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    capability of and sympathy far " others woe , " which she ever felt a disposition to relieve , often regf et £ ng that her scanty fn £ an $ prevented the exercise of a pleasing t benevolence to its utmost ^ extent . As a wife , while an opportunity

    was afforded for discharging the duties of that relation , she conducted herself with prudence and fidelity , ~—But for Hiaternai fondness if she has ever been equalled , it is impossible she should be exseeded . A surviving son « and only child , considers it his duty to make this grateful acknowledgment to her memory , while he entreats the candid reader ' s

    permission to indulge in the following apostrophe to departed worth , as expressive of the undissembled feelings of his heart . Long as life ' s power maintains its seat , ' Affection shall thy name repeat * Fbr none on earth more dear can be , Than thou my mother wast to me .

    T . C . A . Sept . 25 th . PROFESSOR PORSON , at the house of the . London . Institution , aged 48 . , Richard Porson was born at EastRuston , in Norfolk , on Christmas-day , 1759 . ^* father was the parish-clerk , who himself , without the advantages of early education , laid the basis of his son ' s unparalleled acquirements . From the earliest dawn of intellect , Mr .

    Porson began the task of fixing the attention of his children , three ' son 9 and a daughter , and he had taught Richard , his eldest ton , all the common rules of arithmetic , without the use of a Jjook or 6 late , pen or pencil , up to the cube-root , before he ^ vas nine years of apce . By thia early ha-Jri . t he acquired such a talent of close and intense thinking , and sucn a power of arranging every operation that occupied his

    thoughts , a 9 in process of time to render the mbst' difficult problems , which to others required-the assistance of written figures , easy to his retentive memory . m was initiated in , letters by a process equally efficacious . His father taugjit him to read and write at the same time . He drew the form of the letter either with

    chalk on a board , or with the finf « r in sanc (; and Kichard / was' made at once to understand and imitatfe'the impression . As soon as he could speak he could tVace the letters ; and this exercise flighting hi * fancy , an ardour of imitating whatcvet ^ was put MWe him vrjis

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    excited to suck a degree , tftatJKe ^ 1 ? of the hoi ^ ^ ere ' co ^ re ^ d ^ jra ' jfli ^ l ^^ ters which , attracted notice , frph ^ ikeif neatness and fidelity of delineation , y At nine years of age lie was , $ ejnt to the village school kept by , a Mf . oii mti ^^ who professed nothing b eypn ^ , ^ i ^^^^ writing and arithmetic , —but 1 ie tivv : ^ 4 good accountant and an exce ^ efci ^

    jwjqi-. ing-master , and perfected ^ isppgif 1 i that 4 < 4 ightful talent of , / iyritmg ^ l # w ^ hich he , so peculiarly excelled ,,, jrtc qontinued under Mr . Sulnniefs for threq years ; and every evening duf $ n 4 ^ - ^ 9 $ time he had to repeat by heart t ^> lus fa- » ther , the lessons and tasfes of the' dfft thus the process of recollection was cherished and strengthened so as to , ] becom ^

    a quality of his mind . , > ' J The Rev . Mr . Hewitt hearin g of hii extraordinary propensity to study , kind ^ ly instructed "him and his btrotber ^ inrthc classics . . The progress of both was gfeSt r but that of Richardwas most extraordina * ry . When he had reached his fourteenth year , his attainment ^ had re a ^ Keci the :

    notice of all the gentlemen in , the vicinity . Among others he was , mentioned as a prodigy to the late Mr . Norris , an opulent and liberal man , who sent himI to Eton in 1774 . Here he displayed sucfh a superiority of intellect and such extensive acquirements , that the upper boys took nina into their society . In their frolics as well as in their serious

    ' tasks , Porson was the constant adviser and support . On this lively part of M ^ youth , he used to dwell with peculiar complacency . He suffered a great loss by the death of Mr . Norris . He was however continued at Eton through the kindness of some eminent and liberal persons . Ii | * 777 » tae was entered of Trinity College ,

    and his character having gone before him , he was from the first regarded as a youtri whose extraordinary endowments would keep up , and extepd the-reputation of that society , nor did he disappoint the hopes which he had excited . He first applied to mathematics , in which from his early Zeroises he was so well-calculated to shine , and then by the

    prospect of a scholarship sat down to the classic * . He got the medal of course , and was elected a Fellow in 178 X . In 1785 , he took his degree of Master of Arts , but before the period had elapsed when he must either enter into orders or resign his fellowship , he determined t #

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    Obituary . > ^ i 5 jr $

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    Professor Porsert . ' - ' - ¦ * *'> ¦>'• ¦* - ¦

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1808, page 573, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2397/page/49/