ne I am filled with conflicting emotions of delight and
envy, and Judge Methuen and I are wont to contemplate with regret the
opportunities we once had of throwing all these modern collections in
the shade.

When I speak of Napoleonana I refer exclusively to literature relating
to Napoleon; the term, however, is generally used in a broader sense,
and includes every variety of object, from the snuff-boxes used by the
emperor at Malmaison to the slippers he wore at St. Helena. My friend,
Mr. Redding, of California, has a silver knife and fork that once
belonged to Bonaparte, and Mr. Mills, another friend of mine, has the
neckerchief which Napoleon wore on the field of Waterloo. In Le
Blanc's little treatise upon the art of tying the cravat it is recorded
that Napoleon generally wore a black silk cravat, as was remarked at
Wagram, Lodi, Marengo and Austerlitz. "But at Waterloo," says Le
Blanc, "it was observed that, contrary to his usual custom, he wore a
white handkerchief with a flowing bow, although the day previous he
appeared in his black cravat."

I remember to have seen in the collection of Mr. Melville E. Stone a
finger-ring, which, having been brought by an old French soldier to New
Orleans, ultimately found its way to a pawn-shop. This bauble was of
gold, and at two opposite points upon its outer surface appeared a
Napoleonic "N," done in black enamel: by pressing upon one of these Ns
a secret spring was operated, the top of the ring flew back, and a tiny
gold figure of the Little Corporal stood up, to the astonishment and
admiration of the beholder.

Another curious Napoleonic souvenir in Mr. Stone's motley collection is
a cotton print handkerchief, upon which are recorded scenes from the
career of the emperor; the thing must have been of English manufacture,
for only an Englishman (inspired by that fear and that hatred of
Bonaparte which only Englishmen had) could have devised this atrocious
libel. One has to read the literature current in the earlier part of
this century in order to get a correct idea of the terror with which
Bonaparte filled his enemies, and this literature is so extensive that
it seems an impossibility that anything like a complete collection
should be got together; to say nothing of the histories, the
biographies, the volumes of reminiscence and the books of criticism
which the career of the Corsican inspired, there are Napoleon
dream-books, Napoleon song-books, Napoleon chap-books,