Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/191

This page needs to be proofread.

us. via SEPT. e, i9i3.) NOTES AND QUERIES.


185


work of Mr. John Tweed, and is erected in the People's Park on the West Cliff, near the old Flagstaff. The statue is of bronze. 7 ft. 6 in. in height, and is set on a freestone pedestal 12ft. high. The intrepid explorer is represented

" in the attitude of confidence and assurance such as he possessed on the quarter-deck of his ship, in an easy pose, well balanced, with feet apart. The expression of the face is that of a man with great strength of character and will power. In his right hand he holds a pair of compasses, and under his left arm is a chart which well symbolizes his great scientific work."

On the pedestal are panels containing Capt. Cook's coat of amis, with the mottoes "Circa Orbem " and "Nil intentatum r^li- quit," and a model of his ship the Resolution. The inscriptions are as follows :

" For the lasting memory pf a great Yorkshire Seaman this Bronze has been cast, and is left in the keeping of Whitby ; the Birthplace of those good Ships that bore him on his Enterprises, brought him to Glory, and left him at Rest.

" The gift of Gervase Beckett, M.P.

" The work of John Tweed, sculptor."

There is a statue of Capt. Cook at Sydney ; an obelisk marks the spot where he met his death at Owyhee, Sandwich Islands ; and an obelisk was erected in 1870 by the Hon. Thos. Holt, M.L.C., on the site at Kumell where Cook landed on 28 April, 1770.

In Great St. Andrew's Church, Cambridge, is a tablet with the interesting inscription :

" In Memory of Captain James Cook of the Royal Xavy, one of the most celebrated Navi- gators that this or former ages can boast of, who killed by the natives of Owyhee in the Pacific Ocean, on the 14th day of February 1779, in the 51st year of his age. Of Mr. Nathaniel Cook, who was lost with the Thunderer Man-of-War, Captain I.oyle Walsingham, in a most dreadful hurricane in October 1780, aged 16 years. Of Mr. Hugh Cook of Christ's College, Cambridge, who died on the 21st of December 1793, aged 17 years. of James Cook, Esq., Commander in the Royal X.-ivy, who lost his life on the 25th of January IT'.'l in going from Poole to the Spitfire Sloop- of-War, which he commanded, in the 31st year of hisjtge. Of Elizabeth Cook, who died April J'th, 1771, aged 4 years ; Joseph Cook, who died September 13th, 1768, aged 1 month ; George Cook, who li.'d October 1st, 1772, aged 4 months ; all children of the first-mentioned Captain James C.-ok by Elizabeth Cook, who survived her husband 56 years, and departed this life 13th May

vi.'i, al h<-r residence, Clapham, Surrey, in the

If li year of her age. Her remains are deposited, with those of her sons James and Hugh, in the middle aisle of this Church."

For particulars of Capt. Cook memorials at Easby Moor and Marton, Yorkshire ; Brigs:, Lincolnshire ; Stowe and Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks, &c., see US. iii. 165, 232 295, 373 : iv. 30.


SIB JOHN FRANKLIN.

Spilsby. In the Market-Place is a bronze statue of Franklin. He is represented standing erect, bareheaded, in the uniform of a naval officer, with left hand resting upon an anchor and right hand grasping a tele- scope. The pedestal is thus inscribed :

Sir John Franklin

Discoverer of the North- West Passage. Born at Spilsby

April 1786. Died in the Arctic Regions

June 1847.

Erected by public subscription. A monument erected in Spilsby Church to the memory of Franklin by his widow is thus inscribed :

" In memory of Admiral Sir John Franklin r R.N., K.C.H., K.R., D.C.L., born at Spilsby,. April 16, 1786 ; died in the Arctic Seas June ll r 1847, while in command of the expedition which first discovered the North- West Passage. ' They forged the last links with their lives.' "

London. The bronze statue of Franklin in Waterloo Place w r as unveiled 15 Novem- ber, 1866. It is the work of Matthew Noble, the cost, 1,950Z., being voted by Parliament. The explorer is represented in official uniform, standing erect and bare- headed. In his right hand he grasps a rolled -up chart, and behind him are grouped an anchor and ropes. In front of the pedestal is inserted a bas-relief representing Franklin's funeral in the Arctic regions ; at the back is depicted a chart giving the positions of his ships Erebus and Terror at the time j and at the sides are inscribed the names of their officers and crews.

On the west wall of the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist, Westminster Abbey, is a monument to Franklin's memory. It con- sists of a bust and bas-relief by Noble, the latter depicting the expedition fast held in the ice, and on the frieze the words : " O ye frost and cold, O ye ice and snow Bless ye the Lord, praise Him and magnify Him for ever." Below it are the following lines by Tennyson :

Not here : the White North has thy bones ; and thou,

Heroic sailor soul, Art sailing on thy happier voyage now

Towards no earthly pole.

The monument is inscribed :

" To the memory of Sir John Franklin, bom April 16, 1786, at Spilsby, Lincolnshire ; died June 11, 1847, off Point Victory in the Frozen Ocean ; the beloved Chief of the gallant crews who perished with him in completing the dis- covery of the North- West Passage. This monu- ment was erected by Jane, his widow, who after long waiting and sending man^ in search of him,