Chapter Pordage to Prideaux of P by Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

Pordage to Prideaux

Pordage, Samuel (1633-1691?).—Poet, son of a clergyman in Berks, educated 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 Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel, distinguished from the other replies by its moderation and freedom from scurrility.

Porson, Richard (1759-1808).—Scholar, son 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 educated him, after which he was sent by a gentleman to Eton. Subsequently a fund was collected for the purpose of maintaining him at Cambridge, where he had a brilliant career, and became a Fellow of Trinity College This position he lost by refusing to take orders. In 1792 he was appointed Professor of Greek in the University, but resided for the most part in London, where he was much courted by literary men, but unfortunately fell into extremely intemperate habits. Porson was one of the very greatest of Greek scholars and critics; but he has left little permanent work of his own. He edited 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 College

Porter, Anna Maria (1780-1832), Porter, Jane (1776-1850).—Novelists, were the daughter of an Irish army surgeon, and sisters of Sir Robert Ker Porter, the painter and traveller. After the death of the flourished the family settled in Edinburgh, where they enjoyed the friendship of Scott. Anna at the age of 12 published Artless Tales, the precursor of a series of tales and novels numbering about 50, the best being Don Sebastian (1809). JANE, though the elder by four years, did not published 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 edited by Jane, is generally believed to have been written by a brother, Dr. William Ogilvie P.

Powell, Frederick York (1850-1904).—Historian, educated at Rugby and Oxford, called to the Bar at the Middle Temple 1874, became an ardent student of history, and succeeded Froude as Professor of Modern History at Oxford 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.

Praed, Winthrop Mackworth (1802-1839).—Poet, son of a sergeant-at-law, was born in London, educated at Eton and Cambridge, and called to the Bar 1829. He sat in Parliament for various places, and was Sec. to the Board of Control 1834-35. He appeared to have a brilliant career before him, when his health gave way, and he died of consumption in 1839. His poems, chiefly bright and witty skits and satirical pieces, were published first in America 1844, and appeared in England with a memoir by Derwent Coleridge in 1864. His essays appeared in 1887.

Prescott, William Hickling (1796-1859).—Historian, born at Salem, Massachusetts, the son of an eminent lawyer, was educated at Harvard, where he graduated in 1814. While there he met with an accident to one of his eyes which seriously affected his sight for the remainder of his life. He made an extended tour in Europe, and on his return to America he married, and abandoning the idea of a legal career, resolved to devote himself to literature. After ten years of study, he published in 1837 his History of Ferdinand and Isabella, which at once gained for him a high place among historians. It was followed in 1843 by the History of the Conquest of Mexico, and in 1847 by the Conquest of Peru. His last work was the History of Philip II., of which the third vol. appeared in 1858, and which was left unfinished. In that year he had an apoplectic shock, and another in 1859 was the cause of his death, which took place on January 28 in the last-named year. In all his works he displayed great research, impartiality, and an admirable narrative power. The great disadvantage at which, owing to his very imperfect vision,