The nominations and promotions from a lower to a superior grade are made twice a ear, on the 1st of January and the 14th of July. There are of course exceptions to that rule when the latter are justified by extraordi nary services and circumstances, as for in stance in time of war, but the Legion of Honor is the highest distinction of that kind which can be obtained in France; it is not granted easily, and there is no legionnaire who is not very proud to wear the badge of an order which has been famous ever since it was created by Bonaparte.
All officers, non-commissioned officers and privates in the army and the navy who are members of the Legion of Honor receive the following annual pensions according to their grade: Chevaliers, 250 francs ($50) ; officiers, 500 francs ($100); commandeurs, 1,000 francs; grands-officiers, 2,000 francs; grands-croix, 3,000 francs.
No pension whatever is paid to the legion naires who have been admitted to the member ship of the order for civil services.
When admitted or promoted, the legion naires have to pay to the Grande Chancellerie the following fees according to their grade: For the copy For the price of the patent of the badge The Chevaliers 25.00 francs 12.00 francs Officiers 50.00 67 . 50 Commandants 80.00 149.00 Grands Officiers 120.00 58.00 Grands Croix 200.00 240.00 The administration is entrusted to a Grand Chancellor who holds the seal of the Order, works up the annual budget, reports to the President of the republic all propositions con cerning the Legion of Honor, etc. A Secre tary-General, appointed by the President of the republic, represents the Grand Chancellor when the latter is absent for any reason whatever.
The Grand Chancellor is assisted by a Council of the Order which assembles every month for general purposes (management, budget, control of the regulations, vacancies arising from the death of members every six months), distribution of the available crosses among the different ministerial departments, discipline, etc. The Council consists of the Grand-Chancellor, president; the Secretary General, vice-president, and 12 members of the Order appointed by the President of the re public.
Membership in the Legion is forfeited when ever the legionnaire loses temporarily or per manently his rights of French citizenship. The
President of the republic is also empowered to suspend or suppress the use of the rights and prerogatives attached to membership of the Order, after a penal sentence of a civil or military court, and whenever it has been ascer tained that the legionnaire has acted in a dis honorable manner in certain cases where the law provides no penalty.
Of course, distinguished foreigners are ad mitted to the Order, but their admission is at the same time more easy and more difficult than is the case for Frenchmen; more easy because there are no restrictions as regards the length of time during which they have to make themselves serviceable, and more difficult be cause the cross is allowed only on account of rather high distinction. A law provides that foreigners are °admis et non reps') (admitted, not received), and form a contingent quite dis tinct from the French cadres. The foreign members of the Order have the same rights as the French members to a funeral with military honors.
Among the Americans who are or have been members of the Legion of Honor may be men tioned the following: Two weeks after the famous battle of Aus terlitz a decree signed by Napoleon, at Schoen brunn, on 15 Dec. 1805, ordered the creation of three schools for the education of the daughters of the members of the Legion of Honor. The first of these schools was estab lished in the Chateau d'Ecouen, near Versailles, in 1806; the second one, at Saint-Denis, near Paris, in 1808, the third one, at La Maison des Loges, in the forest of Saint Germain, in 1811.
The daughters of the legionnaires who have no fortune are admitted free of charge to these educational establishments; the granddaughters, sisters or nieces of the legionnaires are also admitted to the same establishments, but they have to pay 1,000 francs a year at the Saint Denis school and 700 francs at the Ecouen and des Loges schools. The total number of pupils admitted free of charge in the three schools amounts to 1,200, whilst the number of paying pupils is limited to 155 altogether. The Grand-Chancellier has the general control of the three establishments to which the pupils are admitted on his own recommendation to the President of the republic.