Order of Merit

“ Since this little account was written, the king has conferred on her the highest honour he could bestow on a woman, the Order of Merit, while the lord mayor of London and the corporation have given her the freedom of the City. Thus her life will end in the knowledge that she has gained the only honours worth having, those which have not been sought. ”

“ Even in the spiritual hierarchy, where it is easier to judge of merit, such a course would be utterly subversive of discipline. But there would be no political danger, and morally there would be great advantage, in pointing out all remarkable cases which illustrate the difference between the order of rank and the order of merit. Respect may be shown to be noblest without compromising the authority of the strongest. ”

“ Awards of the decoration of the Legion of Merit may be proposed to the President by the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Air Force, each acting upon the recommendation of an officer of the armed forces of the United States who has personal knowledge of the services of the person recommended. ”

“ No Class of Society can do without our Mammoth Work. SEE THE FOLLOWING PAGES FOR PARTICULARS OF HOW IT HITS EVERY WALK OF LIFE.
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YOU MUST HAVE THE ‘INSIDE. BRIT.’
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LORD KNOLLYS writes: ‘His Majesty commands me to say that he is so pleased with your INSIDECOMPLETUAR that he has decided to establish a new Order of Merit, to be conferred upon the few persons who have not contributed to its pages.’
The DUKE OF FIFE writes: ‘An excellent publication, but dear. ”

“ I. to be worn upon the Left Side of the Cloaks, Coats, and riding Cassocks of the Sovereigns and Knights-Companions, of the Prelate and Chancellor at all Times, when they were not adorn’d with their Robes, and in all Places and Assemblies (but not embellish’d with Pearls and Stones) that the wearing thereof might be a sufficient Indication to the World, of that Height of Honour they arriv’d to from the said most Noble Order, instituted for Persons of the greatest Merit and Worth. ”

“ Thirdly, It is no small Honour that accrues to this Order, that the Number of these Knights-Companions were never encreas’d, but as they were Twenty Six with the Sovereign, so they now thus continue, ut Pretium faciat raritas; for the infringing this Article hath split several other military Orders into Contempt and Ruin, as nothing more tarnishing, or throwing a sully on the Worth of Glory and Honour, than when render’d so vulgar, and indifferently disposed without Distinction and Merit, as is exemplify’d in The Order of the Star, and the now declining Order of St. ”

“ Servants take pride in the orders they receive; that our badge of honour is an ‘Order’ is a significant use of words. It is still true that ‘Order is heaven’s first law’ and order is the outcome of authority. ”

“ To authorize officers and enlisted men of the armed forces of the United States to accept decorations, orders, medals, and emblems tendered them by governments of cobelligerent nations or other American republics and to create the decorations to be known as the ‘‘Legion of Merit’’, and the ‘‘Medal for Merit’’. ”

“ The Order, as an Order, does not bestow the honour, but its members do not forfeit their right as knights to bestow it individually, and none among us are more worthy of admitting them to your rank than yourself. ”

“ It is ordained with a view to place all persons on a perfectly equal footing in relation to eligibility for the decoration, that neither rank, nor long service, nor wounds, nor any other circumstance or condition whatsoever, save the merit of conspicuous bravery, shall be held to establish a sufficient claim to the honour. ”

“ In the last Place, if we look upon the Statutes of its Institution, we shall find the Injunctions wholly Military, and so are the Words of Admonition pronounc’d at the putting on the Ensigns of the Order: And the Ground of the Institution (in the Preamble to King Henry VIII’s Exemplar) is said to be for the Honour of God and Exaltation of the Catholick Faith, joyn’d both with Piety and Charity, in establishing a College of religious Men to pray for the Prosperity of the Sovereign of the Order and the Knights-Companions, and to perform other holy Duties ”

“ And to all the distinguished princes, judges, men of learning, and other officers, whose business it is to maintain order and good government, and to all commanders in general—may God preserve them all in their dignities, in the nobleness of their health! ”

“ But to maintain things in their due order, so as to preserve to brave men their well-merited rewards and prevent underhand ambition from forestalling your honours, I make this rule in the honourable presence of your counsel, That no civil or military officer shall be promoted from any other consideration than that of his own merits; and he shall be disgraced who solicits promotion for any one on any other ground. ”

“ Not only the Order but each member is bound to take every opportunity of assisting every other by every method within his power. We employ them, we promote them, we give them the preference in every kind of patronage at our command. But these obligations are points of honour rather than of law. ”

“ I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forwardness, you have deserved rewards and crowns: and we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time my lieutenant-general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject, not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valor in the field we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people. ”

“ As we come still further down in the ages we find it established, as at present, that though a number of vacancies in the Order are reserved for peers of the realm, yet it is also conferred as the very highest distinction attainable on soldiers, sailors, and statesmen who have done very conspicuous service to the State, whatever their lineage. ”

“ It is also true that an officer holding a brevet below his present grade, and conscious of equal merit with his comrade who holds one above his present rank, will take equal pride in wearing the evidences of its appreciation if he be permitted to do so, especially if he can show that it was won in battle. ”

“ It is this: let merit be the main test for all appointments and promotions in the army. Let one or more of the subordinate grades be thrown open to the youth of the whole country, without distinction as to birth, or wealth, or politics; let them be kept on probation in this subordinate grade, and be thoroughly instructed in all that relates to the military profession ”

“ Whoever has observed the late distribution of military honours, will easily discover that they have been attained by qualifications very different from bravery, or knowledge of the art of war; he will find that regiments and companies are the rewards of a seasonable vote, and that no man can preserve his post in the army, whether given him as the reward of acknowledged merit, or sold him for the full value, any longer than he employs all his influence in favour of the ministry. ”

“ We persuade ourselves also that the important services rendered in this country by your Excellency to His Majesty's Government will be duly appreciated by His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, of whose discernment and justice we have had so many proofs, and will procure for your Excellency deserved approbation, and the high rewards reserved for distinguished merit. ”

“ Sir, you that desire to receive the Order of Knighthood, swear, before God, and by this Holy Book, that you shall not fight against the King, who now bestoweth the Order of Knighthood upon you; you shall also swear with all your force and power to maintain and defend all ladies, gentlewomen, widows, orphans, and distressed women; and you shall shun no adventure of your person in any way or war wherein you shall happen to be. ”

“ We endorse our assurance with an expression of the wish that, in whatever part of the British Empire your future life may be spent, it may be attended, as in the past, with honour, and, by the blessing of God, with health and happiness for yourself and all those you hold dear.
It is the prerogative of the Crown alone to bestow honours on those who have served their country well, and none have been better merited than those which you enjoy, and to which, we trust, additions may be made. ”

“ It is true, the civil service rules provide that the appointing power shall not be bound to appoint the one highest on the list, but to have his choice among the highest three—thus being permitted some discretion where the difference of merit may be trifling. ”

“ That in future the rank of general officer should of itself be sufficient to confer the full right of nobility upon all those who should arrive at that degree of military promotion; and that their heirs and successors, as well as their children, actually born and lawfully begotten, should be entitled to the same distinction; and that all general officers should enjoy all the rights and privileges of nobility from the date of their commissions. ”

“ If the character of the men who have served for ten years only, show that they have been brave, honest and regular during that period, they should also receive publicly a medal of merit, and thus become entitled, along with those who have served longer, and have received pensions, to the privileges of freemen in the cities, towns, and parishes, to which they originally belonged. ”

“ If the opinions of the gentlemen engaged in the Civil Service could be taken on the subject of promotion, it would probably be found that a very large majority of them would object strongly to what is called promotion by merit. ”

“ I should think a Board of Officers should be established to examine into the merits of Officers recommended for such honourable remuneration; and their fiat should either confirm the claim, or reject it altogether: a Badge of Merit would then be valuable. Indeed, if the power of the Board was extended to decide upon the merits for Brevet Rank, the service would gain by it. It is the value of a thing that makes it desirable. ”

“ Subject the essential features of the spoils system to a simple analysis and compare them with those of the merit system, and you will find, as I argued before the Governor of New York last spring, and as recently the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Long, has forcibly set forth, that the merit system furnishes the only method of appointment that is really democratic—the only one that is truly just to the people. ”

“ General Grant,—The expression of the nation's approbation of what you have already done, and its reliance on you for what remains to be done in the existing great struggle, are now presented with this commission, constituting you lieutenant-general in the army of the United States. With the high honor, devolves on you an additional responsibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. ”

“ The object of every rank is precedency, and every order may display its advantages to their full extent. The sovereign himself owes great part of his authority to the sounding titles and the dazzling equipage which he exhibits in public. The subordinate ranks lay claim to importance by a like exhibition, and for that purpose carry in every instant the ensigns of their birth, or the ornaments of their fortune. ”

“ If I was allowed to give one special piece of advice to a young officer, whether of the army or navy, I would say—Respect scientific men; associate with them; learn from them; find them to be, as you will usually, the most pleasant and instructive of companions: but always respect them. Allow them chivalrously, you who have an acknowledged rank, their yet unacknowledged rank; and treat them as all the world will treat them, in a higher and truer state of civilisation. ”

“ For instance, a man can have the Red Eagle order of the first, second, third or fourth class, and these may be complicated with a laurel crown, with an oak crown, with swords and with stars, etc. Even domestic servants, who have served a long time in one family, receive orders; and faithful postmen and other officials who have never appeared on the police books for having made statements against the government or the army are sure of receiving some sort of order. ”

“ S., with the gentleman from Virginia, that rank should have no effect on the opinions of the members of this House on such a subject as this. But, is it not singular that as to the many heroes who have served us during the Revolution, who have now gone to their long home, no notice has been taken of their merits by us, nor any step taken to confer upon them the honor now proposed to be conferred on this officer, whom I acknowledge to be meritorious? We have seen a Greene die, and certainly no man exceeded him in rank or merit, the General-in-chief excepted. ”

“ And how strangely also, and inconsistently, are honours conferred upon officers in our army—not for alone distinguishing themselves in action, but because they happened to hold a rank sufficiently high to entitle them to a certain command, or to be the head of a department, and to which the greater part of them had attained, perhaps, by money, well backed by interest; for an officer may have been in every action of importance, from the beginning of the present century up to Waterloo ”

“ Education ought to be made one of the essential requisites of an officer, and the reports on his proficiency ought to go direct through the proper superior from the bottom to the top, particularly if selection by merit is to receive a greater application for the future. ”