YOYAGE TO SPITZBEBGEN. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The voyage to Spitzbergen, of which the account here 
published is now for the first time printed, is one of the 
series embraced in the collection of Purchas. It be¬ 
longs to a class of voyages associated with so many 
important historical facts and events, that it is not easy 
to determine the limits of explanation and illustration to 
which a prefatory chapter should be. confined. 
We have recently been passing through an epoch 
of enthusiasm and effort for polar exploration, whose 
progress has been prolific of dramatic, and even poetical 
incidents, that have arrested the attention and enlisted 
the sympathies of all civilized communities. 
The tragical fate of Pranklin and his associates, so 
long shrouded in mystery; the costly and repeated 
expeditions sent out from two nations for their rescue ; 
the moving adventures of the chivalrous Kane, vivified 
by the graphic skill of his pen; the heroic and perse¬ 
vering exertions of Lady Franklin to penetrate the 
obscurity of her husband’s doom, crowned at last with 
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