xxvi INTRODUCTION. 



best ; and the lapse of time and other adverse circumstances 

 considered, we had, perhaps, met with as much success as 

 could have reasonably been expected. 



It is with hesitation that I allude to the honours personally- 

 conferred upon me, by our gracious Sovereign, and by the 

 Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin. I mention 

 with less reserve other tokens of the national feeling, for 

 these prove how well it was understood that the success 

 of the ' Fox ' expedition — or rather the measure of success 

 which it achieved — was mainly owing to the high spirit of 

 loyalty to the cause which animated all my companions, and 

 to their untiring exertions. 



It will be remembered that in March, i860, Parliament 

 voted 5000/. for the public sendees the ' Fox' had rendered. 

 And, when the Royal Geographical Society conferred their 

 Patron's Gold Medal on the commander, it was, to use the 

 words of Earl de Grey, the President, "for having in the 

 * Fox ' yacht, with your gallant companions, not only en- 

 larged our acquaintance with arctic geography, but having 

 also brought to light the precious record which has revealed 

 to us the voyage and final abandonment of the ' Erebus ' 

 and ' Terror.'" 1 



The City of London also, when it conferred upon me the 

 rare honour (for a naval officer) of the Freedom of the City, 



1 On this occasion the Founder's Gold Medal was, by exceptional 

 favour (but with admirable justice), awarded to Lady Franklin in the 

 following terms : — " Desirous of commemorating in an especial manner 

 the arctic researches of our associate, the late Sir John Franklin, and of 

 testifying to the fact that his expedition was the first to discover a 

 North-West Passage, the Council of the Royal Geographical Society 

 have awarded the Founder's Gold Medal to his widow, Lady Franklin, 

 in token of their admiration of her noble and self-sacrificing perseve- 

 rance in sending out at her own cost several searching expeditions, until 

 at length the fate of her husband has been ascertained." 



