In France the true ruler was Madame de Pompadour, once the King’s mistress, now his procuress, and a sort of feminine prime minister.  Machault d’Arnouville was at the head of the Marine and Colonial Department.  The diplomatic representatives of the two Crowns were more conspicuous for social than for political talents.  Of Mirepoix, French ambassador at London, Marshal Saxe had once observed:  “It is a good appointment; he can teach the English to dance.”  Walpole says concerning him:  “He could not even learn to pronounce the names of our games of cards,—­which, however, engaged most of the hours of his negotiation.  We were to be bullied out of our colonies by an apprentice at whist!” Lord Albemarle, English ambassador at Versailles, is held up by Chesterfield as an example to encourage his son in the pursuit of the graces:  “What do you think made our friend Lord Albemarle colonel of a regiment of Guards, Governor of Virginia, Groom of the Stole, and ambassador to Paris,—­amounting in all to sixteen or seventeen thousand pounds a year?  Was it his birth?  No; a Dutch gentleman only.  Was it his estate?  No; he had none.  Was it his learning, his parts, his political abilities and application?  You can answer these questions as easily and as soon as I can ask them.  What was it then?  Many people wondered; but I do not, for I know, and will tell you,—­it was his air, his address, his manners, and his graces.”

The rival nations differed widely in military and naval strength.  England had afloat more than two hundred ships of war, some of them of great force; while the navy of France counted little more than half the number.  On the other hand, England had reduced her army to eighteen thousand men, and France had nearly ten times as many under arms.  Both alike were weak in leadership.  That rare son of the tempest, a great commander, was to be found in neither of them since the death of Saxe.

In respect to the approaching crisis, the interests of the two Powers pointed to opposite courses of action.  What France needed was time.  It was her policy to put off a rupture, wreathe her face in diplomatic smiles, and pose in an attitude of peace and good faith, while increasing her navy, reinforcing her garrisons in America, and strengthening her positions there.  It was the policy of England to attack at once, and tear up the young encroachments while they were yet in the sap, before they could strike root and harden into stiff resistance.

When, on the fourteenth of November, the King made his opening speech to the Houses of Parliament, he congratulated them on the prevailing peace, and assured them that he should improve it to promote the trade of his subjects, “and protect those possessions which constitute one great source of their wealth.”  America was not mentioned; but his hearers understood him, and made a liberal grant for the service of the year.[182] Two regiments, each of five hundred men, had already been ordered to sail for Virginia, where