Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-24
NAPo1EoN,s SECRET cAsKET.
One Of the Treasures Of Malmaison,
Homo Of Josephine.


Paris Cor. Pail Mall Gazette.
La Malmaison! How the name speaks OF
the old times OF the empire. 1t was In this
charming property. close to Paris. that the
premier consul and Nine. Bonaparte stayed.
and it was here that Josephine, the repudl-
ated empress. lived surrounded by few
friends. She kept sort OF court here but
It was a poor and pathetic makebelieve.
On a stone bench in the garden sat Ma
poleon on the eve Of his departure for Elba.
His detected 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.
1t came into private hands. and through
private hands 1t has become state property
as a free gift from NJ. Osiris. Greek gen.
tleman There was some hesitation on the
part Of the state to accept. 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 completed state.
The real interest, indeed, Of Malmaison re-
sides in It's furniture: the house itself has
changed grievously changed, in general
appearance 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 aban-
doned consort and Of the whole family OF
Bonapartes.
Certain Of the furniture has come from
the national stores. and all has had close
and clear connection with the house, but
the most interesting pieces are the gift OF
the aged Empress Eugene whose still
stately figure is occasionally to be seen In
Paris. This furniture has been gathered
together by the empress herself and by
Queen Hortense. daughter Of Josephine
and the Comte de Beauharnais. who mar
ried Louis Bonaparte, King OF Holland, and
was thus the mother Of Napoleon III.
ha bifhartn
Empress Eugene In her Chateau of Arenen-
berg. by Lake Constance These are real
relics of the great man and are OF price,
less 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
admirable bust in marble of the imperial
chateiaine and portraits Of Egyptian pa
shas that Napoleon brought with him from
his campaign among the pyramids.
The most romantic of all the treasures
Is little box in mahogany. You would
say it was intended for a woman and had
contained gloves and ribbons: but its pur-
pose was much more serious 1t was the
private casket of Napoleon and hid some OF
his most secret and confidential papers.
There is a slit in the lid, not at first ap-
parent, through which giided the docu-
ments. The box Is closed by lock dissim-
ulated under small steel ornament. No
Jewel case of famous lady could tell more
secrets than this unpretenttous casket
which has sheltered an emperors intrigues.
There Is also bureau fashioned In ma
hogany and cunntngly ornamented with
figures In bronze. 1t. too. played Its part
In the inner history of Napoleonic enter
prise. In one Of its drawers the emperor
kept his military plans. with. l dare say.
his precious scheme for the invasion OF
England. 1t Is said that, sitting at this bu-
reau. Napoleon prepared his great cam
paign of 1905. which concluded with the
victory of Austerlitz. Before the desk
stands the arm chair that the great cap
tain used so that you have the feeling that
this is real trophy Of the times-some-
thing of the>"atmosphere'' of Malmaison.
After the. Napoleonic dispatch box the
next most fascinating object Is the harp
upon which Josephine played, and with
which. doubtless. In the early days of the
courtship. she charmed the ears Of the
young lieutenant of artillery. Napoleon
Bonaparte It Is a pathetic object. Some
FIVE or six of its striAgs are gone-a fact
eloquent, Is 1t not. Of the broken melody OF
Josephine's Mfe?-and the stars and bees OF
the decoration have also in part disap-
peared.