SECTION V.

The last three years of Sir John Franklin's administration were chiefly employed in arranging the details of the system of convict discipline, afterwards expanded by Lord Stanley to gigantic proportions, and described in the second volume of this history. Accompanied by Lady Franklin, Sir John penetrated the western district of Van Diemen's Land to Macquarie Harbour, formerly a penal station, to ascertain its fitness for a similar purpose, and some of the perils of his early life were renewed. His absence for several weeks awakened great anxiety, and his return was greeted with a general welcome (1842).

The most painful event of his political career sprung from a disagreement with the nephews of Sir George Arthur, and especially with Mr. Montagu, the colonial secretary. A narrative of this dispute, written by Franklin on his return to England, was issued for private circulation just after he started on his last voyage of discovery. This account traces minutely the progress of a quarrel which all parties concerned are anxious to forget. The power acquired by Mr. Montagu in colonial affairs was considered by Franklin incompatible with their relative position. Inferior officers had been dismissed on his imperative advice, who complained that they were sacrificed because they stood in his path and thwarted his plans. Franklin partly shared in their suspicions, and appointed persons to offices who were unconnected with the Arthur party, and as a counterpoise to their influence. The immediate cause of the final rupture was the restoration of a colonial surgeon, dismissed on a charge of culpable negligence. His neighbors, believing the penalty unjust, remonstrated in his favor, and Franklin complied with their request. This Mr. Montagu severely condemned, as fatal to the dignity of government, and ascribed the lenity of Sir John to the influence of Lady Franklin. He then announced to the governor, in a formal manner, that thenceforth he should confine his own services to the routine of his office, and that a cordial co-operation might be expected no longer. The details of business, formerly prepared to the governor's hands, were left to himself: trifles exhausted his attention: his pleasure was asked with affected formality, and his enquiries answered with studied reserve. In a dispute with the governor in reference to a matter of fact, Mr. Montagu addressed him (17th of January, 1842) in the following style:--"I trust," said he, "your excellency will also pardon me for submitting to you--and I beg to assure you that I do so under a deep conviction of the necessity of supporting my statement--that while your excellency and all the members of your government have had such frequent opportunities of testing my memory as to have acquired for it the reputation of a remarkably accurate one, your officers have not been without opportunity of learning that your excellency could not always place implicit reliance on your own." Clothed in a profusion of words, the charge of imbecility or falsehood was understood. The jealousy and contempt which had characterised the late official intercourse of Sir John and the secretary could not but injure the public service and divide the government into factions. But this language was deemed inconsistent with official subordination, and on its receipt Mr. Montagu was dismissed. Aware that it would be difficult to justify his note, Mr. Montagu offered an apology, with a view to a restoration. He sought, through Dr. Turnbull, the friendly offices of Lady Franklin. Her mediation was employed, and was unsuccessful; but Sir John promised to represent the past services of Montagu in the most favorable terms to the secretary of state, strongly recommending his employment elsewhere. This pledge the governor redeemed. Lord Stanley received Mr. Montagu with favor--consulted him in reference to convict discipline--heard his complaints of Sir John and Lady Franklin--and treated the governor in his own imperial way. He admitted that the proper relative positions of Franklin and the colonial secretary had been inverted; but ascribed the ascendancy of Montagu to his intellectual superiority; ordered his salary from the hour of his dismissal to be paid; and claimed the credit of great moderation in not sending him back to his office. The generous testimony of Sir John in Montagu's favor was quoted to condemn his dismission. The despatch containing these sentiments was placed in the hands of Montagu, who, with natural exultation, sent it out instantly to his friends. He had preserved minutes of his interviews with Lord Stanley, and recorded his own severe reflections on the character of Lady Franklin. These memoranda, bound together, were sent by Mr. Montagu to the colony, and, although circulated with some reserve, became very generally known. The governor complained bitterly of this covert detraction, and especially of the attack on the character of his wife, whom he solemnly vindicated from that interference with public business charged upon her. No one who reads the dispute will deem it necessary to weigh nicely the reproaches which were current on either side. To destroy or be destroyed is the usual choice of official war; and Montagu had not been bred in a school where more generous maxims prevail. He had conquered; and the feelings of the governor or his partisans were not likely to be treated with tenderness. Sir John is perhaps the only man who ever accompanied a dismissal with eulogy, and the result of his candour will probably prevent its imitation.

To Lord Stanley more blame must be attached. It was his duty to care for the reputation of a governor whom he did not instantly recall. But his despatch was in print long before it reached the hands of Franklin, and must have been fatal to his proper authority had not popular sympathy sustained his government. Before Sir John received an official notice of his recall his successor arrived. On this abrupt termination of his office he obtained private lodgings in haste. The Legislative Council, then sitting--the various churches and literary societies, expressed their admiration of his personal character, and, more sparingly, their approval of his administration. He was attended, on his departure, by a considerable party of northern colonists. Sir John, in reply to their addresses, spoke with some warmth of that portion of the press which had libelled his wife,--a lady devoted to the welfare of the colony; whose last act was to settle property on an institution for scientific uses; whose benevolence was unbounded, and who, at a large sacrifice of her private fortune, had ministered to the comforts of the poor. Had it been consistent with his duty, he said, he would have gladly exposed to the whole people his most secret measures. He declared that he would never fail to uphold the reputation and to promote the prosperity of the colony. The frank and humane temper of Sir John Franklin won the affections of the settlers. He thought favorably of their general character, appreciated their moral worth, and shared in their notions of convict discipline. The insults of which he complained were the acts of a few: a philosopher would have smiled where he deprecated; and have felt that the salary of office is not more certain than the enmities which surround it.

The alleged ascendancy of Lady Franklin in public affairs it would be useless to discuss. Her masculine intellect and adventurous spirit led some to ascribe to her more than the usual authority of her sex and station; but whenever apparent, her influence was exercised on the side of religion, science, and humanity.

The appointment of Franklin to this government was made at the instance of William IV., by whom he was greatly esteemed. It was the expectation of Sir John to find an easy retreat, like some of the military governments, where veterans enjoy the dignity of office without its toils. But he found himself doomed to encounter all the responsibilities of ordinary legislation and government, with difficulties peculiar to a penal colony. For this his former pursuits had not prepared him. His manner was often embarrassed and hesitating, and presented a contrast to the quiet vigor of his more able but not more amiable predecessor. The colony had attained that development when the public institutions require reconstruction, and the popular will must in some measure regulate their form and spirit. The administration of the governor was eminently disinterested. He had no private speculations or secret agents, and his measures were free from both the taint and the reproach of corruption. Such faults were sometimes imputed, but they were the staple slanders of writers without credit or name. His expenditure greatly exceeded his official income; and while the plainness of his establishment and entertainments was the topic of thoughtless censure, the charities of his family were scattered with a liberal hand. The piety of Franklin was ardent, and his conscience scrupulous. His remarks in council on the sports of some idle boys in the government domain on the Lord's Day exposed him to the satire of scorners. He thought that youths who violate the sanctity of the Sabbath take the first ordinary steps in a dissolute and dishonest life. An anecdote, on the authority of Captain Back, shows his harmless character in a striking light. The writer observes--"As an illustration of the excellent individual to whom it refers, I may be pardoned for introducing it here. It was the custom of Sir John Franklin never to kill a fly, and though teased with them beyond expression, especially when taking observations, he would gently desist from his work, and patiently blow the half gorged intruders from his hands, saying, 'The world is wide enough for both.' Manfelly (an Indian chief) could not refrain from expressing his surprise that I should be so unlike the 'old chief' who would not destroy a single mosquito."

The name of Franklin is indissolubly connected with the great problem of modern geography--the connection of the polar seas with the north pacific ocean. In 1818 he was first employed in this service, but returned without success. In 1820 he conducted an overland expedition to the Coppermine River. This party suffered every kind of hardship, from the loss of boats and the mutiny of their attendants: several perished, having eaten their old shoes and scraps of leather: yet Franklin recorded in his journal the following grateful expressions--"We looked to the great author and giver of all good for the continuance of the support hitherto supplied in our greatest need." They completed a journey of 5,550 miles. The narrative of this expedition excited at the time much admiration, as a rare example of intrepidity, perseverance, and elevated piety. In 1824 Franklin was entrusted with the charge of another expedition. They were attacked by the Indians, and the party was saved from destruction by the coolness and judgment of the leaders: they encountered storms, fogs, and cold, which prevented their reaching their destination. These efforts considerably enlarged the scientific knowledge of the icy region. On his return to England in 1843, it was resolved to confide to Sir John Franklin a new effort to discover the north-west passage. Accompanied by Captain Crozier, he sailed in May, 1845. The vessels--the Erebus and Terror--were furnished with provisions and artificial fuel for four years. They were last seen by whalers in Lancaster's Sound.

In 1847 the long absence of Franklin and the 136 persons under his command awakened considerable alarm. English expeditions, both by land and water, a reward of L20,000 offered by parliament, and the earnest co-operation of foreign powers, have done all that money, or daring, or affection could accomplish to solve the mystery of their fate. Though these efforts are not even now (1852) relinquished, the issue has ceased to be regarded with hope;--except by Lady Franklin, whose exertions to rouse and prolong the search have excited the sympathy and admiration of nations.

FOOTNOTES:

HISTORY OF TASMANIA

FROM 1843 TO 1847.

FROM 1843 TO 1847.