A strong party, however, led by Lord Clare were in favour of clemency
wherever possible; and there seemed good reason for hoping that the
rebellion would slowly die out. Cooke, the Under Secretary, wrote
on the 9th of August: "The country is by no means settled nor secure
should the French land, but I think secure if they do not." Suddenly,
however, the alarming news came that the French were actually in
Ireland. Wolfe Tone and his fellow-plotters, undaunted by their
previous failures, had continued ceaseless in their efforts to induce
Napoleon to make an indirect attack on England by invading Ireland;
and if they had succeeded in persuading the French Government to send
an expedition two months earlier when the rebellion was at its height
and the English reinforcements had not arrived, Ireland must have been
lost. Once again, however, fortune favoured the English cause. The
first instalment of the French fleet, carrying 1,000 soldiers, did
not start until the 6th of August, and only arrived on the 22nd. They
landed at Killala, in Mayo, and were not a little surprised at the
state of things existing there. They had expected to find a universal
feeling of republicanism; but instead of this, whilst the Protestants
refused to join them, the Roman Catholic peasantry received them with
delight, and declared their readiness to take arms for France and the
Blessed Virgin. "God help these simpletons," said one of the officers,
"if they knew how little we care about the Pope or his religion, they
would not be so hot in expecting help from us!"

Arriving at the wrong time and the wrong place, the expedition was
foredoomed to failure. The French were brave men and trained soldiers;
but they found their Irish allies perfectly useless. They succeeded
in capturing Castlebar, and routing a force of militia; but
their campaign was brief; on the 8th of September the whole force