John Patrick, Third Marquess of Bute, K.T. (1847-1900) Part 7

I will give no further information at present, but to say that thanks to the grace of G.o.d I am what I am. You are so kind, I believe you will be glad to see me.

Mr. Capel has been having most extraordinary success at Oxford. He leaves it to-day, as the colleges are going down, and will be at Nice some time soon. His health is giving way from the {72} perpetual physical and mental toil. He is not going to return till May, when he will recommence. For the present he has received some converts, is preparing some more, has awakened a great many, and, partially at least, sanctified the congregation, and reclaimed the wandering. The mission has received an infusion of life. On Sat.u.r.day night he heard confessions till 11.30, and again in the morning. They had general Communion, and renewal of baptismal vows; at 10.30 High Ma.s.s and sermon. During the afternoon he operated privately on some rationalists: in the evening they had a very long sermon, and Benediction, with an immense congregation, among whom were a vast number of Protestants, _several Dons_, and the _President of Trinity College_!

Yours ever very sincerely, BUTE.

[Sidenote: 1868, Christmas at Nice]

One of the Scott Murray family writes of Bute at this time:

Lord Bute was with us at Nice from December 24, 1868, until February 3, 1869. He was very shy, and refused all invitations to dances and picnics. At one afternoon dance at our house we all insisted he should appear; and then he made himself charming, but he fled as soon as he possibly could. He used to amuse us all at breakfast by reading out some of the wonderful begging-letters he received--from French girls asking him for a _dot_ so as to enable them to marry, _cures_ asking him to rebuild their churches, and many more wonderful requests. I think most of the English begging-letters were seen to in England, and only a few of them sent on. The numbers addressed to him every day, and by every post, were, I believe, quite incredible.

It was during this visit to Nice that he told my father that he intended leaving directions in his will {73} that his heart should be sent at his death to Jerusalem to be buried there.

He was very kind-hearted. When leaving Nice at the end of his visit, he had got into the carriage to drive with us to the yacht, when he remembered that he had not said good-bye to my sister's ugly governess.

He insisted on jumping out of the carriage and rushing up to the schoolroom for this purpose.

He was a regular boy, and enjoyed games with us all: one, I remember, was pelting one another with oranges, the little hard ones which had fallen from the trees, he leading one side, and Basil (my schoolboy brother) the other. He was always ready to join in any fun, as long as he had not to meet strangers.

These details, which are wonderfully reminiscent of the childish days at Galloway House eight years before,[14] and show how like the young man of twenty-one was to the boy of thirteen, may be supplemented by an extract or two from the diary of another member of the same family:

_Christmas Day_, 1868.--We had midnight Ma.s.s at St. Philip's, the little church in our garden. Mgr. Capel said it, he, Lord Bute, and Basil having arrived from England the day before. We all went to Communion together (Lord Bute had been received into the Church a short time previously). Mgr. Capel said his two Christmas Ma.s.ses, which we heard, early next morning; and then we went to the cathedral. In the afternoon we went to Notre Dame, where Mgr. Capel preached.

_Tuesday, February_ 2.--After Ma.s.s Lord Bute took us all over his yacht, the _Ladybird_, which had arrived on Sat.u.r.day. He gave us luncheon, and {74} we had to go a little before 2, as the Prince and Princess Charles of Prussia were going to see it. The cabins are most comfortable, and the saloon beautifully decorated with the arms of the ports she has put in at.

_February_ 3.---We drove with Lord Bute down to the port, and the _Ladybird_ left at 4 o'clock, with Lord Bute, Lady Loudoun, Mgr. Capel, Miss Eden, and Dr. Bell safely on board.

From Nice Bute and his friends went straight to Rome--his first visit there--where he spent a week, including Ash Wednesday, on which day he received the blessed ashes from the hand of Pius IX. in the Sistine Chapel. Next morning he communicated at the private Ma.s.s of the Holy Father, who afterwards administered to him the sacrament of confirmation. Bute made a munificent offering of Peter's Pence to the Pope, who in turn presented him with a magnificent reliquary. On February 23 he wrote to Mrs. Scott Murray from Sicily:

R.Y.S. _Ladybird_, Harbour of Messina.

We arrived here safely last night, and are to continue our voyage this afternoon. As we have spent so much time already we are not going to stop at Patmos on the way, but make straight for Jaffa, going north of Crete.

As Mr. Murray prophesied, I was very "agreeably disappointed" in Rome.

I went to only a few of the most celebrated sanctuaries, but I liked them very much. The sight of the Holy Father had a very great effect on me, and it is impossible for me to speak too warmly of his kindness.

Every one was most civil, which is a rarity for me to meet with. The Holy Father has given all the permissions which we wanted, and we have had Ma.s.s {75} three times on board, making up a very nice altar in Mr.

Capel's cabin.

The odd thing is that we have not had a row yet, but are all quite on good terms, a state of things which I suppose one need not hope to continue.

Accept my best wishes and continued thanks for kindnesses received, and believe me,

Sincerely and gratefully, yours ever, BUTE.

[Sidenote: 1868, Letter from Jerusalem]

The journey to Palestine ("the continuation of my pilgrimage of thanksgiving," as Bute called it in a subsequent letter) was safely accomplished, and Mgr. Capel wrote to Mrs. Scott Murray on Palm Sunday from Jerusalem:

Thank G.o.d, all is going well. We have had some physical discomforts, indisposition, etc., but our pilgrimage viewed spiritually is singularly blessed. I hope to lay in a store of grace for my future work. Certainly nothing could be more touching than our visits to the Holy Places. Bute gives great edification. He communicates very frequently, and is growing rapidly in Catholic devotion. Now that I live with him I see, of course, some weaknesses--among others a tendency to idleness; but he has much charm of character and personality. You will probably know through the papers that he has accepted the Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Our journey will be dreadfully prolonged. I am afraid we shall not reach England until June: our plans change at every moment. I send for you and Mr. Murray the enclosed pictures, which have touched the Holy Places. My affectionate regards to you all, including _the_ officer.[15]

{76}

Another letter from Mgr. Capel to Danesfield is dated, "In the _Ladybird_, about the Mediterranean, May 14, 1869." It indicates that Bute had been, as usual, not particularly fortunate in securing congenial companionship for his journey.

When we are ever to reach home I cannot say. We have already been fourteen days at sea and have not yet reached our port. Sicily is in sight, and I trust we may very soon reach Messina. If not we shall be starved! The steward solemnly tells us we have bread for only three days longer, and that the stores are almost all consumed.

Of our party, I think I may say that Lady Loudoun, Miss Eden, and the doctor are the worse for their visit to Jerusalem. They had the misfortune to make acquaintance with people, calling themselves religious, whose delight seems to be to deny the authenticity of every single sacred site. The result has been, as might have been expected, a semi-disbelief in everything.

I think, on the other hand, the pilgrimage has been very advantageous to Bute. It has helped him to gather up his thoughts and prepare for action and the work of his life. He has kindly appointed me his chaplain. I am not to live at either of his houses, but to be ready when needed to go to him and to travel with him. I cannot but feel that this arrangement (which is entirely his own idea) will allow me to do much more good than if I were settled in any one spot. I hope it may turn to the advantage of my soul and to G.o.d's glory.

[Sidenote: 1869, Early Catholic experiences]

Bute left his yacht at Ma.r.s.eilles (his companions continuing the voyage to England by Gibraltar and the Bay of Biscay), and repaired to Paris, to complete his pilgrimage by a visit of devotion and {77} thanksgiving to the famous shrine of Our Lady of Victories. On returning home he went to Cardiff, and thence he wrote, later in the year, some account of himself and his doings in a long and interesting letter to his faithful friend at Oxford.

Cardiff Castle, _November_ 5, 1869.

MY DEAR MISS SKENE,

During the past year I have had several kind letters from you, which have gone unanswered. Before me lie the three first pages of a letter to you dated October 1, but never finished. I had at that time only just received your last, as I had been away from home for some months, and had skilfully concealed my addresses from every one, lest any letters (mine are almost invariably business or beggars) should follow and find me out.

The first thing you will want to know is how I am getting on in the Church. I don't remember whether I ever wrote to you from Nice or not; but that, if I had, could only have been so soon after my reception as to make it almost valueless. I have not been received a year, so I suppose what I say now is not worth very much. I am, thank G.o.d, _very_ comfortable. I had, no doubt, a first flush of fervour and enthusiasm, but that soon pa.s.sed away, and I became almost immediately quite a humdrum Catholic. The practices, as you know, were already familiar to me; and I knew also a great many, if not all, of the practical drawbacks, of which florid figured music and appropriated and paid-for sittings in church are (to me) the most distasteful. Florid forms of devotion and piety have never appealed to me any more than florid music; and in that respect I am (so I am told) considered like the slowest type of old English Catholicism. The old-fashioned "Garden of the Soul" is my book, except when visiting some very holy shrine, when I find {78} myself able to use occasionally the "Prayers of St.

Gertrude," or at least some of them.

I am perfectly at peace in the Church, and have been. My taste for controversy has gone, and for theological inquiry also, to great extent. I think that when one has once entered the Church--well, one has jumped over the cliff and reached the bottom, safe and sound it is true, but in a condition that renders restlessness impossible and controversy absolutely superfluous.

I left Nice, as you are aware, at the beginning of February, went to Rome for a week, to be confirmed by the Holy Father, and then continued the pilgrimage of thanksgiving to Jerusalem. I performed the last ceremonies in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Victories in Paris about the beginning of June, and returned to England. I had kept as much as possible out of the way of letters and newspapers, but had inevitably heard much that was very disagreeable--all sorts of lying stories, for instance, deliberately and maliciously circulated about me--and I arrived here in a state of very uncomfortable antic.i.p.ation. However, I found everything very much better than I antic.i.p.ated. Every one seemed glad to see me, and I received much kindness from all the people about.

Religious matters were easily arranged; and though large mobs of people a.s.sembled to see me go to Ma.s.s, they were disappointed, as I had got a little oratory ready in the house, which is served every day by the Fathers of Charity. And I have special permission from the Pope for myself, my "familiars" and guests to satisfy the obligation in it on every day in the year. We have here between 9,000 and 10,000 Catholics, who are of course delighted at what has happened.

I am going to Rome about the 23rd of this month, and shall, I think, certainly stay there till about Septuagesima; but if I am tempted I shall stop over Easter. When I return I shall go to {79} Bute. Bute will be much stiffer than this: they got pictures of me and made them into c.o.c.kshys; and I have had at least one threatening letter from there. Besides that there are no Catholics that I know of,[16] and I cannot have a daily Ma.s.s.

My old friends are all much the same, except Lady Elizabeth, who takes no more notice of me than if I were a dead dog. I have written her letter after letter, without even acknowledgment. The company of my dear friend, Sneyd, is a great pleasure to me. He is my secretary. He is, however, an awful liberal, and is even now reading Charles Kingsley's "Hypatia" with approval. I consider it one of the most impure as well as heretical books I ever saw. I have been reading lately, and with the greatest pleasure, Canon Jenkins's "Age of the Martyrs,"[17] which is really charming, and a worthy product of Oxford, where, however, I hear that the blighting disease of Liberalism has fairly set in. You have, I hear, Mgr. Capel with you, lecturing on something or other; but I know not what success or effect he has had.

Ever most sincerely yours,

BUTE.