Saint of the Day Quote: Blessed William Howard

A member of the large noble clan of Howards, most of whom were secret Catholics, he was a victim of the mass hysteria of the Popish Plot, concocted by Titus Oates and seized upon by the political opponents of the Merry Monarch, Charles II.  Howard was a simple man at a time when simplicity and a desire to live a peaceful life in relative obscurity was not enough to save a high profile Catholic in a land consumed by blood lust against Catholics.  In his trial in the House of Lords, his speech was not eloquent, he being denied any legal counsel since the charge against him was treason, but in his private letters published after his death, his ringing declarations of innocence to his daughter helped turn the tide of public opinion against the Popish Plot.  Charles II signed his death warrant with tears in his eyes, and proclaimed that his accusers had the blood of an innocent man on their hands.  He was spared being hanged, drawn and quartered by the King who commuted his sentence to beheading, even this small mercy requiring some courage from the King in the face of a public gone mad.