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 principal seaport of Maine, stands on a peninsula in Casco Bay, 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 Dorsetshire, connected by Chesil Bank and the Mainland; is famous as the source of great quantities of fine building limestone; here is also a convict-prison opened 1848, accommodating 1500 prisoners.

PORTLAND VASE, an ancient cinerary urn of dark blue glass ornamented with Greek mythological figures carved in a layer of white enamel found near Rome about 1640, and which came into the possession of the Portland family in 1787, and is now in the British Museum.  It is ten inches high and seven inches round.

PORTO RICO (814), a West Indian island, half the size of Wales, 75 m.  E. of Hayti, is well watered and very fertile.  Ranges of hills run from E. to W., and are covered with valuable timber.  Sugar, coffee, and rice are the principal crops; tobacco and tropical fruits are grown; cattle and horses are reared.  Textile goods, hardware, and provisions are imported; the exports are sugar, coffee, tobacco, and cattle.  The capital is St. John’s (24), Mayaguez (27), and Ponce (40), the other towns.  The island was discovered by Columbus, who called it Hispaniola, in 1493.  Colonised by Spain in 1510, it attempted unsuccessfully to gain independence in 1820-23.  The abolition of slavery in 1873, and the growth of population, marked the remainder of its history as a Spanish colony.  It was seized by the United States in the war of 1898.

PORTOBELLO (8), a Midlothian watering-place on the Firth of Forth, 3 m.  E. of Edinburgh, with which it is now incorporated for municipal purposes; has a fine esplanade and promenade pier, and manufactures of pottery, bricks, and bottles.