The unbounded confidence reposed in him during the interval of Tyrconnell's absence, had invested him with almost plenary powers, which had been exercised with a discretion and ability that pointed him out as the man for the time; public sentiment was undisguisedly in favor of continuing those powers; and his own heart responded to the wish, for he saw there were elements of success around which he, and only he, could call into action. His humiliation was the greater on this account: that though irrevocably bound to serve his king and country in any position, however subordinate, it greatly impaired his future efficiency; and the new appointment was viewed by all as another fatal step in the downward tendency of the Catholic cause. There was, however, a consideration which, when duly weighed, as no doubt it was at the time, must have lessened the poignancy of this neglect, and rendered it less intolerable. The Duke of Berwick had high claims to this appointment,--perhaps higher even than Sarsfield. He was the king's son, and had been Lieutenant-General since 1689: he was brave, and accomplished in the art of war; and there was no cause but his youth, why he should not have received it. That he ambitioned it, is plainly inferable from the tone in which he notices his "recall from a country so full of troubles," and from his disapproval of the manner in which his successor conducted the ensuing campaign. It would, in short, seem that King James, being a dependant on the good-will of the French monarch, had to bow to that will in resignation; that this new general was selected by Louis; and that Berwick, by his recall, was saved the indignity of being reduced to a secondary position. The result of this last mission to France, becoming known along the English lines, gave rise to mirth and ridicule among the soldiery, who might well pride themselves on the timely consideration of their own provident monarch, who left nothing undone that could contribute to their comfort or efficiency. Wherever they met the Irish soldiers, as they did along the river during the month of February, they taunted them with their repeated disappointments. The effect on the weak and vacillating was soon visible. Desertions became of not unfrequent occurrence among the soldiers of English descent, but those of the native race clung more faithfully to their cause with every reverse; but the general depression soon passed away, and all murmurs and despondent thoughts were lost in the notes of preparation.