It would be needless for me to attempt to illustrate the value of such a centre for the purpose of scientific inquiry. It was not alone the prospect of the satisfaction to be achieved by completing our geographical knowledge of that portion of the globe, nor that of solving definitely the problem of an Open Polar Sea, that encouraged me in the task which I had undertaken. There were many questions of physical science to be settled, and I hoped to take with me a corps of well-instructed observers. The movements of the currents of the air and water, the temperature of these elements, the pressure of the former and the tides of the latter, the variations of gravity, the direction and intensity of the "magnetic force," the Aurora Borealis, the formation and movement of the glaciers, and many important features of Natural History remained to be solved by observations about the centre indicated. Years of profitable labor might indeed be expended in that locality by an enterprising force of skilled workers.
With these objects in view, I applied with great confidence to the scientific men of the world and to the enlightened public sentiment of my country-men.
The response, although in the end highly gratifying, was more tardy in its coming than had been at first anticipated. There were indeed many circumstances of discouragement, not the least of which was an impression which then had possession of the public judgment, that any further efforts toward the North Pole must be fruitless, and must involve an unjustifiable loss of life. It was only after many endeavors that here and there the influences favorable to the design began to affect the community. The most important of these was, of course, the sanction given to the project by those associations whose opinions govern the mass of men in relation to scientific matters.
FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT.
The first public announcement of it was made to the American Geographical and Statistical Society, before which body I read a paper in December, 1857, setting forth the plan, and the means proposed for its accomplishment. It was on this occasion that I first experienced the discouragement to which I have already referred, and it became evident to all who had thus far interested themselves in the subject, that it would be necessary to instruct the public mind in relation to the practicability of the proposed exploration, and its comparative freedom from danger, before any earnest support could be anticipated.
To this task I at once addressed myself, although, indeed, I might with some show of reason have abandoned the undertaking altogether; but at twenty-five one is not easily discouraged. In concert with the friends of the enterprise, I caused it to be understood that I was open to invitations from any of the numerous literary societies and clubs who were organizing popular courses of lectures for the winter. Such lectures were at that time quite the fashion, and almost every little town in the country could boast of its "course." The invitations which reached me were very numerous, and I availed myself of them to the full limit of my time. The scientific and literary journals and the press, ever ready to aid in the advancement of liberal and enlightened purposes, gave very cordial support; and, when the spring of 1858 opened, we had the satisfaction to perceive that we had dispelled some of the popular illusions respecting the dangers of Arctic exploration. Among the most important of the lectures given at this period was a course which I delivered at the instance of Professor Joseph Henry, in the fine lecture-room of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. These lectures were the more important, in that they secured to the undertaking the friendship and support of Professor A. D. Bache, the learned and efficient chief of the United States Coast Survey.
SCIENTIFIC INTEREST.
In April, 1858, I brought the subject before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at its annual meeting held in Baltimore; and that body of representative men, at the suggestion of Professor Bache, appointed sixteen of its leading members a committee on "Arctic Exploration."
It remained now only to secure the necessary material aid. With this object in view, committees were promptly appointed by the American Philosophical Society, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the American Geographical Society, the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Boston Society of Natural History.
Subscription lists were at once opened by these several committees, and Professor Bache, at all times foremost to promote scientific discovery, headed the list with his powerful name.