§ MR. JOSEPH LOCKEsaid, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, if it is in contemplation to remove the Natural History Collection from the British Museum; and, if so, to what place it is proposed to remove it?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONSir, I will first address myself to the question put to me by the hon. Gentleman the Member for Iverness-shire (Mr. H. Baillie), as to whether any decision has yet been arrived at with reference to the designs for the Public Offices. No decision has yet been come to with regard to those designs; but whenever a selection has been made, I may say, the design will be fitted up in some public place, so as to enable hon. Members to form an opinion respecting it. With regard to the question put to me by my hon. Friend the Member for Honiton (Mr. Locke), there have been two meetings of the Trustees of the British Museum, at which the question was considered whether the existing buildings wore sufficient in point of space to accommodate not only the existing, but the annually increasing collection of interesting objects to be found there; and, if not, whether it was desirable to increase the space by adding to the buildings of the Museum on the spot, or would be better to remove to some other place a portion of the collection. The opinion of the Trustees was that it was better to remove a portion to some other place, where a building could be obtained at a comparatively moderate expense, than incur the charge of purchasing land immediately adjoining the Museum, in order to erect on it buildings adequate to the purpose. They were further of opinion that if any portion of the collection was to be removed, the Natural History department was that which could be most easily and advantageously removed. No decision was taken as to the particular spot to be chosen; it was agreed to defer the selection of the place and the manner in which the Natural History collection should be removed. The matter therefore stands at present thus:—The Trustees have agreed that the antiquities, books, and articles of 2155 that kind should remain, and that the lighter things should be removed elsewhere. The hon. Member for Tipperary (The O'Donoghue), has asked me whether I had received a memorial from certain Peers and Commoners in Ireland, calling on the Government to interfere in the affairs of Italy with a view to the full and complete restoration of the Pope's authority in his temporal dominions. Sir, I did receive a memorial to that effect very numerously and respectably signed. The only answer I could give was to acknowledge the receipt, and remit it to the consideration of the Government. If I had gone into any answer, I am afraid my opinion would not have been found quite to agree with that of the memorialists, and I thought it better to avoid making any reply. It is well known that the policy of Her Majesty's Government in this matter is to leave the Italian people to settle their own affairs, and therefore that no interference of the British Government should be exerted either in the one way or the other in regard to any arrangements that might be made in Italy. Our only wish is that the Italians should take their own affairs in their own hands, and, free from any foreign intervention or control, should arrange them in the manner most consonant with their own feelings. With respect to the subject to which my hon. Friend (Sir Francis Baring) has adverted, and which I am sure engages the sympathies not of this House only, but of the whole country, it is impossible to speak too highly of the courage, the perseverance, and devotion displayed by Sir Leopold M'Clintock and his brave companions in the expedition which they undertook in search of the remains of Sir John Franklin. It is quite true, as the hon, and learned Gentleman opposite (Mr. Whiteside) has stated, that the duties which brave men perform in so distinguished a manner are not less honourable than those performed on the field of battle, and that throughout his perilous enterprise all the great qualities which adorn the soldier or the sailor were most conspicuously exhibited by the man who was enabled to discover the fate and bring back some vestiges of the Franklin expedition. At the same time it is but fair to say that there were others who went out at an earlier date, and who, although not equally successful with those who followed them in the object of their search, nevertheless displayed all those high qualities which so eminently distinguished the last 2156 expedition. It is right that the names of these men should not be forgotten while we are doing honour to those who voluntarily set out in search of the remains of Sir John Franklin and his party. It is true that the Motion referred to by the hon. and learned Gentleman was made in this House to induce Her Majesty's Government to send out at the public expense an expedition to ascertain the fate of Sir John Franklin. And I must confess that I never acted more at variance with my own personal feelings than when, from higher considerations, we declined to undertake such an enterprise at the public charge. At the same time we did think that it would not be justifiable in Her Majesty's Government, at the cost of the country, to send out men on a search which at that period appeared very hopeless, and to be attended with dangers to which we should not have been warranted in exposing them. Fortunately, however, Sir Leopold M'Clintock succeeded, with, I believe, scarcely any loss, or no loss at all, of human life, in accomplishing the object which that noble lady who sent him out had so long and so frequently attempted to effect. Now, Sir, there was a reward of £10,000 offered to anybody who should ascertain the fate of Sir John Franklin and bring back any vestiges of his expedition. The whole of that sum was awarded to Dr. Rae and the associates of his adventure. Therefore there does not now remain any portion of the votes of Parliament applicable to the rewarding Sir Leopold M'Clintock and his companions. Nevertheless, I am ready to say, that if it should appear to be the opinion of Parliament that this is a fit occasion on which to make within moderate limits a grant over and above the amount already sanctioned, Her Majesty's Government certainly would not be disposed to stand in the way of the generosity of the House of Commons. With respect to the other topic which he mentioned, undoubtedly it would not be right to follow the example of such a monument as my right hon. Friend has described—namely, a monument that should record that it was not by the country, that it was not by the Sovereign, but by the widow, that the memory of a great and gallant man had been perpetuated. I think, on the contrary, it would be fitting that there should be a monument to show that the country, the Sovereign, and the widow had all united to erect an enduring memorial of the distinguished services of Sir John Franklin. 2157 The expense this would involve would not be considerable in comparison with the gratification which I am sure it would afford to the whole nation, and I think to Lady Franklin, who as the hon. and learned Gentleman says, disclaims all desire for any re-imbursement of the great outlay she has so nobly incurred in endeavouring to ascertain the fate of her husband. But, no doubt, it would be highly satisfactory to her feelings if Her Majesty's Government and the Parliament were to concur in handing down to posterity some memorial of her deceased husband. I believe in this case one may say that the husband and the wife were worthy of each other; and I am persuaded that it would be grateful to the feelings of the country if, with the consent of Parliament, some monument were erected which should recognize, not only the services of the husband, but the devotion of the wife.
§ MR. DISRAELI—Sir, I am convinced that the announcement just made by the noble Viscount on the part of Her Majesty's Government will be most gratifying to the country, as it evidently is most gratifying to this House. No one can have read the narrative of Sir Leopold M'Clintock, or marked the progress of his singular expedition, without feeling that their adventure will form a memorable chapter in the heroic annals of the mariners of this country. With regard to that noble Lady through whose energy and inspiration that expedition was so gallantly undertaken and so successfully accomplished, I feel, as I am sure we all must feel, the liveliest admiration and the warmest sympathy for the rare intelligence, the indomitable perseverance, the womanly, the high and enduring spirit, with which Lady Franklin urged on the prosecution of the search for her brave husband —they will make her name illustrious among the daughters of England. I repeat that I am sure the resolution at which the Government have arrived, and which the noble Viscount has communicated to us in so sympathetic a spirit, will afford the utmost gratification to all Her Majesty's subjects.
§ Afterwards—
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTON, in putting a question to the Secretary of the Admiralty respecting the Channel Fleet, said, that before making that inquiry he could not refrain from saying how warmly he concurred in all that had been said by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Portsmouth, with respect to Sir Leopold M'Clintock and Lady Franklin. The right 2158 hon. Gentleman had alluded in the most delicate manner to the reimbursement of Lady Franklin herself, and he could not help adverting to what had fallen from the noble Viscount on that part of the subject. All who were acquainted with the views of Lady Franklin knew that her feelings upon that matter were of the same noble and generous nature as those which induced her to make such efforts to discover the remains of her lost husband; but he quite agreed with the right hon. Gentleman that the House and the Government ought rather to consider what was due upon public grounds to the memory of Sir John Franklin, and to the noble efforts of his widow, than to pay too rigid a regard to the delicate feelings by which Lady Franklin was actuated. He hoped that the noble Viscount would allow him to remind him that in the statement which he had made to the House he did not advert to what fell from the right hon. Gentleman and from his noble and learned Friend upon this part of the subject. He hoped the noble Viscount, in whose hands he for one was perfectly content to leave the matter, would not forget it; but he felt that, considering the efforts which Lady Franklin had made, something beyond what the noble Viscount had mentioned was due as a tribute to that noble Lady.