The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-27
FRANCES RED RIBBON.
How the Legion Of Honor Came Into
Being.

Inc NIdnu OOIdOn OF the Legion or
Honor worn by Napoleon, the founder OF
the order. is now exhibited as bric-a-brac
in some Napoleonic collection uptown, and
will very likely find a possessor here and
be hung up as 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
Prussian power, &c could hardly be a more
interesting object of contemplation. OF
the order itself, Goethe said that il was
the only one of like kind ever founded
upon a rational principal, which was do
ing scant honor to the Prussian order of
merit founded by Frederick, and then be-
come one Of the most coveted distinc-
lions which any royal house of the father
land had to bestow.
The law instituting the order. original
ing 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 its
decorations took place at the Hotel des
Invalides two years afterward. 1t was
intended as a counterpose to the orders
of the clergy and the nobility, and its
prizes were to be the reward of every
form of merit, irrespective of the rank
or place OF the recipient. In its original
institution there were fifteen cohorts,
each with it's chief town, and each con-
sisting of seven grand officers, twenty
commanders, thirty officers and $50 legion
airy knights. 1t superseded the old aris-
tocratic orders of France-That of st.
Michael founded in 1863 by Louis XII,
as rival of the great Burgundian Or
der of the Golden Fleece; st. Esprit,
founded by Henry III, 1915 and that of
st. Louis, which was created by the
grand monarque in 1898. The Oldest order,
that of st. Michael, was distributed by
Francis II. and Henry III with more lib
crafty than discretion. Under the first
eighteen knights were made at one time,
equivalent to the simultaneous distribu-
ton by Lord Roseberry of eighteen Or
ders of the Garter. enough to take the
breath away from every herald and capit-
ulary in Europe.
In the reign of the latter it came to be
known as the general dog collar. On the
whole, it was quite time to support its
waning prestige with a new insti-
tuition, but it was not allowed that the
famous old order should fall altogether
into disuse and discredit. 1t was given
as an auxiliary an accompanying dec
grafton with the new one, and, so re-en-
forced, recovered some of its old dig
nifty and value. Its members wore a black
ribbon and a collar of cockle-shells, rep
resented in portraits of Louis XII, Charles
VIII, Francis /. and other royal and
noble personages of that period. Louis
XIV. founded his order of st. Louis in
1893, it's ensign being the red ribbon, az
terward chosen by Napoleon for the Lee
gion of Honor in preference to white,
which as the emblem of purity ne had
first favored, but finally rejected it, as
it was the badge of the Bourbons. He
was willing to usurp their throne and
royal prerogatives, but for some obscure
49, n- inf 6al l.
cate about appropriating their colors.
At the restoration, in 1914, the Bour-
bons did not venture to abolish the new
order, which had grown into great popu-
larity, but they restored the old ones, and
made them all as useful as possible. Civ
ing out new decorations in particular with
a liberality which rather cheapened their
value They adopted the absurd device
of presenting the image of Napoleon along
with that of Henry ~. on its crosses, a
usage corrected some years later in the
reign of Louis Philippe. Under Napo-
leon the order had come to embrace l05
grand officers 300 commanders, $50 off,
GERS and $3.50 knights, most of them, but
not all, being the reward of military
service. In 1924 the members had risen
to the number of %, 900, and as it was de-
creed that sentries should always ana
everywhere salute the red ribbon, whether
it was on the breast of soldier or civilian
the COnSldnCy anu ululllpiiClAy u Sd
lutes became ridiculous 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 resus-
citated But the bourgeois king was Law
ish in bestowing the new order, and in
1913 it's membership had reached $1,000,
and the provisional government endeav-
ored to suppress it as vehicle for Off
cial corruption. A law to this effect was
passed, but it had speedily to be rescinded.
In 1852 Napoleon III. purified the order
and gave it new set of statutes, adding
another to its graduations of honors, that
of the Grand Cross, the highest of it's
decorations. After Sedan the government
forbade it's bestowal upon civilians, but
it was speedily compelled to restore it to
its old status. The people could do with
out a government, but not without an
order open to all classes. Between this
period and 1873 the enrolment of the order
showed an increase to 10000 members. a
burdensone multitude greatly exceeding
that of the wearers of the Henry III. dog
collar. and a reform of its ordinancy be-
came imperative. 1t was decreed that IL
should be given to no legislator while he
remained such, an Introduction which pre-
vented Victor Hugo from receiving the
Grand Cross when a senator. There were
likewise other restrictive and regulative
ordinances, the most important of which,
passed July Is, 1873, provided that only one
nomination should thenceforth be made for
every two that lapsed, a provision which
it was computed would in forty-six years
restore the order TO the proportions de-
signed by its founder.
A few women wear and have worn this
high and coveted trophy, Rosa Bonheur
being one, and among Others who are not
numerous all told, Juliette Dodu, tele-
graph operator, who, at the time of the
German invasion, tapped the wires and
thereby saved a French division from de-
struction. 1t will 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 it, from its
mighty founder to the present time. And
if her modest cross lay beside the imperial
grand Gordon in the collection uptown, it
might be a question which of them would
inspire the largest measure of interest.
Stranger-Zum Donnerwetter, now you
have cut my chin a second time. If you
can't shave better than that you will lose
ali your customers pretty quick.
BARRIERS Appropriateness at all! am
not allowed to shave the regular Gus
toners yet; l only shave strangers!'-