Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-11-19 00:00:00

NOVEMBER 19, 18 9.

THE LATE ARCTIC EXPLORING
EXPEDITION.

A meeting, convened by the Lord Mayor, was held on
Saturday last, for the purpose of adopting an address to
Captain M'Clintock, and organising a committee to
carry out the desire so generally expressed of presenting
him with some testimonial, in recognition of his daring
and successful Arctic expedition, in the Oak Room at
the Mansion•house. The chairman's seat was placed
midway on the south side of the apartment, and on the
panel above was hung a large map, representing those
portions of the Polar regions explored in the expeditions
of successive Arctic travellers, including M'Clintock.. It
was by reference to this map that the Rev. Professor
Haughton illustrated his comprehensive and lucid
narrative.

Amongst these present were :—The Right Hon. Lord
Talbot de Malahide; Right Hon. Joseph Napier; Right
Hon. James Whiteside, M.P. ; Sir Edward' Grogan,
Bart., M.P.; Patrick O'Brien, Esq., M.P.; Sir Thomas
Staples, Bart., Q.C. ; Sir John K. James, Bart, D.L.;
Sir" Robert Hagan, R.N. ; 'Alderman Reynolds; Alder-
man Kinahan ; Alderman Hudson,; Alderman At-
kinson; James Robinson, Esq., Q.C. ; Rev. Profes-
sor Haughton, F.T.C.D. ; Rev. Professor Galbraith,
F.T.C.D. ; Dr. Stokes ; Alexander M'Clintock, Esq. ;
D. J. Corrigan, Esq., M.D. ; A. Carew O'Dwyer,
Esq., J.P. ; Wm. Donnelly, Esq., C.B. ; Colonel Co-
lumb, C.B. ; L. E. Foot, Esq. ; Capt. Loftus, R.N. ; Rev.
Charles Fleury, D.D. ; Rev. A. Campbell; W. R. Wilde,
Esq. ; J. Fortescue, Esq. ; X. La Touche, Esq. ; Thos.
Hutton, Esq., D.L. ; Rev. W. Greene ; Rev. Professor
Jellett, F.T.C.D.; Dr. Barker; Dr. Carte; Dr. Neligan ;
G. W. Maunsell, Esq. ; J. J. Butler, Esq. ; Sir Joshua
Cogkill, Bart. ; G: F. Shaw, F.T.C.D. ; W. Hone, Esq. ;.
Thomas H. Thompson, Esq. ; Professor Jukes ; Hon. G.
'Handcock ; A. L. Norman, Esq., Q.C. ; J. Chambers;
Esq., T.C. ; J. Norwood, Esq.
Brief addresses, introducing resolutions, were given by
several of the distinguished parties present, and among
others, an address from the Rev. Professor Haughton,
F.T.C.D, one of the greatest tidal authorities of the day,
and ' with whose remarks we have been privileged to
,enrich our columns on several occasions.

The Rev. Professor Haughton, on rising to second the
resolution, was warmly received. He said :—I have
obtained an intimate knowledge of all that Captain
M'Clintock has done in the service of science from the
year 1818 to the year 1859. I shall therefore proceed to lay
before you some of his principal achievements, and then
call your attention to his bravery and gallantry in
Volunteering to command the Fox, in the last and suc-
cessful expedition in search of the missing Sir John
Franklin. The early Arctic voyages were not undertaken
for the advancement of science ; they were all, without
exception, the result of a desire to make money; and were
the result of a desire to reach India by a westempas-
sage, as the Portuguese had reached it by an,eastern one.
Amongst the officers who undertook this arduous task
none are ,more entitled to our admiration than those
who accompanied Sir John Franklin, whOse fate has at
last been ascertained by Captain M'Clintock. Captain
Riehatdson, in his travels, describes the horrors of a
fearful journey in the northern land to the territory of
the ,Hudson's Bay Pompany, when Sir John Frantlin's
bravery and intrepidity marked him and the men who
then accompanied him for the fatal expedition in which

he and Crozier and their two crews have perished. The
services rendered to science by Captain M'Clintock I
shall not enter on in detail, as on another occasion I
hope to do so more profitably. I shall only advert to one
Circumstance, that, during his last voyage in the Fox, with
such limited resources, with so many more pressing
claims on his attention, he found time, notwithstand-
ing the perils of his sledge journey, to conduct
the most laborious and important series of magnetic
observations ever made in the Arctic circle. (Hear,
law-ii;nfaek. in his iourne'r to Bellot's fitrait,
passed that place to the south. I believe I may point
out the services M'Clintock has rendered to geographical
science, which will prove more interesting at a meeting
of this kind. Captain M'Clintock was not, in the sense
of Parry and the older voyagers, an Arctic sailor; he did
not make any of those remarkable voyages achieved by
others. It is as an Arctic sledge traveller that he is dis-
tinguished. There were many great men before Agamem-
non, and a great many surpassed M'Clintock as a sailor,
but not as an Arctic traveller. I believe that every one,
.including Dr. Kane, the great American sledge traveller;
and the great captain, who made longer journeys in
sledges than M'Clintock—l believe they would all, if they
were present, join with me in proclaiming that McClintock
was, in this character of an Arctic traveller, facile prin.-
ceps. In approaching this subject, I cannot but advert
to the melancholy facts that he has brought before our
notice respecting Franklin and his sledge travelling.
On the fatal day when Crozier and Fitz James loft their
ships, the plan of their proceeding shows how lamenta-
bly deficient scientific information respecting those re-
gions was at that time, compared with the present. I
have heard Collinson; and Maguire, and M'Clintock,
state that, with the knowledge and appliances we now
possess, it is possible to travel along the radius of a
circle of 1,000 miles, while we find that the voyagers
of the Erebus and Terror travelled only 220 miles.
They travelled with too heavy burdens, which required
forty men at least to draw them. We owe the dis-
coveries which have been made since Franklin's expe-
dition to M'Clintock. I have no desire to claim for him
what belongs to another, but I appeal with confidence to the
testimony of his brother officers, who have rivalled his
sledging expeditions, whether the question was not in
Belcher's squadron, as they returned to their ships,
"Have you beaten M'Clintock ?" and, as each crew re-
turned, they said, "No ; we have not yet completed
1,400 miles." They- all acknowledged that he was the
chief. (Applause.) In this remarkable expedition two
great and illustrioui Irishmen served; these are men
who will be famous for ever—M'Clure and M'Clintock—
one the discoverer of the North-West Passage and the
other the discoverer of the fate of Franklin. In this
expedition they' Only completed 500 miles—that is 250
out and 250 home. He has informed me that although
he subsequently travelled 1,400 milesi never in his life
did he experience such terrible hardships. The allow-
ance of food was 11b. of -beef and 11b. •of
1 ounce of chocolate and 1 ounce of rum. Was
this food 'fit for men performing such duties as Sir
James Ross and M'Clintock ? The hardships of this
journey M'Clintock says will never leave- his mind.
When they got back to their ships they flew upon the
mess, and seized the pieces of fat placed before their
coinraies; for they.were starved, as they said, with cold.
SOme years since, when 'Belcher's squadron went out,
Bella and M'Clintock visited the island, and M'Clintock
performed the greatest sledge journey on record. It was
on this occasion that he performed the astonishing feat
of 1,400 miles sledge travelling. It may be an interesting,
circumstance tomany here that, as M'Clintock stood on the
Cape that now bears his name; he saw a little islaiid.to
the north beyond a point reached by any of the previous'
expeditions, and, in memory of his native land, he called
this little island " Ireland's Eye." (Great applause.)
I think, when an officer has been mindful of his countty,
it is our duty to be mindful of him. (Hear, hear.)
It is not because .41‘Clintock is an Irishman that we.
should praise Naito the injury or detriment of those who ,
served with Mn. I may mention that for two years and
three months Captain M'Clintock, with his officers and
men, were shut 'up in-a-smell box called the Fox, livings
like those happy families which we see in the streets:
(Laughter.) In fact, this is no fancy picture; and it
appears unfortunately. to have been a chronic disease
amongst Arctic expedit,ors, that they always returned
with their ,erq ender arrest, and on their arrival in ,

England t

iiee4 of

all—ro (

courts-martial

the first testimonial he received was the testimonial of
a chronometer, and box to contain . it,, presented t:
him by every officer and every man on board the Ye'
--- (hear, hear)—arid I- mention this in testimoi a
his social qualities. I believe he has not an enemy
I believe, there is not a single man that can 54111
spoke a harsh word to any man, or that he aPP'yth
priated to 'himself what belonged to another. It is rige
in this matter to do justice to all, and to mention 5`
names of the .two officers who, with him, did such serltl
those two officers were Captain Allen Young, a
officer from from the north of England, who volunteered, 111;
his life and his purse, to serve Lady Franklin. Ile, hi,
a wealthy man, and he risked both his money so et
life. He belongs to that sturdy race which sends.f°
our ice ships and our whalers ; and on this ocso°110„t
is, I believe, not too much to say that this man elm ei
excelled his chief. 'When it came to be deterteuld
what share each was to take,—of course the P°stty
honour ..belonged to the man who travelled to
missing ships,— Lieutenant Hobson, a brave i`tft
gallant officer, who accompanied the expedition, 111:e4
delicate health in the spring, and to him was assig,foo
the post of honour of going to the ships'. Thel-ole
his name has come before the public as having /11.„0
the first discovery. M'Clintock chose himself tlie:iog

laborious and perhapsiess honourable part—of ovetPrro
with his own the researches of Dr. Ray and Dr.
Capt. A. Young performed a feat of 900 miles sledge I*-4,:re
ling ; and it is right'to add thatthese 900 railest,ol
performed under circumstances that would llajitjiii,
the endurance even, of M'Clintock himself. j",.-I.lic
from-a calculation of the distance of ground el'erspossl
he would have to travel, that the food atllis tlt
was too small for-the Men who were With hirap"--;es,
would only supply himself,' one of the men, and tft° 00
—he sent back three men-and some don, and, 7,6- 1,
man and two dogs,
_lke performed this awful Prii
having no shelter for himself or his coMpanioo ujri
the night, except holes which they dug in the sne"to
is only right, and it is expected by Af‘Cliat4ck'A goo
Captain Young should get justice. We are ale',"
in this resolution to do three things :—First, to "ser
the high sense entertained by his countrymen of !leti
vices rendered to science by Capt.' APOlintock.
I have said- enough on this point. So long as Poo
of endurance under severe trials—so long as eo°lll- tba
the hour of danger and. unflinching fortitude ,11100
discharge of duty shall be admired bylrishmen, joa
shall Captain M'Clintock be admired and
handed down. But next, we all congratulate lii'fof
his return to his native land. On this it is needie°,,i
me to say anything—the meeting I see around ''11,1;
sufficient testimony to that. I now come to_t..b!,lo,i

and most difficult part of my duty, in which I feeviti '
inability to express as' I ought my own personal aTi of
tion, and I hope the admiration of this nieetlail
M'Clintock's gallantry in undertaking the con113P:col
Lady Franklin's expedition, by the result of whichP tor
been enabled to render justice to the memory efilef poi
tinguished husband and his crew. After the 0'1)1
Sir E. Belcher's last expedition, as it is called' or
Franklin proposed to her friends in the House Of
tiog,
mons and the Admiralty to send out another exPeat„,
She ventured to name three officers willing to tinas'to
the service, and I believe it is the highest honour,,Aed
any man could have to record of himself, or have re
Ivo
by his friends, that he was one of those so naniet..ol
three gentlemen were—Captain S.
se° t
M'Guire, an Irishman, and Captain 3PClintock, 4 0
Irishman. We should claim some pride for having t'..,stlf
of these three men belonging to our country. subsetrj
Osborne, 'foot
1 ofr ,
disposal
out tli
these officers placed their services at the
Franklin, when the Government refused to sena,ooselc
expedition, and the painful task devolved upon here Asoielo
the officer she wished to take command, old s a rig
1 hg"loo9t,
capt. M'Clintock. (Applause.) Therefore', .his ~,i
to claim the testimony of Lady Yraneon Ae..sh. betwe-
who felt it to be a painful duty to distingill 1, has Per
such men, and the services Captain lll'Clint°c ~. 191
formed so gallantly he undertook .without p; atici,
Franklin had too high a spirit to permit tuLsolisclrs
know it to be a fact that before he - left Eniiior,
executed the necessary- legal deeds for trap cep
him the ownership of the Fox. (Applause.) elf
returnaceept hite. has(
H eiarnfo, rmheeadr.
)herTlhaedy
creditable to the feelings of both. Captain g (1,. fif,
undertook this last voyage at the expense 1:80 Or
Franklin. This noble and devoted woman, frd it
ascertained that the Government would /lot eicepsar
sold out the last remnant of her property, e:(, ler
annuity Which she could not Alispose of, 31.d0f
her friends were greatly pleased, to provide thew ;ie #
strhaiPnsatebtaiotnlie,);)iiii
send 'out this ship, the Pox. Beyond the assistanileild
she received from Captain Young, she r,-,s wof
aid whatever, therefore Captain M'Clintockpe,
and great aim was to bring home news of theli;
this lady's husband. He has . succeeded n°‘ betre
bringing home news of the fate of her husbaatio rOl
brought home the knowledge of the fact that 05,
te
est and most brilliant Arctic voyage ever perfo Isere
performed by Franklin and Crozier. In the Ybips
cod
the last known of Sir John Franklin, -his stiottbsor,
sighted by a whaler in Baffin's Bay , he vas old' sfer
of at Beechy Island, but it appears straqe Oen° 5 oe,
"countable that he left no record there. strains
011
to King William's Land, where, no doubt,';ul con
but sal
th°
records, as empty tin cases, such as fic' , beilo"
documents, were found along the sheare 0' sou
Esquimaux frequently visit this place.
....,151 1
that Franklin, in 1845, sailed north;nu- egf,"
touched 77 deg. north latitude ; Belcher'sbso r,411'
went fifty miles to the south of this point,; triiel.frtsl4
lin sailed down between Bathurst and ,/,° until etee;
land. He next sailed down Peel Sound' for eiSe
were blocked up in the ice at this poinotrogliVi
months, and during that time Sir John f dy f,,t1:4
Captain M'Clintock has brought home to Iv selL i
the somewhat gratifying, though inclaneh°6llo4",
he died in his ship, surrounded by his cot ii'ior r
friends, perhaps regretting that he did nig.; Aft.;)
enough tb discover the North-West pssa,i, t it?„,
must not forget that he quite well knew '''';,o erne l'ire
quirea 100 miles of sailing to reach an °P, iiiefoe i #
would bring them out into the Pacifie• Iti Or
four great- oyages made in the Arctic Se°r„,,-, st6'l
many voyages very striking and very s'eley'stilet7d:
in them, but it does not always folloWthat .t 4 of „41',
cessful voyage proves the courage or the abaltioos ,:: gait,
mender. Those seas are proverbially dangeet ' 0
certain, and a'shid can sail as much in it ,4%., i
.mer as it:could. during the whole of ,P 7 r VI,
first of these four great voyages was Ci 3,gP:or 41;0
firat 'sailed into Lancaater Soimd, went tw" ffit-o4 al
Straits, , wintered .at ,Winter' liarhour,„"iied 1?e/r col
having lost one man, and having travLpit.' hate 06
through those regions -front east 'to -;iputli a.i.'" 110090
.Franklin was 500 miles from north 0, at diiOr irtlO
Arctic sailor knows that 500 miles in lobe Jo °At.e' ti 6
-equivalent to 1,500 from east to west
,0100_,„54 P-osl6l
-Franklin,' Crozier, FittJamee .and,the. sd gliieco,
officers and crew performed' the, secfsariefir"4ll6
voyage ; and I say tliat if.M'Clintockfter °7l ,s loot
than that.of having rescued- the, eh,oo 71,, 'sot i
from any stain which might by allY 47- ',As 01.8 1e
deserves teirwa.rmestiluniks. Wein; eP1e0,a.,,,,. la 112;, eif,e,
of time the third great -voyage,, an iss" Clio; '"'"forwA
but the greatest explorer of them au,20,0' ibre /re'
'owe this' justice to the memory of .L. iiiipoetl;cue.toet
it also to M'Clure;. but it would be' viea 7n tea
at mice to do justice to all the bratajo,:iit Aft; to
in those seas. At • the time `the "rT7st et ''),1011.,; ii
went out, the-whole-of the-northern:re ri_,01(„; tbPot
region was a blank, and parts which .d. P°0104,,,e11e
be sea;' -were then supposed to hflllllot (I°, to WA all
not a .cape or bluff on the Arctic Seat:a heike,,iwotriocili
the name of some brave men wh°, ``..often '"1101)f er
eelves'and to their country, and ‘43().01001 oisliel solo
withoutt o e ther, ,
also s o
thinkingtha t it
place with their whitened bolo' 4.i„' of, 11Lect1-
9al names of Arctic voyagers are .11- iita„oirdi„
M'Clintock, who will hold a hiff'olawf fr'el"
place ; those names have become ink,o -hialc Q_ .4144
,ciintox• it 4. feet
• • It'ellillr 00.' ote
all concur with me that Captain . his re .ort a
d that in ic
of our highest admiration, "and
motto,motto, ... 0
he hag well upheld his family odniero
jacle ior 0,
Lahore."„ (Applause.) ,akers, 1, ).,
Several other distinguished q. „ j100:s, lel
:tight Hon. J. Whiteside';' the
vilsg.ll:
.0,0
- I also addressed the meeting, Puu
return to England, I thusiastic one. isommpossile..t Li this.v A