OBITUARY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3064, 27 April 1917, Page 6

OBITUARY

MR. R. C. BRUCE, EX-M.H.R.

The death of Mr. Robert Cunningham' Bruce, who represented the Itangitikei district in Parliament for six years, oo- . curred at Carrick, St. John's Hill, Wanganui, on Monday, at the age of 74. The late Mr. Bruce will be readilj; remembered by a host of people as an! outstanding figure in New Zealand politics thirty years ago-yontstanding because of the man's genial temperament,, his breadth of mind, his dteep reading, and gifts as a speaker, which at times reached oratorical heights. He was truly a citizen of the world, with n. mind and heart as big as the, oceans he roved as a young man, and hamr pered with no petty meannesses, or parochial littlenesses. Ho had no foes in or out of Parliament, and though a. party man and a hard-hitter in debate,, he never retained a suspicion of .rau.oour. ■ ■. ! • His career was both romantic ana adventurous. He was born in East Lothian (Scotland) in 1843, and crossed to Cork in his seventh year. When only thirteen years of age hfr sailed in an Indiaman from London before the mast, and , thus travelled the world. Somewhere about 1860 he made Porb Chalmers, and -under the spell of the elusive yellow iptal made his way .to. the Otego.goldfislds, but after an unprofitable quest ho returned to the ■Sμ, and for some years ssijed in Americanowned ships, his experiences including a spell on the Great Lakes. .In 18(7 the long seas called again, and in thab year he came once more to Mew Zealand, settling this time on a_ busH (section at Paraekeretu, some 25 miles. at the back of Hunterville, where he> carved out the beginnings of a, goo*, home. But the wanderlust was not yet dead in his blood, for sis years later found him once moro in the fp castlo of a sailer bound for England. Bu6 New Zealand was not to be denied, for later he returned to RaogitiKei, and in August, 1884, was returned toParliament as member for tie district;. Ho held the seat until July 15, 1887.' October of the same year saw him back again in Parliament, and he held his seat until October, 1890., In July, 1892, he was onoe more returned, and! remained Rangitikoi's representative until November, 1893, when he retired from political life to seek seolusion ami comfort with his beloved books in the silences of Paraekeretu. ■ When in Parliament ho was mostly, in Opposition; that is to say, that he was a member of the so-called Conservative party of those times. Ho waa a staunch freeholder, and when questions of taxation were before the House his views were always listened to wito interest. Hβ was a notably fine speaker with a good vocabulary and sense or simile. A deep reader of good literature and poetry, and the possessor ot a retentive menior,', he frequently interlarded his speeches with quotations from distinguished authors and poet* in a most graceful and appropriate style. He had wonderful bonhomie, and was popular with both sides of the House, and when ho finally retired hie colleagues in Parliament presented him witlrS library similar to that present ed to the late Hon. John Bryce .Mr. Bruce added to his other gifts that of being an entertaining raconteur, antt with tho many adventures ho had when a rover of the seas, he would _enter-. tain his friends for hours at a stretch. Many of the good stories and expenences he told are reproduced- in hie autobiography, which was publishedas late as 1914. Mr Bruce was a pabular admirer of the I*?''}' of Bobert Burns, and could quote"*" £M tho plough" at groat length, and was a ways in demand to lecture upon h.s works. The deceased was unmarried.