The Travels of Marco Polo Volume 1 - Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa
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Yule's deep sympathy in this time of sorrow strengthened the friendship
Lord Canning had long felt for him, and when the time approached for the
Governor-General to vacate his high office, he invited Yule, who was very
weary of India, to accompany him home, where his influence would secure
Yule congenial employment. Yule's weariness of India at this time was
extreme. Moreover, after serving under such leaders as Lord Dalhousie and
Lord Canning, and winning their full confidence and friendship, it was
almost repugnant to him to begin afresh with new men and probably new
measures, with which he might not be in accord. Indeed, some little clouds
were already visible on the horizon. In these circumstances, it is not
surprising that Yule, under an impulse of lassitude and impatience, when
accepting Lord Canning's offer, also 'burnt his boats' by sending in his
resignation of the service. This decision Yule took against the earnest
advice of his anxious and devoted wife, and for a time the results
justified all her misgivings. She knew well, from past experience, how
soon Yule wearied in the absence of compulsory employment. And in the
event of the life in England not suiting him, for even Lord Canning's
good-will might not secure perfectly congenial employment for his talents,
she knew well that his health and spirits would be seriously affected.
She, therefore, with affectionate solicitude, urged that he should adopt
the course previously followed by his friend Baker, that is, come home on
furlough, and only send in his resignation after he saw clearly what his
prospects of home employment were, and what he himself wished in the
matter.
Lord Canning and Yule left Calcutta late in March, 1862; at Malta they
parted never to meet again in this world. Lord Canning proceeded to
England, and Yule joined his wife and child in Rome. Only a few weeks
later, at Florence, came as a thunderclap the announcement of Lord
Canning's unexpected death in London, on 17th June. Well does the present
writer remember the day that fatal news came, and Yule's deep anguish, not
assuredly for the loss of his prospects, but for the loss of a most noble
and magnanimous friend, a statesman whose true greatness was, both then
and since, most imperfectly realised by the country for which he had worn
himself out.[50] Shortly after Yule went to England,[51] where he was
cordially received by Lord Canning's representatives, who gave him a
touching remembrance of his lost friend, in the shape of the silver
travelling candlesticks, which had habitually stood on Lord Canning's
writing-table.[52] But his offer to write Lord Canning's _Life_ had no
result, as the relatives, following the then recent example of the
Hastings family, in the case of another great Governor-General, refused to
revive discussion by the publication of any Memoir.
Nor did Yule find any suitable opening for employment in England, so after
two or three months spent in visiting old friends, he rejoined his family
in the Black Forest, where he sought occupation in renewing his knowledge
of German. But it must be confessed that his mood both then and for long
after was neither happy nor wholesome. The winter of 1862 was spent
somewhat listlessly, partly in Germany and partly at the Hotel des
Bergues, Geneva, where his old acquaintance Colonel Tronchin was
hospitably ready to open all doors. The picturesque figure of John Ruskin
also flits across the scene at this time. But Yule was unoccupied and
restless, and could neither enjoy Mr. Ruskin's criticism of his sketches
nor the kindly hospitality of his Genevan hosts. Early in 1863 he made
another fruitless visit to London, where he remained four or five months,
but found no opening. Though unproductive of work, this year brought Yule
official recognition of his services in the shape of the C.B., for which
Lord Canning had long before recommended him.[53]
On rejoining his wife and child at Mornex in Savoy, Yule found the health
of the former seriously impaired. During his absence, the kind and able
English Doctor at Geneva had felt obliged to inform Mrs. Yule that she was
suffering from disease of the heart, and that her life might end suddenly
at any moment. Unwilling to add to Yule's anxieties, she made all
necessary arrangements, but did not communicate this intelligence until he
had done all he wished and returned, when she broke it to him very gently.
Up to this year Mrs. Yule, though not strong and often ailing, had not
allowed herself to be considered an invalid, but from this date doctor's
orders left her no choice in the matter.[54]
About this time, Yule took in hand the first of his studies of mediaeval
travellers. His translation of the _Travels of Friar Jordanus_ was
probably commenced earlier; it was completed during the leisurely journey
by carriage between Chambery and Turin, and the Dedication to Sir Bartle
Frere written during a brief halt at Genoa, from which place it is dated.
Travelling slowly and pleasantly by _vetturino_ along the Riviera di
Levante, the family came to Spezzia, then little more than a quiet
village. A chance encounter with agreeable residents disposed Yule
favourably towards the place, and a few days later he opened negotiations
for land to build a house! Most fortunately for himself and all concerned
these fell through, and the family continued their journey to Tuscany, and
settled for the winter in a long rambling house, with pleasant garden, at
Pisa, where Yule was able to continue with advantage his researches into
mediaeval travel in the East. He paid frequent visits to Florence, where
he had many pleasant acquaintances, not least among them Charles Lever
("Harry Lorrequer"), with whom acquaintance ripened into warm and enduring
friendship. At Florence he also made the acquaintance of the celebrated
Marchese Gino Capponi, and of many other Italian men of letters. To this
winter of 1863-64 belongs also the commencement of a lasting friendship
with the illustrious Italian historian, Villari, at that time holding an
appointment at Pisa. Another agreeable acquaintance, though less intimate,
was formed with John Ball, the well-known President of the Alpine Club,
then resident at Pisa, and with many others, among whom the name of a very
cultivated German scholar, H. Meyer, specially recurs to memory.
In the spring of 1864, Yule took a spacious and delightful old villa,
situated in the highest part of the Bagni di Lucca,[55] and commanding
lovely views over the surrounding chestnut-clad hills and winding river.
Here he wrote much of what ultimately took form in _Cathay, and the Way
Thither_. It was this summer, too, that Yule commenced his investigations
among the Venetian archives, and also visited the province of Friuli in
pursuit of materials for the history of one of his old travellers, the
_Beato Odorico_. At Verona--then still Austrian--he had the amusing
experience of being arrested for sketching too near the fortifications.
However, his captors had all the usual Austrian _bonhomie_ and courtesy,
and Yule experienced no real inconvenience. He was much more disturbed
when, a day or two later, the old mother of one of his Venetian
acquaintances insisted on embracing him on account of his supposed
likeness to Garibaldi!
As winter approached, a warmer climate became necessary for Mrs. Yule, and
the family proceeded to Sicily, landing at Messina in October, 1864. From
this point, Yule made a very interesting excursion to the then little
known group of the Lipari Islands, in the company of that eminent
geologist, the late Robert Mallet, F.R.S., a most agreeable companion.
On Martinmas Day, the Yules reached the beautiful capital of Sicily,
Palermo, which, though they knew it not, was to be their home--a very
happy one--for nearly eleven years.
During the ensuing winter and spring, Yule continued the preparation of
_Cathay_, but his appetite for work not being satisfied by this, he, when
in London in 1865, volunteered to make an Index to the third decade of the
_Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, in exchange for a set of such
volumes as he did not possess. That was long before any Index Society
existed; but Yule had special and very strong views of his own as to what
an Index should be, and he spared no labour to realise his ideal.[56] This
proved a heavier task than he had anticipated, and he got very weary
before the Index was completed.
In the spring of 1866, _Cathay and the Way Thither_ appeared, and at once
took the high place which it has ever since retained. In the autumn of the
same year Yule's attention was momentarily turned in a very different
direction by a local insurrection, followed by severe reprisals, and the
bombardment of Palermo by the Italian Fleet. His sick wife was for some
time under rifle as well as shell fire; but cheerfully remarking that
"every bullet has its billet," she remained perfectly serene and
undisturbed. It was the year of the last war with Austria, and also of the
suppression of the Monastic Orders in Sicily; two events which probably
helped to produce the outbreak, of which Yule contributed an account to
_The Times_, and subsequently a more detailed one to the _Quarterly
Review_.[57]
Yule had no more predilection for the Monastic Orders than most of his
countrymen, but his sense of justice was shocked by the cruel incidence of
the measure in many cases, and also by the harshness with which both it
and the punishment of suspected insurgents was carried out. Cholera was
prevalent in Italy that year, but Sicily, which had maintained stringent
quarantine, entirely escaped until large bodies of troops were landed to
quell the insurrection, when a devastating epidemic immediately ensued,
and re-appeared in 1867. In after years, when serving on the Army Sanitary
Committee at the India Office, Yule more than once quoted this experience
as indicating that quarantine restrictions may, in some cases, have more
value than British medical authority is usually willing to admit.
In 1867, on his return from London, Yule commenced systematic work on his
long projected new edition of the _Travels of Marco Polo_. It was
apparently in this year that the scheme first took definite form, but it
had long been latent in his mind. The Public Libraries of Palermo afforded
him much good material, whilst occasional visits to the Libraries of
Venice, Florence, Paris, and London, opened other sources. But his most
important channel of supply came from his very extensive private
correspondence, extending to nearly all parts of Europe and many centres
in Asia. His work brought him many new and valued friends, indeed too many
to mention, but amongst whom, as belonging specially to this period, three
honoured names must be recalled here: Commendatore (afterwards Baron)
CRISTOFORO NEGRI, the large-hearted Founder and First President of the
Geographical Society of Italy, from whom Yule received his first public
recognition as a geographer, Commendatore GUGLIELMO BERCHET
(affectionately nicknamed _il Bello e Buono_), ever generous in learned
help, who became a most dear and honoured friend, and the Hon. GEORGE P.
MARSH, U.S. Envoy to the Court of Italy, a man, both as scholar and
friend, unequalled in his nation, perhaps almost unique anywhere.
Those who only knew Yule in later years, may like some account of his
daily life at this time. It was his custom to rise fairly early; in summer
he sometimes went to bathe in the sea,[58] or for a walk before breakfast;
more usually he would write until breakfast, which he preferred to have
alone. After breakfast he looked through his notebooks, and before ten
o'clock was usually walking rapidly to the library where his work lay. He
would work there until two or three o'clock, when he returned home, read
the _Times_, answered letters, received or paid visits, and then resumed
work on his book, which he often continued long after the rest of the
household were sleeping. Of course his family saw but little of him under
these circumstances, but when he had got a chapter of _Marco_ into shape,
or struck out some new discovery of interest, he would carry it to his
wife to read. She always took great interest in his work, and he had great
faith in her literary instinct as a sound as well as sympathetic critic.
The first fruits of Yule's Polo studies took the form of a review of
Pauthier's edition of _Marco Polo_, contributed to the _Quarterly Review_
in 1868.
In 1870 the great work itself appeared, and received prompt generous
recognition by the grant of the very beautiful gold medal of the
Geographical Society of Italy,[59] followed in 1872 by the award of the
Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, while the Geographical
and Asiatic Societies of Paris, the Geographical Societies of Italy and
Berlin, the Academy of Bologna, and other learned bodies, enrolled him as
an Honorary Member.
Reverting to 1869, we may note that Yule, when passing through Paris early
in the spring, became acquainted, through his friend M. Charles Maunoir,
with the admirable work of exploration lately performed by Lieut. Francis
Garnier of the French Navy. It was a time of much political excitement in
France, the eve of the famous _Plebiscite_, and the importance of
Garnier's work was not then recognised by his countrymen. Yule saw its
value, and on arrival in London went straight to Sir Roderick Murchison,
laid the facts before him, and suggested that no other traveller of the
year had so good a claim to one of the two gold medals of the R.G.S. as
this French naval Lieutenant. Sir Roderick was propitious, and accordingly
in May the Patron's medal was assigned to Garnier, who was touchingly
grateful to Yule; whilst the French Minister of Marine marked his
appreciation of Yule's good offices by presenting him with the magnificent
volumes commemorating the expedition.[60]
Yule was in Paris in 1871, immediately after the suppression of the
Commune, and his letters gave interesting accounts of the extraordinary
state of affairs then prevailing. In August, he served as President of the
Geographical Section of the British Association at its Edinburgh meeting.
On his return to Palermo, he devoted himself specially to the geography of
the Oxus region, and the result appeared next year in his introduction and
notes to Wood's _Journey_. Soon after his return to Palermo, he became
greatly interested in the plans, about which he was consulted, of an
English church, the gift to the English community of two of its oldest
members, Messrs Ingham and Whitaker. Yule's share in the enterprise
gradually expanded, until he became a sort of volunteer clerk of the
works, to the great benefit of his health, as this occupation during the
next three years, whilst adding to his interests, also kept him longer in
the open air than would otherwise have been the case. It was a real
misfortune to Yule (and one of which he was himself at times conscious)
that he had no taste for any out-of-door pursuits, neither for any form of
natural science, nor for gardening, nor for any kind of sport nor games.
Nor did he willingly ride.[61] He was always restless away from his books.
There can be no doubt that want of sufficient air and exercise, reacting
on an impaired liver, had much to do with Yule's unsatisfactory state of
health and frequent extreme depression. There was no lack of agreeable and
intelligent society at Palermo (society that the present writer recalls
with cordial regard), to which every winter brought pleasant temporary
additions, both English and foreign, the best of whom generally sought
Yule's acquaintance. Old friends too were not wanting; many found their
way to Palermo, and when such came, he was willing to show them
hospitality and to take them excursions, and occasionally enjoyed these.
But though the beautiful city and surrounding country were full of charm
and interest, Yule was too much pre-occupied by his own special engrossing
pursuits ever really to get the good of his surroundings, of which indeed
he often seemed only half conscious.
By this time Yule had obtained, without ever having sought it, a distinct
and, in some respects, quite unique position in geographical science.
Although his _Essay on the Geography of the Oxus Region_ (1872) received
comparatively little public attention at home, it had yet made its mark
once for all,[62] and from this time, if not earlier, Yule's high
authority in all questions of Central Asian geography was generally
recognised. He had long ere this, almost unconsciously, laid the broad
foundations of that "Yule method," of which Baron von Richthofen has
written so eloquently, declaring that not only in his own land, "but also
in the literatures of France, Italy, Germany, and other countries, the
powerful stimulating influence of the Yule method is visible."[63] More
than one writer has indeed boldly compared Central Asia before Yule to
Central Africa before Livingstone!
Yule had wrought from sheer love of the work and without expectation of
public recognition, and it was therefore a great surprise as well as
gratification to him, to find that the demand for his _Marco Polo_ was
such as to justify the appearance of a second edition only a few years
after the first. The preparation of this enlarged edition, with much other
miscellaneous work (see subjoined bibliography), and the superintendence
of the building of the church already named, kept him fully occupied for
the next three years.
Amongst the parerga and miscellaneous occupations of Yule's leisure hours
in the period 1869-74, may be mentioned an interesting correspondence with
Professor W. W. Skeat on the subject of _William of Palerne_ and Sicilian
examples of the Werwolf; the skilful analysis and exposure of Klaproth's
false geography;[64] the purchase and despatch of Sicilian seeds and young
trees for use in the Punjab, at the request of the Indian Forestry
Department; translations (prepared for friends) of tracts on the
cultivation of Sumach and the collection of Manna as practised in Sicily;
also a number of small services rendered to the South Kensington Museum,
at the request of the late Sir Henry Cole. These latter included obtaining
Italian and Sicilian bibliographic contributions to the Science and Art
Department's _Catalogue of Books on Art_, selecting architectural subjects
to be photographed;[65] negotiating the purchase of the original drawings
illustrative of Padre B. Gravina's great work on the Cathedral of
Monreale; and superintending the execution of a copy in mosaic of the
large mosaic picture (in the Norman Palatine Chapel, Palermo,) of the
Entry of our Lord into Jerusalem.
In the spring of 1875, just after the publication of the second edition of
_Marco Polo_, Yule had to mourn the loss of his noble wife. He was absent
from Sicily at the time, but returned a few hours after her death on 30th
April. She had suffered for many years from a severe form of heart
disease, but her end was perfect peace. She was laid to rest, amid
touching tokens of both public and private sympathy, in the beautiful
camposanto on Monte Pellegrino. What her loss was to Yule only his oldest
and closest friends were in a position to realise. Long years of suffering
had impaired neither the soundness of her judgment nor the sweetness, and
even gaiety, of her happy, unselfish disposition. And in spirit, as even
in appearance, she retained to the very last much of the radiance of her
youth. Nor were her intellectual gifts less remarkable. Few who had once
conversed with her ever forgot her, and certainly no one who had once
known her intimately ever ceased to love her.[66]
Shortly after this calamity, Yule removed to London, and on the retirement
of his old friend, Sir William Baker, from the India Council early that
autumn, Lord Salisbury at once selected him for the vacant seat. Nothing
would ever have made him a party-man, but he always followed Lord
Salisbury with conviction, and worked under him with steady confidence.
In 1877 Yule married, as his second wife, the daughter of an old
friend,[67] a very amiable woman twenty years his junior, who made him
very happy until her untimely death in 1881. From the time of his joining
the India Council, his duties at the India Office of course occupied a
great part of his time, but he also continued to do an immense amount of
miscellaneous literary work, as may be seen by reference to the subjoined
bibliography, (itself probably incomplete). In Council he invariably
"showed his strong determination to endeavour to deal with questions on
their own merits and not only by custom and precedent."[68] Amongst
subjects in which he took a strong line of his own in the discussions of
the Council, may be specially instanced his action in the matter of the
cotton duties (in which he defended native Indian manufactures as against
hostile Manchester interests); the Vernacular Press Act, the necessity for
which he fully recognised; and the retention of Kandahar, for which he
recorded his vote in a strong minute. In all these three cases, which are
typical of many others, his opinion was overruled, but having been
carefully and deliberately formed, it remained unaffected by defeat.
In all matters connected with Central Asian affairs, Yule's opinion always
carried great weight; some of his most competent colleagues indeed
preferred his authority in this field to that of even Sir Henry Rawlinson,
possibly for the reason given by Sir M. Grant Duff, who has
epigrammatically described the latter as good in Council but dangerous in
counsel.[69]
Yule's courageous independence and habit of looking at all public
questions by the simple light of what appeared to him right, yet without
fads or doctrinairism, earned for him the respect of the successive
Secretaries of State under whom he served, and the warm regard and
confidence of his other colleagues. The value attached to his services in
Council was sufficiently shown by the fact that when the period of ten
years (for which members are usually appointed), was about to expire, Lord
Hartington (now Duke of Devonshire), caused Yule's appointment to be
renewed for life, under a special Act of Parliament passed for this
purpose in 1885.
His work as a member of the Army Sanitary Committee, brought him into
communication with Miss Florence Nightingale, a privilege which he greatly
valued and enjoyed, though he used to say: "She is worse than a Royal
Commission to answer, and, in the most gracious charming manner possible,
immediately finds out all I don't know!" Indeed his devotion to the
"Lady-in-Chief" was scarcely less complete than Kinglake's.
In 1880, Yule was appointed to the Board of Visitors of the Government
Indian Engineering College at Cooper's Hill, a post which added to his
sphere of interests without materially increasing his work. In 1882, he
was much gratified by being named an Honorary Fellow of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland, more especially as it was to fill one of the two
vacancies created by the deaths of Thomas Carlyle and Dean Stanley.
Yule had been President of the Hakluyt Society from 1877, and in 1885 was
elected President also of the Royal Asiatic Society. He would probably
also have been President of the Royal Geographical Society, but for an
untoward incident. Mention has already been made of his constant
determination to judge all questions by the simple touchstone of what he
believed to be right, irrespective of personal considerations. It was in
pursuance of these principles that, at the cost of great pain to himself
and some misrepresentation, he in 1878 sundered his long connection with
the Royal Geographical Society, by resigning his seat on their Council,
solely in consequence of their adoption of what he considered a wrong
policy. This severance occurred just when it was intended to propose him
as President. Some years later, at the personal request of the late Lord
Aberdare, a President in all respects worthy of the best traditions of
that great Society, Yule consented to rejoin the Council, which he
re-entered as a Vice-President.
In 1883, the University of Edinburgh celebrated its Tercentenary, when
Yule was selected as one of the recipients of the honorary degree of LL.D.
His letters from Edinburgh, on this occasion, give a very pleasant and
amusing account of the festivity and of the celebrities he met. Nor did he
omit to chronicle the envious glances cast, as he alleged, by some British
men of science on the splendours of foreign Academic attire, on the yellow
robes of the Sorbonne, and the Palms of the Institute of France! Pasteur
was, he wrote, the one most enthusiastically acclaimed of all who received
degrees.
I think it was about the same time that M. Renan was in England, and
called upon Sir Henry Maine, Yule, and others at the India Office. On
meeting just after, the colleagues compared notes as to their
distinguished but unwieldy visitor. "It seems that _le style n'est pas
l'homme meme_ in _this_ instance," quoth "Ancient Law" to "Marco Polo."
And here it may be remarked that Yule so completely identified himself
with his favourite traveller that he frequently signed contributions to
the public press as MARCUS PAULUS VENETUS or M.P.V. His more intimate
friends also gave him the same _sobriquet_, and once, when calling on his
old friend, Dr. John Brown (the beloved chronicler of _Rab and his
Friends_), he was introduced by Dr. John to some lion-hunting American
visitors as "our Marco Polo." The visitors evidently took the statement in
a literal sense, and scrutinised Yule closely.[70]
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