Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-22
FRANCES RED RIBBON
How the Legion of Honor Came Into
Being
Large Increase in the MembershIp-
Number Receiving This Honor.
From the New York Tribune.

From the New York Tribune.
The Grand Gordon of the Legion of
Honor worn by Napoleon, the founder of
the order. is Low exhibited as bric-a-brac
In some Napoleonic collection uptown and
will very likely find a pCssessor here and
be hung up as a trophy in some private or
public museum. If it were the sword of
Frederick the Great, which Napoleon took
from Potsdam, but which was restored to
its place. where it yet hangs. trenchant
emblem OF the real foundation of the Prus-
sian power. it could hardly be more in
teresting object of contemplation. OF the
order itself. Goethe said that 1t was the
only one of like kind ever founded upon a
rational principle, which was doing scant
honor to the Prussian order of merit
founded by Frederick, and then become
one OF the most coveted distinctions which
any royal house of the fatherland had to
bestow
TIE law instituting the order, originating
with and supported by Napoleon. then of
the consulate and opposed by Carnot and
his followers, was enacted in May, 1902,
and the first distribution of It's decorations
took place at the Hotel des Invalides two
years afterward. 1t was intended as
counterpoise to the orders of the clergy
and the nobility. and its prizes We're to be
the reward Of every form of merit. ire
spective of the rank or place of the recip-
lent. In its original institution there were
fifteen cohorts. each with its chic! town.
and each consisting OF seven grand officers.
twenty commanders. thirty officers and
three hundred and fifty legionary knights.
1t superseded the old ariStocratic orders of
France: That of ST. Michael, founded in
1869 by Louis XI. rival of the great
Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece;
st. Esprit, founded by Henry III. 1913. and
that of ST. Louis, which was created by
the Grand Monarque- in 1913. The oldest
order, that of ST. Michael, was distributed
by Francis III and Henry III with more lib
crafty than discretion. Under the first
eighteen knights were made at one time,
equivalent to the simultaneous distribution
by Lord Ros3bery of eighteen Orders OF
the Garter enough to take the breath
away from every herald and capitulary in
Europe. In the reign of the latter 1t came
to be known as the general dog collar. On
the whole, IL was quite time to support Its
waning prestige with a new institution,
but IL was not allowed that the famous old
order should fall altogether into disase and
discredit. 1t was given as an auxiliary and
accompanying decoration with the new
one, and. so reinforced. recovered some of
it's old dignity and value. Its members
wore black ribbon and a collar of cookie
shells. represented in portraits of Louis
NJ, Charles VIII. Francis 1 and other
royal and noble personages of that period.
Louis XIV founded his order of st. Louis
In 1893. Its ensign being the red ribbon,
afterward chosen by Napoleon for the
Legion of Honor in preference to white,
which as the emblem of purity he had
first favored. but finally rejected II, as 1t
was the badge Of the Bourbons. He was
willing to usurp their throne and royal pre-
negatives. but for some obscure reason OF
taste or sentiment seemed delicate about
appropriating their colors.
At the restoration, in 1914. the Bourbons
did not venture to abolish the new order,
which had grown into great popularity,
them all as useful as possible, giving out
the new decorations in particular with
Iberalty which rather cheapened their
value. They adopted the absurd device of
presenting the image of Napoleon along
with that of Henry Nv on it's crosses, a
usage corrected some years later In the
reign of Louis Philippe. Under Napoleon
the order had come to embrace 1Oo grand
officers, 800 commanders, $50 officers and
o.2jO knights, most of them, but not all,
being the reward of military service. In
1924 the members had risen to the number
of 2SOJD, and as IL was decreed that sem
tries should always and everywhere salute
the red ribbon, whether 1t was on the
breast OF soldier or civilian. the constancy
and multiplicity of saluteS became ridic
ulouS as well as an oppressive physical
burden, and the custom was abandoned.
Louis Philippe was forced to abolish the
old orders restored by Louis XVIII, and
the three saints, Michael Esprit and Louis.
went down together no more to be re-
suscitated. But the bourgeois king was
lavish in bestowing the new order, and in
1913 its membership had reached $1,000,
and the provisional government endeav-
ored to suppress il as a vehicle for official
corruption. A law to this effect was
passed. but ii had speedily to be reScinded.
In 1852 Napoleon III purified the order
and gave Ii a new set OF statutes, adding
another to it's graduatons of honOrs, that
h.a lspara no q a
orations. After Sedan the government for
babe its beStowal upon civilians, but II was
speedily compelled to restore 1t to its old
status. The people could do without a gov
eminent, but not without an order open to
all classes. Between this period and 1913
the enrolment of the order showed an in
crease to 10000 members, burdensome
multitude greatly exceeding that of the
wearers of the Henry III dog collar, and
a reform of it's ordinancy became impeTa-
tive. II was decreed that ii shJuld be
given to no legislator while he remained
such, an Introduction which prevented Vic
tor Hugo from receiving the Grand Cross
when a senator. There were likewise other
restrictive and regulative ordinances, the
most important of which, passed July %,
1873. provided that only one nomination
should thencefOrth be made for every two
that lapsed, a provision which 1t was COM
puted would in forty-six years restore the
order to the proportions designed by it's
founder.
"A le" "OIleII wear anu nave "Olh lliS
high and coveted trophy, Rosa Bonbeur
being one, and among others, who are not
numerous all told, Juliette Dodu, telegraph
operator, who, at the time of the German
invasion, tapped the wires. and thereby
saved a French division from destruction.
1t viii not be disputed that the decoration
was as well placed upon her valiant and
patriotic bosom as upon that of any one
who has ever worn II, from its mighty
founder to the present time. And If her
modest cross lay beside the imperial grand
Gordon in the collection uptown, IL might
be a question which of them would inspire
the largest measure of interest.
OUR TREATY WITH ENGLAND.