Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-08-21

Among the passengers by the Adriatic to-day
Is Lady franklin, woman whose name has
for years been linked with ali that is noble,
heroic, and Christian; and it seems not inap.
propriate that We should briefly sketch the
events that have brought her so prominently
before the public. Lady Franklin was the
daughter Of John Griffin, Esq, IF A., and
became the second wife Of Sir John franklin,
on the Sth OF March, 1918. in the 18th year of
her age, In 1886 she accompanied her husband
to Tasmania, or Van Dieman's Land, over
which he had been appointed Governor. and
returned with him to England in 1S43. The
people OF Tasmania have ever held in grateful
memory the kind deeds of Sir John and his
wife, and long after their departure they sent
Lady Franklin the sum Of SI,700 to assist in
defrsyiDg the expenses of the search for her
absent husband. ..sl 1906.
D On the 10Th day of May, 1S45, Sir John set
out from England in search of Northwest
passage, expecting to return in q couple Of
years, at the furthest. Towards the close of
1647 alarm began to be felt for the safety of the
party, and early in the following year three
different expeditions were dispatched by the
British Government in search of the missing
navigstors. The failure of these to find any
traces of Franklin's party induced the Gov
eminent, in lS49, to offer q reward of f90, 900
to any private exploring party of any country,
which should succeed in aiding the lost navi-
gators. At this time began the efforts of Lady
Franklin, which have won for her the admira-
tiou Of the world. From her own private purse
she caused to be transported to Cape Hay,
on the southern side of Lancaster Bay, a
cargo of Goals and provisions, to be at the ser
vice Of any who should venture upon a search
for her husband r.l..
In the year 1850 no less than eight expedi-
tiOns wero fitted out, " which may be briefly emu
meratsd as follows: That of DR. Rae; the Behr-
ings Strait expedition, consisting of the En-
terprIse, Capt Collinson, and the Investigator,
Commander Mcclure; the Government Bsfin's
Bay expedition, consisting of the Resolute,
Capt Austin, and the Assistance, Capt, Om-
nancy, together with the propellers Pioneer
and Intrepid, in charge of Capt. Osborne; the
schooner Felix, with u small tender, the Mary,
put forward by public subscription, and com
manded by Sir John Ross, the Lady Franklin
fitted out by Lady Franklin, and commanded
by Captain Penny; the schooner Prince Al
bert, two-thirds Of the cost of which was de-
frayed by Lady Franklin; the American
expedition, consisting Of the Advance and
Rescue, under command of Lieut.. De Haven;
and lastly, the North Star, a transport ship,
containing stores for the expedition of Sir
James Ross. None of these were successful,
and both the British and American nations
were inclined to relinquish all further efforts
to determine the fate of Franklin and his
party, who had now been absent over six
years But not so with Lady Franklin. The
report brought back by Sir John Ross, that
the Franklin party had been murdered by the
Esquimaux in Wostenhom Sound, induced
this devoted wife to send, in the summer of
1882, the screw-steamer Isabel, Commander
Inglefeld, to make thorough examination of
the Sound. Three months, previous, however,
Sir Edward Belcher was sent out by the gov
ernment in command of FIVE vessels, the As
sistance. Resolute, North Star Pioneer and
Intrepid: In the spring of the year following
the celebrated Kane expedition sailed from
a M RI fha II Ixr
Franklin despatched the steamer Isabel and
the ship Rattlesnake, while the Lady Frank
lin and Phoenix were sent to Barrow's straits
to aid Sir Edward Belcher. Excepting the val
liable scientific discoveries made by these sew
eral expeditions, particularly by that Of DR..
Kane, little progress was made in ascertaining
the fate Of the Franklin party and the hopes
Of the most sanguine were given up. Still.
the wife OF the explorer, with that womanly
feeling which knows no such word as despair,
determined to make one final effort to settle
the question. Cheerfully emptying her purse,
now very low, because of the repeated drains
upon it-and persuading her friends to aid
her, she fitted out the little steamer Fox, and
in 1857, Capt McClintock, with twenty eight
stalwart British seamen, bid farewell to Eng
land until they should ascertain, il possible,
the fate of Sir John Franklin. The search
proved a successful one. On the northwest
coast of King Williams Island a simple piece
of board was found. telling a tale which none
had heard before, that the ships Erebus and
Terror had been abandoned on the I'D of
/ April, l84S, and-saddest of all that the
leader Of the party had died on the 11th of
June, l847, the very year that he expected to
return home. The news reached England in
September last -,
Thus were the efforts of Lady franklin re-
warded, though the hopes which had sustained
her for twelve long years were crushed. Since
the arrival Of Capt. McClintock, this estimable
lady has lived very quietly, stunning society
rather than eourting it. and affording in her
retirement a noble example of an earnest,
faithful, Christian woman. Accompanied by
q niece, she now visits this country, to become
the guest of Mr.. Henry Grinnell, and to ac-
knowledge in person her sense of his humsne
and generous efforts in her cause.-N Y.
World. -F| 80 .... fts t.rF 1882