All agree
that there never was an expedition so completely planned, and in some
points so curiously furnished--the most beautiful ladies of easy virtue
from Paris were collected and made a part of the freight. Hoche's
mistress accompanied him, and his carriage was on board 'La Ville
d'Orient,' taken by the 'Druid.' The hussars taken on board that
vessel were those who guarded the scaffold at the execution of the
unfortunate Lewis--they are clothed in scarlet jackets trimmed with
gold and fur, and wear each the butcher's steel, on which they whet
their knives, to whet their swords with. It is reported that Hoche and
Reilly (one of the admirals) are gone off to America with seven hundred
thousand pounds in specie that was on board their vessel to pay the
troops. Others think the vessel has sunk, for neither of these
personages or the frigate 'La Fraternite,' which they were on board,
has been seen since they quitted Brest by any of the French vessels.
What a fortunate person Mr. Pitt is! and what a benefit is good luck to
its possessor! The troops are all marching back to their old quarters;
Cork and its environs indignant at Government for leaving them again to
the entire care of Providence. . . . It is a general belief among all
parties that the French will revisit Ireland, and at no distant
period--probably the next dark nights. If the storms now prevented
them they have learned how possible the attempt is, and how can such a
coast be guarded? There has been much show of spirit and loyalty, and
yet I thank God they did not land!"

The words of Wolfe Tone, taken from his journal, may be accepted as the
epitaph of the first French expedition. "It was hard," says Tone,
"after having forced my way thus far, to be obliged to turn back; but
it is my fate, and I must submit. . . . Well, England has not had such
an escape since the Spanish Armada; and that expedition, like ours, was
defeated by the weather; the elements fight against us, and courage is
of no avail."

{317}

[Sidenote: 1797--The French and Dutch to aid Ireland]

The French did return, as Lady Moira had predicted. They returned more
than once, but there was a long interval between the first and the
second visitation, and there were negotiations between the French and
the Dutch Republic--the Batavian Republic, as it was called--which had
been forming an alliance with France. Neither the French Republic nor
the Batavian felt any particular inter