Lady Franklin to Sir John Ross (1994)

10 September 1847

You have acted as I almost expected you would do (is this speaking too presumptuously?) & have, as you may imagine, given me great comfort by your noble self-devotion. Should it be you to rescue them from peril or death, you will have your reward and in the event of the expedition returning this autumn without having done what was expected from it, will you not still take the command for a new one for which the preparations will be already advanced & profiting by the first experience they will have brought home, make another great & last effort in the cause ... It is very generous of Government to be at the expense of these 2 simultaneous expeditions. I think it is very likely because it is you that have offered, they agree to undertake it. I wish they (the absent ones) could know how well they are looked after & cared for. Richardson one way & Ross another! ... I am not able to express all I think & feel on this subject. With so happy a home, the sacrifice you contemplate in the service of your friends & your country is great indeed, so great that I think nothing less than your wife's heroic & generous acquiescence would have satisfied you in making it.