The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-07-09
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lltssxInefe,ls something bofh toqcAt4G and
5appvopsiaxe mint Il pstitionl 81 Lady
Franklin, lying il: dangerous 1S1inidF Perhaps
'mDrt1f illnsasg forat sprAIe19a4f the
5kmerican npeop'e IL HssuapI Anerican
iexPediti0 Xhieh Il odkhttto aatosns1 her
Terrible and, aiadl1 lingerii r. i5a3 knse.
From sMcC Clintoek sapd his. ..bs41A com.
srades she least ssleaEned that mot ito be
doubted news thAtthef gallant and heroic
husband had perighe amid the aIiicsxlSmys.
teries Of the fartheet nrti. Lad ~ Ffank.
lin did hot need tllfs proof Hofs Ai1er,can
interest infi her bose a1niii hearts
work: heT . safisriinss, Rsr noble henoism' %
her untiring3 energy, her dncdwedagfpoirit,
have always received cur warmssf xYinpa-
thies.h Surely her appeal illibeisnkwer-
ed. if not in the churches, where per-
fhaps It will be.-7-7atsl least in, thousands of
hearts impressed With the beauty of her
devotion throughott tie land. ssTfh1 old
classic tales Of wifely fidelity and bSlf-sac-
rrifce almost pale before her heroic search
for her husbands, fate for more than
thirty years. Left alone at an iaagei when
it is proper to be joyous, and dssx6usable
to be giddy andoforgelful, She has .thssed
early and later youth, :womanly pride,
and oncoming age in this constant, heart
:wringing, yet undismayed pursuit. The
pleasures, the ambitions of lle!ware afar
off from her; her soul ID VET il tie grim
solitudes Of, ice deserts her spirit vas in
the vague regions where there is nothing
Of vegetation, where an awful and eternal
silence reigns, but where also, isske be-
:lieved; that her hero husband, dead or
alive, must be-. We may guess that for
long years there dwelt hope in; her. heart
that Sir John was yet alive; that lie had
somehow escaped, perhaps, from the vast
ice prison; that he had passed, by
perilous wanderings, and it might be by
shipwreck. far beyond the north, and
been thrown upon some remote: but hos
pitable land, where grasses grew, and men
could live. ''5 + ii
Iit Then came the truth, that the vestiees
of Franklin and his men had been found,
vestiges which left no doubt of their lden.
tity. or Of the long ago accomplished late
of. the voyagers. Certainly, even the
saddest is better than narrowing sus.
pense; and Lady Franklini was asi heroic
under sthessure bereavement as she had
borne up nobly while there was stillho
Franklin must indeed have been noble
man to have inspired such devotion in
the hearts Of two self-sacrificing wives.
Ills first wife, Eleanor Porden, lay: NOR
tally i'll when he set out on his, second
Arctic expedition in 1925. He offered to
remain till she was we'll; but she begged
him to proceed on his voyage, and placed
in his hands silk flag, which she asked
him to hoist in the Polar Sea. eHesailed;
and the day after his gentle young wife
died. He returned in three years to wed
Jane Griffin, the lady who IS, now
known as Lady FraLklin; the
story of her devotion is
household words in both countries.z What
she has suffered, none>can tell; that she
has suffered nobly, all men! have seen.
And now at last, after long, weary watt
ing, and when she had passed the psalm.
lists limit Of three score and ten by five
years, it may be that her life's desire is
about to be granted her, and that she
will, ere long, rejoin her, long.lost hero
and husband. Should she pass, away, itl
is to be hoped that her memory will be
honored by a memorial in Enelanc's
grand old mausoleum, dedicated to kings,
mobiles, poets and heroes; for none lie in
Westminster Abbey more worthy to be
remembered for heroism and fidelity than
Lady Franklin. Her story will be a ro-
nance and an example to future genera
tions Of the young, and her name will be-
; come the duplication of wifelyavirtues.