| Sender Location | Hudsons Bay Ship Prince of Wales, Atlantic Ocean |
| Transcript or Index | Hudsons Bay Ship Prince of Wales
Atlantic Ocean October 2nd 1822
My dear Miss Porden,
You can imagine the gratification I feel at approaching a country where the general post offers a certain means of communicating with our friends; after a long absence in parts where the channel of correspondence is always precarious, and often entirely interrupted. I am now writing at the distance of 600 miles from the Orkney Isles, that I may be prepared for the first conveyance which may occur, after our arrival at Stomness, to offer my most sincere thanks for your very interesting letters of May 1821 & 22, which reached me (together with those from Mr Porden, and your excellent Ode on the Coronation) at York Factory in August. I regretted extremely your being unacquainted with the time of the sailing of the annual ship, and that this circumstance <had> deprived me of the pleasure of receiving the first letters at my winter quarters in the Great Slave Lake, which I should have done had they reached this country in due season, because I could have answered them by the packet which conveyed my official dispatches respecting our proceedings along the sea coast, and should in that case, have written about the incidents connected with our situation at that time, which probably would have been more interesting than my present communication.
I presume the dispatches to which I have alluded, have reached England at least a month since, and that the points of information which the Great Men choose to communicate to the public previous to our arrival, have already appeared in the newspapers and through that means you are in possession of the principal topics relating to our voyage.
As I am at present entirely ignorant of the parts they have published, if any, and you know the injunction of silence we receive until the pleasure of these Great Men, as to the means of opening the communication has been expressed, you will see the necessity of my abstaining at this time from giving you the intelligence regarding our voyage I should wish: but believe me, I shall be very happy to give any information you may desire after I consider myself freed from restraint; and I anticipate much pleasure in chatting over our adventures with yourself & Mr Porden in Berners Street. I can only now say that I have named some Islands in the Arctic Sea “Porden” as a tribute of my regard for your family.
I was much amused by your account of the total change in weather which has been experienced during the two last winters in England and the almost ludicrous effects resulting from the mildness of temperature. The last winter was also milder than usual at the place of our residence but a greater quantity of snow fell; the season however set in early, with boisterous winds and severe weather, and it was not until the middle of January the change to mildness took place.
Many thanks for your mention of Barlows Discoveries in Magnetism, and the fact respecting the conducting wires of the Voltaic Battery possessing magnetic virtue during the contact, but losing it the moment it is broken. I had seen notices of Barlow’s discoveries in the Philosophical and Blackwoods magazines, these however were short – but I had not heard of the observations connected with the other fact which you judiciously consider the triumph of electricity over magnetic repulsion. I remember the interest you took in every subject connected with magnetism, and therefore have no doubt you have attentively examined every discussion on these points that has recently appeared; so that I hope to gain much information from you on these interesting topics. Our long absence from England and the almost total want of information we have suffered has necessarily thrown us far behind, respecting the progress which has been made in this and every other branch of science, and I am sorry to say – except your self & Mr Porden, <our friends> have not contributed the intelligence on these matters which we expected. I have to make even the charge of negligence against some of mine, as they did not write to me at all; and would you suppose Mr Moore is included in the silent list? I must however deal leniently with others being conscious how often I have merited a similar punishment, but with respect to my failing on this head during my late voyage I hope to make my peace with all my friends by a satisfactory explanation, when I have the happiness of meeting them.
I can most truly congratulate you on having completed your arduous task of Coeur de Lion, whilst I offer my best hope & sincere wish that its pages may add to the well earned poetic fame you have acquired: by this time I suppose the opinion of those formidable men, the reviewers & critics, has been expressed, and I trust you have had every reason to be satisfied with their decision on its merits.
I either collected from Mr Porden, or had some other cause for suspecting that you were occupied about a Poem at the time of our departure from England, but do not remember whether the hint was communicated by yourself, probably not for if that had been the case, should I not have heard the subject named?; but I had conceived it related to the northern part of the globe, and <was> connected with the various expeditions which had gone in to that quarter. Will you now smile, and say vanity must have prompted this idea; or permit me to urge that it originated in my knowledge of your taking a lively interest in the success of every pursuit directed towards these regions?
“My time as you say is to come” and believe me I do not look with much complacency on having to execute so disagreable a task as preparing <a work> for publication. but I recollect having expressed <to you> my sensations on this point before the voyage commenced and therefore need not repeat them.
If your summer excursion should have directed your steps to the Continent I suspect we shall arrive before your return, as I do not think you would be inclined to relinquish the fine climate & numerous Lions of France at such an early season as the commencement of October unless threatened by similar terrors in the navigation of the channel to those you experienced last year. Should you however be in London, I shall be glad to have assurance of the fact by securing a note addressed to me at the Admiralty & sent to the care of R. Riley Esqr. at whose office I shall call immediately on my arrival in London and you may rely I shall pay an early visit in Berners Street. I intend writing to Mr Porden and shall therefore only request you to present my kind remembrance to your sister & Mr Kay. Believe me
My dear Miss Porden your obliged friend
John Franklin |