The science of philology (the late Dean Howell wrote) seemed to cost Lord Bute no effort, for he was a born philologist, and appeared to penetrate and solve linguistic difficulties as it were by instinct. Another thing that used to astonish me was his familiarity with, and wide knowledge of, the Authorised Version of the Bible; for at that time (1871) he could not have been more than 23 or 24 years of age. His retentive memory (which I have never seen equalled) enabled him to quote exactly lengthy passages; and if I chanced to quote a Welsh word from Scripture for illustrative purposes, he would give the English rendering of the whole passage from memory with ease and perfect accuracy. His tastes and accomplishments were essentially mediæval; and history, art, and archæology had for him an inexhaustible charm. Bute had a little before this shown his practical interest in art by not only presiding at a Fine Art Exhibition in the drill-hall which he had erected, but by exhibiting there valuable plate and pictures, including a painting executed by himself. A little later he was in the chair at the annual meeting held at Cardiff of the Palestine Exploration Fund, recounting in very interesting fashion his own travels in that country. And in July, 1871, he took an {100} active part in the congress of the British Archæological Institute held at the Town Hall, entertaining the members at a reception at the Castle and a banquet at Caerphilly. He also spoke at the congress, taking many of the distinguished visitors by surprise with the extent of his knowledge and information on the subjects special to the Institute. [Sidenote: 1871, Belmont and Llanthony] Soon after the meeting of the Archæological Congress, Bute left England for Ober Ammergau to witness the Passion Play, which had been postponed for a year owing to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. He then joined his yacht at St. Malo, and after a cruise off Devon, Cornwall, and the Channel Islands returned to Cardiff for the autumn. During this time he paid several visits to the Benedictine Priory at Belmont, near Hereford, where his liturgical tastes found satisfaction in the solemn rendering of the Divine service by the monastic community. One of the fathers then resident there[9] has some interesting recollections of these periodical visits: