Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1901-12-19
NAPOLEON'S ORDER.
THE LEGION or HONOR AND HOW
IT WAS FOUNDED.
Despite fhe RidicuIe the Project Al
First Invited Its Inauguration
Proved That Napoleon Knew
French Human Nature.

Proved That Napoleon Knew
French Human Nature.
France owes the Legion of Honor to
Napoleon. All orders of chiyalry had
! been abolished by the revolution and
had left gap which it was not easy to
! fill. They are mere geegaws," said
! Monge, the chemist. who had taught
the revolutionists how to make gun
l powder out of plaster of paris. Gee
gaws. If you WILL" the first consul an
swered but people like them. Let us
approach the question frankly. All
| men are enamored of decorations
the French more than any. They posi-
/ lively hunger for them. and they have
always done So
| This was at Malmaison in 1902. In
May the conseil d'etat was invited to
/ Of the Legion of Honor. 1t was ridi-
| culed by many. notably by Moreau,
who as victor of Hohenlinden was Bit
| terly jealous of the victor of Marengo.
At dinner party he sent for his cook
and said to him in the presence of his
! guests: Michel. | am pleased with
Your dinner. You have indeed distin-
guished yourself | will award you a
saucepan of honor" Nine de Stael
was also satirical upon the subject.
'Ah, one of the decorated?" she used
to ask each guest who was shown into
her salon
But Napoleon had gagged human ma.
ture correctly. His Legion of Honor
| did meet a felt want, and it was def
nitely inaugurated on July II, 1904
Among the eminent men of science
and men of letters on whom it was
then bestowed were included Laplace,
the mathematician; Lalande, the as
troDOmer: Cuvier. the naturalist, and
LegOuye, the poet. The most notable
name omitted was that of Bernardin
de st. Pierre. just then in disgrace for
championing Nine. de Stael, whom Ma
poleon had banished. but he got the
decoration later on the entreaty of
Queen Hortense.
After Jena Goethe was decorated. 4
little later high promotion in the order
was given to General Lamarque, to
whom Sir Hudson Lowe had surrender
ed at Capri What did you do with
him?" asked Napoleon. The king of
Naples had him exchanged for a Nea-
politan general who was a prisoner in
Sicily" Very we'll: there is no harm
in letting this English colonel so. He
is not dangerous" 1t seems not I'M
likely that Sir Hudson Lowe remem-
bered this sarcasm when he was Ma
poleon's jailer few years afterward.
After Napoleon's downfall the ques-
ton of suppressing the Legion of Hon
or arose. Chateaubriand. whom Napo-
leon had not decorated. strongly urged
its abolition. So did Puzzo di Borgo.
Marshals Victor, Marmont and Mac
donald opposed. After debate it was
decided to recognize and retain the or
der, not on any high moral or patriotic
grounds, but because Louis XVIII.
could not afford to make himself more
unpopular than he was already by
stripping people of their decorations.
Chateaubriand and Lamartine consent
ed to accept the red ribbon, but it was
also conferred upon great number of
worthless personages and so brought
into contempt
There have been many Legion of
Honor scandals since those days, but
one of them surpasses all the others in
magnitude This is, of course, the Will
son scandal the history of which.
though intricate. is worth recalling.
The trouble may be said to have be-
gun on the day on which Mile. Alice
Greyy fell in love with an opera singer
who need not be mentioned here. He
wanted to marry her, and she wanted
to marry him, and the papers were :
ginning to couple the two names in a
manner most embarrassing to the pres
ident of the republic The president.
however. sent the opera singer about
his business and found his daughter
another husband. not Il very good hus-
band, but the best husband he could
procure on the spur of the moment.
His choice fell upon NJ Daniel Wilson,
who had long been one of VI. Crews
political supporters and was financier
of some mark.
No sooner was NJ. Wilson established
at the Elysee than he proceeded to en-
rich himself by various means. Among
other things. he founded a paper called
lie Moniteur de rExposition Univer-
selle. which really covered traffic in
decorations. The whole story came
out in a state trial toward the end OF
1887. 1t was proved that Wilson had
made a regular practice of selling the
Legion of Honor or. rather. of invit-
ing people who wanted il to bride him
10 use his influence to obtain it for
them. His overtures were presented
through his jackals. Generals dAud-
Ian and Cafferel and Mines. LimonSin
and Ratazzi. and the whole party had
To stand in the dock together.
Wilson was sentenced to two years
Imprisonment, a fine of 5000 francs
and five years deprivation Of civil
rights He appealed. and the court of
cessation amnulled the Judgment The
accused. said the judges. was obvious
ly guilty of everything that he was