This latter was the fate of the accomplished and
learned Porter. The wrath of the Government visited his family. The
brother of the sufferer collected his own and the children of his
murdered brother, consisting of two sons and several daughters, and
emigrated to America. A number of emigrants from their immediate
neighborhood had selected Nashville, Tennessee, as a home in the New
World, and thither he came.
The education of Alexander, the eldest of the sons, had progressed
considerably in Ireland, and was continued for some years at
Nashville. Being poor, he was compelled to employ some of his time in
pursuits foreign to study, in order to supply him with the means of
pursuing the latter. This education was irregular, but was the
foundation of that which in maturer life was most complete. He studied
law when quite young, intending at first to remain at Nashville. The
competition at the Bar in that place was formidable, and he could not
hope to succeed as his ambition prompted, without patient application
for years. Louisiana had just been ceded to the United States,
Mississippi was filling with population: both these Territories would
soon be States.
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