The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-22 00:00:00

THE MILITIA.

About 20 men of the North Durham Regiment •f
Militia, now stationed at Burnley, have volunteered into
the 15th Hussars, a troop of which vocUpies "the lams
barracks with thS militia.

THE AMERICAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

-

Sir Elward Belcher appears to have been somewhat
premature, as far as order of publication is concerned. is
giving the title of the " Last of the Arctic :Voyages " to
'his two recent volumes. Dr. Rine's eery; "r;miaikkable
expedition up Smith's Sound will, no joiiht furnish.an,
other tale of romantic adventure and hardship io these
iey'regions. It will he remembered that, iu the summer
of 1852 Cmunander Ingletield, having failed iu dis-
covering any traces of Sir John Franklin io Wolsteu-
hohne Sound, and seeing the water before him clear of
ice, made a bold dash np Smith's Sound. On the 27th
of August, at noon, the Isabel had reached 78 deg. 28
min. N. At this point this enterprising young officer
could discern no obstacle to his northerly progress—
nothing was before him but loose ice. A contrary breeze,
however, which soon freshened up into a contrary gale,
sprang up, and the Isabel was fairly driven to the south-
ward.- We note these facts the more particularly as
these very waters were the scene of Dr. Kane's recent
exploits in the United States' brig Advance. That gen-
tleman left New' York on the 30th of May, 1850, and
on the 7th of August of the same year passed the head•
land of Smith's Sound. He penetrated beyond the
highest point attained by Captain Inglefield, and the
same spectacle was presented to his eye which his-pre-
decessor bad beheld. Open water was before him.
Dr. Kane might have used the very language em-
ployed by Captain Inglefield on the former occasion
to express his own feelings. "I involuntarily ex-
claimed," wrote Captain Inglefield on entering the
Sound, " that thin must lead to the great Polynia of the
Russians, and as the eye streamed forward into the clear
expanse of apparently open water, which now occupied
from seven to eight points of the compass due north of
our position, I could not but admit to my mind that a
great sea was beyond." Dr. Kane's onward progress
was, however, retarded by a bolt of heavy stream ice,
followed by a,drifting pack. His object, of course, was
to push through the pack, but at 78 deg. 45 min. the
drifting ice caught the brig, and drove her on to the
Greenland ceast. By great efforts, on the 29th of
August he regained his former position, and then started
with boat and sledge to select a fitting sp for a winter
encampment. The adventurers reached a cape 1,100
feet in height, and from this spot gazed around them
upon the awful solitudes of the Polar Sea. There was
a dark glacier, which terminated the view on the Green-
land side. Huge *bergs were driving hither and thither
in the channel, a bile far, far away to the northward, a
frozen sea, like the sea Which Parry travelled upon dur-
ing his advance from Spitzbergen, was all that could be
seen. At a spot called Rensellaer Harbour, amid a
group of rocky islets, the brig was frozen in, and imme-
diately parties were despatched in various directions.
In this way the Greenland coast was followed northerly
and easterly for 125 miles, when all thought of further
discovery for that season was stopped by the disappear-
ance of the -un. : For 120 days the luminary remained
be'ow the horizon; and the adventurers were left to the
unutterable dreariness of an Arctic winter.

The nature and extent of the hard6hips to which they
were exposed may be inferred from a fe b of the scientific
phenomena mentioned by Dr. Kane. The mean tempe-
rature of the spot selected for the winter encampment
appeared to he 20 deg. lower than the mean temperature
of Melville Island, and we know the terrible intensity of
the cold at that place. The lowest point registered on
the thermometers was 70 deg. of Fahrenheit, and that
was in February. Chloroform froze, essential oils be-
came solid and liquid, and on the 24th of Feb., writes
Dr. Kane, " chlorlc ether was congealed, for the first
time, by natural temperature." It is satisfactory to find
that the great curse of Arctic navieation- as it was in
former days the curse of navigation generally—the
scurvy, was by these adventurers entirely conquered.
This, however, was replacer' by a particular type of
seasinodic disease which appears to have occasioned
great suffering and annoyance. The dogs were attacked,
and no fewer. than 57 of these useful animals perished
with every symptom of hydrophobia. Extreme cold had
produced the effect:of extreme heat. The winter, how-
ever, was passed in one fashion or another, and with
returning spring travelling, parties were arranged, and
expeditions organised. The most important of these
was pushed- forward in -71E6'.nnitherly direction. The
result is noted by Doctor Kane in the following
words " Open water washed the shores of the
channel, and terminated in a sea, the heavy
surf of which checked all further progress." The
furthest point attained was a cape in lat. 81 deg. 22 min.
N., and long. 65 deg. 35 min. W. Parry's fberthest point
when he conducted his memorable sledge-boat expedition
from Spitzbergn was 82 deg. 40-Min. 23 sec. N., in long.
19 deg. 25 min. E. No succe.,sor on the path of. Arctic
adventure has yet snatched his chaplet from the brow
of that great navigator. Parry is still the champion of
the North. It was gracefully done on the part of Dr.
Kane, that he named the most distant mountain which
they could discern wtth their instruments after Sir E.
Parry. This mountain lies, by estimate, in lat. 82 deg.
SO min. N., and was only discerned, not visited. Winter
after winter, passed away in such occupations, and it
was not until the summer of 1354 that Dr. Kane finally
determined upen retracing his steps. It was necessary
to abandon the good ship which had so long been their
home, and on thee 6th of August in the year 1854 the
voyagers reachedlhe Danish settlement of Uperuavik,
83 days after leaving their shirr.- Such appear to be, in
as succinct a form as we can give them, the principal
facts of this remarkable expedition, in which great dan-
gers were confronted with singular courage, great hard-
ships endured with unflinching fortitude, and great suc-
cess achieved by a combination of all the qualities which
have distinguished the most daring among Arctic voya-
gers.
If we are next to say what advantage has resulted

to the world from this achievement, we are com-
pelled to say that the result does not appear commen-
surate with the dangers incurred. The voyage was,
however, undertaken, like so many others, for the
purpose of seeking for traces of Sir .T. Franklin and his
ill-fated companions. We now know that they are not
to be looked for in this or in any other direction. Dr.
Kane, however, was as ignorant as the rest?! of the
world upon this point when he threw himself into the
ice upon his philanthropic errand. All honour to him,
thenj for his caurage and perseverance' It was no
fault of his that he was not the roan destined to discover
the melancholy relics which have at length changed con•
jecture into certainty as far as Franklin is concerned. If
we look at the result of the expedition from other points
of view, we confess ourselves wholly unable to discover
what advantage will result to the world from the confir-
mation of Capt. Inglefield's discoveries up Smith Sound.
Scientific men, who make such pursuits their business,
may, no doubt, be able to indicate some slight advan-
tages to the hydrographer and natural philosopher as
the consequence of Dr. Kaa'a voyage ; but are these
at all sufficient to eounterbalance the risks incurred and
the perils run by men of such hardihood and note ? How
are we benefited if at a future day we even receive plenary
proof that there is a Polar Sea within 60 deg. N. ? If it
exists, can it he navigated ? Hitherto all attempts to
penetrate its secrets have just sufficed to bring the ex-
plorers upon the fringes of t'lis hypothetical sea. One
adventurer may advance a few minutes more north than
his predecessors, but what then ? All we know as .cer-
tainty is, that within the circle of SO deg. N. there is a
region which, under no appreciable circumstances, cum
ever be turned to account by man. It may contain a
little more rock, or a little more water, but water and
rock in such latitudes aro alike useless to the human

GOVERNMENT CARE OF LITERARY
MEN.

the Queen, to appoint and bestow Go-
Let those whose duty it is, in the name of her gra-
ns on men who have deserved well of
iih:eruinsrinceolnuatjnet;rtyeY", sri(!juice—let them triumph, carouse, and .
be merry—
Joseph Haydn died on Thursday night, and
251. per annum is saved l If, in his physical pain, his
anguish, misery, and destitution, he could have been
brought to learn bow gratefUl the coantry was for his
eerviees—how it appreciated his energetic exertions—
how it rewarded his long suffei big, toil, and trouble—
he must have had a happy reflection before he breathed
his last. If his family around him, who have been, we
are told, literally starving, could have made him compl- •
head how their future welfare was ensured by the pen-
sion of is 4d per day, his heavy heart must truly have
been cheered, and his care for their fate lightened. And
this is the reward of general usefulness in England—a
laud boasting, right and left, far and near, of its free in-
stitutions, its growing wealth, its unswerving liberty and
liberality. The staunch, stiff, true disciples and children
of J ohu Bull turn up their virtuous noses at the lightness,
vivacity, and what they are pleased to call immorality
of our French neighbours and Allies, but we can defy
them to point out a single instance in which a man who
has passed an honourable career in the pursuit of lite.
rature and art has in France been left in his misery to
starve and die. If literary nain see
that the Government
,
and the country care not a jot for their suffering, why
do they not render themselves independent of such iu.
gratitude, by forming an inetitution or society, which
might afford relief to the dietreef,ed and indigent We
heard a good deal at one time of the dramatic perform-
ances,,
provincial and metropolitan of a body of gentle-
menguild of literature and art ; a
considerable w
sideirsablel'to amountofestablii 4
s moneyl was realised, but of what
has become of that atnount the public is not informed,
If the project cannot be cat feed out, why not employ the
money judiciously to relieve Kuck' ae that of the a'JCIVII
unfortunate man. If teas such as those of Joseph
Haydn's death be the fruits of our civilisation and intel-
ligence, by all means let us go back a century—to a
time when, if there was more vice amongst the,
higher classes, which we doubt, there were fewer
false pretestations of virtue, and less cant of charity.--
Stenclttg Tinted.

An order arrived at Chatham yesterday from the
Horse Guards that the whcle of the men of the depot
of the 12. th Regiment under 1, years' service are to Lei
Inspected, previously to their embarkation for ..kustralivb.
to join the head-quarters of their corps.

ftATrtr, ROYAL, ADELPHT..—Grand
MORNING PERFORMANCE.—On FRIDAY next, Jan.
25, by general desire, and on this the fret and only occasion, a
Grand Morning Performance of the Burlesque and Comic Panto-
mime of JACK AND THE BEAN STALK; or, Harlequin and
Mother Goose at Home Again. Jaelt and Harlequin, Madame
Celeste. Mother Goose and Columbine, Miss Wyndham. Clown,
Mr. Garden. Pantaloon, Mr. C. J. Smith. Doors open at half-past
; emni.nce at 2, and conc►ude at 4 precisely.