Note 33 — Chapter XXVI
Reading edition
"If the Legion of Honour were not the recompense of civil as well as military services, it would cease to be the Legion of Honour. It would be a strange piece of presumption, indeed, in the military to pretend that honours should be paid to them only. Soldiers who knew not how to read or write, were proud of bearing, in recompense for the blood they had shed, the same decoration as was given to distinguished talents in civil life; and, on the other hand, the latter attached a greater value to this reward of their labours, because it was the decoration of the brave. The Legion of Honour was the property of every one who was an honour to his country, stood at the head of his profession, and contributed to the national prosperity and glory."—Napoleon, Montholon, tom. ii., p. 145.