xxxii INTRODUCTION. 



Arctic expeditions being now suspended, Franklin sought 

 employment in the ordinary line of his profession, and 

 was immediately appointed to commission H.M.S. ' Rain- 

 bow ' for the Mediterranean station, when the Greek 

 war of independence was closing, but whilst Greece was 

 still disorganised, and a prey to foreign intrigues and in- 

 ternal disturbance. Whilst on duty in Greece, where his 

 ship was chiefly stationed, he received the warm acknow- 

 ledgments of that distinguished officer, the late Admiral Sir 

 Henry Hotham, for the diplomatic skill and judgment with 

 which he conducted the services entrusted to him. Otho, 

 the young King of Greece, conferred on him the Order of 

 the Cross of the Redeemer, and on his return to England he 

 was created by William IV. a Knight Commander of the 

 Guelphic Order of Hanover. 



Shortly after the expiration of his commission, having no 

 immediate prospect of another ship, he accepted the im- 

 portant government of the colony of Tasmania (then called 

 Van Diemen's Land), which was offered to him by the late 

 Lord Glenelg in terms which he greatly appreciated. True 

 to his old profession, however, he stipulated with the Secre- 

 tary of State for the Colonies that he might be allowed to 

 resign the government if, on a war breaking out, he were 

 offered the command of a ship. Franklin arrived in Tas- 

 mania in January, 1837, and administered the government 

 during seven years. That his memory is held in great 

 respect and affection by the colonists there is evinced by 

 the unanimous vote of the Legislature for the erection of a 



held out as a reward for the discovery of the North-West Passage, but 

 immediately following the decision against Franklin, a Bill was brought 

 into Parliament abrogating the former Act altogether ; not, however, 

 before Parry had established his own indisputable claim to a portion of 

 the reward. 



