Historical Fiction Benson, Robert Hugh: By What Authority?. v1. 26 Dec 2013

[crutledge]

Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914) is another member of that group of important Catholic writers from the first half of the twentieth century. In his case, though, his premature death in his early forties meant that he has never become as well-known as some of his more famous contemporaries such as Mgsr. Ronald Knox, Hilaire Belloc, and G. K. Chesterton.
He is best known for his novels, particularly his "prophetic" novels such as Lord of the World, but in his time he was also a sought-after preacher.

Excerpt
The difficulties of this Catholic family were considerable. Sir Nicholas' religious sympathies were, of course, wholly with the spiritual side of Spain, and all that that involved, while his intense love of England gave him a horror of the Southern Empire that the sturdiest patriot might have envied. And so with his attitude towards Mary Stuart and her French background. While his whole soul rose in loathing against the crime of Darnley's murder, to which many of her enemies proclaimed her accessory, it was kindled at the thought that in her or her child lately crowned as James VI. of Scotland, lay the hope of a future Catholic succession; and this religious sympathy was impassioned by the memory of an interview a few years ago, when he had kissed that gracious white hand, and looked into those alluring eyes, and, kneeling, stammered out in broken French his loyalty and his hopes. Whether it was by her devilish craft as her enemies said, or her serene and limpid innocence as her friends said, or by a maddening compound of the two, as later students have said—at least she had made the heart and confidence of old Sir Nicholas her own.

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