October 22, 1869.]
THE LAST VOYAGE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
339
as the completion of the northern coast-line of
America by the Hudson Bay Company’s servants,
Dease and Simpson, caused the attention of the
nation to again revert to its old channel — the
North-west Passage. Anno Domino 18“found
England with a surplus revenue, a vast body of naval
officers begging for employment, and eager for any
opportunity of winning honours and distinction;
Franklin's flist Winter Quarters, Beechejr Island. (See paste 342.)
and the Erebus and Terror, safe and sound from
the perils of Antarctic seas, riding at anchor off
Woolwich. All was most propitious for carrying
out the darling object of the then venerable
Secretary of the Admiralty. A mind like that
of Sir John Barrow’s, richly stored with the
records of his country’s glories in the exploration
of every quarter of the globe, was keenly alive to
the importance of keeping her still in the van-
guard of geographical discovery; and it must be
remembered that he had lived in a century when
men, in spite of a long and terrible war, were
almost yearly excited by the world-wide fame of
the discoveries of Anson, Cooke, Flinders, and
Mungo Park. Was it not natural, therefore,
that he, and such as he, should desire to add to
those triumphs the achievement of the greatest
problem man ever undertook to solve.
The chart of the Arctic regions was in the unsa- tisfactory condition shown in the chart on the opposite page.
How simple an undertaking it appeared to con- nect the water in which Parry had sailed to Melville Island, in 1819, with Dease and Simpson’s eastern- most position off the coast of America in 1838.
The summer of 18“saw many an eager face poring over that Arctic chart. Whisperings were heard that Sir John Barrow, Beaufort, Parry, Sabine, Ross, and Franklin himself, had expressed strong opinions in favour of another effort. The Royal Society, through its president, the Marquis of Northampton, was known to have urged the resumption of Arctic exploration upon the Government and Admiralty. Many an enthusiastic officer strove hard by zeal and interest
to insure being one of those selected for the
glorious work. Then it was that Fitzjames, and
such men as Graham Gore, Fairholme, Hodgson,
and Des Vceux, succeeded in enrolling themselves
on the list of the chosen few who were next year
to sail for the far north-west. We see them now,
as they told us so, and with glistening eye pro-
phesied their own success. Gallant hearts! they
now sleep amidst the scenes of their sore trial, but
triumphant discovery.
It was at one time intended that Fitzjames (whose genius and energy marked him as no ordi- nary officer) should command the expedition; but just at this time Sir John Franklin was heard to say that he considered the post to be his birth- right as the senior Arctic explorer in England. He had recently returned from his post as Gover- nor of Van Diemen’s Land: his sensitive and generous spirit chafed under the unmerited treat- ment he had experienced from the then Secretary of State for the Colonies, and sick of civil employ- ment, he naturally turned again to his profession, as a better field for the ability and devotion he had wasted on a thankless office. Sanguine of success, forgetful of past suffering, he claimed his right to command the latest, as he had led the earliest, of modern Arctic expeditions, Directly it was known that he would go if asked,
I the Admiralty were of course only too glad to ! avail themselves of the experience of Franklin;
but Lord Haddington, then First Lord, with that
kindness which ever distinguished him, suggested that Franklin might well rest at home on his laurels. “I might find a good excuse for not
I letting you go, Sir John,” said the peer, “in the