Overtures had been made to him, as early as 1807, to enter the Russian service, but Napoleon, hearing of his intention to leave the French army, compelled him to remain in the service with the rank of general of brigade.
The result of overtures made to him from India was that in 1877, when Lord Lytton, acting under direct instructions from Her Majesty's ministry, proposed to Shere Ali a treaty of alliance, Shere Ali showed himself very little disposed to welcome the offer; and upon his refusal to admit a British agent into Afghanistan the negotiations finally broke down.
The state rejected decisively the overtures made by Virginia in 1866, looking towards a reunion of the commonwealths.
Bocchus again made overtures to the Romans, and after an interview with Sulla, who was Marius's quaestor at that time, sent ambassadors to Rome.
Overtures were unquestionably made by Thebes for an alliance with Aegina c. but they came to nothing.
