Undoubtedly a French statesman could not but wish for a counterrevolution in England.

The effect of such a counterrevolution would be that the power which was the most formidable enemy of France would become her firmest ally, that William would sink into insignificance, and that the European coalition of which he was the chief would be dissolved.

But what chance was there of such a counterrevolution?
The English exiles indeed, after the fashion of exiles, confidently anticipated a speedy return to their country.

James himself loudly boasted that his subjects on the other side of the water, though they had been misled for a moment by the specious names of religion, liberty, and property, were warmly attached to him, and would rally round him as soon as he appeared among them.

But the wary envoy tried in vain to discover any foundation for these hopes.
He was certain that they were not warranted by any intelligence which had arrived from any part of Great Britain; and he considered them as the mere daydreams of a feeble mind.