298        LIFE   OF   SIE   JOHN   FKANKLIN.
persed, and Franklin was taken to Canton,-where he obtained a passage to England on board an armed In-diaman. On their way home they were attacked by a French man-of-war, which, after a severe conflict, was compelled to retire in a crippled condition. During the battle, young Franklin distinguished himself for bravery and efficiency.
On reaching England he was ordered to join the ship-of-the-line, Bellerophon, and in 1805 took part in the memorable battle of Trafalgar, in which he discharged the responsible duties of signal midshipman, with remarkable coolness and courage, in the midst of a hot and most destructive fire from the enemy's sharp-shooters. Of forty persons who stood around him on the poop of the ship, many fell, and only seven escaped unhurt.
Subsequent to this, he served six years on board the Bedford, on various stations, the last of which was on the coast of the United States, during the war of 1812 -15. He commanded the boats of the Bedford in a battle with the American gun-boats at New Orleans, one of which he boarded and captured, though at the expense of a severe wound. For his gallantry in this action, he was promoted to a lieutenancy.
In 1818 Franklin made his first Arctic voyage as commander of the Trent, and with Captain Buchan attempted to sail over the North Pole. In 1819 he started on his first great overland journey to the shores of the Arctic Ocean, which occupied about three years.
In 1823 he was married to Eleanor Porden, daughter of an eminent architect, a lady of superior abilities, who distinguished herself at a very early age by her remarkable attainments in Greek and Latin,