PITT’S SECOND PEACE PROPOSAL. 
45 
PITT’S SECOND PEACE PROPOSAL AND MALMESBURY’S MISSION 
TO PARIS. 
September to December, 1796. 
With the failure of Grenville’s plan to secure the aid of Prussia the 
pendulum of English foreign policy swung back again to ideas of 
peace, though Grenville himself was in no wise inclined to discontinue 
war. Pitt, however, oppressed by the knowledge of the rapidly in-f 
creasing financial difficulties of the English government, and believing 
that a change was imminent in the sentiments of the French Director}^ 
reasserted his authority in the Cabinet and resolved to attempt once 
more a negotiation for peace. In August, 1796, he had had a number 
of secret conversations with one Nettemenf,"a”Erenchman claiming to 
represent a pacifically inclined faction of the Directory.* Nettement 
gave a detailed and truthful analysis of the political situation in France 
and urged that England should propose to France a negotiation for 
peace in so frank a way that the Directory ‘ ‘ should be forced to de¬ 
clare openly if it desires peace or wishes to continue the war.”f The 
plan of negotiations proposed by this French agent was based more 
upon the idea of assisting the moderate party in Paris to gain control 
of the Directorate than upon any fixed belief that peace would be 
assured by such a result, but Pitt’s readiness to listen to these indirect 
suggestions evinces his real interest in the main question. Throughout 
the summer of 1796 the English partisans of peace were active in push¬ 
ing their policy. Auckland urged Pitt to renew overtures to France 
and was corresponding with friends in Paris, by whom he was informed 
that the exact moment had arrived when a proposal from England 
must be listened to if made immediately, I while in non-political circles 
the rumor was current that the Cabinet had already reached the decision 
to end the war. It was even asserted that the ministry and the oppo- 
* Smith MSS., 369. The papers of Joseph Smith, Pitt’s private secretary, show 
that Sir R. Woodford brought Nettement and Pitt together and state the substance 
of conversations. 
f Ibid., 370-371. O11 August 15 Nettement returned to Prance, but before leav¬ 
ing wrote out his advice. He believed the Directory to be opposed to peace, 
but that it was afraid of the moderate party which advocated it, and that if the 
Directory “should haughtily reject the conditions of peace proposed by England, 
I should not be surprised by a union between the Moderates, who wish for peace, 
and the Jacobins, who do not love the Directory, in order to replace them by other 
governors. But as long as the British Administration has not made known its 
views in an authentic manner, they will be protected from every sort of influence, 
and will govern the armies and the people despotically ” (p. 370). Nettement also 
advised a protracted negotiation, and it is interesting to note that the methods he 
proposed were those actually employed in Malmesbury’s negotiation at Paris. 
X Auckland to Pitt, July 30, 1796. Auckland, III, 352-354. 
