Paoli was welcomed with the honours which he deserved, a pension of L1200 was immediately granted him, and provision was liberally made for his elder brother and his nephew.
About twenty years Paoli remained in England, enjoying the friendship of the wise and the admiration of the good.

But when the French Revolution began, it seemed as if the restoration of Corsica was at hand.

The whole country, as if animated by one spirit, rose and demanded liberty; and the National Assembly passed a decree recognising the island as a department of France, and therefore entitled to all the privileges of the new French constitution.

This satisfied the Corsicans, which it ought not to have done; and Paoli, in whom the ardour of youth was passed, seeing that his countrymen were contented, and believing that they were about to enjoy a state of freedom, naturally wished to return to his native country.

He resigned his pension in the year 1790, and appeared at the bar of the Assembly with the Corsican deputies, when they took the oath of fidelity to France.