14: INTRODUCTION. 



are entitled to an enduring position there are being 

 gradually elevated, by the suffrages of an impartial 

 and enlightened community, to their appropriate emi- 

 nences : and while Britannia, the boasted mistress of 

 the seas, heralds with vaunting pride the names 

 and the achievements of her Ross, Parry, Franklin, 

 Beechey, and Cook, Columbia may justly demand 

 an equal meed of fame for her Kane, Fremont, 

 Ledyard, "Wilkes, and Perry ; and she is recreant to 

 her own honor if she do not proclaim their merits 

 more widely to the world. 



