tumn, which is coming.' This clever reply disarmed the master,
and presently the protesting carnations were seen no more, but the
sarcasms and the pretended witticisms were not so easily checked. Thus,
in the spring of 1803, General Moreau, giving a dinner, summoned his
cook and said to him, in the presence of his guests, 'Michel, I am
pleased with your dinner; you have truly distinguished yourself with
it, I wish to give you a stewpan of honor....' Lafayette refused the
decoration, characterizing it as ridiculous. Ducis and Delille would not
accept it."

[Illustration: REVIEW IN THE PLACE DU CARROUSEL. FIRST EMPIRE. From a
drawing by L. Marold.]

The grand officers received a pension of five thousand francs; the
commandants, two thousand; the officers, one thousand; the legionaries,
two hundred and fifty. The poor daughters, or the orphans, of members of
the Legion are educated by the State; but it is not considered "good
form" to accept this honorable charity. A decree of the 30th of January,
1805, instituted a fifth degree in the order, superior to all the
others, which was designated as the grand decoration or the grand
eagle,--the number of these was limited to sixty. Later, the cross was
surmounted by an imperial crown. The decoration, at the period of its
founding, was in the shape of a star with five double rays, attached to
one of the buttonholes of the coat by a red moire ribbon. This ribbon
had at first an edging of white, but this edging was soon suppressed. In
the centre of the star was placed the head of the Emperor, crowned with
a wreath of oak and laurel.

At the present moment, this decoration, which has been retained by all
the succeeding governments of France, is passing through one of its
periodical, but never very important, periods of partial disesteem. The
somewhat inconsistent conduct of the administration of the Legion of
Honor with regard to those of its members whom it has disciplined and
those whom it has retained unquestioned on its lists, among those active
in the Dreyfus-Zola-Picquart-Esterhazy affair, has led to considerable
comment and disaffection,--even to resignation of the generally
much-coveted red ribbon by certain peculiarly indignant members of the
order.

In the year 1807, that of the peace of Tilsit, the Empire attained its
highest point. After the Concordat, which aimed to establish peace and
toleration in religious matters and the Legion of Honor, a system of
national re