34 
SCOPE AND VALUE OF ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 
lishmenttliereby of intimate and exclusive commercial relations 
with the growing and hitherto inaccessible empire of Russia. 
The renewal of the true spirit of geographical exploration in 
the early part of the present century gave rise to a series of un- 
paralleled voyages in search of the northwest })assage, which re- 
sulted in the most splended geographical achievements of the 
century. These voj^ages were not splended alone from the defi- 
nite results attained, nor from the almost sui)erhuman efforts 
that ensured success, but also from the lofty spirit of endeavor 
and adventure that inspired the actors. The men wdio strove 
therein were lured by no hope of gain, influenced by no spirit 
of conquest, but were moved solely by the belief that man should 
know even the most desolate regions of his abiding place, the 
earth, and the determination that the Anglo-Saxon should do 
his part. 
Franklin said : “Arctic discoveiy has been fostered from mo- 
tives as disinterested as they are enlightened ; not from any 
prospect of immediate benefit, but from a steady view to the 
acquirement of useful knowledge and the extension of the bounds 
of science, and its contributions to natural history and science 
have excited a general interest. The loss of life in the i)rosecu- 
tion of these discoveries does not exceed the average deaths in 
the same population at home.” Parry adds : “ Such enterprises, 
so disinterested as well as useful in their object, do honor even 
when they fail. They cannot but excite the admiration of every 
liberal mind.” 
Of Chancellor’s voyage to the northeast Milton said : “ The 
discovery of Russia by the northern ocean . . . might have 
seemed an enterprise almost heroic if any higher end than exces- 
sive love of gain and traffic had animated the design.” Modern 
critics except from dispraise the gallant men who in this centuiy 
have given their lives from no sordid motive, and so merit Milton’s 
full praise. 
If not all, certainly some of these arctics have been animated 
with the noble thought of the poet : 
And this gray spirit yearning in desire 
To follow knowledge like a shining star 
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought. 
Suffice it is to say, for geographic research, that it has remained 
for the nineteenth century, with its wealth of industrial inven- 
