British Library, Day Twenty

I had a bunch of errands to run today--it's difficult to read if you can't see through your bangs, for example--so I just dropped by in the morning to read a couple of short Catholic texts.  (Also, several requests had fallen victim to the bomb that took out the British Library's collection of SPCK tracts.)

• A. M. C., "Westhorpe Manor: A Tale of the Days of Persecution" (Catholic Truth Society, 1890).  A Catholic short story, as is no doubt obvious from the publisher.  Features the notorious puirsuivant Richard Topcliffe (understandably a regular figure in Catholic historical fiction set during the Elizabethan era), who shows up to take a priest hiding out in an Elizabethan manor; after much heroism (especially on the part of a little boy who refuses to answer Topcliffe's questions) and much torture, the priest is martyred.  BODY COUNT: One.
• The Lamp of the Sanctuary: A Catholic Story (T. Richardson & Son, c. 1850).  Novella set near the border of France and Spain.  A family begs the Virgin to save their daughter's life, and she does; they therefore consecrate the child to the Virgin by having her dress entirely in white for seven years.  Meanwhile, Dad falls in with smugglers (uh-oh) and loses his religion, but his daughter makes her own vow, offering her life to God in exchange for the salvation of his soul.  Needless to say, God takes her up on it, and she dies as a result of Dad's criminal behavior (he makes the eponymous light go out).  However, he converts.  BODY COUNT: Three.