The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-08-25
NAPoLEoN's SECRET cAsKET.
One of the Treasures of Malmaison
 Home of Josephine.

D One of the Treasures of Malmaison,
 Home of Josephine.
 La Malmaison! How the name speaks of the old times of the Empire. It was in this charming property, close to Paris, that the Premier Consul and Mime. Bonaparte stayed, and it was here that Josephine, the repudiated Empress, lived surrounded by a few friends. She kept a sort of court here, but 1t was S pooreand pathetic make believe. On a stone bench in the gard en sat Napoleon on the eve of his de- parture for Elba. His dejected air showed only too truly that the death knell had been sounded to his fortunes. So the house is saddened through and through with history.
 It came into private hands, and through private hands it has become State property as a free gift from M. Osiris, Greek gentleman There was some hesitation on the part of the State to accept, writes the Paros correspond ence of the Pal Mail Gazette because there was no furniture to put within the walls; but that difficulty has been overcome, the house is furnished, and this week 1t will open to the public In a completed state The real interest, in- deed, of Malmaison resides in its furniture; the house itself has changed, a1oy n n1n- pearance and in decoration since the days when it had an imperial occupant. But the authentic furniture Is there to speak unerringly of Napoleon and his abandoned eonsort and of the whole family of Bonapartes,
 Certain of the furniture has come from the national stores, and all has had a close and clear connection with the house, but the most interesting pieces are the gift of the aged Empress Eugenie, whose still stately figure is oc- casionally to be seen In Paris, This furniture had been gathered together by the Empress herself and by Queen Hortense, daughter of Josephine and the Comte de Beauharnals, who married Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, and was thus the mother of Napoleon III. n
 It has hitherto been conserved by the Empress Eugine, in her Chateau of lArenenberg, by Lake Constance. These are real relics of the great man and are of priceless value. For the moment they have been placed, without much attempt at order in the hall adjoining the chamber occupied by Josephine Among these new objects Is an admir- able bust in marble of the imperial chatelaine and portraits of Egyptian pashas that Napoleon brought with him from his campaign among the pyramids.
 The most romantic of all the treas ures is a little box In mahogany. You would say 1t was intended for wo- man and had contained gloves and rib bons; but it's purpose was much more serious. It was the private casket of Napoleon and hid some of his most se- cret and confidential papers. There is a slit in the lid, at first apparent, through which gllded the documents. The box is closed by lock dissimu- lated under small steel ornament. No jewel case of famous lady could tell secrets than this unpretentins cask- ct which has sheltered an Emperor's in- trigues.
 There Is also a bureau fashioned in mahogany and cunningly ornamented with figures in bronze. It. too, played its part in the inner history of Napo- leonic enterprise. In one of it's drawers the Emperor kept his military plans with, I dare say his precious scheme for the invasion of England, It is said that, sitting at this bureau, Napoleon prepared his greab campaign of 1895, which concluded with the victory of Austerlitz. Before the desk stands the armchair that the great captain used, so that you have the feelings that this is real trophy of the times-some- thing of the 'atmosphere" of Malmai- son.
 After the Napoeonic despatch box | the next most fascinating object is the harp upon which Josephine played, and with which, doubtless, in the early days of courtship, she charmed the ears Of the young Lieutenant of artillery Napoleon Bonaparte. It is a pathetic l object. Some five or six of its strings are gone-a fact eloquent, is 1t not, oi the broken melody of Josephine's life?- and the stars and bees of the decoration