The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-09-07
FLIGHT FOR NAPOLEON.
11anned by stephen Girard, Who
 hs to Have Spirited Emperor to Retreat in Virginia.

- to Retreat in Virginia.
 U<l{lmore American.
 The sale of colonial silver and antique furniture in the old King mansion, three
 s0rsa arHs Hs the present and the past in stately old nome. where q century ago fashion and wealth reigne1 and where centered the ty. Piece by piece the land was sold, 1ut the house, of solid brick, weathered the.storm and stands today monument tQ the past. Its present occupants are tie Barnes family, members of the King family by marriage They refused many Tempting offers for the plate and heir looms which have descended to them un- t,l. 1T the death of MT, Barnes threatened deefded advisabls to resort to a sale.
 But this Is of the present. or the past of the old home there Is an interesting legend with which Napoleon Bonaparte delphia merchant and founder of Girard College. are connected. In the King house at the beginning of the last cen Col King, a stately gentleman of the old school, with business and social con- necti6ns in Baltimore. Philadelphia and Waznington. Among his friends was Ste phen Girard Tradition has it that Col. 11& Girard had planned for the escape of %apolecn Bonaparte frcm France af- tsrethe second fall of Pa.is, disaster which he plainly foresaw.
 Mr.7Girard is said to have informed Na- polepn of his plan, which was to spirit him away to America. For this purpose the 2fastest clipper which MT; Girard H0chelIe. where Napoleon acceded to the plan. and after his abdication in Paris he llastened to La Rochelle to embark in hzlt pursuit and on the alert. and whextzhe reached the port he was alarm ed tozfind the harbor filled with the ships of aNIes. He realized the impossibfiity of reqckzng the clipper ship, and even if once aboard he saw the futilityl of es- cape from the harb3r. He did not long hesitate what to do. He selected the British warship Bei,erophon, then in the harbor, and went aboard, committing hin1neif. as he stated in a letter at the tixne. .'to the protection of tfenlawse of the most powerful, the most pessevering anH met generous of his foesfYVHe ht- f{& fealized at the time that he was siIr- rc11efing himself into life captivity and f2k the barren island of St. Helene was <e be his prison.
 MT. Girard's plan was to bring Napo- 1&<n to America and to land him on the coast of Accomac county. Va. whose xf1naerous inlets and bays afforded a most desirable for the ship. The resi- dentg of the interior were most hospit- able and would gladly have aided MT. Girard in concealment of the deposed em- per0r had such course been deemed necessary by developments in France and on the continent
 MT. Girard selected the eastern shore of Virginia as an asylum for Bonaparte, btczffse the Philidelphian had once lived there. and because. knowing its people, he knew he could trust them When the young Frenchman first arrived in Amer lea he settled in Accomac county. and 1t was thence that he removed to Philadel- phia[N
 But to return to the redoubtable Col. Kin& and his part, according to legend. in <tEe Bonaparte escape. Communica- ton was slow in those days There were nos steamships which crossed the ocean cables. Weeks were required then. where only days now count for voyage from Europe to Americae Col. King had heard of the battle of EWaterloo and of the overthrow of Napoleon, and when ru- nor reached Princess Anne that Napo- he believed Mir Girard's plans had car x3sd safely and that the greatest military zexIyar of the age was in America. The report of the landing seemed so well rnown that Col. King concluded that se- crecy had not been deemed a necessary ren6rted that Napoleon would yisH Pftn- r&Ea Anne. According to legend Col. Kinr ordered out the local militia, Of xrhich he was commander, and all pre- parations were made to march to the virxinia line, about fifteen miles dis sar,f fo meet Bonapavte. In the absence ~ more specific information as to the r5oyef,aent of the French emperor. the T.4arch was not immediately begun Ar ser waiting for several hours for news Srues. fully prepared to be called to- eSihef to essay forth to greet the great < me story of the origin of the intimacy