FRANCE HONOURS HEROES

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 75, 29 March 1930, Page 20

FRANCE HONOURS HEROES

ROMANCE OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR

Joseph Zalowski, tho 103-year-old farmer who has been nppointod Chevalier of tho Legion oi" Honour, probably holds the age record ipr the order, says a writer in an overseas paper. The Legioii of Honour, tho only glory tho .French Republic reserves for il3 soldiers and citizens, has been conferred, jnoro than once in striking and romantic circumstances. •To tire South Australian public the best known award is probably that which was strangely chronicled in an Adelaidp paper several years ago. It related to a famous French chef, whoso prof oaaional. compliment to Melba took the form of •«"- swoet, which has wide renown.. The.^cable mossage came through in this-form; "Escoflier inventor pqcho' Molba appointed Legion Honour.". Th'd Adelaide paper printed it "with a proud, headline, as "The French Government hag honoured Dame NelUo Melba with tho decoration of tho Legion of Honour. M. Escofficr, the well-known inventor, and M- Peohe are also included in the list." Tho order itself is the only one in Franco, and Napoleon was its first grand master. Legionaries swore to strive for liberty and equality. At tho Restoration^ the oid military and roligioua orders wore reinstated and tho Legion was given lowest rank; but the Revolution of 1830 restored- it to its unique position. Tho President of the Republic is now grand mastor of the order. In ordinary eifcumstanees twouty years of military, naval, or civil service must have- been performed before a candidate can be eligiblo for the rank of chevalier, but extraordinary services in time of war or extraordinary services in civil life admit to any rank. The Napoleonic insignia of tho order have been modified, and in the present order tho symbolical head of tho JRopublic appears in the centre, and a laurel wreath has roplaccd the Imperial crown} the inscription round the medallion is Rcpubliquo Francaise. few honours are coveted like the Cross of the Legion. Before the war some of the most violent social battles in Franco wore fought over the question whether tho award should 'go to women who had achieved distillation in the arts. Such awards were rare Rosa Bonheur, the animal painter, was the first woman to bb given the honour for other than heroic reasons; Madame Lieulafoy 'was decorated for archealogical work in Egypt in 1886; and Madame Curie,.the inventor of radium, also won the right to wear the crosa. These women wore recognised as outstanding, and many others, who seemed' to have'equal rights, were sternly denied. '' •" ' Madaino Sarah Bcrnhardt's name was mentioned wortei than once; but Soratt had flouted tho Comedie Francaise, and no French- Government looked on such rebellion lightly.,.. " j W. Francklyn Paris, who has written the history of Napoleon 'a Legion, includes an impressive portrait of a warscarred officer iv military uniform, decorated with the cross. This was the redoubtable Angelique Duchcmin, thrice wounded in the course of her seven campaigns, and the first woman to be admitted to the Legion. Napoleon, it appears, did not have women much "in mind when ho created the honour. He had the opinion, shared by most of the men of his day, that the fields of science, art, letters, and poli-

tics were reserved exclusively for men, and ho would.havo. said with Johnson: "A woman preaching is. like a dog's walking on his'hind iegs. It is not done well, but you aie buiprised to iiud it done at all." The talented Madame ile Gciilia in ISUB petitioned tho lhnpcror claiming tho Legion of Honour for herself, Mad' amc do. Nool, Fannio do Beauharais, Madaino Canipan, Madame. Lebrnn, and other famous women, but Napoleon rejected the appeal} nor was he softened by the plea of Madame do Stael. If the Frenchwoman wished for glory she had to win it.in the army. As. General in Chief of the Army in Italy, Napoleon himself gave official recognition to two women, camp followers of the army, who dealt in food, oxtias, and wines. Marie, ],loyer, vlvandicro of tho Fifty-first Brigade, received a gold chain* and a medal for having saved a wounded soldior, and reward of the samo kind was given to "Mother" Sarazin, the vivandiere of the Fiftyseventh Eegiment. Disguised as men, women fought and won glory. Virginie Chesquieie,'for instance, substituted herself for her brother, an unwilling conscript, For saving tho life of her captain on the field she was promoted to the rank of sergeant. In Portugal she saved the life of her colonel and captured two enemy officers. It was for this exploit that she was decorated with the Legion of HonoUr, and liV the same time honourably discharged from the army. Her sex had been discovored during her term in hospital. Josephine Trinquart was another valiant warrior, decorated during tho Eussian campaign' for killing a Cossack who attacked her battalion chief. These are legendary glories, " and there is no official record of women becoming legionaires until the days of Angeliquo Duchemin, who in' 1851 was mado chevalier of tho order. Angelique was a widow, who fought her campaigns as a "sous-lieutenant" of infantry. History has preserved little but her portrait, in which sho looks a remarkably fine old gentleman. Madamo Abjcot de Ragis received the cross in circumstancos of peculiar honour.1 Three burglars had attempted to set fire to the Mayor's office in the small city of Oiz»n. Madame de Eagis was stabbed and painfully wounded in attempting to save the building, but, she put the burglars tc flight at the point of a pistol. Napoleon 111. visited her hospital and unfastened hia* own Legion of Honoui cross to pin it upon her breast. The Legion of Honour is a coveted decoration outside France. Fivo queens wear the Grand Cross of the Republic —those of England, Belgium, Spain Rumania, and Ethiopia. Many men an« .women of letters in other countries an legionaries, Although there is nothing to prevent the French Governmeni making the award to any British citizen, it is not generally known thai certain formalities haye to be observer by the recipient. No British sub ject is allowed to wear the insignia oi any foreign order without first obtain ing the Sovereign's permission anc having'it duty registered in the Colleg< of Arms. Up to 1812 the accep'tanoi of a foreign 'order, with the consent o. the British Sovereign, gave the bcare lla right to the appelatiou of "Sir," am ? to the rank and other privileges of ; -Knight Bachelor.