The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-25 00:00:00

DEATH OF SIR ROBERT KEG.
PORTER,
THE PAINTER AND TRAVELLER.

" Traveller rest! Thy journey's o'er;
Sleep the sleep that knows nut breaking,
Dream of foreign homes no more,
Days of wand'ring—nights of waking.

Dr. Porter, the physician, at Bristol, has just received news
from St. Petersburgh, of the untimely death, by apoplexy, of

his brother, Sir Robert Ker Porter.
The father of Sir Robert Ker Porter was an officer of
Dragoons, of an Irish family. He was, moreover, a younger
brother, who, dying in the prime of life, left his widow with
five almost infant children, in very low and slender circum-
stances ; and who, from time to time, were relieved by the
Royal Family and other persons of distinction. Three of the
orphans were sons ; the two eldest early entered professions,
which they tilled in a manner honourable to their name ; the
third was Sir Robert Ker, who was born in the year 1780, at
Durham, and who, consequently,- at the time of his death, was
62 years of age. The two daughters were Miss Jane and Miss
Anna Maria Porter, both of them so well known as authoresses,
in the literary world, and of whose productions, " The Hun-
garian Brothers," " The Scottish Chiefs," " Thaddeus, of
Warsaw," the " Village of Mariendorpt," and other works of a
like nature, need only be mentioned to present copious proofs of
their -wide-spread tame and celebrity.
Sir Robert Ker orter, as regards genealogy and family,
sprang from a race of brave and talented ancestors. Amongst
the foremost of these are to be numbered Sir William Porter
of the Field of Agincourt; Endymion Porter, of classic end
loyal memory ; the Lord Chief Justice Sir Charles Porter,
who transplanted his father's branch" of the tree to Ireland;
and another who, adherieg to the cause of James Stuart, fol-
lowed that Monarch's ruined fortunes to the Continent, after-
wards settled at Bruges, and ultimately became the founder of
an opulent and highly influential house.
On his mother's side, Sir Robert counted the old Anglo-
Saxon Barons of Blenkinsopp and Hilton, and the learned
Adamsons, farther north, amongst his forefathers. As one
of the modern offsets derived from these venerable progeni-
tors, the subject: of our memoir was frequently delighted to
mention the name of John Tweddell, the celebrated traveller
of Greece, now entombed, in the Temple of Theseus, at
Athens—a shrine visited by every Englishman who goes to

that classic land. -
Mrs. Porter, the mother of Sir Robert, has long been
known to the world, from coternporary friends, as one of the
most exemplary women of the day, dedicating herself entirely
to the comfort and education of her children; indeed, from the
slender circumstances in which the widows of military men
are left,- she, from prudence no less than from inclination,
sought a retired life. Under her care and tuition all her
children gave early proofs of mental superiority, which ap-
peared more particularly alter Anna Maria, the youngest, with
her sister Jane, and their brother, iir Robert, had been some
tirne,under the tutorship of Mr. George Fulton, who then kept
a celebrated day-sishool in Edinburgh, and is well known as the
compiler of an excellent dictionary.
On the removal of Mrs. Porter from Scotland to England,
where she, with this her young family, resided fora few years
in one of the northern counties, in the near neighbourhood
of one of the late Bishops of the Church, young Sir Robert,
with his two sisters daily, formed a group in the Episcopal
library, to which they had free access whenever they pleased.
The boy, who was then but the embryo artist and traveller,
drawing from missals and ilium nated books : the girls, as di-
ligently reading some:of the excellent works they found there,
especially the 01-IChronieles, many of them in the olack letter.
One of Mr. Northcote's choicest paintings was struck off in
commemoration of this little group, and their early habits.
He was a long-esteemed friend. The subject, as treated by
him forms a slight but beautiful sketch of three happy-looking
children, in a Gothic sort of chamber. One of the brightest
ornaments of the world of letters, having beheld this scene,
apostrophized it thus :
" Lo ! he is there—within that Gothic chamber
One of a cherub-group—the book unsealed—
The well-spring opened;—they are drinking deep
Of knowledge and of beauty ! old Romance
And fairy spells are round them. His young eye,
Instinct with rapture, hails the witching vision,
And straight transmits its glories to his mind,
And precious seed-store for the future hour."
The residences of Sir Robert Ker Porter and his Tamil]
were various on their coming to London. About 1823 they
lived at a pretty ivy-mantled spot on the banks of the Thames,
at bitton, and shortly after at another little abode of a similar
description, situated on a hill at Esher, where in the June of
1831 his mother died. After this bereavement they sought
change of place, and after residing different times at Hyde-
park and Portland-place, took up their residence at a friend's
house on Banner-down, near Bath : they then proceeded to
.Bristol, to visit their brother, Dr. Porter, who had been fur
some years settled in that.town as a physician, and where on
the 6th of June, Anna Maria Porter died of typhus.
On referring to the Catalogues of the Royal Academy of past
years, he appears to have been a constant and attractive exhi-
bitor. In the exhibition for 1804 he exhibited two paintings,
one of a Russian Cuirassier, and another of a British Light
Dragoon. 1805, A draWing from the Avenger, or the
Wrongs of Lady Herinegeld. 1797, A horseman run down
by a lion. Portrait of a gentleman as Hamlet ; and about
half-a-dozen various other portraits. He was then living in
Newport-street. 1793, A Saracen flying from the enemy,
and portraits. Living at 66, St. Martin's-lane. 1793, The
defeat of King Stephen at the battle of Lincoln, from Rapin.
He was then living at 38, Bedford-street, Covent-garden.
Sir Robert became a student at the Royal Academy, under
the auspices of Mr. West, and two years after commencing his
studies at the Academy, he was employed to paint his picture
of Moses and Aaron, for the communion-table of Shoreditch
Church ; in 1794 he presented an altar-piece to the Roman
-Catholic Chapel at Portsea, representing Christ suppressing the
Storm ; and in 1798 he gave to St. John's College, Cambridge,
the altar-piece of St. John Preaching in the Wilderness. At
only 22 years of age he began his large picture of the Storms
ing of Seringapatarn, which was succeeded by the Battle of
Agincourt, and was presented to the City of London. The
painting, however, which attracted most attention, and which
was exhibited in the year 1801 at the Lyceum, was the fine
historical subject of the " Siege of Acre," relative to the late
contest which had then taken place in Syria under Sir Sidney
Smith. This production was a piece of very excellent colour-
ing, the groupings good, and the whole, from its truth and exe.:
cution, drew large numbers to see it.
In 1803 he was appointed a Captain in the Westminster
Militia; in 1804 he was invited to Russia, and appointed his-
torical painter to the Emperor. During his residence at St.
Petersburgh he gained the affections of the Princess Mary,
daughter of Prince Theodore de Sheibatorff, of Russia, and
was about to marry her, when Ministerial differences com-
pelled him to leave Russia; in the year, 1,111, however, this
marriage was solemnized, and the Princess now survives him.
Sir Robert accompanied Sir John Moore into Spain, and
shared in the hardships and perils of the campaign which
ended in the Battle of Corunna. In 1807 he was created a
Knight of St. Joachim of Wurtemberg, and on his return to
England, 1813, he received the honour of Knighthood from
the Prince Regent.
Sir Robert's fame, as a traveller and literary man, was first
made known to the world by his " Travelling Sketches in
Russia and Sweden during the years 1805-6-7-8," and which
in the ensuing year were given to the public.
lie sailed from England on this extensive tour in the August
of 1805, and passing the Sound, visited first Elsineur, where
he followed Hamlet everywhere, and " measured the
shadows on the platform." From Zealand, he next
struck across to Cronstadt, and thence to St. Petersburgh.
Here his lucubrations grow entertaining and full ; 'the Church
dedicated to " the Mother of God at Razan," the architect of
which was formerly a slave of Count Strcgonoff, where, too,
were hung up the keys of Johmael, Okzakow, Derbent, and the
standards and trophies of Pultowa, Noir, and Alessandria, was
not among the least noticeable of the things there seen by him.
From Moscow he journied through Finland and across the
Gulf to Stockholm, where he visited the King Gustavus and his
Queen, the latter of whom—then a most beautiful woman—he
considered the " Fair Helen of the North." He visited the
spot in Daleearlia, where Gustavus Nasa took refuge from the
Danish usurper, and was next carried by his military ardour
to Gottenburg, where he resolved to enter on immediate service
with the English army, then assembled in that port, and ulti-
mately came to England. .
Sir Robert Ker Porter's second series of travel was begun
in the year 1817, and he was engaged the three consecutive
years in following them up. During this period he traversed
Georgia, Persia, Armenia, and Ancient Babylon.
Having from childhood been an ardent lover and sedulous
practicer of the arts, the study of antiquity, during these
travels, shared no small part of his attention, and the plains
of Babylon afforded him even ampler scope than those of Per-
sepolis, while Kurdistan, a county of which little comparatively
was known, of whom the people and country too were highly
picturesque, was explored by him to a great extent, avid he
travelled over this latter portion of country with much careful
geographical precision, which lie rendered more particularly
interesting by tracing the march of Xenophon.
In 1818, he enjoyed the company of Mr. Rich, the late
Consul, at Bagdad, and in concert with that gentleman made
many excellent excursions and antiquarian researches among
the old ruins of Babylon: his observations with his sextant were
unceasing, and astronomy kept him constantly alive. His
much-lamented friend Bclino died at this period. Of the great
quantity of relics which he collected at Mujelebe, El Kur, or
the palace, Al Hymer, Persepolis, and Maelishi-Itoustan, va-
rious allotments were presented by him to the British Museum,
where every day visitors may inspect them, as also to the Edin-
burgh and Dublin Museums, in which are the smaller speci-
mens, while others are deposited in the Imperial Museum at
St. Petersburgh.
In 1819, he was created a Knight of the Lion and Sun of
Persia. In the diplomatic and in the military service .of the
State he had much distinguished himself, having served in both
capacities, in Russia, in the Peninsula, various parts of the
Continent, in Persia, and in South America. In the year
1832, he was created a Knight Commander of the Hanoverian
Order by William IV. His most recent appointment was that
of Consul at Venezuela, from which place he returned in 1841.

DREADFUL SUIciDE BY A FEMALE.-Yesterday
evening Mr. Payne held an inquest at Bartholomew's Hos-
pital, on view of the body of Ann Johnson, aged 35. Susan
Hall, of 29, Cock-lane, Smithfield, stated that she and de-
ceased lodged in the same house together. About eight
o'clock on Thursday evening last witness's daughter (a child
about eight years old) heard a knocking in deceased's room,
and thinking she wanted someone, the child went in. On
entering the apartment she found deceased lying on the bed.
She appeared to be unable to speak, but made a sign to the
child to go and fetch her mother, which sho accordingly did.
On witness going into the deceased's room she went up to
her bedside, and asked her if she was not well? Deceased, in
reply, shook her head, and then significantly drew her right
hand across the bed clothes over her throat. Witness said,
Good heavens, you have cut your throat! Deceased replied
in the affirmative by nodding her head. Witness rushed out
of the room to procure assistance. The bed was soaked with
blood, and there was a tub at the end of the bed with a great
quantity of blood in it. She had evidently cut her throat with
her head hanging over the end of the bed, and then drawn her-
self up into the bed. Deceased had been drinking during the
previous week, and had subsequently suffered severely from
low spirits. She died on Sunday last. Yerdict—" Temporary
Insanity."
THE DEANERY OF ST. PATRICK'S.—It IS under-
stood that Dr. Radcliffe will pronotince judgment to-morrow
in the long litigated question arising out of the election to the
Deanery of St. Patrick's, vacant by the death of the lamented
Dean Dawson.—Dublin Pilot (Monday).
The Austrian Observer, of the 16th inst., contains
an order from the Emperor of Austria for the opening of sub-,
scriptions in all the provinces of the empire, in favour of Iram-
burgh.
The contemplated improvements in Piccadilly have
been postponed until the ensuing autumn, in consequence of
some difficulties on the subject which have arisen on the part
of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, whose limits extend to the basin
in the Green Park. The parish of St. George, Hanover-
square, are willing to accede to the proposals of the Commis-
sioners of Woods and Forests to facilitate the widening of
the street, anti there is no doubt that this desirable improve-
ment, though now at a stand-still, will be ultimately carried
into effect.
An interesting ceremony took place, on Saturday,
at the Church of St. Pierre, at Montmartre. It was the cele-
bration of the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage bet Ween a
woithy couple named Rouselet. The Cure, in giving them the
usual benediction, declared that it was the first known instance
of the kind within the parish,