Part 357 (1/2)
PORPHYRY, a Neo-Platonic philosopher of Alexandria, born at Tyre; resorted to Rome and became a disciple of PLOTINUS (q. v.), whose works he edited; he wrote a work against Christianity, known only from the replies (233-305).
PORSENA, a king of Etruria, famous in the early history of Rome, who took up arms to restore Tarquin, the last king, but was reconciled to the Roman people from the brave feats he saw, certain of them accomplished, as well as the formidable power of endurance they displayed.
PORSON, RICHARD, eminent Greek scholar, born in Norfolk; was a prodigy of learning and critical ac.u.men; edited the plays of aeschylus and four of Euripides, but achieved little in certification to posterity of his ability and attainments; was a man of slovenly and intemperate habits, and died of apoplexy (1759-1808).
PORT ARTHUR, a naval station on the peninsula extending S. into the Gulf of Pechili; conceded to Russia on a lease of 99 years.
PORT DARWIN, one of the finest harbours in Australia; is on the N.
coast opposite Bathurst Island; on its sh.o.r.es stands Palmerston, terminus of the overland telegraph, the cable to Java, and a railway to the gold mines 150 m. inland.
PORT ELIZABETH (25), the third largest town and chief trading centre of Cape Colony; stands on Algoa Bay, 85 m. SW. of Grahamstown; it has magnificent public buildings, parks, and squares, a college, library, and museum. It is the chief port in the E. of the colony and for Natal, the princ.i.p.al exports being wools, hides, and ostrich feathers.
PORT GLASGOW (15), a Renfrews.h.i.+re seaport on the S. sh.o.r.e of the Firth of Clyde, 3 m. E. of Greenock and 20 W. of Glasgow; was founded by the magistrates of Glasgow in 1668 as a port for that city before the deepening of the river was projected. In the beginning of the 18th century it was the chief port on the Clyde, but has since been surpa.s.sed by Greenock and Glasgow itself. There are s.h.i.+pbuilding, iron and bra.s.s founding industries, and extensive timber ponds.
PORT LOUIS (62), capital of Mauritius, on the NW. coast; is the chief port of the colony, with an excellent harbour, and contains the British government buildings, a Protestant and a Roman Catholic cathedral, barracks, and military store-houses. It is a naval coaling-station.
PORT ROYAL, a convent founded in 1204, 8 m. SW. of Versailles, and which in the 17th century became the head-quarters of JANSENISM (q. v.), and the abode of Antoine Lemaitre, Antoine Arnauld, and others, known as the ”Solitaires of the Port Royal.” They were distinguished for their austerity, their piety, and their learning, in evidence of which last they established a school of instruction, in connection with which they prepared a series of widely famous educational works.
PORT-AU-PRINCE (20), on the W. coast of Hayti, on Port-au-Prince Bay, is the capital; a squalid town; exports coffee, cocoa, logwood, hides, and mahogany.
PORTCULLIS, a strong grating resembling a harrow hanging over the gateway of a fortress, let down in a groove of the wall in the case of a surprise.
PORTE, SUBLIME, or simply the Porte, is a name given to the Turkish Government.
PORTEOUS MOB, the name given a mob that collected in the city of Edinburgh on the night of the 7th September 1736, broke open the Tolbooth jail, and dragged to execution in the Gra.s.smarket one Captain Porteous, captain of the City Guard, who on the occasion of a certain riot had ordered his men to fire on the crowd to the death of some and the wounding of others, and had been tried and sentenced to death, but, to the indignation of the citizens, had been respited. The act was one for which the authorities in the city were held responsible by the Government, and the city had to pay to Porteous' widow 1500.
PORTER, JANE, English novelist, born in Durham; her most famous novels were ”Thaddeus of Warsaw” (1803) and ”The Scottish Chiefs” (1810), both highly popular in their day, the latter particularly; it induced Scott to go on with Waverley; died at Bristol (1776-1850).
PORTER, NOAH, American philosophical writer, born at Farmington, Connecticut, educated at Yale; was a Congregationalist minister 1836-46, then professor of Moral Philosophy at Yale, and afterwards President of the college; Edinburgh University granted him the degree of D.D. in 1886; among his works are ”The Human Intellect” and ”Books and Reading”; _b_. 1811.
PORTEUS, BEILBY, English churchman, born at York, of American parentage; graduated and became Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, and took orders in 1757; from the rectory of Hunton, Kent, he was preferred to that of Lambeth in 1767, thence to the bishopric of Chester in 1776, and to that of London 1787; a poor scholar, he yet wrote some popular books, especially a ”Summary of Christian Evidences,” and ”Lectures on St. Matthew's Gospel”; he posed as a Sabbatarian and an advocate of the abolition of slavery (1731-1809).
PORTIA, the rich heiress in the ”Merchant of Venice,” whose destiny in marriage depended, as ordained by her father, on the discretion of the wooer to choose the one of the three caskets that contained her portrait.
PORTLAND, 1, the largest city (50) and princ.i.p.al seaport of Maine, stands on a peninsula in Cas...o...b..y, 108 in. NE. of Boston by rail. It has extensive wharfs, dry-docks, and grain-elevators, engineer shops, shoe-factories, and sugar-refineries. Settled as an English colony in 1632, it was ravaged by fire in 1866. Longfellow was born here. 2, largest city (90) in Oregon, on the Willamette River, nearly 800 m. N. of San Francisco; is a handsome city, with numerous churches and schools; there are iron-foundries, mechanics' shops, canneries, and flour-mills; railway communication connects it with St. Paul and Council Bluffs, and the river being navigable for deep-sea steamers, it is a thriving port of entry.
PORTLAND, ISLE OF, a rocky peninsula in the SW. of Dorsets.h.i.+re, connected by Chesil Bank and the Mainland; is famous as the source of great quant.i.ties of fine building limestone; here is also a convict-prison opened 1848, accommodating 1500 prisoners.