This was a measure which inflicted enormous loss and damage. At first,
the people raised the prices of goods in proportion to the decrease in
the value of the money, but James stopped this, by issuing a proclamation
fixing the prices at which all articles were to be sold; and having done
this, proceeded to buy up great quantities of hides, butter, corn, wood,
and other goods, paying for them all with a few pounds of copper and tin,
and then shipping them to France, where they were sold on his own
account. It need hardly be said that conduct of this kind speedily
excited great dissatisfaction, even among those who were most loyal in
his cause.
Captain Davenant was shocked at the state of things he found prevailing
in Dublin.
"I regret bitterly," he said, when alone with his wife and mother, "that
I have taken up the sword. Success appears to me to be hopeless. The
folly of the Stuarts is incredible. They would ruin the best cause in the
world. With a spark of wisdom and firmness, James might have united all
Ireland in his cause, instead of which he has absolutely forced the
Protestants into hostility. His folly is only equalled by his rapacity,
and both are stupendous."
This was said, one evening, when he had just returned from a visit to
Dublin, depressed and disheartened by all he heard there.
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