CHAPTER XVI.

1861, SHORT TRIP TO THE CONTINENT IN MAY-TRIP TO ITALY IN THE AUTUMN 1862, MARRIAGE OF DAUGHTER; 1874, DEATH OF DAUGHTER-1867, VISITS DIJON, VIENNE, ROME, PERUGIA, CATANIA, SYRACUSE, MALTA, ST PAUL'S BAY, GALLIPOLI, PESCARA, ANCONA, CHRISTIAN ANTIQUITIES AT RAVENNA, MONT CENIS PASS.

IN May 1861 Dr Bruce took a short trip to the Continent with his daughter. They visited Mayence, with which he was delighted. He there met a learned priest with antiquarian sympathies, who contributed much interesting information concerning the Roman antiquities of the place. The museum he found rich in Roman remains discovered on the spot, and he filled several pages of his note-book with observations on them. He purchased at an old curiosity shop an antique decanter of Venetian glass large enough to hold a magnum, which he took special care to bring safely home, and on occasions when friends dined with him to whom he wished to pay special honour, the decanter, duly charged, made its appearance.

At Treves exceptional interest was aroused by the "Roman lions of the place". the bridge, the baths, the amphitheatre, and the Black Gate, which he described as very wonderful. The Basilica also was an object of special interest, then used as a Lutheran church. At Rheims, in common with every traveller

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of cultivated taste, he was struck by the majestic grandeur of the cathedral, which he regarded as one of the finest Gothic structures he had ever seen. "We thought of poor Joan of Arc, who there witnessed the coronation of her king, Charles VI." In a letter to his wife he says: "My visit to Rheims the other day has revived my interest in 'La Pucelle,' and we purpose visiting next Friday the place where the poor girl was so cruelly murdered."

In the autumn of the same year Dr Bruce made another Continental tour, accompanied this time by his wife and daughter, visiting Milan, Venice, Naples, and other places. Writing to his son Gainsford from Naples, October 24, 1861, he says:—

"On Monday I had the most wonderful ride I ever had in my life. We passed Virgil's tomb and went first to Puzzuoli, the ancient Puteoli. The ruins of the temples there are most marvellous. One of them is the temple of Neptune, where Augustus sacrificed before embarking to fight the Battle of Actium. You will remember that it was at Puteoli that the Apostle Paul landed after leaving Malta; we walked over part of the Roman way by which he pursued his journey to Rome, treading upon the very stones which he trod upon. Then we went to Cumæ, Baiæ, and Misenum. We sailed upon the Lake

of Misenum and saw the Lucrine Lake and Lake
Avernus. At those places we saw some stupend-
ous ruins. The remains of Cicero's villa and the
palace of Cæsar were pointed out to us.
It was
at Baiæ that poor Hadrian died. We think of
leaving next Monday for Civita Vecchia for

Rome.

The brigands are not subdued yet. There was a regular fight with them on Sunday not far from Mount Vesuvius. Many of the military were killed; seventy-five of the brigands were brought into the town yesterday."

The travellers left Naples for Civita Vecchia, intending to visit Rome, but they met with so much discomfort that they were compelled to abandon their intention. The following letter from Civita Vecchia, dated 30th October 1861, from Dr Bruce to his mother, gives an account of their adventures:

"When we left Naples on Tuesday afternoon we feared the weather was breaking. In the course of the night the storm began. The sky was continuously lighted up with lightning, and the rain fell in waterspouts. We landed here in the midst of the storm, in an open boat. When we got into a first-class carriage on the railway for Rome we thought our troubles were at an end. Not so. The rain continued, and the rails were often under water. At length, about fifteen miles from this, the train came on a small bridge which was too small for the torrent, and had been injured to some extent. The engine ran off the line and turned over. The luggage van was smashed and its contents washed into the Mediterranean by the current. The first first-class carriage was run into by the buffers of the luggage-van and partially broken. We felt an ugly jerk and were thrown over one another, but were not in the slightest degree injured. We had to remove out of our carriage into the hindermost one of the train, as we

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This

feared the water might rise and throw it over. For four hours we sat in a wet, crowded carriage. Fearing at length that night would overtake us before we had found shelter, we left the train for the nearest house, which was a mile distant. The storm was still at its heightthunder, lightning, and rain such as we never see in England. The first thing that we had to do was to climb the fence of the railway. Then we had to cross a ploughed field, all mud and water, and then to wade through a surging stream which took the ladies up to the middle. brought us to the highway, but in several places it was flooded, and we had to wade considerable tracts almost up to our knees. At length we reached a dirty farmhouse where twenty-five of us were lodged. We got some bread, wine, and uncooked bacon. I had to sit in my wet clothes for about four hours; there was no possibility of drying our things at their poor fire of sticks. At nine o'clock we gave up all hope of being rescued by the railway officials, we were only fifteen miles from Civita Vecchia,―and retired to our chambers. There were five in the bed in which Charlotte and Williamina tried to sleep. I, with about seven others, went to the barn. Divesting myself of all my lower garments, I enjoyed the luxury of a dry covering of hay. I did not sleep much. To-day has turned out fine. The railway people sent omnibuses to bring us back to Civita Vecchia. Arrived here, we and some others were making arrangements for taking a carriage and going by the ordinary road to Rome when the Government surveyor told us that two of the

bridges on it were carried away. Charlotte and Williamina, whose nerves have been sufficiently tried already, agree with me in thinking that we have had adventures enough, and that as no duty calls us we had better not force our way to the Pope's city."

The following are extracts from letters written by Dr Bruce to Mr Clayton and read at the meetings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, held on the 6th November and 4th December 1861.

In a letter written on the 26th of October, Dr Bruce says:

"At Milan I took a cursory glance at the Roman inscriptions in the church of St Ambrose. Amongst the Christian monumental slabs I noticed a good many bearing the representation of the golden candlestick of the Temple. I am rather inclined to think, from the number of these slabs that I have seen in my present journey, at Milan, Verona, and Naples, and the Roman character of the names on the slabs, that the candlestick was adopted as a purely Christian emblem at a time when a rage for symbols prevailed, and that it represented the Church, which, in a secondary sense, is The Light of the World.1

'Being so near Verona, I could not help taking a run to it. When you were there you would notice the Mithraic Tablets. From the epithets applied to Mithras in one or two instances, for example OMNIPOTENTI DEO, I am

1 See Letter, Archæologia Eliana, vol. vi., New Series, p. 86.