The Press.
London, England, 1854-10-28 00:00:00

THE PRE

.-.
ranks recoil from main.), servitttde. Ve
must, therefore, if we expect our army to be
recruited properly, offer abunda uce-
ments to gallant fellows wh ght for
England's cause. Even if we admit that our
soldiers are, upon the whole, better cared inr
than the , military of other countries.wa
should recollaet how nobly the men in seiKet
cloth repay the favours of the State. If we
attend better to his health, let us refine ber
that the Englisl) soldies endures and fits
better than the military conscript of then-
tinent. To keep up a constant supply of
recruits we must prominently identify our
soldiery with all the glop/ •44-440
.fsiate, asid
we must teach those who wear the uniform of
the Crown to look to Parliament, and not to
private persons, foi their well-earned rewards.
In the meantime, while we shall forward the.
Patriotic Fund (in absence of a better system),
we trust that on the assembling of the
Legislature the claims of our soldiers and
sailors will receive the most liberal consi-
deration.

THE FATE OF FRANKLIN.
THE details brought home by Dr. RAA are con-
clusive on the main point that FRANKLIN and his
brave companions have met with the most cruel
of all deaths—starvation. They seem to have
perished about the time when, after their long
hardships, they might have hoped a better
destiny, as they had gained the American con-
tinent, and the worst part of winter was past.
Two or three weeks' further travel would have
brought them to some station of the Hudson's
Bay Company, where relief might have been
afforded them; but that effort they were unable
to make.
The Esquimaux from whom Dr. RAE had the
particulars he relates, speak of thirty or forty of
the unfortunate voyagers. Were these all who
remained of the crews of the Erebus and Terror,
numbering altogether 139 souls? We fear we
must conclude so. Among t.he articles reco-
vered are some belonging to FRANKLIN, who
commanded the Erebus, and to CROZIER, who
commanded the Terror ; to the surgeon and the
assistant-surgeon of the Erebus, and to the as-
sistant-surgeon of the Terror. Had the ex-
pedition been divided, all these officers would
not have been attached to one part of it, and
certainly three out of the four surgeons who
went in the two ships would not have been
found together.
From the meagre details furnished by Dr.
RAs, we are to suppose that the Esquimaux
understood chat the ships were crushed by the
ice. Whether they were wrecked or deserted
could hardly have been explained to them, as
none of FRANKLIN'S party spoke the Esquimaux
language. The last memorial at Beechey Island
was an inscription over a seaman's grave,
who " died April 3rd, 1846, aged thirty-two
years. Choose ye this day whom ye will
serve ; " and no further trace of ships or men
is discovered till about April of 1850, though
nearly every coast and channel which it seemed
likely might have told of their whereabout
had been diligently explored. Where, in this
long interval, could the expedition have
lurked ?
We think they must have stood by their
ships previous to the journey which terminated
so disastrously. For why thould they have
remained inactive after their ships, which
alone could have promised them escape from
their position, were gone ? As their only
chance of safety lay in travel, they would cer-
tainly have commenced it as soon as their
preparations were made and weather permitted
their moving, And it seems more probable,
from the long time the expedition had been
out—nearly five years—that they made their
ships their home until starvation stared them
in the face, than that the vessels were in any
way wrecked.
But, on either supposition, what could have
become of the expedition from the time it left
Beechy Island, some time in the summer of
1846? Dr. RAE'S discoveries at once dis-
prove many conjectures which have been
hazarded. The ships did not return (as Cap-
tain Axnrnis smosed) from Beechey Island to
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