CHAPTER  LII. THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION OF 1875—76.
The success of the Polaris Expedition in wintering in a higher latitude than ship had ever reached before, created much interest among European geographers, and in England, which had sent out no Arctic expedition since the search for Franklin was ended, a national expedition on a grand scale was proposed. Lady Franklin favored such an enterprise, and hoped "for the credit and honor of England that the discovery of the North Pole would not be left to any other nation."
" The navy," wrote an English admiral, " needs some action to wake it up from the sloth of routine and save it from the canker of prolonged peace. It cries not for mere war to gratify its desire for honorable employment or fame. There are other achievements as glorious as a victorious battle ; and a wise ruler and a wise people will be careful to satisfy a craving which is the life-blood of a profession. The rude wooden monument to the intrepid American, standing alone in the Polar solitude, is at the same time a grand memorial, a trophy, and a challenge."
Finally, in 1874, after the return of Payer and Wey-precht, the English government decided to send out an expedition the ensuing year, to attempt to reach