Chapter VIII.

We have quoted largely from Mr. Markham’s paper; and we are further indebted to him for some accurate statements in regard to the professional life of John Irving, and also for a lucid commentary, the result of much thought and consideration upon the probable course of events after the “Erebus” and “Terror” disappeared within the Arctic Circle. We make no apology for culling some of these from an interesting document which Mr. Markham has taken the trouble of preparing in illustration of the subject so unexpectedly opened up afresh by the discovery of Irving’s remains. 

As we know from his letters, Irving joined the “Excellent with the view of qualifying himself more thoroughly in gunnery and other professional subjects, and was appointed third lieutenant of H.M.S. “Terror” on the 13th of March 1845. The following is a list of the officers who sailed in that ship:—

We add the following summary of dates, also supplied by Mr. Markham:—

The short but eventful career which we have been contemplating suggests more than one topic for pensive thought. That John Irving was fashioned by successive stages of his experience for his ultimate occupation as an Arctic explorer, must be manifest. His successful training in mathematics, his love for boating and general seamanship, his turn for natural philosophy, his adventurous ascent of Etna under exceptional difficulties, his expertness in rescuing in two instances companions from a watery grave, his solitary life of hardness in the bush during four years, his subsequent familiarity with exploring service in the South seas, were all fitted to prepare him for the duties which awaited him in the Franklin Expedition. What was the issue of it all? No doubt, as we have seen, that unfortunate company of devoted men really made some additions to the geography of the Arctic regions; but, humanly speaking, the Expedition, with no fault of theirs, was a comparative failure in a scientific point of view. This admission, however, leads us to observe, that in other respects, moral and religious, it may turn out eventually to have been a great success. There is surely something noteworthy, and even remarkable, in the circumstance by which a fresh interest has been unexpectedly awakened in an enterprise which had been almost forgotten after the lapse of so many long years— years filled with a constant succession of exciting events daily becoming historical. A silver medal conferred on a mere boy, half a century before, which used to lie on his fond father’s business-table in Edinburgh, is picked up covered with the grime of a grave which had been rifled by greedy natives of King William Land in quest of plunder. It had rested there for thirty-one years, and had escaped notice until picked up by the adventurous Americans who had undertaken the self-imposed task of throwing still further light on the course of our naval heroes whom M’Clintock had already tracked so far.

This medal led, we think very reasonably, to the identification of the remains, and created a new interest in many who had ceased to think of the whole affair in any other light than as a melancholy episode in our naval history. A public funeral followed with imposing formalities. This led to a not unnatural curiosity in regard to the individual, hitherto little known, who had suddenly and unexpectedly become the representative of a whole company of heroic men, whose memory their country had pleasure in honouring. Forthwith a number of private letters came to light, which friendship had carefully treasured all these years, although to have destroyed them would, perhaps, have been a more likely course of procedure. When it turns out that these letters, besides illustrating an eventful life, show also that the writer was a man of strong religious convictions and deep earnestness, we begin to surmise that the All-wise and overruling God of Providence may have had a great purpose in the foregoing chain of circumstances. It is well known that Sir John Franklin himself was a pronounced Christian, and we have the testimony of one contemporary at least, still alive, to the fact, that several of his subordinates, besides Lieutenant Irving, bore a similar character,—all the necessary preparations for the exploring Expedition having been gone about by them in a devotional spirit very noticeable to their associates. No one can tell what an important influence these God-fearing men may have exercised during these gloomy years of Arctic experience, both in sustaining the hearts of their comrades amid the stupendous trials of their lot, and in teaching them—mainly by their consistent example—the one true way of facing the unseen world which lay before them.

Is it too much to indulge the hope that this simple memorial sketch of John Irving may, with the Divine blessing, be the means of leading other young men of heroic aspirations to consecrate their lives more completely to His service?

Our great poet has said truly—

“There’s a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.”

[8] An Orkney lady, who still survives, and remembers being introduced to and shaking hands with him in the cabin of the “Terror” while in Stromness harbour, writes:—“Lieutenant Irving was very conspicuous among the officers who were that day in the cabin of the ‘Terror,’ by his greater appearance of manly strength and calm decision—one apparently well fitted for the hardships foreseen but not dreaded. A general feeling of sure success pervaded them all.”