It may be said that practically every one of Bute's journeyings to foreign lands either partook {162} more or less of the nature of a pilgrimage, or else was made in search of health. Pre-eminent among the first class were his frequent visits to the Holy Land, of which some account has already been given. Except for occasional references in his letters, we have little about these from his own pen. "My latest pilgrimage to the Holy Places," he writes on one occasion, "has been extraordinarily blessed to me." It is of interest in this connection to cite some passages inserted in the fly-leaf of a copy of Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine," presented by Bute to a friend. They are not in his own handwriting--except the Latin quotation (from St. Luke xii. 34) at the end--nor is there any evidence as to their authorship; but their sentiment is undoubtedly one which would strongly appeal to him: The attractions of Rome and Jerusalem are not comparable, and should not be compared. The interest of Rome is of course by far the more varied. Not all who journey thither go to venerate the Tombs of the Apostles. There are those to whom the Palace of the Cæsars appeals more than do basilicas built by Popes, who regard the Colosseum rather as the monument of emperors than as the palæstra of martyrs, to whom the Mamertine prison speaks of Catiline rather than of St. Peter.[2] People throng {163} to Rome not only to pray, but to study art, antiquities, and music, to enjoy the most cosmopolitan society in Europe, sometimes to hunt foxes on the Campagna. Jerusalem, on the other hand, is a city of faith, and (roughly speaking) all who visit it do so as pilgrims. _Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini_. Rome has a thousand charms--Jerusalem one, but that one transcendent. Its sacred soil has been trodden by the feet of God made man, and it is the Holy City as no other city can ever be. _Ubi enim thesaurus vesler est, ibi cor vestrum erit_.[3] The last words, written by Bute himself at the foot of the manuscript just quoted, are of particular interest, referring, as they doubtless do, to his long-cherished resolve that his heart, after his death, should mingle with the sacred dust of the Mount of Olives. [Sidenote: At Ober-Ammergau] The visits to the Ober-Ammergau Passion-play, which Bute made in 1871, in company with Bishop Clifford and two Oxford friends, again in 1880 with his wife, and also in 1890, were undertaken, too, in the pilgrim spirit. "We start for Ober-Ammergau on Monday," he wrote on September 11, 1880, "and are both hoping to reap spiritual good from our stay there." A letter to his old friend at Oxford on his return home gives some interesting impressions: