Dr. Johnson has said that the chief glory of a country arises from its authors. But then that is only as they are oracles of wisdom; unless they teach virtue, they are more worthy of a halter than of the laurel.

Porter also contributed to various periodicals. Said[who?] to rise at four in the morning in order to read and write Jane Porter read the whole of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene while still a child. Tall and beautiful as Jane Porter grew up her grave and preoccupied air earned her the nickname 'La Penserosa' possibly a reference recalling the poem Il Penseroso by John Milton meaning 'a brooding or melancholy person or personality'.

Jane Porter is also the name of the romantic interest of Tarzan in the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Jane Porter (17 January 1776 – 24 May 1850) was a Scottish historical novelist and dramatist.