The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-12-11
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WEDNESDAY, DEC, II, 1901.
NAP0LEON'S ORDER.
The LEGION OF HONOR AND HOW
1T WAS FOUNDED.

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Despite the EldicuIe the Project mt
First Invited It's Inauguration
Proved That Napoleon knew
French Human Nature.
France owes the Legion of Honor to
Napoleon. All orders Of chivalry had
been abolished by the revolution and
had left a gap which It was not easy to
fill. They are mere gcegaws," said
Mongc, the chemist, who had taught
the reYolutionlsis how TO make gun
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 Gnamored 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 conscll d'ctat was invited to
consider the project of the institution
of the Legion of Honor 1t WAS ridl-
culed by many, notably by Moreau,
who as victor of IIohcnlindcn was bit
tcrly jealous Of the victor Of Marengo
AT q dinner party he sent for his cook
and said TO him iii the presence Of his
guests: "Miehel, | am pleased With
your dinner. You have indeed distin-
Ruished yourself. ! will award You Il
saucepan Of honor" Nine de Stael
was also satlricai upon the subject.
"Ah one Of the decoratcdi" she used
10 ask each guest who was shown into
her salon
But Napoleon had gagged human ma
ture correctly. His Legion of Honor
did meet felt want, ana It was def
nitely inaugurated on July II, 1901
Among the eminent men of science
ana men of letters on whom II was
then bestowed were included Iaplaee,
the mathematieIan; Lalande the AS
tronomcr, Guyier the naturalist, and
Ipgouye the pet. The most notable
name omitted was that of Bernardln
de St Pierre, lust then in disgrace for
ehamploHiHg Nine. de Stael, whom Ma
polcou had bani5hed, but he got the
decoration later on the Cntrcaty Of
Queen iIortense.
After Jena Goethe was decorated. \
little latter hi@h promotion In the order
was Given 10 General Lamarque, to
whom Sir Hudson Lowe had surrender
ed ut 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 III
Sicily" Very we'll; there is no harm
Ia letting Ills English colonel go He
Is not daugerous.' 1t seems not un-
likely That Sir Hudson Lowe remem-
hcrcd this safeasm when he was Ma
polcou's taller Il few years aftcrWHrd.
After NstReleen'5 downfall the qaes-
tion Of surpresslng the Legion of Hon
or arose Ghateauhriaud, whom Napo.
leon bad mol decorated strongly urged
It's abolition So did ruZ2o di Rorgo.
Marshals Victor, Marmout aud Mae.
donald opposed. After debate 1t was
decided to recognize and retain the or
der, not on any high moral or patriotic
grounds, but because Louis NNIlI
could not afford To make himself more
unpopular than he was already by
stripping people of their decorations
Chatcnubriand and Lamartnc consent.
ed TO accept The red ribbon, but II was
also conferred upon great number of
worthless personngcs aud so brought
into contempt
There have been many Legion of
Honor scandals since those days but
one of them SURPRISES all the others In
magnitude This IS, of course, the VII.
son scandal the history Of which,
though intricate, Is worth recalling.
The trouble may he said To have be
gun on the day On which Mile. Alice
GrcVy fen in love with an opera singer
who need not be mentioned here. lie
wanted to marry her and she wanted
TO marry him, and the papers We're be-
ginning 10 couple the two names in n
manner most embarrassing to the pres
ideut of tic republic. The president,
however, sent the opera singer about
his business and found his daughter
another husband, not Il very good hus-
band. hut 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 NJ, Grevy' 5
political supporters and was a ilnancler
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 Il paper called
lie Monilenr de fENposlton uniyer
Rele, 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 4 regular practice of selling the
Legion of Honor. or rather, of invit-
Ing people who wanted ii to bride him
TO use his influence to obtain ii for
them His uvertures We're presented
through his iaekals, Generals dAud-
Ian and Cafferel and Mines l.imousin
and Rata2Zi, aud the whole party had
10 stand In the dock together.
Wilson WAS sentenced to two years
Imprisonment, fine of 5000 francs
and FIVE years deprivation OF civil
rights. He appealed. and the court of
cessation annuilcd the Judgment. The
accused. said the judges. was obvious
~ guilty OF everything that he was
charged with. but as his offenses were
not anticipated by any punitive law he
could not be punished. So he retired
to the country and tried 10 live down
his had name. As he ultimately sol
himself elected conseiller general, one
must suppose that he succeeded in this
obiect.-pall Mall Gazette.
His Mission,
A lawyer was passing along thu
cfrpnt earrvins uuder his arm n law