The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-07

France in the hour of need. medals of the order were presented to the many distin euished Frenchmen who rendered imnortant services. They were Counts DEstaing, De Grasse. and De Barras, Admirals and commanders in the French Navy: Chevalier de Touches, Of the Navy; Count de Rochambeau. Com mander- in chief, and to the Generals and Colonels of his army; also tol Cbevalier de la Luzerne Minister Pleni- notentiary and to Sieur Gerard, late Minister Plenipotentiary.
 The organization of this admirable society caused much discussion and even bitterness of feeling among those who nro,estcd against all class distinctions. For this reason many brave and hon. orable officers refused to join It. They would not countenance an organiza- tion whose tendencies as they reared would foster aristocratie pfeJudices and thus in a long measure frustrate the good they had accomplished py their sufferings and struggles. rms very attitude by limiting the member chin made the society more exclusive and socially more aristocrattc than us founders contemplated, as thelr lnten- tions were solely those expressed Tn their constitution.
 If seems almost incomprehensible to us of the present day accustomed as we to SOcleIlbS OI GlL SNSi "mystic," social, military, commercial, and literary, that the organization of this society should have aroused such active opposition among men or un- doubted good sense and good feeling. Franklin, the wise and imperturbahle statesman, then at the French court, seeing the eagerness with which the nobles decorated themselves with the order and the remarkable condescen- sion of the King in permitting this ac- tion. when all other foreign orders were forbidden, hastened to use the powerful weapon of ridicule against an institution which he viewed not only with disgust but alarm. He fell upon the motto and the device with equal scorn. He declared they were puzzles and he forthwith proceeded to prove his assertion. The Latin of the motto might mean almost anything and me bird of the device might be a bald headed eagle, or it might be turkey. The turkey was far the more honor able bird; the eagle was notoriously of bad repute. a coward and thief. while the turkey hated red coats and would attack them courageously."
 Samuel Adams. the bold and incor- ruptible patriot. was also severe in condemnation of military society and he spent hours in trying to discover why the people who had freely given 
 eq6al rights should as soon as these rights were secured be reconciled to "the odious hereditary distinction of families"
 In a letter to Eldridge Gerry in 17S4 he lamented Washingtons sanction of a step so unwise. The inclusion of the French officers placed the matter indeed, beyond all excuse and tolera- tion, for these same Frenchmen be- longed to the most arrogant aristocracy on earth. Such a step, he felt assured, was as dangerous as 1t would be for the United States to admit delegation of Frenchmen into Congress!
 John Adams took a firm stand with his cousin against the order. and Tn a characteristic letter to Lafayette ex- plained his position. He believed it to be contrary to the Confederation and against the constitutions of the sev- eral states, and founded without the consent of the Government. Where upon Lafayette in writing to the American commander, the President of the Society, says, Most of the Ameri- cans here are viruIent against our as- sociation" Jay blamed the army se- verely and informed Morris that the wisest men were of the opinion that the order did not reflect credit "eith- CT on those who formed 1t, or those who suffered it."
 Many of the people shared the opin- ions of these eminent patriots. The Massachusetts Legislature voted "the society dangerous to the peace, liberty and safety of the Union.''
 Rhode Island. little, but loud" dis franchised such of her citizens as be- longed to the order, and then South Carolina took the matter up in the person of Burke, an Irish Whig, who was Judge of the Supreme Court of the State. No letter would or could con- tain all that this hater of aristocracy had to say against society which he viewed with such bitter contempt. Un- der the pen name of "Cassius," the mo- blest Roman of them all, and with the motto, Sound ye the trumpet in Zion." he wrote a pamphlet, attacking the so- ciety in unmeasured terms. He had the qualification of finding his labor of hatred a great success. It was re- printed in every State. was widely read and attributed to many authors.
 copy chanced to cross the ocean and fell into the hands of no less a parsonage than Mirabeau. The fertile brain of this extraordinary man seiz- ed upon the contents of this document, which he proceeded to put into French. Bearing the stamp of this genius the pamphlet had some success in England and Germany, but no attack could dis lodge the Cincinnati from the admints- tration of the French. That 1t was well known to the people as well as to the nobility of that nation is proved by the question put five years later by Camille Desmoulins who in the midst of the revolution climbed upon table, and cried to the people of Paris, What shall be the color of our cockade? Shall 1t be green, the color of hope, or shall it be blue, the color of the Cincinnati?'
 But Washington, we know. was not the man to recede from position once taken. He continued as President of the Society until his death in 1799 having held this office for more than sixteen years. Supported by his ex- ample the other members remained firm They had weathered the storms of shot and shell. the hardships of hun ger and cold; perhaps they agreed with the homely proverb, Hard words break no bones"
 No less trustworthy a witness than old Father Time has proved that the Society cherished no evil designs against the State; that their motives were honorable and kind and a cred 1t to the men who founded the associ- ation.
 Our Bachelor Girls.
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