North Polar Exploration. 329 



NORTH POLAR EXPLORATION. 



BY CLEMENTS E. MARKHAM. 



Voyages of discovery have been, since the dawn of modern 

 times, one of the chief causes of the rise of England's 

 power and greatness. The material wealth which they have 

 been the means of pouring into her lap is incalculable. For 

 this alone they will ever be a leading feature in the history of 

 a mighty commercial nation; for this alone they have been 

 fitted out by many a merchant adventurer ; and for this they 

 have been incessantly urged upon the attention of many 

 successive Governments. But it is not on account of the- 

 commercial advantages that have been derived from the 

 labours of the explorer that those labours are to be most- 

 prized, seeing that it is not to wealth alone that England owes 

 her greatness. Exploring expeditions by sea and land have 

 done as much to increase the store of human knowledge as- 

 any other kind of research. They have led the way to the 

 creation of that colonial empire, which has spread the Anglo- 

 Saxon dominion far and wide over the earth. They have 

 fostered the spirit of enterprise, and formed a nursery for the 

 pick of our seamen. They have been a school for our best 

 officers, educating them in that calm self-reliance which the 

 presence of danger alone can give. They have been most 

 important agents of civilization, creating a brotherly feeling of 

 sympathy between the nations in times of peace, and giving" 

 one bright side even to the horrors of war, for, by the courtesy 

 of international law, a scientific expedition is respected by all 

 civilized nations. 



Seeing, then, that expeditions of discovery have helped so 

 largely to make England what she is, it is no less a matter of 

 surprise than of regret that any proposal to continue them, 

 and to complete work which it is the glory of this country to 

 have commenced, should meet with unreasoning opposition 

 from any influential quarter. Surely it cannot be desirable 

 to close the brightest page of our history for ever, for the 

 purpose of saving a little money, or in order not to risk the 

 lives of men whose value to their country arises from the 

 education they acquire by that very process. The grand say- 

 ing of good Sir Humphrey Gilbert, when advocating an expe- 

 dition to the Arctic regions, can never be too often repeated : — 

 " He is not worthy to five at all, who, for fear or danger of 

 death, shunneth his country's service or his own honour, 

 since death is inevitable, and the fame of virtue immortal." 



Let it once be shown that an expedition of discovery will 



