to success but the time opportune for a general movement. On the other hand, the fall of Cork and Kinsale were succeeded by a period of great distress within the Irish lines. The exterminating policy of the lords-justices had filled the province with a helpless population, enhancing the price of provisions and lessening the resources of the army. The brass coin of King James, in which the soldiers received their pay, was greatly depreciated within their own boundaries, while throughout the other three provinces it was decried, and had become utterly worthless.[56] A derangement of trade with France also intervened, and disasters followed each other in quick succession. A few days after the fall of Kinsale, a vessel freighted with salt and other necessaries, anchored under the guns of the fort, and the captain, believing it still held by the Jacobite troops, only discovered his mistake when she was actually in possession of a boarding party from the enemy. Another, laden with ammunition and clothing for the troops, struck on a rock coming up the Shannon, and became a total wreck, and all on board perished. Almost coincident with those events; one Long, an English captain, who had been for some time a prisoner in Galway, aided by some disaffected inhabitants, made his escape, and seizing a French frigate of twelve guns, doubled the northern coast and reached Carrickfergus in safety with his prize. In the mean time the expedition promised by the French Government was unaccountably delayed, until hope seemed illusory, and the necessity of an accommodation with the enemy was intimated in the civic councils of the nation. Through all these troubles Berwick and Sarsfield never faltered in their duty. The camp and the council alike demanded their attention. In both they seemed ubiquitous, and their exertions alone saved the Jacobite cause from utter prostration at this critical period. At length, after several weeks had elapsed, commerce began to revisit the coast; the immediate necessities of the army were relieved; the efforts of Tyrconnell were manifested in something more tangible than promises; arms and ammunition, as a first instalment of his good faith, arrived at Galway, coupled with assurances that the French king had at last accorded that consideration which the importance of their cause demanded, and appeals to their loyalty and patriotism to hold out until his arrival. The effect was soon observable: the despondence of the people gave way to hope; the discontent of the council was for a time allayed; and the generals turned their undivided attention to military affairs--Berwick to store the magazines, put the troops in order, and guard the different posts; and Sarsfield, with a few thousand available troops, to organize the Rapparees and direct their movements in frustrating the designs of the enemy.