ldest perished in a dangerous climate abroad, at the commencement
of a promising career; the second (the present Dr. William Ogilvie
Porter, of Bristol) became a physician, and practiced successfully. The
third was the late Sir Robert Ker Porter, K.C.H., distinguished as an
author, a painter, and a soldier: some of our finest battle-pieces are
the work of his pencil, and he himself followed heroes to the field; he
was with Sir John Moore when he fell victoriously at Corunna, and he
earned a high reputation throughout the Peninsular war. He afterward
became a diplomatist, and was latterly consul at Venezuela. His
"Traveling Sketches in Russia and Egypt" procured him also an author's
fame. Sir Robert Ken Porter died suddenly about seven years ago; he left
by his wife, a Russian lady, an only daughter, who is married, and
resides in Russia. The two sisters of these brothers Porter were even
more distinguished. The younger of them, Miss Anna Maria Porter, became
an authoress at twelve years of age; she wrote many successful novels,
of which the most popular were the "Hungarian Brothers," the "Recluse of
Norway," and the "Village of Mariendorpt." She died at her brother's
residence at Bristol, on the 6th of June, 1832. The elder sister, Miss
Jane Porter, the subject of this notice, was born at Durham, where her
father's regiment was quartered at the time. She, with her sister, Anna
Maria, received her education under a famous Scotch tutor, Mr. Fulton,
at Edinburgh, where her widowed mother lived with her children in their
early years. The family afterward removed, first to Ditton, and thence
to Esher, in Surrey, where Mrs. Porter, a most intelligent and agreeable
lady, resided with her daughters for many years, until her death, in
1831. Mrs. Porter was buried in the churchyard at Esher; and on her tomb
the passer-by may read this inscription, "Here lies Jane Porter, a
Christian widow." As a novelist Miss Jane Porter obtained the highest
celebrity. Her three most renowned productions were her "Thaddeus of
Warsaw," written when she was about twenty years of age, her "Scottish
Chiefs," and her "Pastor's Fireside." "Thaddeus of Warsaw" had immense
popularity; it was translated into most of the Continental languages,
and Poland was loud in its praise. Kosciusko sent the author a ring
containing his portrait. General Gardiner, the British Minister at
Warsaw, could not believe that any other than an eye-witness had written
the story,