The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-21 00:00:00

JRESZEYTATION OF THE FREEDOM OF THE

CITY TO CAPTAIN M'CLINTOCK.

On. Saturday, in accordance with a resolution of
the Court of Common Council, agreed to on the 19th
of January last, the freedom of the City, in a box
of the value of fifty guineas, was presented to Cap-
tain Sir F. Leopold M'Clintock, R.N., in admira-
tion of his dauntless spirit, exhibited in repeated
efforts to rescue 138 of his fellow-countrymen, and
in testimony of his having, after many years of un-
successful search, ascertained the fate of theintrepid
Sir J. Franklin and the officers and crews of the
Erebus and Terror in the Arctic regions.
Among the visitors were Miss Cracoft (niece of
Sir J. Franklin), Miss Young, M. C. Grinnell (of
New York), Miss Grinnell, Capt. Inglefield, R.N. ;
Capt. Collinson, R.N., C.B. ; Sir Roderick Murchi-
son, Mr, E. Baines, M.P. ; Mrs. Baines, Mrs. White-
side, Sir G. Foster, Bart., M.P. ; Mr. J. M'Clintock,
and Mrs. M'Clintock ;. Mrs. Gardener, Mr. Field
(the well-known publisher of Boston, U. S.), and
Irs. Field.
Lady Franklin would have been present, but was
prevented by indisposition.
Captain M'Clintock was introduced by Mr. C.
Beed, the mover, and Mr. Alderman Abbiss, the
;seconder of the resolution upon which the proceed-
ings
.were founded, and was loudly cheered on
entering the court. He was accompanied by Cap-
tam Young, Commander Hobson, and by Mr.
'Richard Shingleton and Mr. George Cary, two of
the seamen who accompanied him in the Fox.
The resolution of the Court having been read by
the Town Clerk, Sir Leopold made and subscribed
the usual declaration.

The CITY CHAMBERLAIN (Mr. B. Scott) then
presented the Freedom and box (manufactured of
British oak and handsomely mounted in gold) in
an appropriate address.
Sir F. L. M'CLINTOCK replied as follows—My
lord Mayor, Ladies, and Gentlemen,—l am fully
sensible that the honour which has been conferred
upon me is a very high and unusual one, and I feel
with corresponding force and inability—from pro-
fessional causes—to express to you in suitable terms
the deep sense of gratitude which your unexpected
notice of my services some months since has awak-
ened; yet, relying upon your indulgence, Ido hope
to convey to you some impression of those pleasur-
able feelings, and also of the respect which I enter-
tain for this ancient and honourable assembly. In
receiving this mark of your approval, and notwith-
standing the flattering observations now made by
the City Chamberlain, I cannot but think that you
have been induced to view in their most favourable
light my exertions and those of my companions, in
consequence of the strong sympathy of the public
with the cause in which we were embarked. (Hear.)
My own feeling from the first was precisely similar
to those so universally expressed , but it was more
intense, for Franklin and his brave associates were

not only my countrymen—they were also brother
seamen—(cheers)—and having had some experience
of the service in which they perished, I was the
more strongly impressed with a sense of the merit
of those devoted and unflinching men. (Hear.) I
also felt the great importance to all, especially to
those employed in the public service and scattered
over the globe, that we should make good the oft-
repeated assertion, that the life of even a single
British subject is a matter of solicitude to the whole
nation. (Cheers.) In the accomplishment of our
peaceful mission—which necessarily involved a con-
siderable amount of geographical discovery also—
we were not indifferent readers, on board the Fox,
of those bright examples of pitient and ever cheer-
ful endurance which have characterised our
northern voyages from the earliest times. (Hear,
hear.) We know, too, that the spirit of enterprise
which sent them forth derived much of its strength
horn the fostering care of this ancient city ; for
upon the Arctic maps—which lay constantly spread
before us—we saw recorded the names of its chief
magistrates, its aldermen, its citizens—active pa-
trons of Arctic exploration, and affixed in graceful
recognition of their support by Davis, Baffin, Hud-
son, and others, to their geographical discoveries
nearly three centuries ago. (Cheers.) Nor need we
at this age apprehend the extinction of that spirit
of adventure which we inherit from our Seandin a.
vian forefathers, and which lies at the root of our
national greatness. (Loud cheers.) This instance
alone of the "heart of the empire" gracefully re-
warding similar exertions in the most remote and
inhospitable region would prove to the world that
the lave of maritime discovery, the ardour of Bri-
tish enterprise, continues undiminished. (Hear,
hear.)' I beg to thank you most heartily for having
been especially mindful of those who shared the
voyage with me—they fully deserve to share largely
of its honours. (Cheers.) Where all did their duty
so well it would be invidious to particularise ; but I
feel bound to state that no one of my companions
made so large a sacrifice in devoting himself to the
cause as Captain Allan Young (turning to that gen-
tleman amid loud cheers). My only regret is that
I cannot claim him as a brother officer in its re-
stricted sense, and that he is therefore beyond the
reach of Admiralty reward. (Hear, hear.) You
have also afforded me the most sincere pleasure by
the expression of your sympathy with that distin-
guished lady who entrusted to my guidance her
final effort—(cheers)—the little expedition in which
was centered her last ray of hope. (Hear, hear.)
How nearly that effort failed, I am sure all here
will recollect, and will heartily rejoice with me
that, for her sake at least, it was permitted
to succeed—that the success might be all her
own. (Cheers.) The Franklin story now forms
a part of our national history; and all history fails
to supply a more beautiful and striking instance of
heroic manly endurance under the most appalling
circumstances ; and of no less enduring devotion,
true womanly constancy and courageous hope.
(Cheers.) The youth of future generations will
read this ennobling story with the deepest emotion,
and will receive from it the impress of those emi-
nently great and good qualities of which it tells.
Such valuable instruction for all ages it would be
difficult to overrate. (Hear.) The " final effort"
has fallen far short of saving iife. It has, however,
terminated a painful suspense; and in rec3vering
the knowledge of our lost countrymen's great
geographical discoveries, of their sufferings,
and of their firm devotion to the last, Lady
Franklin has accomplished a most important na-
tional object. (Hear.) The same act of justice
which will perpetuate their memories will also
transmit to posterity, in the simple record of their
achievements and Christian worth, an example of
which England may justly feel proud. (Hear,
hear.) This very inadequate acknowledgment of
the distinction conferred upon me by so rare a gift
as the freedom of the City of London, would he still
more incomplete than it is, did I not also thank you
for the very beautiful and appropriate heirloom in
which it is enclosed. (Loud and bong u stai ne d
applause.)
It was then ordered that the address of the Cham
berlain, and the reply of Sir Leopold, should be
entered upon the journals of the court, and the pro-
ceedings terminated.