. 21, to be cashiered and "for ever disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit under the government of the United States." The justice of this ver- dict has been a subject of much controversy. After leaving the army he engaged in business in New York, was subsequently superintendent of the construction of the New Jersey asylum for the insane, and in February, 1875, was ap- pointed commissioner of public works in the city of New York. PORTER. I. Jane, an English novelist, born in Durham in 1776, died in Bristol, May 24, 1850. She lost her father in childhood, was educated at Edinburgh, and afterward re- moved to London with her mother and sister. Here she published "Thaddeus of Warsaw," which was translated into several languages, and obtained for her admission as a lady can- oness into the Teutonic order of St. Joachim. In 1809 she published "The Scottish Chiefs," a novel founded on the adventures of Bruce and Wallace, which also was very popular. "The Pastor's Fireside," "Duke Christian of Luneburgh," "The Field of Forty Footsteps," and " Sir Edward Seaward's Diary " (1831) are her other most important works. The last is a work of fiction, but so life-like that a leading review discussed it as veritable history. In 1841 Miss Porter accompanied her brother, Sir Robert Ker Porter, to St. Petersburg, and after his death returned to England. II. Anna Maria, sister of the preceding, born in Durham about 1781, died near Bristol, June 21, 1832. In her childhood she was much in the company of Walter Scott, who delighted in relating stories to her. Her first works were two collections of " Artless Tales" (1793 and 1795), besides which she wrote "Walsh Colville" (1797), "Octavia" (3 vols., 1798), "The Hungarian Brothers" (1807), "Don Sebastian" (1809), "Ballad Ro- mances and other Poems "(1811), "The Re- cluse of Norway" (1814), "The Village of Mariendorpt" (1818), "The Fast of St. Mag- dalen" (1821), "The Knight of St. John," in conjunction with her sister Jane, and " Tales round a Winter's Hearth " (1826). PORTER, Noah, an American scholar, eleventh president of Yale college, born in Farmington, Conn., Dec. 14, 1811. He graduated at Yale college in 1831, taught school in New Haven for two years, and then for two years was tutor in the college. He studied theology there, and in April, 1836, became pastor of the Congrega- tional church in New Milford, Conn. He was pastor of a Congregational church in Spring- field, Mass., from 1843 to 1846, when he was chosen Clark professor of metaphysics and mor- al philosophy in Yale college ; and he was elect- ed president of that institution on the retire- ment of President Woolsey in 1871. He re- ceived the degree of D. D. from the university of New York in 1858, and that of LL. D. from Western Reserve college in 1870, and from Trinity college, Hartford, in 1871. He spent a year in Europe in 1853-'4, chiefly in Ger- many. He superintended, as principal editor, the preparation and issue of the new revision of Webster's "American Dictionary of the Eng- lish Language," which appeared in 1864. The most elaborate of his works is the treatise on "The Human Intellect, with an Introduction upon Psychology and the Soul " (New York, 1868), an abridgment of which was published in 1871. He has also published "The Educa- tional Systems of the Puritans and the Jesuits Compared," a prize essay (l^ew York, 1851) ; " Books and Reading " (1870) ; " American Col- leges and the American Public" (New Haven, 1870); and "The Sciences of Nature versus the Science of Man" (1871), a review of the philosophical opinions of Herbert Spencer. PORTER, Peter Bnel, an American soldier, born in Salisbury, Conn., Aug. 14, 1773, died at Niagara Falls, March 20, 1844. He graduated at Yale college in 1791, studied at the Litch- field law school, and in 1795 began practice at Canandaigua, N. Y. In 1808 he was chosen a representative in congress, where as chair- man of the committee on foreign relations he prepared and introduced the celebrated re- port of December, 1811, recommending war against Great Britain. As soon as hostilities had been declared he resigned his seat in con- gress, and, refusing a commission as general in the regular army, was appointed quartermas- ter general of New York, and subsequently received the command of a body of Pennsyl- vania and New York volunteers and Indians of the Six Nations. Black Rock, where he resided, having fallen into the hands of the British in June, 1813, and his own house being made their headquarters, he rallied a force by which they were expelled, and their comman- der, Col. Bishop, mortally wounded. He held a command in Smythe's unfortunate "army of invasion," and was twice permitted to em- bark to lead the van of the army into Canada, and twice recalled before he reached the op- posite shore. His comments on this led to a duel between him and Gen. Smythe. In July, 1814, he joined Brown's invading army with a brigade of 3,500 volunteers and Indians. He exhibited " great personal gallantry " at Chip- pewa, and led the volunteers at Lundy's Lane. Besieged with Brown in Fort Erie, he led the brilliant and effective sortie of Sept. 17. Pass- ing during the engagement with his staff from one column to another, he came suddenly upon about 80 English soldiers, separated from the main body, and bewildered in the melee. He went up to them, putting on a bold face, and saying: "That's right, my good fellows! sur- render, and I'll take care of you," at the same time throwing down the muskets of those near- est to him. He received a gold medal from