His Successor Was Lord Canning, Whose Confidence In Yule And Personal
Regard For Him Became As Marked As His Predecessor's.
In the autumn of 1856, Yule took leave and came home.
Much of his time
while in England was occupied with making arrangements for the production
of an improved edition of his book on Burma, which so far had been a mere
government report. These were completed to his satisfaction, and on the
eve of returning to India, he wrote to his publishers[41] that the
correction of the proof sheets and general supervision of the publication
had been undertaken by his friend the Rev. W. D. Maclagan, formerly an
officer of the Madras army (and now Archbishop of York).
Whilst in England, Yule had renewed his intimacy with his old friend
Colonel Robert Napier, then also on furlough, a visitor whose kindly
sympathetic presence always brought special pleasure also to Yule's wife
and child. One result of this intercourse was that the friends decided to
return together to India. Accordingly they sailed from Marseilles towards
the end of April, and at Aden were met by the astounding news of the
outbreak of the Mutiny.
On his arrival in Calcutta Yule, who retained his appointment of Under
Secretary to Government, found his work indefinitely increased. Every
available officer was called into the field, and Yule's principal centre
of activity was shifted to the great fortress of Allahabad, forming the
principal base of operations against the rebels. Not only had he to
strengthen or create defences at Allahabad and elsewhere, but on Yule
devolved the principal burden of improvising accommodation for the
European troops then pouring into India, which ultimately meant providing
for an army of 100,000 men. His task was made the more difficult by the
long-standing chronic friction, then and long after, existing between the
officers of the Queen's and the Company's services. But in a far more
important matter he was always fortunate. As he subsequently recorded in a
Note for Government: "Through all consciousness of mistakes and
shortcomings, I have felt that I had the confidence of those whom I
served, a feeling which has lightened many a weight."
It was at Allahabad that Yule, in the intervals of more serious work, put
the last touches to his Burma book. The preface of the English edition is
dated, "Fortress of Allahabad, Oct. 3, 1857," and contains a passage
instinct with the emotions of the time. After recalling the "joyous
holiday" on the Irawady, he goes on: "But for ourselves, standing here on
the margin of these rivers, which a few weeks ago were red with the blood
of our murdered brothers and sisters, and straining the ear to catch the
echo of our avenging artillery, it is difficult to turn the mind to what
seem dreams of past days of peace and security; and memory itself grows
dim in the attempt to repass the gulf which the last few months has
interposed between the present and the time to which this narrative
refers."[42]
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