To put an end to these excesses and to restore peace and safety to the province, the “Protocol of the 3rd of August” was signed. In August the first French troops were landed on the Syrian Coast. It was a gratifying sign of the unanimity prevailing among all civilized Powers that although the state of Europe was at that time far from tranquil, the European nations were yet capable of unison in the cause of justice. It was certainly in the cause of justice that the forces of the Western world were brought to the Syrian coast, though political intrigue was busy circulating rumours such as are bound to be spread abroad when an expedition of this kind is undertaken by European Powers. That France should send troops to a country which, according to popular belief, she had coveted for years was, indeed, enough to excite world-wide attention. But opinion that mattered was inclined to assert that France had acted generously and loyally. It was, indeed, too absurd to profess the belief that intrigues in the East had given rise to these disturbances, and that the Christians themselves had caused the massacre so that France should achieve glory and influence. Undoubtedly there was in every Levantine town a host of Catholic emissaries, Jesuits, Lazarists, and the like, and it was only natural for Roman Catholics to use the name and invoke the protection of the Power which had once been the only Catholic Power known in the East. The expedition of 1860 was made at the instance of France, but according to an international convention all the Powers had to participate in it. A contingent of European troops, which was to be increased to 12,000 men, was to be despatched for the purpose of restoring peace. France engaged to furnish half of these troops at once. If it became necessary to increase the force beyond the stipulated number, a further understanding was to be arrived at among the contracting Powers. The Commander-in-Chief of the expedition was to enter into communication with the special Commissions of the Porte. All the Powers were to keep sufficient naval forces on the Syrian coast to assist in the maintenance or re-establishment of tranquillity there. The contracting parties fixed the term of the occupation at six months, being convinced that this period would be sufficient to ensure the pacification of the populace. These were the principal terms of this important Convention, as laid down in the Protocol by the representatives of Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia and Turkey at Paris on the 3rd August.