(From the New York Tribune, May 9.) LADY FRANKLIN'S LETTER TO PRESIDENT TAYLOR.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 362, 3 October 1849, Page 3

( From the New York Tribune, May 9.) LADY FRANKLIN'S LETTER TO PRESIDENT TAYLOR.

Bedford Place, London, April 4, 1840. Sm,—l addtesi myself to you as the head gf u great nution, whose power to help n c I cannot doubt, and in whose dispositions to do so I have a confidence which I tiust you will not deem iiresurnptuous. The name of my htuband, Sir John Franklin, is probably not ur.known to you. His intimately con* nee c-d with the northern part of that continent of

which the American Republic form 1 ; so vnstnml conspicuous a part. When I vi-ited the United SfaU'fl* thieo years ago, among the many proofs I received of respect and courtesy, there was none which touched and even surprised me more thnn the appreciation everywhere expressed to me of his former service; in geographical discovery, and the interest felt in tha enterprise in which he was then known to be engaged. The expe lit ion fitted out by our Government for the discovery of the Northwest Passage ( that question which for 300 years has engaged the interest and baffled the energies of the man of science and the navigator) sailed under my hin-bnnd's cotnmnnd in May, 18if). The two ships Erebus and Terror, contained 138 men ( officer* and crews ), and were victualled for I three years. They were not expected home, unless* success had early rewarded their efforts, or some casu* •lty hastened their return, before the close of 1847 ; nor were nny tidings expected from thr>m in the interval. But when the autumn of 1847 .urived without any intelligence of the ships, the attention of her Majesty was directed to the necessity of searching for and conveying reliel to them, in case of their being imprisoned in ice or wrecked, and in want of provisions and means of transport. For this purpose, an expedition in three divisions was fitted out in c.irly part of lait ye»r, directed to three dillcrcnl quaitcrs, simultaneously, viz — First, to that by which, in caBC of success, the fchips would conic out of the I'olur Seu to tic westward ( or Beliring's Strait.) Second, to that by which they entered on their course oi discovery, ou the cubtcrn side, ( or DaviV Strait). And third, to an intcivening portion of the Aipfic •bore, approachable by land from the Hudson Bay company* sol foments, ou which it was supposed the crowi, if obliged to abandon Uieir fchips, might ho found. The last division of the expedition was placed under the command of ray husband's faithful friend, the companion of hiti former travels, Dr. Sir John llicbiudson, who landed at New York, in April of last jear, and hastened to join his men mid bouU, which were already in advance toward the Arctic shoic. Of this portion of the expedition, I mny briefly sny, that tic absence of any intelligence from Sir John Richardson at ihi* seaton, proves he has been u succesblHl in the object of his search. The expedition intended for Beliring's Strait, has hitherto been a complete failnre. It consifted of a single ship the Plover, which owing to her setting off too late, and her bud sailing properties, did. not even approach her destination List year. Tuc remaining and most important, portion of the searching, expedition consists of two ships under the cotnmnnd ofSir James lloss, which sailed last May for Davis* Strait, but did not su'iccvd, owi»£ to the state of the ice, in getting into Lancaster Sound, nil the season for operations hud neatly closed. The ships two now wintering in the ice, and a stors ship is now about to be dispatched hence with provisions and fuel to cn.iwle them to stay out another year, but, one ot Uxw vessels is in a great degree, withdrawn from uetive search, by the necessity of w.itchinjj <it the entrance of Lancaster Sound, for the anival ot intelligence, anil in ti actions from England by the whalers. I have entered into these details with n view of proving, that, though the English Government has not forgotten the duty it owes to the bmve men whom it bus <?enl on a ptrilous servic, and has spent a very hr»i* sum in providing the means for their rescue, yet, that owing to various causes, the meana'aciually in apa.itinu fir thib purpose, are quite inadequate to meet the exlioinc exigency of the else, for it must he remembeicd th.it the nushing ships were victualled for thiei- yeais only, and that. nearly four yeais have now el.iju.ed, so Hint the survivors of so many winters in the ice, must be at the last extremity ; and also it must be borne in mind, that the channels by which the ships may h.ive attempted to force a passage to the wes waid, or which they may have been compelled by adverse circumstaticcn, to take, arc very numerous and complicated, and that one or two ships, cannot possibly, in the course of the next short summer, explore them all. the Board ol Admhally, under a conviction of thU fact, has been induced to offer a reward of £20,000 sterling to any ship or ships of any country, or to any exploring party whatever, which shall render efficient assistance to tliu missing ships, or their crews, or to any poi lion of them. This announcement, which, if the sum had betn doubled or trebled, would have met with public approbation, cornea, however, too late for our whalers, which bad, unfoitunately, sailed before it was issued, and which, even if the news should overtake them at their fulmig grounds, me totally unfitted for any prolonged adventure, having only a few montlu* provisions on board, and no additional clothing. To the American whalers, both in the Atlantic and Pacific, I look with more hope us comptti'ors fa the prize, being well aw.ire of their numbers and strength, their thorough equipment, and the bold spirit of enterpuse which animates their crews. Hut I venture to look even beyond these. lam not without hope that you wi 1 deem it not unworthy of a great and kindred nation to take up the cause of humanity, which 1 pl»ad in a national spiiH, and thus generously mike it yonr own. I must hue in gtatitude adduce the example of the imperial Russian Government, which, as I am led to hope by hit Excellency the Russian Ambassador in London, who forwarded a memoiial on the subject, will Fend out exploring pat tics this summer from the Asia'!? side of ljebring's Stti.it, noith ward, in search of the lost vessels. It would be a noble npcxtacle to the world if three great nations, posseßbed of the widest empires on the face of tho globe, wcie thin to unite their efforts in the tru y Christian work of saviug their perishing fellow men from destruction. It is not for me to suggest the mode in which such benevolent efforts might best be made I will only i ay, however, that if the conceptions of my own mind, to which I do not venture to give uUCIMtICC, Wi'rc reillhcd, and that in the noble competition wh cli fo'lowed American seamen had the pood fortune to wrest from us the glory, as might be the case, of solving the problem of the uufound passage, or the still greater K'ory ofHa« ving our adventurous n>iviqutoib from a lingering lute which the mind sickens to ilivi II on, tbouuh I should in either case regret thai it was not my own brave country-, men in those seas whose devo'-ion was thus rewarded, yet Should I rejoice that it w.ib to America we owed our restored happiness, and should be for ever bound to her by tiesof.uTiclionatn gratitude. I am not without some misgivings while I thus addreas you. The intense anxieties oi a wifa and a daughter may have led me to rrcB« too earnestly on your notice the trial under which, we are suU'oiiug, (yet not we only but hundicdsof others), and to picsume 100 much on the sympathy which we are aosurod i 9 (elt beyond the limits of our own land. Yet, if you deem this to be tho case, you will still find, ! am sure, even in that personal intensity of feeling, an excuse for the fearleubness with which f hive thrown myself on your generobity, and will pardon the homage I thus puy to your own high churn-lei and to that of the )Cople over whom you have the high dwliuclioti to preside, 1 have the honour to be, sir, with great rcipeot youi obedient servant, Jan« Fhankui*.

mh. clavto.n's ans-wkr -io the application or LAl>\ FHANKLIN. Department of State, Washington, April 25, 1349. Madam,— Your letter to the Prp&ident of the United Stale?, tie ted Api il 4 1849, bas been received by him, and !>o has insliucted me to make to you the following reply — r FJ)e appeal made in the letter with which you have honour rd him is such as would strongly enlist the S3 mpathy of (he rulera ami the people of any portion of the civilized world. To the citizens of the United States, who share so largely in the emotions which agitate the public mind in your own country, the narre of Sir John Franklin has been endeaied by his heroic virtues, and the sufferings and sacrifices which he has encountered for the benefit of mankind. The appeal of his wife and daughter in their distress has beene born across the waters asking the a«Utanc» o( a kindred people to 6ave the bravo men who embarked in his unfoitunate expedition ; and the people of the United States, who have watched with the deepest interest that hazardous cnterprizc, will now respond to that appeal by the expression of their uni ed vinhes thai every proper effort may be mae by this Government for the rescue of your husband and his comp'uiion<?. To accomplish this you have in view, the a'tention of American navig.Uois and especially of o^r whaleis, will be imm'dituely invoked. All th«. lnfoimation in the possession of this Government, to enable them to f.id in diccovcim? the ny i m;;' ships, relieving their mws, and restoring them to their families, shall be rnrvud fcir and wide among our i/eopli*; aiid all that the Extcmive Govenuicit or the United States, in the s\fi-ci»e of its constitution .1 |iowrrn, cm efl'ect to mee f this icquisition on Ameuran enterpiise, skill, ami hiavcry, will be piompily undertaken Tlio heaits of the American p« o;ile will be deeply touched by your eloquent address to their chief rua^isir^te, and they will join with you in earnest prayer to Him whose Spirit is on (he wateis, that your huiband and his companions may yst be restored to their countiy and their fii< nd«. I have tlve honour to be jour Ladyship's fiiend and obedient leivarst, John M. Clayton. Lady J->ne Fnnklin, iiedford-place, L' ndon.