The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-03 00:00:00

right to put his hand in the public purse, but there were
some promises held out by the Government which he
wished to put forward in his present application. In 1850
a proclamation was issued by the Admirrlty offering re-
wards in three cases ; first, a reward of £20,000 to any party
who, in the judgment of the Admiralty, should discover and
effectually relieve the crews of her Majesty's ships Erebus
and Terror ; secondly, a reward of £lO,OOO to any person
who should relieve any of the crew of those ships, or con-
vey such intelligence as should lead to the relief of such
crew or any of them. There were, he need scarcely say, no
claimants for either of those rewards. Lastly, there was a
reward of £lO,OOO to any party who, in the judgment of the
Admiralty, in virtue of their :awls, dleould first succeed in
ascertaining the fate of these crews. It was to the last he
meant to call attention. Let him in the first place remove
any confusion which might exist in the minds of those who
were unacquainted with the facts. With regard to the
reward to Captain M'Clure the sum of money granted to
him had not been granted under any of the conditions of
the proclamation of 1850. It was for an altogether different
matter; and after an investigation of Captain M'Clure's
claim by a committee of this house, it was given to him as
being the first to discover the North-West passage, and
larsd no reference whatever to the question he was about
to bring before them. In 1856, Dr. Rae made a claim for
a reward, and the Admiralty gave him the £lO,OOO pro •
raised under the third condition. He did not blame in the
least the Board of Admiralty for the liberal and generous
view they had taken, but when they came to look at what
had subsequently taken place—when they saw the disco-
very made by the gallant crew of the Fox, what they had
done and how they had fulfilled to the letter every condi-
tion in the proclamation—he thought he might almost ar-
gue it as a claim—he would not say as a legal claim—at least
that the good faith of this country was pledged that those
brave men should not go unrewarded. He asked his noble
friend to consider the claim in, that generous spirit with
which he felt sure the country would wish such a claim to
be considered, for he did not put it as a legal claim, as he
had already stated. One word as to what had been done
by the commander, officers, and crew of the Fox. They had
done in a small ship that which this country had for years
been trying to effect—they had solved for the people of Eng-
land that question about which there had been the deepest
anxiety ; and it was no small satisfaction to feel that that
was the last time this subject was likely to come before that
house. He did not know what the feelings of any other
hon. gentleman might be, but he knew that when he came
to the conclusion of Capt. M'Clintock's narrative—that sim-
ple and painful narrative—the last few pages struck him
with deep pain. When he read the heavy expenses of the
expedition, and when ho perceived upon whom those ex-
penses had fallen—(hear, hear)—he had no right to use-:
in point of fact he believed it was against the wish of Lady
Franklin in any .shape to introduce the name ; but he did
not think it was for Lady Franklin, but for the house to
say, the expenses should not fall upon her, but upon the
coantry. There was a celebrated monument of one of the
best generals in the Austrian service who fell during the
seven years' war, who after the narrative of his sere ices
concluded with a few words which he should repeat to the
house, " Non patria, non imperator sed conjux posuit."
(Cheers.) It was not the country that he had served, itwas
not the imperial master whose battles•he had fought, but
it was the widow who had raised the monument. Having
spent so much money in searching for Sir John Frar'slin
and his companions, the country ought not to let the ex-
pense of the last mark of its respect for those gallant and
distinguished men fall on Lady Franklin, but the country
should claim it as its right to pay them. (Hear, and cheers.)
He knew weltthat she had her reward, and if perchance,
as he feared was the case, her exertions had weakened her
means and diminished her comforts for the remainder of her
life, everybody who knew her would feel that she would re-
joice in any sacrifice incurred in the noble task which it
had been the great effort of her life to accomplish. The
house perhaps permit him to call to their minds who Sir
John Franklin was. They knew him as a navigator of the
Arctic regions. In early life he was a gallant sailor, who
had fought at Copenhagen, whe had fought at Trafalgar,
who had distinguished himself as a volunteer on board
an East India ship in the celebrated defence of Capt. Dance
in beating off a squadron. He subsequently served his
country in a civil capacity, and when his services were
afterwards required he did not shrink from giving them,
though he was of an age and in a position which would
have fairly entitled him not again to engage in laborious
work—he did riot shrink fronifacing those dangers which
be knew so well, nor from meeting that death which he had
found. Such men, as those did honour to their country, they
honoured it fully as much as those who fell in the battle-field
and to whcon a grateful country raised monuments in that
place where the greatand the good were laid. (Cheers.) He
died in the execution of his duty, obedient to the orders ho
had received, and at that very moment'when he had seen—
he Could not exactly say he had made the discovery of the
north-west passage, if passage it could be called—what he
had been sent out of the country to discover. In speaking
of their chief, let him not forget the conduct of those who
served under him—of Crozier,. Fitzjames, and many gal-
lant and younger officer% who if their lives had been spared
would have been ornaments of the profession.- The conduct
of such men raised the character of England, and the cha-
racter of the flag under which they served. (Cheers.) He
did not ask his noble friend any specific question. He was
anxious to leave the matter in his hands ; and he knew no-
body in whose hands he would be more ready to leave a
case of this kind, which required not more delicate discre-
tion than generous and gentlemanly feeling. He was
ashamed of having so long trespassed on their attention,
but the manner in which he had been received proved that
he dealt with a subject in which the feelings of the house
were warmly interested. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. WHITESIDE hoped the house would allow him to
say a few words on the subject, in consequence of the inte-
rest he hail taken in it, and of his personal friendship for the
gallant commander of the Fox. In June, 1857, his right
hon. friend, Mr. Napier, moved that the Government of the
day should fit out another Arctic expedition to endeavour to
discover what had been the fate of that brave sailor and his
comrades. That motion was not resisted by the Government
from any desire to oppose the wish of Lady Franklin, but, as
it was truly expressed by the right hon. gentleman then at
the head of the Admiralty, because they believed it would be
a fruitless enterprise, and that it would probably cost the
sacrifice of life. After that motion some persons contributed
to an expedition, but the greater part of the expenses of the
last voyage were borne by Lady Franklin. Capt. M'Clintock
did rot undertake the command of the' ship in a spirit of a
reckless adventurer, for he (Mr.Whitside) happened to know
from a scientific gentleman that Capt. M'Clintock had care-
fully and clearly studied the whole question, and believed
that if he were enabled to roach the Polar regions he could
discover what had become of Sir J. Franklin and his com-
panions. He went in a ship the smallest by which such a
voyage had ever been undertaken, and with a small crew.
He sailed in July ; in September his ship was embedded in
the ice; they were not released until the April following,
during which interval they had. drifted 180 miles. The day
they were released, instead of returning to England, they
only became the more determined to prosecute their enter-
prise and achieve the object of their voyage. He must say
the simple narrative possessed almost a romantic interest,
one of the most interesting and useful portions of it being the
sledge travelling, and what could be accomplished by means
of it. The mystery of Arctic voyages had been cleared up by
25 brave and gallant men, whose merits—he spoke this with
all deference—were equal any achievement on the battle
field. There was the soldier's death or a joyful victory ; but
here there were required more enduring spirit, loftier reso-
lution, greater qualities of mind and body than in any other
enterpr so. (Cheers.) He happened to know Capt. M'Clure,
and to him he must say that the noble lord at the head of
the Government behaved with the utmost generosity.
(Hear.) Ile (Mr. Whiteside) had told Capt. M'Clure that
there was no assembly in the world which was more ready to
reward conspicuous merit than the House of Commons. Lady
Franklin had declined to accept anypecuniary reward from
the Government of this country—her hopes and wishes la .d
been that her husbond might be recognised as the true dis-
coverer of the North-West passage, as many men of science
said he was. Ho was of opinion that a national monument,
or some other such public recognition of the services of Sir
John Franklin would be just from the country, but hp was
content to leave it to the generous nature of the noble
viscount how that object might be test effected. It could not
be ia better heads ; avid to the noble lord he (Mr. Whiteside)
begged to return Isis sincere thanks for that mark of distinc-
tion already conferred on his friend and countryman, Cap-
tain M'Clint ick. (Loud che2rs.)3
•THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Mr. LOCKE asked the noble lord at the head of the Go-
vernment if it was in contemplation to remove the natural
history collection from the British Museum ; and. if so, to
what place it was proposed to remove it ?
After a few words from Mr. CONINGIIAM,
Lord PALMERSTON rose to reply to the several clues..
tiohs which had been put to him. He said—l will first
answer the queStion put to me by the hon., gentleman op-
posite regarding the selection of designs for public offices.
I have to say that no decision has yet been come to• with
regard to the designs best adapted for the purpose. When-
ever a selection shall be made the designs shall be submitted
in the way in which the designs were last year, to members
of the house, who will have an opportunity of seeing them.
With regard to the question of my hon. friend who spoke
last but one, there have been two meetings of the trustees
of the British Museum at which the question was consi-
deredlr
lai tpteheee
annually to accommodate
increasin notgn oito thf e
whether the existing buildings were sufficient in point
of s
theexseistcionllgecti on s
, collection,ana
if not, whether it would be d • esirable to increase the space
by adding to the buildings of the
British Museum, or
whether it was better to remove to some other place some
portion of the collection in the British_Museum. The opi-
nion of the trustees was that it would be better to remove
portion of them to some other place where a building
ad
be obtained at a comparatively moderate expensethan to
could
go to the cost of purchasing land immediately adjoining
the British Museum, in order to erect upon it
adequate
buildings. They were further of opinion the,;, if
any
tion of the collections were to be removed 'shnaturalrsr:
tory collection was that which:was m(!.st easily and advan-
tageously removable. No des isiosa has, however, yet been
come to as to the spot to be closet', but Government will
further consider the matter and the best way of dealing with
the collection, the matter standing over for the present, but
the trustees have ageed at the meeting that the boojis and
other articles of the kind shall remain whore they are. An
hon. member below the gangway has asked me whether I
have received a memorial from certain Irish Catholic peers
and commoners bearing on the arrangements now going
forward in Italy, and respecting the temporal dominions of
the Pope. I beg to answer that I did receive a memorial
being numerously and respectably signed, the object of
which was to request the Government to encourage and
concur in any arrangement which would tend to maintain
the integrity independence, and neutrality of the Papal
dominions. The only answer I could give to that memorial
was to acknowledge its receipt—(a laugh)—and state that
we would take it into consideration. If we had gone into
any answer, I am afraid there are matters in that memorial
in which my opinion is not exactly in accordance with the
memorialists, and it appeared to me better not to enter into
any explanations. It is well known that it is the wish of
her Majesty's Government to leave the Italians to settle
their own affairs, and that therefore the British Government
would not exert themselves in doing anything which
should prevent the Italians from taking their own affairs
into their own hinds. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the
point to which my right hon. friend has adverted, and
which I am sure is a subject which engages the sympathy
and attention not only of the house, but the whole country,
it is impossible to speak too highly of the courage and de-
votion manifested by Sir Leopold M'Clintock and his brave
companions in the expedition whieh they undertook in
search of the remains of Sir J. Franklin. It is quite true, as
stated by the right hon. and learned gentleman, that those
Cervices were not lose honourable when performed in so
distinguished a manner than those performed on the field of
battle, and that they manifested in as high a degree the
adorned the soldier and the
sailor, and upon
oceasion Were re, •
those euelitice
than by that eesive-e•nzi eee honourably developed
the Eranklin expediti:en.mAhi,4 (111,0,-.7er: u; the reLiains c't
that there were others who, tee line it is duo to say
though they did not in the Lame:gh not equally successful,
where the Franklin remains were found,
arrive at 'the spot'
they did neverthe-
less display all those high qualities wizie4
were manifested