Hey. Hey, bro. Hey… I’ve got 4 million francs here that say you’re not about to depose me.

[**The following takes place during the peace negotiations between Napoleon and the Austrians following his successful Italian campaign.**] >In the course of the negotiations, the Duke of Modena tried to bribe [Napoleon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Jacques-Louis_David_-_The_Emperor_Napoleon_in_His_Study_at_the_Tuileries_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg) with 4 million francs not to depose him. According to the not altogether reliable Bourrienne the Austrian negotiators, Gallo and [General Count von Merveldt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Maxmilian_von_Merveldt.jpg), even offered him a German principality, to which Napoleon replied: ‘I thank the Emperor, but if greatness is to be mine, it shall come from France.’ >[…] >Gallo’s only complaint was trivial, that he ‘wished it to be transcribed onto parchment that the seals should be bigger’, which Napoleon duly accommodated. _______________________________ **Source:** Roberts, Andrew. "Peace." *Napoleon: A Life*. New York: Penguin, 2014. 140-41. Print. **Original Source(s) Listed:** ed. Sanderson, *Bourrienne’s Memoirs* p. 54. CGI no. 1587 p. 962, May 27, 1797. _______________________________ **Further Reading:** [Napoleone di Buonaparte / Napoleon Bonaparte / Napoleon I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon) [Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Antoine_Fauvelet_de_Bourrienne) [Maximilian, Count von Merveldt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian,_Count_of_Merveldt)