THE NEW ARCTIC EXPEDITION.
IT has been resolved to send another expedition in search of the remains of Franklin and his party. There is indeed no longer any hope of recovering a single member of that doomed band; but there are probably papers and memoranda—traces of personal records, and the latest accumulations of knowledge gathered on the spot. These would gradually decay and be scattered ; at pre- sent they may be accessible, and the spirit of enterprise is stirred to recover them. Is the new expedition proper to be encourages' ? ought it to receive public support ?—these are the questions raised by the discussion at the last meeting of the Geographical Society.
We have always thought than an undue weight has been at- tached to the simple fact that a late expedition failed, and that no direct profit had yet accrued from the exploration. The cases in which exploring Journeys have resulted in a direct profit are comparatively few ; and, to judge by the experience of the past, we may say that if men had confined themselves to those investi- gations and travellings which had been. personally safe and commercially profitable, we should at this day know little of the world's surface and have small command of science. The very fact of danger excites enterprise ; you cannot have tried hardi- hood without the confronting of actual danger ; and it would be far worse if England lost the daring of her sons than if she lost a few of the sons themselves. We have nothing to add to what we
had said before on these points ; but we cannot withhold the repetition when Lieutenant Pim's proposal of a new Franklin ex- pedition brings the subject under practical consideration. We anticipated that Sir Edward Belcher's expedition would not be the last : our anticipation has not long remained unfulfilled. There are still " remains " of Franklin's party to be discovered ; there are still secrets within the Arctic circle to be solved; and while such is the case men will go. They might have a worse enterprise ; they might easily strike out paths less calculated to sustain the naval skill and greatness of England. They are as- sured of sufficient support to send them out; but a kind of appeal has been made to popular prejudice against a Government support. The inutility and. the danger are the bugbears. Of them we have already disposed. The expedition will certainly set out ; and the true question for Government is, whether the honour and dignity of the country are best consulted by letting the voyagers go forth without such aid as would increase the efficiency of the equipment, diminish the risk, and render useful fruits more probable ?
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