318 ARCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. IX. 



ancient record of his favourite Jews, he would re- 

 collect his having found therein, that God gave to 

 man " dominion over all the earth," and made no 

 exception of the North Pole. 



The Royal Society, however, and the Commis- 

 sioners of Longitude, were less scrupulous on the 

 subject. To encourage a visit to the North Pole 

 they recommended to His Majesty in Council, to 

 pass an Order granting the payment of a reward 

 of five thousand pounds to the first ship that shall 

 approach within one degree of the North Pole. 

 This Order is not to be considered as merely an in- 

 ducement for making the attempt, but chiefly to 

 manifest their opinion of the value of the scheme. It 

 is pretty well understood that British naval officers, 

 who, like Parry, Franklin, and others, embark on 

 arduous and hazardous enterprises of this nature, 

 are influenced not so much by motives of pecu- 

 niary rewards, as by the hope of contributing, by 

 their exertions, to the enlargement of knowledge 

 and science ; their additional object, and that a 

 laudable one, being the acquirement of present 

 reputation and future fame. 



" Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise 

 (That last infirmity of noble minds) 

 To scorn delights and live laborious days." 



Dr. Johnson said that the man who had seen 

 the Great Wall of China might be considered as 

 shedding a lustre on his grandchildren. But what 



