last, by an intermittent fever. 
352 
‘tually obliged to abstain from all suste- 
mance. ‘This produced a general debi- 
lity, which was followed, in September 
On that 
occasion he had recourse to his sovereign 
remedy—abstinence—for he had no pre- 
-dilection for medical men, and but little 
faith in the salutary effects of physic. 
He might, and doubtless would, have re- 
covered, had not two successive strokes 
of the apoplexy been superadded.to the 
original disease, on Monday and Tues- 
day, September the 19th and 20th. He 
laiguished after this until the night of 
Sunday, the 25th, when he expired with- 
out a struggle.* 
- As‘a writer, Professor Porson affected 
‘not a flowery language. ~ Elis observa- 
tions abounded with critical acumen, 
and were conveyed ina style terse, point- 
‘ed, and decisive. We knew his own 
powers, and always used them with effect. 
Never aspiring after pensions or ewploy- 
ments, his character was manly and in- 
dependent; he both cultivated and in- 
culcated a love of freedom, and was 
ever a strenuous supporter of the civil 
and religious liberties of his country. 
‘To strangers he appeared shy, clouded, 
and reserved ; but in the company of his 
friends, he was aceustomed to unbend 
himself, and at times sacrifice to the 
rosy god. But this arose from the love 
and ardour of Jiterary discussion, rather 
than the love of wine; for it was re- 
“® 'The body was ypened in the presence of 
several medical men, and they have given a 
‘report, ascribing his death ‘* to the effused 
lymph in and upon the brain, which they be- 
lieve to have been the effect of recent inflam- 
gation. The heart was sound, and the peri- 
veatdiuam contained the usual quantity of 
jymph. ‘The-left lung had adhesions to the 
pleura, and borg the marks of former inflam. 
mation: ‘The right lung was in a perfectly 
sound state-’” This is signed by Dr. Babing- 
ton, Sir William Blizard, Mr. Norris, Mer. 
Blizard, and Mr. Upton. In refutation of an 
idle falsehood about the form of his skull, 
they add, “¢ that it was thinner than usual, 
and of hard consistence.” 
Mr. Porson has left a sister living, an ami- 
able and accomplished woman. She is the 
wife of Siday Hawes, esq. of Coltishall, in 
Norfolk; they have five children; the eldest 
son is entered of St. Benet’s College, Cam- 
bridge. Henry, the second brother of the 
professor, was settled in a farm in Essex, and 
died young, leaving three children. His bro- 
ther Thomas kept a boarding-school at Fa- 
kenham: he was an excellent scholar, and 
died in 1792, without issue—and his father, 
Mr. Hugein Porson, died in #805, in his 76th 
year. His mother died in 1784, aged 57. 
‘Memoii's of Professor Porson. 
‘beer to all other liquids. 
[Nov. 1, 
marked that it was totally indifferent ¢ 
‘him, on such occasions what he took, 
‘whether it was wine or table-beer, or 
‘snulf; whatever was before him he used 
indiscriminately, but he preferred table 
The enemies of his principles, and 
those envious of his fame, have endea- 
voured to convert an occasional indul- 
gence, produced by a love ofconversation, 
into a settled habit of debaucl; but the 
charge is unfounded. In his person he 
was rather tall and thin; and his features, 
which at times would expand into a 
sinile, clearly indicated his character. 
On the demise of this eminent scholar, 
his College, by an unanimous vote of the 
board of priority, claimed the body, in 
order to be deposited in the chapel of Tri- 
nity, near to the ashes of Bentley, whom 
he so much resembled. It was accord- 
ingly removed-on Monday, October the 
3d, 1808, from the house of the London 
Institution, in the Old Jewry, where he 
died. The procession from London consist- 
ed of four mourning coaches, followed by 
Six private carriages; the persons who 
attended him were his relatives and most 
intimate friends, 
At half after two o'clock on Tuesday 
afiernoon, the hearse arrived at Trinity 
College, Cambridge, and was received at 
the great gate, and conveyed to the Jiall, 
where, according to theancient usage, m 
cases where this distinguished tribute of 
respect is paid to a member, the body 
lay in state -till five o’clock. At. that 
hour, the Lord Bishop of Bristol, the 
Master of the College, the Vice Mas-, 
ter, Senior and Junior Fellows, Bache- 
lors of Arts, Scholars, and other Mem- 
bers resident in the University, in their 
academical habits, and in black scarfs, 
bands, and gloves, walked from the Com- 
bination Room, +« accompanied» by the 
Chief Mourners, into the Hall; and after 
moving round the body, which was placed 
in the midst, they took their seats, the 
Chief Mourners being placed on the 
right hand and left of the Master. Upon 
the pall, several Epitaphs in Greek and 
English verse, the effusions of reveren~ 
tial respect for his high attainments and 
of love for his virtues, were placed, and 
afterwards read with the most sympathe- 
tic interest by his former Associates in 
Study. An‘Anthem was chaunted by the 
Choir, after which the body was raised 
by the bearers, and a most solemn pro- 
cession was made round the great qua- 
drangle of the College, from the Hall to 
the Chapel, in the following order: 
Two 
’ 
a 
