with the government at home to abstain from further conspiracy; and finding himself at Philadelphia in the congenial company of Reynolds, Rowan and Napper Tandy, he undertook a mission to Paris to persuade the French government to send an expedition to invade Ireland. In February 1796 he arrived in Paris and had interviews with De La Croix and L. N. M. Carnot, who were greatly impressed by his energy, sincerity and ability. A commission was given him as adjutant-general in the French army, which he hoped might protect him from the penalty of treason in the event of capture by the English; though he himself claimed the authorship of a proclamation said to have been issued by the United Irishmen, enjoining that all Irishmen taken with arms in their hands in the British service should be instantly shot; and he supported a project for landing a thousand criminals in England, who were to be commissioned to burn Bristol and commit any other atrocity in their power. He drew up two memorials representing that the landing of a considerable French force in Ireland would be followed by a general rising of the people, and giving a detailed account of the condition of the country. The French directory, which possessed information from Lord Edward Fitzgerald (q.v.) and Arthur O'Connor confirming Tone, prepared to despatch an expedition under Hoche. On the 15th of December 1796 the expedition, consisting of forty-three sail and carrying about 15,000 men with a large supply of war material for distribution in Ireland, sailed from Brest. Tone, who accompanied it as “Adjutant-general Smith,” had the greatest contempt for the seamanship of the French sailors, which was amply justified by the disastrous result of the invasion. Returning to France without having effected anything, Tone served for some months in the French army under Hoche; and in June 1797 he took part in preparations for a Dutch expedition to Ireland, which was to be supported by the French. But the Dutch fleet was detained in the Texel for many weeks by unfavourable weather, and before it eventually put to sea in October, only to be crushed by Duncan in the battle of Camperdown, Tone had returned to Paris; and Hoche, the chief hope of the United Irishmen, was dead. Bonaparte, with whom Tone had several interviews about this time, was much less disposed than Hoche had been to undertake in earnest an Irish expedition; and when the rebellion broke out in Ireland in 1798 he had started for Egypt. When, therefore, Tone urged the directory to send effective assistance to the Irish rebels, all that could be promised was a number of small raids to descend simultaneously on different points of the Irish coast. One of these under Humbert succeeded in landing a force in Killala Bay, and gained some success in Connaught before it was subdued by Lake and Cornwallis, Wolfe Tone's brother Matthew being captured, tried by court-martial, and hanged; a second, accompanied by Napper Tandy (q.v.), came to disaster on the coast of Donegal; while Wolfe Tone took part in a third, under Admiral Bompard, with General Hardy in command of a force of about 3000 men, which encountered an English squadron near Lough Swilly on the 12th of October 1798. Tone, who was on board the “Hoche,” refused Bompard's offer of escape in a frigate before the action, and was taken prisoner when the “Hoche” was forced to surrender. When the prisoners were landed a fortnight later Sir George Hill recognized Tone in the French adjutant-general's uniform. At his trial by court-martial in Dublin, Tone made a manly straightforward speech, avowing his determined hostility to England and his design “by fair and open war to procure the separation of the two countries,” and pleading in virtue of his status as a French officer to die by the musket instead of the rope. He was, however, sentenced to be hanged on the 12th of November; but on the 11th he cut his throat with a penknife, and on the 19th of November 1798 he died of the wound.
Although Wolfe Tone had none of the attributes of greatness, “he rises,” says Lecky, “far above the dreary level of commonplace which Irish conspiracy in general presents. The tawdry and exaggerated rhetoric; the petty vanity and jealousies; the weak sentimentalism; the utter incapacity for proportioning means to ends, and for grasping the stern realities of things, which so commonly disfigure the lives and conduct even of the more honest members of his class, were wholly alien to his nature. His judgment of men and things was keen, lucid and masculine, and he was alike prompt in decision and brave in action.” In his later years he overcame the drunkenness that was habitual to him in youth; he developed seriousness of character and unselfish devotion to what he believed was the cause of patriotism; and he won the respect of men of high character and capacity in France and Holland. His journals, which were written for his family and intimate friends, give a singularly interesting and vivid picture of life in Paris in the time of the directory. They were published after his death by his son, William Theobald Wolfe Tone (1791-1828), who was educated by the French government and served with some distinction in the armies of Napoleon, emigrating after Waterloo to America, where he died, in New York City, on the 10th of October 1828.
See Life of Theobald Wolfe Tone by himself, continued by his son, with his political writings, edited by W. T. Wolfe Tone (2 vols., Washington, 1826), another edition of which is entitled Autobiography of Theobald Wolfe Tone, edited with introduction by R. Barry O'Brien (2 vols., London, 1893); R. R. Madden, Lives of the United Irishmen (7 vols., London, 1842); Alfred Webb, Compendium of Irish Biography (Dublin, 1878); W. E. H. Lecky, History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century, vols. iii., iv., v. (cabinet ed., 5 vols., London, 1892).
(R. J. M.)
TONGA, or Friendly Islands (so called by Captain Cook), an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about 350 m. S.S.W. of Samoa and 250 m. E.S.E. of Fiji. The long chain of islands, numbering about 150, though with a collective land area of only 385 sq. m., extends from 18° 5' to 22° 29' S. and 174° to 176° 10' W., and is broken into three groups, viz. the Tonga to the south, Hapai (which again is divided into three clusters) in the centre and Vavau to the north. The largest island is Tongatabu (the Sacred Tonga, Tasman's Amsterdam) in the southern group, measuring about 25 by 10 m., and 165 sq. m. in area, which contains the capital, Nukualofa. The vegetation is rich and beautiful, but the scenery tame, the land seldom rising above 60 ft.; Eua (Tasman's Middelburg), 9 m. south-east and 67 sq. m. in area, is 1078 ft. in extreme height, and much more picturesque, being diversified by rocks and woods. Vavau, in the northern group, is 55 sq. m. in extent and 300 ft. high. Next to these come the coral islands Nomuka and Lifuka in the Hapai group; Tofua, 2846 ft., Late or Lette, 1800 ft. and Kao. 3020 ft. high, which are volcanic and smaller. The numerous islets of the central group are very fertile. It is along the western side of the northern half of the chain that the line of volcanic action is apparent; the islands here (of which some are active volcanoes) are lofty. To the east the whole chain is bounded by a profound trough in the ocean bed, which extends south-westward, east of the Kermadec Islands, towards New Zealand. The majority of the Tonga Islands, however, are level, averaging 40 ft. high, with hills rising to 600 ft.; their sides are generally steep. The surface is covered with a rich mould unusual in coral islands, mixed towards the sea with sand, and having a substratum of red or blue clay. The soil is thus very productive, although water is scarce and bad. Barrier reefs are rare; fringing reefs are numerous, except on the east side, which is nearly free, and there are many small isolated reefs and volcanic banks among the islands. If the reefs impede navigation they form some good harbours. The best is on the south-western side of Vavau; another is on the north of Tongatabu. Earthquakes are not infrequent. From 1845 to 1857 volcanic eruptions were very violent, and islands once fertile were devastated and nearly destroyed. A new island rose from the sea, and was at once named " Wesley," but disappeared again. In 1886 there was a serious volcanic eruption in the outlying island of Niuafoou, and at the same time Falcon Reef, normally awash at high water, discharged sufficient scoriae and pumice to form a new island 50 ft. high. In 1898 the island had been washed away, but in 1900 H.M.S. " Porpoise " found that a solid core of black rock had been extruded 6 ft. above high water. All the volcanoes in the group were then quiescent.
Geology.—The line of volcanic action extends along the western side of the northern half of the chain. Some of the islands are built of
