eldest brother of the great emperor, Napoleon, who, after
having conquered a great many nations of Europe, and having deposed
their kings, supplied them with new sovereigns out of his own family.
Joseph was sent to Italy to be King of Naples. He did not particularly
want to be king, and he knew that the people did not want him, and after
he had been in Naples some time, reigning under his brother's orders
with no great success, the emperor determined to transfer him to Spain,
whose throne had just been made vacant. Having been informed that he
was to go to Madrid, Joseph obeyed, but he did not like it.

Moreover, the people of Spain did not like it, and after a time they
rose up in rebellion, and were assisted by the English and Portuguese,
and forced the king to fly from Spain.

The ex-king of Naples and Spain had various adventures in France and
Switzerland; and when the power of the great Napoleon came to an end, he
was obliged to fly, or he also might have been sent to Elba or some
other place equally undesirable, so he determined to come to America. In
a little brig of two hundred tons, a very small vessel to sail on the
ocean, he crossed the Atlantic in disguise, not even the captain of the
vessel knowing who he was. He was accompanied by his secretary; and when
the two reached America and made themselves known, they were treated
with great respect and attention. In fact, America owed so much to
France, that she was very willing to show her gratitude.

Now that he was well out of Europe, Joseph Bonaparte gave up all idea of
returning, and in deciding to settle here it was not surprising that he
chose to make his home in New Jersey. He bought a place near Bordentown,
on a high wooded hill called Point Breeze, and built a house, which was
truly splendid for those days. It had grand halls and staircases and
banquet halls, and it must have been larger and more imposing than Lord
Stirling's. His estate, which covered more than a thousand acres, was
beautifully laid out in drives and gardens and lawns, and everything on
the place was arranged in a style of beauty and grandeur.

It was three years before this great house, with its surroundings, was
finished, and ready for the ex-king's residence; and when at last he
went there, he lived in ex-regal style. His wife was not with him,
having remained in Italy on account of ill health, and her physicians
would never allow her to come to America. But he had two daughters wh