Volume I Part 4 (2/2)

[22] Collinson's _Memoir of Yule_ in _R. E. Journal_.

[23] The picture was subscribed for by his brother officers in the corps, and painted in 1880 by T. B. Wirgman. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1881. A reproduction of the artist's etching from it forms the frontispiece of this volume.

[24] In _Memoir of Gen. John Becher_.

[25] General Patrick Yule (b. 1795, d. 1873) was a thorough soldier, with the repute of being a rigid disciplinarian. He was a man of distinguished presence, and great charm of manner to those whom he liked, which were by no means all. The present writer holds him in affectionate remembrance, and owes to early correspondence with him much of the information embodied in preceding notes. He served on the Canadian Boundary Commission of 1817, and on the Commission of National Defence of 1859, was prominent in the Ordnance Survey, and successively Commanding R.E. in Malta and Scotland. He was Engineer to Sir C. Fellows' Expedition, which gave the nation the Lycian Marbles, and while Commanding R.E. in Edinburgh, was largely instrumental in rescuing St. Margaret's Chapel in the Castle from desecration and oblivion. He was a thorough Scot, and never willingly tolerated the designation N.B. on even a letter. He had cultivated tastes, and under a somewhat austere exterior he had a most tender heart. When already past sixty, he made a singularly happy marriage to a truly good woman, who thoroughly appreciated him. He was the author of several Memoirs on professional subjects. He rests in St. Andrew's, Gulane.

[26] Collinson's _Memoir of Yule_.

[27] Notes on the Iron of the Khasia Hills and Notes on the Khasia Hills and People both in Journal of the R. Asiatic Society of Bengal, vols.

xi. and xiii.

[28] Mr. (afterwards Sir) George Clerk, Political Officer with the expedition. Was twice Governor of Bombay and once Governor of the Cape: ”A diplomatist of the true English stamp--undaunted in difficulties and resolute to maintain the honour of his country.” (Sir H. B. Edwardes, _Life of Henry Lawrence_, i. 267). He died in 1889.

[29] Note by Yule, communicated by him to Mr. R. B. Smith and printed by the latter in _Life of Lord Lawrence_.

[30] And when nearing his own end, it was to her that his thoughts turned most constantly.

[31] Yule and Maclagan's _Memoir of Sir W. Baker_.

[32] Maclagan's _Memoir of Yule, P.R.G.S._, Feb. 1890.

[33] On hearing this, Yule said to him, ”Your story is quite correct except in one particular; you understated the _amount_ of the fine.”

[34] Yule and Maclagan's _Memoir of Baker_.

[35] It would appear that Major Yule had presented the Rodgers with some specimens of Indian scissors, probably as suggestions in developing that field of export. Scissors of elaborate design, usually damascened or gilt, used to form a most important item in every set of Oriental writing implements. Even long after adhesive envelopes had become common in European Turkey, their use was considered over familiar, if not actually disrespectful, for formal letters, and there was a particular traditional knack in cutting and folding the special envelope for each missive, which was included in the instruction given by every competent _Khoja_ as the present writer well remembers in the quiet years that ended with the disasters of 1877.

[36] Collinson's _Memoir of Yule, Royal Engineer Journal_.

[37] Extract from Preface to _Ava_, edition of 1858.

[38] The present whereabouts of this picture is unknown to the writer. It was lent to Yule in 1889 by Lord Dalhousie's surviving daughter (for whom he had strong regard and much sympathy), and was returned to her early in 1890, but is not named in the catalogue of Lady Susan's effects, sold at Edinburgh in 1898 after her death. At that sale the present writer had the satisfaction of securing for reverent preservation the watch used throughout his career by the great Marquess.

[39] Now in the writer's possession. It was for many years on exhibition in the Edinburgh and South Kensington Museums.

[40] Article by Yule on Lord Lawrence, _Quarterly Review_ for April, 1883.

[41] Messrs. Smith & Elder.

[42] Preface to _Narrative of a Mission to the Court of Ava_. Before these words were written, Yule had had the sorrow of losing his elder brother Robert, who had fallen in action before Delhi (19th June, 1857), whilst in command of his regiment, the 9th Lancers. Robert Abercromby Yule (born 1817) was a very n.o.ble character and a fine soldier. He had served with distinction in the campaigns in Afghanistan and the Sikh Wars, and was the author of an excellent brief treatise on Cavalry Tactics. He had a ready pencil and a happy turn for graceful verse. In prose his charming little allegorical tale for children, ent.i.tled _The White Rhododendron_, is as pure and graceful as the flower whose name it bears. Like both his brothers, he was at once chivalrous and devout, modest, impulsive, and impetuous.

No officer was more beloved by his men than Robert Yule, and when some one met them carrying back his covered body from the field and enquired of the sergeant: ”Who have you got there?” the reply was: ”Colonel Yule, and better have lost half the regiment, sir.” It was in the chivalrous effort to extricate some exposed guns that he fell.

Some one told afterwards that when asked to go to the rescue, he turned in the saddle, looked back wistfully on his regiment, well knowing the cost of such an enterprise, then gave the order to advance and charge. ”No stone marks the spot where Yule went down, but no stone is needed to commemorate his valour” (Archibald Forbes, in _Daily News_, 8th Feb. 1876). At the time of his death Colonel R. A.

Yule had been recommended for the C.B. His eldest son, Colonel J. H.

Yule, C.B., distinguished himself in several recent campaigns (on the Burma-Chinese frontier, in Tirah, and South Africa).

<script>