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FRA and abroad. He was knighted, received the degree of D.C.L. from the university of Oxford, the gold medal from the Geographical Society of Paris, and was elected a corresponding member of the Institute of France.

The admiralty being apparently satisfied by the results of the various arctic expeditions by land and sea, and no fresh explorations being thought of, Sir John Franklin was appointed to the command of the Rainbow in the Mediterranean. Here he served three years, and was of considerable service in the so-called "war of liberation," and in the adjustment of complicated and delicate diplomatic relations. For these services King Otho conferred upon him the cross of the Redeemer of Greece; and he was created knight-commander of the Guelphic order of Hanover. It is worthy of remark, as illustrating Franklin's popularity among sailors, that the Rainbow during his command was called by the crew the "Celestial Rainbow" and "Franklin's Paradise." The nature of Sir John Franklin's command in the Mediterranean gave him frequent opportunities of cultivating geology, of which he availed himself. The museum of the Geological Society of London, and many private collections, are indebted to him for rare and valuable specimens from the shores of the Mediterranean. His first wife having died in 1825, Sir John married in 1828 Jane, second daughter of John Griffin, Esq. By this lady he had no family. After a few years' rest, an application for employment in the colonies led Lord Glenelg to offer him the governorship of Antigua, and subsequently that of Van Diemen's Land. Franklin accepted the latter on condition, that if war broke out he might be allowed to resign his appointment, if offered the command of a ship. Accompanied by his wife, daughter, and niece. Miss Cracroft, he departed for the seat of his government in 1836. At that period, and for several subsequent years, Tasmania was a penal settlement. This circumstance, and colonial intrigues fomented by petty jealousies inseparable from young colonies, rendered Sir John Franklin's position at once onerous and difficult; but although severely tried, he not only had the satisfaction of seeing the colony advance in prosperity, but also in intelligence and refinement. Under his auspices, a scientific society, a college, and a magnetical observatory were established. His official residence was at all times open to men of science visiting the colony. Mr. Gould, the celebrated ornithologist, made it his home, while engaged in collecting materials for his great work, the Birds of Australia; and so highly was the governor esteemed and beloved by the colonists that, unsolicited, they subscribed the munificent sum of £1700 in aid of one of Lady Franklin's private expeditions equipped to search for his ill-fated arctic expedition. In 1844 Franklin returned to England; and although now no longer young, and fully entitled by his long and laborious services to repose, yet when it was decided that one more attempt should be made to discover the north-west passage, and Sir James Ross who had recently returned from the antarctic seas declined commanding the proposed expedition, Franklin stood forward willing to lead it. Indeed, so far from desiring to shrink from the undertaking, it is stated that when Lord Hatherton, then at the head of the admiralty, with the view of deterring Franklin from undertaking the enterprise, said—"Why, Sir John, I am told that you are sixty years of age?" he was answered—"No, my lord, only fifty-nine." The writer of this memoir well remembers the youthful energy displayed by Franklin during the equipment of his ships, and the untiring zeal that he manifested in all the preparations for the undertaking. This world-famous expedition, which was proposed by the late Sir John Barrow, secretary to the admiralty, and approved by the Royal Society, consisted of the ships Erebus and Terror, lately returned from antarctic service. They were provided with small screw-engines, and officered and manned by persons well experienced in arctic service. The expedition left England on the 26th May, 1845. Franklin's instructions were to pass through Lancaster Sound as far as Cape Walker, and then make his way to the best of his ability to Behring's Straits. The Erebus and Terror were last seen on the 26th July, 1845, in Baffin's Bay—all well; and letters of that date received from Franklin and his officers are full of hope and anticipations of success. No tidings of the explorers having been received in the autumn of 1847, it was determined to equip an expedition in search of them. This sailed in 1848; and from that period until 1857, expedition after expedition was despatched, and equipped with a munificence worthy of the British nation. Nor was England left unsupported in the good work. The United States of America lent a helping hand; and her flag was carried into unknown waters of the arctic regions in search of our countrymen, with an energy and heroism worthy of the common cause in which both nations were engaged. In 1850 traces of the missing ships were discovered on Beechey Island at the entrance of Wellington Channel. On this island Franklin and his companions spent their first winter. The track being now struck, it was hoped that the missing ships would be discovered; but although great exertions were made, no further tidings were obtained until 1854. In that year Dr. Rae, who was exploring the shores of Boothia Felix, gathered from the Esquimaux that white men had been seen, in 1850, dragging a boat, near the north shore of King William Land; and later in that year, dead bodies had been found there. Articles in the possession of these natives were identified as having belonged to the crews of the Erebus and Terror, and thus no reasonable doubt existed that the fate of the expedition might be ascertained by reaching the shores of King William Land. Unfortunately, Dr. Rae did not act upon the information that he obtained; and an expedition down the Fish River, organized at the request of the admiralty by the Hudson's Bay Company, only succeeded in bringing home a row more relics, though it corroborated the Esquimaux's story. Under these circumstances, when the admiralty announced officially that the search was closed. Lady Franklin resolved on making one more attempt to ascertain her husband's fate. She purchased the screw-steamer yacht Fox, and having equipped it in the most efficient manner, the command was intrusted to Captain (now Sir Leopold) M'Clintock, who had served in several arctic expeditions. The Royal Society provided various scientific instruments, and numerous friends forwarded subscriptions to Lady Franklin in aid of her undertaking. The expedition left Aberdeen on the 2nd July, 1857. A misfortune befel the Fox during the first summer. When at the entrance to Lancaster Sound, she was bent by ice, and drifted helplessly in the pack during six long and trying months. When liberated in 1858, M'Clintock retraced his steps, entered Lancaster Sound, and wintered in Port Kennedy at the east entrance of Bellot Strait. In the spring of 1859 the search was commenced. Leaving the Fox in her winter quarters, sledge journies of great length were organized and attended with great success. On the north-west shore of King William Land a record was discovered announcing that the Erebus and Terror had been abandoned, that Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June, 1847, and that out of one hundred and thirty-four persons originally composing the expedition, the survivors, amounting to one hundred and five officers and men, purposed endeavouring to make their way to the American continent by the Fish River. The discovery of skeletons, a boat, and other relics, leave no doubt that these also perished. Thus died Sir John Franklin, not only in the execution of his duty, but in the fullness of success; for, by attaining the locality where the Erebus and Terror were abandoned, he was the first discoverer of a north-west passage leading from Lancaster Sound to Dease's Strait, which strait had been previously discovered, and through which a passage for ships exists to Behring's Straits. However much we may lament that Franklin did not live to reap his well-merited honours, the consciousness that he was about to close a long life of usefulness by the glory of having discovered the north-west passage, cheered his last moments; while religious resignation—always a leading feature in Franklin's character—doubtless cast a halo over the closing scene.—C. R. W.  FRANKLIN,, son of Benjamin Franklin, was born in 1731. He was appointed governor of New Jersey by the British government in 1762, and remained stedfast in his attachment to the crown during the whole of the war which resulted in the independence of the United States. He consequently estranged himself to a great extent from his father, although the affection between them was too strong to be annihilated by causes merely political. After the war he received a pension from the king, went to England, and died there in 1813. It was to this son that the first part of Franklin's autobiography was addressed.—W. H. W.  FRANKS,, born in the county of Cork, Ireland, in 1770; died in 1853; called to the Irish bar in 1792; went the Munster circuit; was given a silk gown in 1824; and in the same year appointed one of the judges of the supreme court, Calcutta. On his appointment he was presented to the king, 