Salisbury thus, in effect, requires Coke by absolutely disclaiming that any of the conspirators wrote (he does not say "sent") the letter to Monteagle, and by which alone the treason was discovered, to declare in Court, as upon the authority of the Government, that therefore none of the conspirators divulged the plot; which, in any case, could be true only so far as the disclosure to the Government was concerned. Coke, however, for some reason--perhaps because he was not fully in Salisbury's confidence respecting the letter--describes the real manner of the discovery, according to his own knowledge. Towards the close of his speech for the prosecution, he said: "The last consideration is concerning the admirable discovery of this treason, which was by one of themselves who had taken the oath and sacrament, as hath been said against his own will;[14] the means by a dark and doubtful letter to my Lord Monteagle." This, together with Salisbury's statement that none of the conspirators wrote the letter, shows that the divulging of the plot preceded the sending of the letter,[15] which was not, therefore, as is popularly supposed, the means by which the plot was discovered, except to the general public. Hitherto those who have attempted this identification have invariably sought amongst such as are likely to have written the letter for a handwriting _resembling the disguised writing_, which seems a strange method of investigation, as surely the object of a disguised hand[16] would be to make the general appearance as unlike the writer's ordinary hand as possible? The writing being in a set and rather large character, such is the style they have sought for and found, but in a much more refined hand and without arriving at any satisfactory result. It seems, however, reasonable to suspect that this set and rather large character may be what principally constitutes the disguise, and that the writer's ordinary hand would be different. The manner in which the lines are forced upwards at the right side, shows that the writer has had difficulty in maintaining the large, set, regular character which would push an unpractised hand in that direction.