Says Von der Goltz, "A great number of human qualities are identical with great military qualities." War is a perpetual struggle with embarrassments, but nowhere in the whole system of warfare is there any dark corner which the magiçian's art can alone enlighten. Knowledge, and especially knowledge of human nature, enhances security, while ignorance of it is the beginning of moral dissolution. JOHN P. FINLEY, LEGION D'HONNEUR DE FRANCE. As it has occurred to the writer that an article on the Legion d'Honneur de France would be an appropriate theme for a military magazine, he begs to present the following to the readers of the UNITED SERVICE. Before treating directly upon the subject of the legion, it will be germane to refer to knightly orders of early days as precedents of those now existing. The first records of such orders are found in Roman history, that warlike people granting military decorations and distinctions for prowess, thus constituting a class set apart from those not so favored. The system was adopted by the Germans, among whom orders and codes grew into great importance in the development and defense of government, a citizen under the German plan becoming, upon being knighted, an active servant of the state and doubly subject to military duty. The knighting or distinguishing of men above their fellows developed in their breasts a self-esteem leading to the establishment of codes of conduct and precedence out of which grew the institution of chivalry, which by the twelfth century had become a positive force in Germany. The chevaliers, the sons of the barons, were instructed in all the polite learning of the age, receiving social and military training not acquired by others, and thus formed a distinctive class possessing valuable privileges. But soon knighthood, originally a military distinction, was conferred on civilians quite as frequently as upon soldiers as a reward for service rendered government or the community. The possessors of these chivalric distinctions naturally adopted devices embroidered or painted upon banners, shields, and armor, and thus they developed heraldry, first in notable use among the French soldiery, who in 1200 began the placing of distinctive emblems upon their shields "that no Norman might perish by the hand of another Frenchman." The Bayeaux tapestry illustrates the French soldiers as alone bearing shields having devices of heraldric character. In England in the year 1200 every person possessed of an income of ten pounds a year was forced to become knighted under penalty. In 1600, in Spain, the investiture of knighthood became so common that Cervantes conceived his immortal work, "Don Quixote," aimed to bring but into ridicule the entrancing romances of chivalry. At this time the Spanish had a saying that “formerly rogues were hung on crosses, now crosses are hung on rogues." Among the individual knights of the Middle Ages arose the communities of knightly orders, some military, others monastic, others charitable. At first these communities were all connected in some way with the early churches, but subsequently became more or less independent. The title of knight was synonymous with servant,-first, to religion; second, to sovereign; third, to "ladye." The conferring of a decoration by government then, as now, adds nothing to personal merit, simply emphasizes a condition; works alone are meritorious, the decorations baubles, but it is human to want to possess them. Originally nearly all titles of honor arose from the name of the employment of the recipient, but of latter days are without special significance. Nearly all barbarous tribes give titles to distinguish merit, our North American Indians being familiar examples. The most ancient orders existing in unbroken continuity are : 1. That of the Red Cross of Constantine, established in Constantinople about 330. 2. That of the Order of St. John, established about 1100. Of course the present degrees of quasi-knighthood of these two voluntary but very ancient associations-the mere shadow of the original orders are only sentimental, as membership among them is within the grasp of any reputable man desirous of joining the organization; but they still are representative of something which was once a power, and as such are worthy the respect of all men, especially as no other institutions of man have survived so long. All nations, except the great republic, have instituted, at some time or other, degrees of knighthood as recompenses for public service, but in the United States such distinctions, being considered undemocratic, are neither conferred by government nor does the government permit any of its servants to accept, without permission of Congress, a decoration from a foreign nation. Under the English practice, no subject of Great Britain, either in or out of office, is permitted to accept a decoration from a foreign government without a royal warrant authorizing its acceptance. The nearest approach to true orders of knighthood founded in the United States are those of the Military Orders of the Cincinnati, established at Newburgh, the head-quarters of the Revolutionary army, 1783, and the Loyal Legion, established in Philadelphia in 1864, both of army and navy officers, and membership in each descending by heredity in the male line,—this transmission of the succession affording stability to both orders. The first meeting for organization of the Society of the Cincinnati was held on the 10th of May, 1783, and on the 13th the articles of agreement were adopted, the object of the society being expressed in the following words: "The officers of the American army, having generally been taken from the citizens of America, possess high veneration for the character of that illustrious Roman, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus, and being resolved to follow his example by returning to their citizenship, they think they may with propriety denominate themselves the Society of the Cincinnati, the following principles forming the basis of the society: An incessant attention to preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liberties of human nature for which they have fought and bled, and without which the high rank of a rational being is a curse instead of a blessing. An unalterable determination to promote and cherish between the respective States that union and national honor so essentially necessary to the happiness and the future dignity of the American empire. To render permanent the cordial affection subsisting among the officers. This spirit will dictate brotherly kindness in all things, and particularly extend to the most substantial acts of beneficence, according to the ability of the society towards those officers and their families who, unfortunately, may be under the necessity of receiving it." At the second meeting of the organization it was determined to elect all those gallant officers of the French troops who served in America under Count Rochambeau, and present the medal of the order to the Chevalier de la Luzerne, Sieur Girard, the Count d'Estaing, the Count de Grasse, the Count de Barras, the Chevalier de Tousches, the Count de Rochambeau, and all the French generals and colonels. The eligible original membership in the Cincinnati was less than seven or eight thousand; but it is doubtful if many over two hundred and fifty ever assumed active membership, the original signatures numbering less than two hundred. The present membership is less than four hundred. A few years after the institution of the Order of the Cincinnati there was a great outcry against it. Justice Barker saying it created a class of hereditary nobility. Franklin ridiculed them as hereditary knights. John Jay said the order would divide the country into two factions. The General Court of Massachusetts said the order was dangerous to the peace of the Union. Thomas Jefferson saw in the order a germ to destroy the constitution and change the government from the best to the worst in the world. Samuel Adams said it was an odious distinction of families. John Adams said it is the deepest piece of cunning yet attempted. Governors of States denounced the order and legislatures passed hostile resolutions. But none of these disastrous results ensued. To the country, the order dreamed away into innocuous desuetude, but in the estimation of sentimental people it is a highly distinguished and much-praised heirloom. The Military Order of the Loyal Legion is too young yet to have any history not known to every American of average intelligence. Membership in it is a valuable distinction, and like that of the Cincinnati is inheritable. Of all foreign orders not of the nobility certainly that of the French Legion of Honor is the best known and most prized, and, as it is not far from one hundred years of establishment and having been sustained through many radical changes in governmental forms, it possesses a dignity and has shown a stability not held by any other order. Under the revolutionary and leveling sentiments of 1789 the French orders of chevalrie had been suppressed, as they were considered antagonistic to the new principles of equality, but by 1802, Bonaparte, as First Consul having acquired great power and influence, realized he could further strengthen his position and stimulate an intense emulation among his soldiers by the re-establishment of an order to take the place of the suppressed orders of St. Michel, St. Esprit, and St. Louis. He accordingly suggested the foundation of an order to be called the Eagle, subsequently changed to the LEGION D'HONNEUR, the membership in which should be open to civil as well as military aspirants, both receiving the same recognition. This proposition met with decided opposition as contrary to freedom and equality, the proposed chevalrie being called "vain futilities" and the titularies "hobby-horses." Bonaparte replied that the "hobbies" would be heroes. The bill finally passed the legislature on the 29th of August, 1802, and was announced much as follows: "In the name of the French people, I, Bonaparte, First Consul, hereby proclaim the following decree made by the legislature concerning the recompensing for military and civil services, to the effect that there be established an order to be known as the Legion d'Honneur. The decree shall be confirmed by the seal of the state, in the Law Bulletin, written in the Register of Judicial and Administrative authorities. The Minister of Justice shall be charged with the proclamation of the law." The order, modeled somewhat after a Roman legion, comprehended six thousand dignitaries, divided into fifteen cohorts each, with a seat in a different city of France. Each cohort, or battalion, comprised seven grand officers, twenty commandants, thirty officers, and three hundred and fifty legionaries or knights. The Roman legions military corps, composed exclusively of Roman citizens, were so invincible that the term legion has been for centuries significant of discipline and prowess, and as such the term has been adopted by many organizations. For example, in 1534 the whole French army was organized after the Roman plan, and at a later day, and nearer home, our own army of the United States, 1792-1796, was officially designated as the "Legion of the United States," the brigade |