The French authorities were the first to recognize Chapman's skills and attempted to convince him to stay and enter service for France, an offer he declined. After Chapman returned to London in 1756, the First Lord of the Admiralty tried to do the same, and came close to succeeding by using patriotic appeals to Chapman's British heritage. In his memoirs, Chapman wrote that he would likely have stayed had the current First Lord not lost his office soon after their meeting. Instead, he was recruited by the Swedish minister in Paris, Ulrik Scheffer, later Minister of External Affairs under Gustav III.