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Tone scale would be undertaken; but weeks lengthened out into months, and, seeing nothing done, he found it at times hard to believe in the sincerity of the government. Although his loneliness and his scanty resources depressed him, he liked Paris and the French people, and looked forward, if nothing came of the expedition, to settling down therewith his wife. Money, for which he reluctantly applied, was not forthcoming, but a commission in the army, which he trusted would save him in the event of being captured from a traitor's death, was readily granted, and on 19 June he was breveted chef de brigade. With the appointment about the same time of Hoche to the command of the projected expedition matters assumed a brighter aspect. For Hoche, whom he inspired with a genuine interest in Ireland, Tone conceived an intense admiration, and on his side Hoche felt a kindly regard for Tone, whom he created adjutant-general. But even Hoche's enthusiasm was unable to bring order into the French marine department, and it was not until 15 Dec. that the expedition, consisting of seventeen ships of the line, thirteen frigates, and a number of corvettes and transports, making in all forty-three sail, and carrying about fifteen thousand soldiers, together with a large supply of arms and ammunition for distribution, weighed anchor from Brest harbour. Disaster, for which bad seamanship and bad weather were responsible, attended the fleet from the beginning. Four times it parted company, and when the Indomptable, with Tone on board, arrived off the coast of Kerry, the Fraternité, carrying Hoche, was nowhere to be seen. Grouchy, upon whom the command devolved, had still between six and seven thousand men, and in spite of the absence of money and supplies (for the troops had nothing but the arms in their hands), he would have risked an invasion. But before a landing could be effected a storm sprang up, and, after a vain attempt to weather it out at anchor, the ships were compelled to seek the open sea.

On New Year's day 1797 Tone, after a perilous voyage, found himself back again at Brest, whence he bore Grouchy's despatches to the directory and the minister of war. Reaching Paris on the 12th, he heard of his wife's arrival at Hamburg, but being ordered to join the army of the Sambre and Meuse under Hoche, it was not till 7 May that he obtained a short leave of absence, and joined his family at Groningen.

Meanwhile another expedition against Ireland was planning, in which the Dutch fleet was to play an important part. Tone was allowed by Hoche to accompany the expedition. He received a friendly reception from General Daendels, and on 8 July embarked on board the admiral's ship, the Vryheid, of 74 guns. But the wind, which up to the point of embarkation had stood favourable to them, veered round and kept them pent up in the Texel till the expedition, owing to shortness of provisions and the overwhelming strength of the British fleet under Admiral Duncan, had to be abandoned. Other plans were formed, and at the beginning of September Tone was despatched to Wetzlar to consult Hoche. Here a fresh disappointment awaited him. Five days after his arrival Hoche died.

Hoche's death broke Tone's connection with the army of the Sambre and Meuse, and he proceeded to Paris. He had lost much of his old enthusiasm, while the intrigues of Tandy and Thomas Muir [q. v.] against him and Edward John Lewins [q. v.] gave him a disgust for the agitation which it required a strong sense of duty to overcome. On 25 March 1798 he received letters of service as adjutant-general in the Armee d'Angleterre, and, having settled his family in Paris, he set out for headquarters at Rouen on 4 April. But as the spring wore on his scepticism as to Bonaparte's interest in Ireland increased. His doubts were justified, for when the news of the rebellion in Ireland reached France, Bonaparte was on his way to Egypt. He himself, when he heard of the rising in Wexford, hastened to Paris to urge the directory to equip an expedition before it was too late. His efforts were warmly supported by Lewins, but, owing to the disorganised state of the French navy, an expedition on a large scale was out of the question, and all that could be done was to arrange that a number of small expeditions should be directed simultaneously to different points on the Irish coast. Inadequate as this might seem to accomplish the object in hand, Tone had no doubt as to his own course of conduct. He had all along protested that if only a corporal's guard was sent he would accompany it. The first French officer to sail, on 6 Aug., was General Humbert, with a thousand men and several Irishmen, including Tone's brother Matthew. On 16 Sept. Napper Tandy, with the bulk of the Irish refugees, effected a landing on Rutland Island. Tone joined General Hardy's division, consisting of the Hoche and eight small frigates and a fast sailing schooner, La Biche. Three thousand men were on board, and they set sail from Brest on 20 Sept. Making a large sweep to the west with the intention of bearing down on Ireland from the north,