of his blood, was once rebuked in the House of Lords by Earl Cowper. Lord Strafford had referred to Marlborough as a general who ‘fomented war.’ In reply, Earl Cowper remarked, ‘The noble lord does not express himself in all the purity of the English tongue; but he has been so long abroad, he has forgotten both the constitution and the language of his country.’ The jokers had their fun out of this serious matter. Pasquin, in March, sarcastically congratulated the Ministry on their vigilance and success in detecting the horrid conspiracy; adding, ‘A great Patriot was heard last Tuesday night to declare in a public Coffee House, that after hearing the Report of the Commons, “_no man in his senses would doubt there had been a_ PLOT. N.B.――He said this without any grimace!”’ [Sidenote: _CONDEMNATION OF PLUNKETT._] Several weeks elapsed before the first of the three accused persons was disposed of. It was not till April that the Bill against Plunkett went through all its legal stages, whereby he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, with forfeiture of all his possessions, and in case of breaking prison, followed by recapture, death, for himself and any who might aid him. [Sidenote: _KELLY’S TRIAL._] Kelly was next brought from the Tower, before the Lords. Like Plunkett he was so rigorously watched in his prison that two warders were at his side night and day, and even the use of a knife was prohibited. There were certain fees to be paid to the Governor for severe duties, with which the captive would willingly have dispensed; and a rent was required for his room, the tenancy of which was imposed on him against his will. For these matters, however, the Government that prosecuted him furnished him with means. The Jacobite lawyer, Sir Constantine Phipps, fought his client’s battle with aggravating pertinacity. He denied the legality of evidence which consisted, as in Plunkett’s case, of copies of letters, the alleged originals of which no one but the reporting committee had seen; and also did he deny the validity of testimony founded on mere hearsay. Sir Constantine, however, was sharply pulled up by the Lord Chancellor, who informed him that their Lordships had had full satisfaction of the truth of the extracts copied from letters, and of the hearsay evidence on other occasions. Kelly’s friends among the peers attempted to attach a rider to the Bill, providing that, on his giving good security he should be permitted to reside abroad. The attempt failed. An extract from one of the letters addressed to Kelly, and seized when in his possession, relating to a dog brought from Paris, was supposed to have reference to Atterbury, and to be very redolent of treason. Phipps ridiculed this, but Lord Cartaret rose and said: ‘I have received letters from his Majesty’s Minister in Paris, relating to Kelly’s procuring a dog in Paris, for some person here.’ [Sidenote: _KELLY’S DEFENCE._]