on and despatched. In the late
December of 1796 a small French fleet, with about 14,000 troops {315}
on board, under the command of General Hoche, made for the southwestern
shores of Ireland. Tone was on board one of the war vessels in his
capacity as a French officer serving under General Hoche. The weather
proved utterly unfavorable to the expedition. The war vessels were
constantly parting company. The admiral's vessel, together with
several others, was lost to sight on the very first night, and the
heart of Tone grew sick as he saw that with every fresh outburst of the
tempest the chances even of effecting a landing grew less and less.
Most of the vessels entered Bantry Bay and lay helplessly at anchor
there, but there was no landing. Tone's despondency and powerless rage
as he foresaw the failure of his project might have been still deeper
if he could have known how utterly unprepared the authorities of Dublin
Castle were for any sort of invasion. Tone had observed already, as
the expedition made its way from Brest, that they had not seen a single
English vessel of war anywhere on the sea or around the Irish coasts.
But he could have had no idea of the manner in which the British
Government had intrusted the keeping of the island to the protection of
the winds and of the fates. A letter written from Dublin by Elizabeth
Moira Hastings, widow of the first Earl of Moira, throws a curious
light on the state of things which existed among the governing
authorities at the time of the invasion, and amazingly illustrates the
odd rumors and wild conjectures which were floating about at the time.
Writing to a friend in a different part of Ireland on January 19, 1797,
Lady Moira says:

"Our escape has been miraculous: the French fleet left Brest . . .
mistook the Durseys for Mizen Head, and therefore did not make their
entrance into Bantry Bay till the 24th, on which very day the storm
arose and prevented the greater part of their fleet getting into the
Bay, driving the greatest part of them out to sea. You will observe
that it was on the 19th Lord Malmesbury had orders to quit Paris. He
undoubtedly had purchased intelligence at a high price, being duped in
that inquiry by the manoeuvres of the Directory, and gave false
information {316} to England. Had the French landed on the 18th or
19th, which they might have done, had they not mistaken the Durseys, we
should have had the French now governing in this metropolis.