The Sun.
London, England, 1808-10-07 00:00:00

PROFESSOR P ORSO4'.-

. ,
AI this Gentleman held so distinguiShed a rank in
the-republic Of letters. and. Will always c,,ositi, r-
ed as one of its brightest luminaries, the tollo\‘ing;
accounr of the resped which has been Turd to his
remains, and of his re: i,us hi-tory, may 6i iiccept-
ab;e iso nor learned triend.;. The body was removed
cn Nfond 4y laselr`un, the house of the London In-
ritulion, in the Old Jewry, in order to be deroyted
in Trinity College Chapel, Camaidge....Th,e Direc-
tors of the Institution ordered the hotise to. be shut
for the day, and the Under Librarians and other
Officers assisted in the suletnnitp" The proceision
from laindon consisted' of tour 'mobrning-py‘iches,
tollip.ved sik private carriages and the. perhon4
Who attended him were his telatives and most inti-
mate friends.
At half after two o'clock on Tuesday afternoon,,
tlie hearse arrived at Trinity College, Cambridge,
and was received at the great gate and conveyed to
the Hall, where, according to the ancient usage,' in
cases 'where this distinguished, tribute ot -respell is
paid to a Member, the body lay in state till- five
o'clock. Atter which the body was raised by the
bearers, and a most solemn -processic:n was made
-round the great quadrangle ot the College. The
Lord Bishop then read the lesson, and the proces-
-sion moved in the same.. order to thii grave, which
was at the foot of the statue ot Str'lsAAc NEWTON,
.and stfrrounded by those Of the illustriOus persons
which this great and distinguished College has pro-
duced.

The following was the simple-inscription engraved
in brass on his coffin

RICARDUS • PORSON •
APUD • CANTAgRI(;IENSES •
LINGUAE • GLI.ALCAE .• PROkESSOR •
ET
COLL. • TRIN. S. S. • E r • 1 ,I). • OLIN!. • SOCIL:S

• A PUI) • I.t-frl•lth N ENSIL!7, •
INSTITUTIONL, • i.1.1-1-ERARIAE
liilit.loll-ILCAIMJS • PRISCV.F'S.
NAT US • Vlll. • .AL. • lAN. • NIDCCLX.
01311 T. VII. CAL. • :)CT.NIDCLCYIII.

Mr. PrOte,sor PORSoN vkiiis,boro at East Ruston, in
Norfolk; on Chtistmas day, -179 ; so that he was
only in his 49th year. Eery thing about this most
eminent schotar, and partieulally the circumstances
which laid the, foundation of that most inestimable
Memory, by-Which he wasenabled to store his mind
with all the riches of literature,.antientand modern,
will become truly intoresting to the world. He owed
this blessing to the care and judgment of his father,
Mr. HuGem Pontoti, -;vlio was Parish-clerk-of East
RuSton, and- whO-Otiongh in humble life,-.and with-
out the advantages himself of early education, laid
the basis of his son's unparalleled acquirements.—
From the earliest dawn of intellect, Mr. PORSON,be-;
0-an the task of fixing,the.attention,of his childien;
'three sans and a daughter, -and. he- had taught Rt-
cft-a.ati, his eldest son, all the common rules of nrith-
metie, without the use of a book or slate, pen or
pencil, up to the cube root, befOre he was nine years
of age. The memory was thus incessmtly-exercised;
and by this early habit of working a question in
arithmetic by the mind only, he-at-quirk-A such sa ta-
lent of close and intense thinking; -and such a power
of arranging evcry operation that occopied
thought,. as ;t1 process ,4t titne to render the must
ditiiciilt problems, which to other men required the
assistance of. written figures; easy to the retentive
tacithie,ot his memory.' -He was initiated in letters
by a process equally efficacious. His father taught
bleu to read and write at one and the same time.
He drew the form of the letter either with chalk on

a board, or with the finger in sand ; and litoultan
vvas-Inade at once to understand and the im-
pression. As soon as he could speak be could trace
the letters.; and this exercise delighting his fancy,
an ardour of imitating whatever was put before him
was excited to such a degree, that the walls of the
ilioiAse,v ere cosered with charaeters which attraated
notice, from ,their neatness and fidelity of delineation.

Ai nine years of age, he and his youngest brot heG,
ILOMAS, Were Sept to the village. school, lsept•by a
Mr. Sumnas, a plain but most intelligent and wor-
tly man, who having had the misfortune in infancy
to cripple his left baud, ‘,;,,is educated for the purpose
of teaching, and be di.!charged his duties with the
most exemplary,attention.. He professed nothing
teyond English, wilting, and arithmetic ; but he
as a good accountant, and an excellent writing-
master. He perfetted the Professor in that delight- ,
ful talent of writing, in which he so peculiarly ex,
celled; but which we are doubtful whether it was
to; be considered as an advantage or a detriment to
htin in -his progress through life. - It certainly had a
considerable influence on his habits,- and made him
devote many precious moments to copying, which
might have been better employed in composition.
It has been the means, however, of enriching his
library with in a text the most beauti-
ful, and with such perfect imitation of the original
manuscript or printing, as to etnbeWsh every work
which his erudition enabled him' to elucidate. He '
continued under Mr. StqIMERS for three years and
every evening during that time he. had. to repeat )y
heart to ins father the lessons and the tasks of Me
day ; and this not in a loose or desultory manner,
but in the rigorpus order in-which whatever he had
been occupied about had been done; and thus again
the process of recollettion was cherished and
strengthened, so as to become a quality of Iris mind.
_lt was impossible that such a youth should remain
unnoticed, even in a 'place so thinly peopled- and so
obscure as the parish of East _Ruston. The-Rev.
Mr. Hewitt heard of his extraordinary propensities
to study, his gift of attention to whatever was taught
and the wondei ful fidelity with which he -re-
tabled whatever he had acquired. Hit took bim
. and his brother "l'Homas undo/. -his care, - and In-
strutted in the classics: Tim progress of both
wai'great, outahat of RICHARD was most exiraor4l-
- It became the topic ut astonisiiment beyond
the distrid, and when he had reached his fourteenth
year, bad_engaged, the uotice of all the Gentlemen
An the vicinity. Among others, he Was mentioned
as a prochor au opulent and liberal man, the late
Zylr. Noßms, who, after having put the youth under
an examination of the severest kind, and
.from w Wet
an ordinary boy would have shrunk. dismayed, be
was sent to Lion. This happened in the month of
1774, when • he was Jai his.lsth year : and
i[2 Thal great seininary, be altuos;., now the cum-
-mencemeht of his Cartr,. dispiayed a' supevio-.
I rity of intellect ; str.:ll i4cliny'oi-acquireinent ; such

quickness of pet:,ettption,,a smelt a talent of bringing
forward ta:his purpose all that he lia'd ever rk.ad, that
toe upper boys took him into th7.4r society and pro-
moted ;he cultivation of his' mind b,\ their lessimS, as
,:1:-(.11..prObahly,mibyitnposing upOn him the periorur-:
itoce id their own exercises. • He AtAs courted 1)).
hem as the never-failing resource iii e%ery diiikultyp
and in_ all the playful. eXcursions of the intilghta-r
(jou, iu their trolics, as well as in their seinras'
tasks, Pottson was the constant adviser and sui,pot 1.,
1.-ie used to dkveli on this, lively part of his-youth
with peculiar eo.uplacencv, and we ha.ce heard him
re; eat a drama ‘k hici) he wrote for exhibition. in
hrirjong.Ch.tinb,A,.and baler 'compoF,itions, both of
seriousness and drollery, with a zest that the recoi
lectiOn of his enjoyment at the time never fa-2,1 to
revivein hint. We fear, hoWever, that at this early
ao.e his constitution received 3 s' hock which was-
sooty after aggravated by 'the death of his worthy pa-
tron. An imposthume formed upon his inns, and
be was threatened with a consumption. Bin it ,for
Innately broke, and he recovered his health, though
his frame was weakened.
The death ofMr. NOtt ars_ was the source of severe
mortiticat,on to him ; ',for though by the kindness of
some eminent and liberal persons he was continued
at Eton, be felt the loss he had sustained in thelnost
poignant degree.
.But we do not mean to do more
than trace the dates of hiS progress to the Profes-
sor's Chair. Fie was entered of Trinity College tp.-
watds the end of 1777, and his ehara6ter having gone
before hiM to the University, he was from t=ie
first regarded as a youth whose extraordinary e,.-
doiNments would keep tip and extend the reputa-
tion of the unrivalled society into which he had
entered. Nor did he disappoint the hopes that
had been formed of him. Iu every branch
of study to which he applied himself, his course was
so rapt& as to astonish every competent observer.
—By accidents, _he was drawn first to read in
mathematics, in which, from his early exercises,
he' was so eminently calculated to shiner but trout
which he-drew no benefit ; and then by the prospect
,of a scholarship, which, 'however, did not becoMe
vacant till lung after,,a: sat do .v nto the Classics. In
this pursuit-he'. soon acquired undisputed pre-emi-
nence. He g-.)t the medal of cow se, and was elected
a Fellow in 1781. In 1785 he took his degree of
Master Of Arts ;' but long netore the period had
'elapsed. when he must either enter irrto holy orders
or surrender his lie had (after the most
grave and delibet ate investigation, to •.vhich he had
brou.glit all that kite gift of. examitLition' that has
been made so perceptible in his letters to Mr. Arch-
deacon Alas) wade up his mind on the subjed
Of subscription.
So early as 1788, he had made up his mind to

surrender his Fellowship, thoush with an enfeebled
constitution he had nothing to depend upon •hut
acquirements that are very unprofitable to their
owner. A Lly-fellowsliipto be sure might have
secured his services to the 'cause of Letters ; but the
disingenuous condud of an individual withheld from
him that resource. In 4791 his Fellowship ceased,

and he was thrown upon the world without a pro-
fession, feelings wounded by the wortiucations
lie had suffered, and with a comtitution little qua-

lified to encounter the bus,tle of the world.

Sc;me

private friends, however, stept in, and soon after.
he was elected Greet.: Professor of Cambridge, by an
unanimoui vote of the seven Eledars. The distineu
tion of this appointment was grateful to him. Th 9
salary is but 401. a year. It was itis earnest wish,
however, to have made it an aaive and efficient
office, and it was his determivation to give an an-
nual course of Lectures in the College, if rooms bad
been assigned to him .for the purpose. These Lec-
tures, as he designed, and had in truth made pre-
parations for them, would have been invaluable;'
for he would hate found occasion to elucidate the
languages in gi..neral,and to have displayed their re-
lations, their daferAces, their near and remote .con-
nexions, their changes, their structure, their 'princi-
ples of etymology, and their causes. of corruptioti.
If any one man was qualified, torthis gigantic task,:
it was Mr. Professor Poasosj and if his wishes had
not been counteraCted, we know that he would have
undertaken the labour. _

From this time, instead of le6tures, he turned his
thoughts to publication. His Letterilo Mr. Arch-
deacon TRAVIS, as has ,been truly said, put the con-
troversy on the dispt\ted text to rest ; and indeed it
a.vas the peCuliar felici!y of his .mind, that whatever
he undertook to elucidate he fixed for ever in the

On the establishmentof the London Institution,
the Managers manifested their own di-cerement and
love of letters, byseleCting him to be their principal
Librarian, an appointment for which he was pecu-
liarly qualified, and if time and health .had been al-
lowed him, he would have made this Library truly
valuable., His own, which he has been gradually
colle6ting for thirty years, he has enriched by anno-
tations of such value and importance to literature,
that we hope and trust the: wluile will be placet in
his Own C011e,,,e, that it may for ever be within the
reach of those whom his erample may Arouse :to
similar pursuits, though they may despair'ofreach-
My; equal attainments.
Mr. .PORSON, as. we have stated before, has, for
the last eleven years, been the incessant victim of
spasmodic asthma, during the agony of which he
never went to bed, and in which he was forced to
abstain from all sustenance. This greatly debilitated
his bokly ; and about a month ago be was afflicted
by an intermittent fever ; he had an unfortunate
jection to medical advice, and he resorted to ,tiis
usual remedy of abstinence ; but on Monday, the
19th ult. he suffered an ano.Acctic stroke, from
which he recovered only to endure a Snood attack
the next day. • -He languished to the Sunday
night,
and expired wino u; a struggle. • The body was..
,opened by his medical men, and they have given a
report, ascribing his death " to the effused lymph
in and upon the brain, which they helier2 to have
been the erica of recent inflammation. The, heart
was sound, and the pericardium contained the usua'
quantity of lymph. The lett lung had adhesions to
the pleura, and bore the marks of former infiamma-,
tion. The right lung was it, a perfectly sound state."
This is signed by Dr. BABINGTON: Sir W M. BLIZ Alt D,
Mr. Noßßts, Mr. BLIZARD, and Mr UPTuN. In
re:iliation of an idle-falsehood about the form of his
thq add, " that it was thinner than tksol
and of hard cousistenc'e.
• Mr. PoitsoN ha:: left a sister living,-an amiable and

accomplished woulan. She is ,the wife of SIDA.
HA' s,. Esq. or Coltisliall, in Norfolk ; they have
five children ; their eldest son is entered at St.
Belies College, Ca,ubridge HENLY, the second
brother, of the Professor, kvos settled in a farm in
eisox,:and died young, leaking duce children. His
blather 'nom AS kept a boarding-school at 'Fakers
ham,--au excellent scholar, and ~tied in 1792 kviti*
out issue ; and his father, Mr. HUGGI,N POICSOfij
died in 1.805., in his 74th year. His mother died in
1784, abed b 7.
These tew particulars may sifts!), for the time the
impatience of all tho,e who kqew his incomvar.:Olp
talents, but who were unacquainted with his.private
history. ,

A few clays since, about four o'clock in the Aftetft
noon, the dxviiiing---both;e of Mr. Jormi, Pater,.
noster-row, was robbed of Various pieces of silk, .con 7
iaining 140 yards, and several articles of silver plate.

There is at present in Lancashire a very :pretty
faced young woman, of the name of Byfield, who
was born without legs or arms. • She is, as it may
be termed, in the possession of a nrin who sqs that
he bought her in an infant state fr.,ln her p..rentS.
He supports himself, his vvite and children by the
exhibition of the extraordinary powers of this w.0.a.-
derful little creature, at Fairs and Mai-1 (!i7iplace,i,--
She writes a fine hand, holding her pen Oct,. eon the
stump of her arm and'her cheek; she works tam-
bour in the same rn,inner, a d draws most excelleur
miniatures. 'She was considered to- be •iuch a pri4.l-
- ant the Earl of MORTON ra.ntioned her est—
traizdinary. ability, labouring ander such natural.
deficiency as she did, to the KiDg.. His MAJESTIC
could hardly cretin the t.it6l, untii.he saw a kil%eoess
of the Noble' Earl, Which was performed in AO
most corl'ea style by this .phenoinenon. His Mn;'
JESTY theh protni,ed• to give her his patronage, if
she should be brought to London. Lord INlonv/f.
employed the son of an eminent artist, and a
detitial kaiak to go down to Manchester, where shit
then was; to make proposak .to that etfed to ber.,.
With the most highly delicate sense of bonoQr, how.-
ever, she dectaren that she owed every comfort she •
possessed to the nLtn who brought her up : dust
it would be the run-of hint and his family. if Eh*
were to•leave him,. aid therefore she would not
separate from him upon any terais that could I*
offered her.