I.I OK It LEGISLATURE. 



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In tl>e time of Augustus, the army consisted of 

 twenty-five legions. 



Legion is also used, proverbially, to signify a 

 large and indefinite number of persons or things. 

 I his term was revived in the time of Napoleon, and 

 has since been commonly applied to a body of troops 

 of nn indefinite number, and usually of different kinds. 

 Surh legions are mostly formed at the beginning of 

 a war, and dissolved at the close. Of this sort were 

 the English-German legion, and the Russian-German 

 legion, in the last war for the independence of Europe. 

 The French national guards were divided into legions 

 and cohorts. After the dissolution of the army rais- 

 ed by Napoleon in 1815, the remains of which had 

 retired beyond the Loire, the new French army was 

 divided into legions, which were named from the de- 

 partments. This arrangement, however, was abolish- 

 ed towards the close of the year 1820. 



LEGION OF HONOUR (legion d'honneur}; an 

 order instituted by Napoleon, while consul, May 19, 

 1802, for military and civil merit. The proposition 

 produced much debate in the legislative body, and 

 passed after a strong opposition. It was the object 

 of Napoleon to kindle a spirit of ambition, the most 

 necessary national element for the support of wars, 

 of which he foresaw that it would be necessary for 

 him to wage many, and for this purpose the institu- 

 tion was admirably calculated. At the same time, it 

 cannot be denied that, abstractly considered, it is to 

 be regretted, that a nation, which had just declared 

 itself so loudly for liberty, should appear so eager 

 for ribands an invention of those very times against 

 which the revolution was directed. Moreau, who 

 was altogether opposed to Napoleon, ridiculed the 

 institution. The cross of the legion of honour was 

 given to all who liad previously received a military 

 weapon as a mark of honour, and to a great number 

 of new members. Its effect upon the soldiers was 

 very great. After Napoleon's assumption of the 

 imperial dignity, the statutes received some modifi- 

 cations. The oath was originally as follows : " I swear, 

 mi my honour, to devote myself to the service of the 

 republic, to the preservation of the integrity of its 

 territory, to the defence of its government, its laws, 

 and the property by them consecrated ; to oppose, by 

 every means which justice, reason and the laws 

 authorize, all acts tending to re-establish the feudal 

 ytem, or to revive the titles and distinctions belong- 

 ing to it ; finnlly, to contribute, to the utmost of my 

 power, to the maintenance of liberty and equality." 

 After Napoleon became emperor, the form of the 

 oath was somewhat changed. The members swore 

 to devote themselves to the sen-ice of the empire, to 



the preservation of the integrity of the French terri- 

 tory, to the defence of the emperor, to the support of 

 the laws, ami of I lie property which they had made 

 sacrril ; (o combat, by all the means which justice, 

 reason ami the laws authorized, every attempt to re- 

 eMahlish the feudal regime, and to concur, with all 

 their might, in maintaining liberty and equality. The 

 decoration consisted of a star containing the portrait 

 of Napoleon, surrounded by a wreath of oak and 

 laurel, with the legend Napoleon, empereur et roi ; 

 on i he reverse was the French eade with a thunder- 

 bolt in his Uilons, and the legend lloiuieur et piitrie. 

 The star of the legionnaires was of silver, that of 

 the officers of gold, and was suspended from a red 

 riband with a white margin. The order consisted 

 of grand-crosses (grand aigle). who wore the cross on 

 a broad riband hanging over the left shoulder, and a 

 star on the left side of the breast ; of grand-officers, 

 who wore the cross in the button-hole, and a star, 

 somewhat smaller on the left side ; of commanders, 

 who wore the cross round the neck; of officers, who 

 wore the gold cross with a bow in the button hole, 

 and of legionaries, who wore the silver cross with a 

 simple riband in the button-hole. The legion was 

 composed of sixteen cohorts, each of which had its 

 seat in a different city, and contained 407 members; 

 the whole number was, therefore, at first, 6512. 

 Each cohort had a chancellor, treasurer and chief 

 the whole order a grand-chancellor and grand- 

 treasurer. The pension of a grand-officer was 5000 

 francs, annually; of a commander, 2000; of an officer, 

 1000; of a legionary, 250 francs. There was also an 

 institution for the education of the daughters of 

 members of the legion, of honour at Ecouen, under 

 the care of Madame Campan. After the restoration 

 of the Bourbons, the order underwent essential 

 changes. The head of Henry IV. was substituted 

 for that of Napoleon, with the legend Roi de France 

 et de Navarre; and, on the reverse, the fleur-de Us 

 took the place of the eagle. The grand-crosses were 

 limited to eighty, the grand-officers to 160, the com- 

 manders to 400, the officers to 2000 : the number of 

 the legionaries was left unlimited. New members 

 received no pensions, whilst those of the old members 

 exceeded the prescribed sum ; but on the death of 

 the old members, the new ones were to receive their 

 pensions. Foreign members received no pensions. 

 It was evident that the legion of honour was coldly 

 treated by the Bourbons, who restored the old orders. 

 The members created during the hundred days were, 

 of course, not acknowledged by the Bourbons ; but, 

 in 1831, general Lamarque obtained their acknow- 

 ledgment by a spirited speech, in the chamber of 

 deputies, for which they sent him a sword with an 

 inscription. Military honours are paid to the mem- 

 bers of the legion, as they are also to the bearers of 

 the croix de Juillet, which has been granted to 1528 

 persons who distinguished themselves during the 

 struggle of July, 1830. This cross takes precedence 

 of that of the legion of honour. 



LEGISLATION. See Law. 



LEGISLATIVE BODY (corps legislatif); an as- 

 sembly, in the time of the French consulate and em- 

 pire, consisting of 300 persons, which had neither the 

 right to discuss nor to initiate a law, but merely to 

 vote on a law proposed by the government and dis- 

 cussed by the tribunate (as long as that body existed), 

 in their presence. The tribunate, on the other hand, 

 had not the right to vote. It was an extremely lame 

 contrivance, showing the political inexperience of 

 the French at that time. 



LEGISLATURE, HOUSES or. Whether it is 

 preferable to have two houses of legislature or one, 

 has been a question on which politicians have main- 

 tained different opinions, though, at present, public 



