The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-14 00:00:00

~~~

As.
44,Thu

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1853.

An intimation has been thrown out by an in-
fluential contemporary that all further search
after Sir JOHN FRANKLIN is to be abandoned.
It were a cruelty, however, yet awhile to relax
the exertions hitherto made in quest of the miss-
ing Expedition. Futile, unhappily, those exer-
tions have been heretofore, it is true : neverthe-
less, until something definite has been learnt as to
the fate of the lost navigators, it were a heinous
inhumanity for the British Government to aban-
don all further effort in the undertaking as hope-
less. It should be remembered that no particle
of authentic information has yet been obtained as
to the precise whereabouts of the heroic seamen
despatched so many years ago to explore the
arctic regions with a view to the discovery of a
North-West Passage. Something
at least like a
glimmering of intelligence ought to be attained
as to the situation of Sir joirN
FRANKLIN
and his companions before we contentedly fold
our arms with a sense of having done
all in our
power towards their recovery. The Period which
has elapsed since their departure has been
no
doubt deplorably protracted, leaving hut small
probability of our ever carrying theta aid in time
sufficient to save even a small proportion of their
number from destruction. Yet, assuredly, it is
the solemn and easily appreciable duty of the
State to adopt every rational effort that might
lead us at length to the discovery of the adven-
turers. Afford England intelligence, at the very
least, that the whitened bones of her gallant
sailors have been found in those unfrequented
solitudes, and then, if they list, let the authori-
ties of the Admiralty decide upon striking
the name of Sir JOHN FRANKLIN off the books
of the Navy, and upon relieving their minds from
any further anxiety as to the lot of his ill-fated
Expedition.
Absolutely nothing, however, being yet known
as to the course taken by Sir JOHN FRANKLIN
and his companions since the period of their un-
lucky departure, we are, nevertheless, at this mo-
ment, cooly informed that " there is an end to
the further prosecution of such plans as those
-which were carried out mainly at the instigation
of the late Sir JOHN BARROW"—meaning those
plans 'val •
iterated
et' were crowned, after six years of re-
enterprise, by the proceedings carried
out by Sir
EDWARD BELCHER, and followed
up by the daring
ventures of Captain M'CLuRK
and Captain CoraarrsoN. It is incredible. It
is, we repeat, literally
incredible—with state-
ments lying before us, such as will be found
given elsewhere in Our
impression of this
evening, in the course of the animated contro-
tain BEECIIty Alt T versy, in which Cap
an, Jur. PETER-
MANN have participated. It is remarkable, more-
over, that the notion of this abandonment of
the
search after Sir JOHN FRANKLIN should be enter-
tained, when it is notorious that oneimportant
portion of the arctic regions remains, up to this
time, virgin of all relief explorations. It is erro-
neously asserted in the Times that "the Polar
Seas have been ransacked in every possible direc-
tion which the ingenuity of the most practised arctic
navigator could suggest, or the courage and skill
of our choicest sailors could attain." It Is) We
say, erroneously thus asserted by our con tempo-
rary. For what shall be said of the region lying
in the course which Sir JOHN FRANKLIN was or-
dered to take, the region lying between the
meridians of Behring's Strait and Wellington