There was great joy at court and amongst the French nation; the French army and navy considered themselves avenged of England's insults.

In London Admiral Byng was brought to trial; he was held responsible for the reverse, and was shot, notwithstanding the protests of Voltaire and of Richelieu himself.

At the same time the king's troops were occupying Corsica in the name of the city of Genoa, the time-honored ally of France.

Mistress of half the Mediterranean, and secure of the neutrality of Holland, France could have concentrated her efforts upon the sea, and have maintained a glorious struggle with England, on the sole condition of keeping peace on the Continent.

The policy was simple, and the national interest palpable; King Louis XV.
and some of his ministers understood this; but they allowed themselves to drift into forgetfulness of it.
For a long time past, under the influence of Count Kaunitz, a young diplomat equally bold and shrewd, "frivolous in his tastes and profound in his views," Maria Theresa was inclining to change the whole system of her alliances in Europe; she had made advances to France.