EPHEMERAL DECORATIONS

It is hard to realize that as late as 1817 a part of these United States was the scene of an attempt to set up an independent government; but such was the case following the second war with England (18121815). Florida was at that time a Spanish possession, while Mexico and others of the South American Spanish colonies had proclaimed their independence and severed their connections with the mother country. The Spanish commerce was preyed on by ‘privateers’ who were little if anything short of being pirates. Ports in which seized vessels could be sold were limited. Amelia Island on which Fernandina was located offered an excellent harbor whose advantages were apparent.

It was in the second decade of the nineteenth century that one Gregor MacGregor played his role in the history of the western hemisphere. In his youth he is said to have served in the British army but he went to Caracas, Venezuela, in 1811 and aided in the struggle for the independence of that country. He became an adjutant general under General Miranda, and later served under the great Bolivar, who awarded him the Order of Liberatador.

Five years later he conceived the idea of capturing Florida and visited the resident deputies of Venezuela, New Granada, Mexico and the Rio de la Plata, in Philadelphia and New York who commissioned him on March 31, 1817, to proceed on his own responsibility and to seize both East and West Florida. This commission was signed by Lino de Clemente (Deputy for Venezuela), Pedro Gaul (Deputy for New Granada, and as Proxy for F. Zarate, Deputy from Mexico) and Martin Thompson (Deputy from Rio de la Plata).

With this rather questionable authority MacGregor solicited funds and recruits for his enterprise in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Charleston. Under an assumed name, he purchased a schooner at the latter city and proceeded first to Savannah where more recruits were obtained, and then to the island of Amelia, Florida, where there was a small Spanish garrison. Prior to his departure from Savannah and in connivance with merchants of that city, advance representatives had been sent to Fernandino to prepare the inhabitants of Amelia for the prospective freedom from Spanish rule. When MacGregor reached the port he had little trouble in capturing the town and overcoming its small garrison on June 29, 1817. After the Articles of Capitulation were signed, MacGregor ran up his flag, the “Green Cross of Florida,” which was a white flag with a green cross of St. George in the centre. On July 1, 1817, MacGregor issued the following Proclamation to the Inhabitants of Amelia and Florida.

The district called Araucania is in southern Chile and included the territory south of the Bio-Bio River to the Gulf of Ancud—that is, nearly all of the modern provinces of Bio-Bio, Arauco, Malleco, Cautin and Valdivia—from about 37° to 40° of south latitude.

The Indians of Araucania were numerous and warlike, and successfully resisted the Incas in the fifteenth century. From the time their territory was first invaded by Valdivia (1544), they waged continual warfare against the Spaniards. Valdivia was killed by them in 1553; so was his successor, Martin Garcia Loyala (1598). Twice the whites were completely driven from the country. While originally the Araucanian Indians had been roving and savage, they had by this time become agriculturists and cattle raisers.

Orllie-Antoine de Tounens (born 1820 died 1878) was an advocate or solicitor of Périgueux, Dordogne, France. Tiring of a small practice and dreaming of kingdoms beyond the seas, he left France at the end of June, 1858. His purpose was, he said, “to carry Christianity and the elements of civilization to the inhabitants of Araucania.” He embarked at Southampton and on August 22, 1858, arrived at the Chilean port of Coquimbo. In 1860, he entered the country of the Araucanian Indians styling himself Prince Orllie-Antoine de Tounens. On November 17, 1860, he declared a constitutional monarchy with himself as king. Three days later he annexed a neighboring section of Patagonia, taking the title of King of Araucania and Patagonia. Within a year he was in difficulties with the Chilean authorities, whose territory he occupied. He was captured and imprisoned in Los Angeles in January, 1862. After his trial he was sent back to France as a madman, where in 1863, he spoke of his kingdom as Araucania and Patagonia, or New France He spent much time in endeavouring to obtain financial assistance and adherents to his cause, writing extensively for various journals and published several pamphlets on his kingdom. To reward those who assisted him, he created the Ordre Royale de l’Étoile du Sud. The rules and regulations for this order were printed by Alean Levy, 61 Rue Lafitte, Paris, and the decorations were made by G. Lemaitre, 346 Rue St-Honoré of that city.

This decoration is a four-armed gold cross, double-pointed and ball-tipped, enamelled green and edged with white, having gold stars in the angles. In the center is a blue-enamelled oval bearing a white cross on which is superimposed a gold crown. The oval is encircled by a green laurel wreath with four white stars. The reverse oval of blue bears the gold initials O. A. surrounded by a white band inscribed in gold A USPICE STELLA. The ribbon is red with narrow black and blue bands each side.

Antoine I, as he styled himself, had coins minted in Germany in 1874; One Peso and Two Centavo pieces. 1

ARAUCANIA Ordre Royale de l’Étoile du Sud

The occasion for this coinage is uncertain, as it is not known that he ever returned to South America. He died in 1878 and was succeeded by his son, who appears to have taken the title of Antoine II, and who created new statutes for the Order of the Southern Star. The new style of cross was the same in all particulars save that the reverse bore ARAUCANIE PATAGONIE instead of Auspice Stella.

Antoine II also created a silver medal 35 mm. in diameter and surmounted by a laurel wreath. On the obverse is his bust encircled by the inscription ANTOINE II ROI D’ARAUCANIE ET DE PATAGONIE.* On the reverse is the figure of a horse bearing a nude man, with a laurel wreath in the right hand and a sword at the side. Above is JUSTITIA ET PAX and below in the field are nine stars. The ribbon is of five equal stripes; green at the centre, white on either side and blue at the edges. These were the colours of the flag which Antoine I adopted in 1863.

No date is assigned for this medal nor do the authorities tell us what became of the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia, though this is not hard to imagine. It is not unlikely that specimens of the Cross and of the Medal have found resting places in the cabinets of collectors.

J. H. Lawrence-Archer, in The Orders of Chivalry, London 1887, page 332, gives two orders formed or projected by Ant. Orélie for Araucania and Patagonia. The Order of the Star of the South, or Constellation of the Southern Cross, and the Order of the Steel Crown.

In the writer’s collection is a proclamation of “Prince O-A. de Tounens, roi d’Araucania et de Patagonie ou Nouvelle France” dated December 9, 1872, wherein he mentions publishing in La Couronne d’Acier the proclamations and notices to his subjects and those who aided his cause. He also refers to the “Insignes de l’ordre royale de la Couronne d’Acier” and a “Médaille Commémorative” but neither a description nor specimens of either have come to my notice.

Mr. G. Lemaitre of Paris has the printed regulations for two orders; the “Ordre Royale de l’Étoile du Sud, institué le 24 Juin 1872 par S. M. Orllie-Antoine Ier. Paris ,” printed by Alean Levy, 61 Rue Lafitte. Also the Statuts de l’Ordre des Décorations et Médailles de la Constellation du Sud, Paris , printed by Guerie et Cie, 26 rue des Petits Carreaux. This latter says the order was created by Orllie-Antoine I and that final regulations were made by “S. M. Achille Ier.” The son had evidently changed his name from Antoine II to Achilles I. No date is mentioned in this pamphlet, but as Orllie-Antoine I died in 1878 it must have been after that date when these final regulations were printed.

There has been some controversy over the way the Prince de Tounens spelled his name. The correct form is shown in the publications above quoted; likewise, in others in the writer’s collection, Manifeste D’Orllie-Antoine Ier Roi d’Araucanie et de Patagonie, 1863, Paris, à la Librairie Thevelin, and Orllie-Antoine Ier. Roi d’Araucanie et de Patagonie, son Avènement au Trone et sa captivité au Chili, 1863, Paris, à la Librairie Thevelin, the later publication showing on its title page the arms of the kingdom. He signed himself “Pce. O.-A. de Tounens.”

Among the other unplaced decorations which might be classed as ephemeral, the above seems to have been instituted during the reign of Napoleon III by some unscrupulous persons whose main object seems to have been to fleece the charitably inclined citizens of France, by raising money for charities which never existed. Just who instigated this scheme is uncertain, but their plan was soon exposed and the few who had received the decoration were apparently only too willing to part with them.

The decoration is a blue-enamelled maltese cross, double-pointed and ball-tipped, with fleur-de-lis in the angles and surmounted by palm and laurel branches. In the centre of the cross is an oval medallion bearing the figure of St. Martin dividing his cloak with a beggar, surrounded by a red enamelled band inscribed CHANCELLERIE DE L’ OBOLE. The reverse is plain and the ribbon is light blue moiré. The illustration is from a specimen in the writer’s collection.

Chancellerie de l’Obole

Counani (Cunany or Cunani) is a small South American town on a river of the same name in the extreme northeastern corner of Brazil, near French Guiana, about three degrees north of the equator. The lands adjacent had long been a territory contested by France and Brazil, although its proximity to the equator makes it unsuited to settlement by northern peoples. It seems the last place one would select for a kingdom. In 1887, some French citizens decided to settle the disputes as to ownership by seizing the country and proclaiming the Independent Republic of Counani. Jules Gross of Vanves (Seine), a writer and author of several works on geography, was selected as President; Ministers were appointed and a headquarters in Paris was chosen. One of the first acts of the President was the creation of the Order of the Star of Counani.

Gross died in 1901 and a new ‘dynasty’ was founded by one, Adolphe Brezet, who proclaimed himself ruler under the title of Vyana Assu Ier. He created laws and arms for his republic, “de Gueules, étoilées d’argent aux rayons posés en coeur,” with a device JUSTICE ET LIBERTE, and below on a scroll JE MAINTENDRAI PAR LA RAISON ET LA FORCE. The so-called government was short-lived; after being driven from South America by the authorities of Brazil and French Guiana, and experiencing a rather precarious existence in Paris, the headquarters was moved to London in 1905.

This is all that has been learned of the Order of the Star of Counani, and two medals in the writer’s collection probably indicate the extent of the decorations of this short-lived republic. The medals are both in a low grade of silver or white metal and 30 mm. in diameter. One, the MEDAL FOR ORGANIZERS, has on the obverse the arms of the country as before described, a shield with a five-pointed star in the centre. This is surmounted by a semi-circle of rays and LIBERTÉ JUSTICE. Below and at the sides is a wreath, a branch of the coffee plant and a branch of maize or corn. Below this on a scroll is JE MAINTENDRAI PAR LA RAISON ET LA FORCE. On the reverse, in a plain field is AUX ORGANISATEURS DE LA PATRIE and a star. This medal is surmounted by a circular wreath of laurel.

The other, or SERVICE MEDAL, bears on the obverse a five-pointed star encircled by a wreath, the left branch being of the coffee plant, and the right, a branch of corn or maize. On the reverse is ETATS LIBRE DU COUNANI * BONS SERVICES. This medal is surmounted by an oblong oak wreath for holding the ribbon, the colors of which are not known.

The House of Lusignan was one of the most illustrious of the feudal families of France. Originating in Poitou, for a long time its members dominated the Marche and Angoumois. Raymond de Forez, the first chief of the house of Lusignan is best remembered because of his marriage with Mélusine. 1 Legend has it that before (and after) her marriage she was under the spell of an evil spirit; if she married, she was to be free of the spell for six days of the week. She married Raymond extracting a promise from him that he would not question her activities on Saturdays. His curiosity, one week, finally got the better of him and he looked through the key-hole of the door and saw her transformed into a half-human-half-fish like being. Mélusine learned that he had broken his promise and left him. The story of Mélusine has been made the subject of a romance by Jean d’Arras and has appeared in many languages, including English, Spanish, Dutch and German and has played a large part as well in the poetry of France and Germany. 2

She—Mélusine—seems to have been proudly recognized as the ancestress of the houses of Lusignan, of Luxembourg, even by the Emperor, Henry VII of the Holy Roman Empire (1282–1313).

Over the door of an old church at Fougères (Ille-et-Vilaine) is a small stone figure of Mélusine, with a mirror in her hand, combing her long hair. One of the towers of the chateau—a great mediaeval ruin—bears the name of Tour de Mélusine. The chateau was destroyed in 1166 by Henry II of England. The tower of Mélusine was built by Jeanne de Fougères, who married one of the house of Lusignan in 1256. To this day the inhabitants speak with pride of this tower, and of the Mélusine over the church door.

During the crusades of the twelfth century, Guy de Lusignan, a descendant of Henry, left his manors and his family to carry the cross in defence of the Holy Sepulchre. He became King of Jerusalem in 1186 through his marriage to Sybilla, sister of Baldwin, and six years later, King of Cyprus, having secured that island from Richard Coeur de Lion. His descendants reigned in Cyprus nearly three hundred years, the last of the line being Catherine Cornaro who had married James II of Lusignan, whom she survived. Princes of this house became kings of Armenia (1342 to 1475).

As the kings of Jerusalem were allowed to carry in their armorial bearings the Cross of Jerusalem, the descendants of Guy de Lusignan bore as arms (after 1342), a crowned shield quartered as follows: Cross of Jerusalem or Holy Sepulchre (a cross potencée with similar smaller crosses in each of the angles); Lusignan (a silver field with three blue bands across, and a lion brochant); Cyprus (a gold field, with lion), and Armenia (a silver field with lion). In some of the Crosses of the Holy Sepulchre, the small crosses in the angles are not potencée—that is, the ends are not shaped like a T. 1 But in the arms of the Lusignan family, as shown by illustration, these small crosses are potencée.

In the last quarter of the last century, there was developed in Paris quite a traffic in decorations and titles of nobility among a certain class. Advertisements frequently appeared in French papers, some of which are in the writer’s possession, and how many were victimized can only be estimated. There were several official investigations, but as the decorations offered for sale were not those of France, that government could do little to suppress the traffic. Among the decorations offered by one of the ‘Agents’ (as they styled themselves) were those of Venezuela, Hawaii, Liberia, Persia, Spain, Portugal, and the “Ordre Royal de Lusignan, Chypre, Arménie et Jérusalem (bleu, blanc, très recherché)—Chevalier, 1,200; Officier, 2,000; Grand Officier, 4,000 francs. (Pas de droit à payer; tolérée par le gouvernement).” 2 The prices of others varied from 1,000 to 5,000 francs. Half the required sum was payable on application, the other half upon delivery of the brevet or certificate of award which in some cases was quite elaborate. An Agent who signed himself “Charles” stated in October, 1887, that he could deliver the Order of Lusignan in eight hours, the Red-Cross of Spain in one month, and the others in three or four months. 1

In 1880, an effort was made to form a Society with the title Aréopage des Décorés de toutes les Nations; certainly a high-sounding name. 2 The central office was at 246 Cours Garabaldi, Palmi, Calabria, Italy (a remote enough place, to be sure). “Son Altesse Royale Mme. la Princesse Marie de Lusignan” was one of the chief patrons; certain facts concerning members of the Lusignan family living in the nineteenth century are known. The last Guy de Lusignan was born in Constantinople, March 2, 1831, son of Amaury-Joseph de Lusignan (known in Turkey as Youssouf Nar Bey). Guy was known in Turkey as Calfa (Chief) Nar-Bey. His wife, Marie-Louise-Josephine le Goupil was born at Allonville-Bellefosse (Seine Inferieure), December 28, 1833. Guy and Marie were married in Paris August 12, 1863. The birth of two children is recorded.

The ORDER OF SAINT CATHERINE is thought by some to have been founded as early as 1063 by the priests of the monastery of Saint Catherine established by Justinian I on Mount Sinai. It is here that the body of this Alexandrian Saint, according to the mediaeval legend, was believed to have been carried by angels on her death. This was a military order formed for the purpose of protecting her shrine and pilgrims to Mount Sinai.

It would be difficult to establish just when this order lapsed and there is much disputation as to the form of the insignia, in which, however, the wheel of Saint Catherine seems certainly to have figured. What concerns us here is the attempt to revive this order in 1891 by one styling himself Guy de Lusignan, Royal Prince of Jerusalem, Cyprus and Armenia, who gave to the the new order the name of the ROYAL ORDER OF SAINTE CATHERINE OF MOUNT SINAI. Statutes were framed and printed 1 stating the objects; which were to reward persons distinguished in the Arts, Sciences and Letters; or who contributed to charities which were patronized by the Grand Master. Needless to say Guy was the Grand Master, and as one of the articles of the statutes mentioned that applicants for admission should address their desires to him, 1 it seems to indicate that one might be able to purchase the honor. Women and foreigners were also admitted to membership.

LUSIGNAN Order of St. Catherine of Mt. Sinai

LUSIGNAN Order of Melusine

The insignia is a white-enamelled four-armed cross with double points and surmounted by a royal crown. In each of the angles is a gold cross of Jerusalem, similar to the badge of the Pontifical Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Superimposed on the cross is a red-enamelled sword, point up, and a wheel with teeth (the instrument of torture of Saint Catherine). In the center of the wheel is the arms of the House of Lusignan, previously described. On the band of the wheel appears the motto of the order, POUR BAILLER SA FOI. On the reverse band of the wheel is SAINT-CATHERINE DU MONT-SINAI, and in the center, 1063–1891. The ribbon is red, lined on the edge with black and light blue. The plaque is a crowned faceted star of eight points bearing a large model of the obverse side of the cross.

With the death of the last member of the Lusignan family about 1905, this, as well as the Order of Mélusine, became extinct. Leon de Lusignan, the son of Guy the founder of this new order, was living in Constantinople in 1882. This may account for the number of decorations of this family occasionally found there for sale.

When a person was honoured (?) with this decoration, he evidently had to purchase the insignia, as a footnote in the statutes (page 9) states that it can be purchased of the principal makers of decorations in Paris.

ORDER OF MÉLUSINE. The only record of the foundation of this order is by a member of the Lusignan family who states it was created in 1186, 1 the year that Guy de Lusignan was crowned King of Jerusalem. It is said that Queen Sibylla founded the Order and took its name from the guardian spirit and legendary ancestress of the House of Lusignan. Sibylla was the sister of Baldwin (the Leper), the seventh king, and married Guy de Lusignan, the ninth king of Jerusalem. The objects of the society are humanitarian, scientific, artistic and religious, “et le dévouement à la Maison de Lusignan.”

The order appears to have been revived in 1881 by Marie de Lusignan, wife of Guy and the so-called Royal Princess of Jerusalem, Cyprus and Armenia. She was Grand-Mistress, conferred the grades, and signed the diplomas of nomination, but the statutes of the order state that the dignitaries could find (or buy) the insignias at the principal makers of decorations in Paris. Evidently these were not gifts on her part; and from correspondence and newspaper clippings 2 it seems that the order was easily obtainable, with a brevet also, if one were willing to pay the price, plus a small commission.

Article 13 of the Statutes of the Order states that “All applicants for the Order must address their request to the Secretary of the Order, at the Hotel de Lusignan, 48 Avenue Victor Hugo, Paris.” Inquiry at the above address in the summer of 1925 failed to bring any information about the family of Lusignan. The property had recently been sold and a large apartment house built on the site.

The cross of all grades is gold, save that of Chevalier, which is silver. It is a blue-enamelled cross potencée, with a small white-enamelled cross of the same form in each of the angles. Superimposed on this is a crowned shield enamelled with the Arms of Lusignan. The four parts of this shield carry the Arms of Jerusalem, of Lusignan, of Cyprus and of Armenia. The cross is surmounted by a royal crown. The statutes do not describe the reverse of the cross, and from known specimens they vary considerably. That in the writer’s collection bears a shield inscribed in relief, ORDRE DE MÉLUSINE 1186. Another piece known is plain on the reverse; and in still a third the small crosses in the angles are not potencée. The ribbon is light blue edged with white, the colors of Lusignan.

The Order of Mélusine was awarded to several Americans, among them being the Honourable John Welsh, once Minister to England, who in 1879 was created a Chevalier d’Honneur. 1 John Sartain, the Philadelphia engraver of note, was likewise awarded the order, probably after he had engraved a portrait of Marie de Lusignan.

MEDAL OF MERIT. This was created on December 25, 1898, at the Villa de Lusignan, Neuilly, Paris, by Guy de Lusignan. In the statutes concerning the medal, it states that the Prince resolves to follow the example of his ancestors, that of rewarding meritorious service to the Arts, Sciences, Industry and Humanity, not only among natives but to foreigners and to women worthy of decoration. The medal was of gold, having on the obverse the bust of the founder and the family motto, POUR LOYAUTE MAINTENIR. On the reverse is the inscription, MEDAILLE DE MERIT DE LA MAISON ROYAL DE LUSIGNAN CRÉE LE 25 DECEMBRE 1898. The ribbon is light blue edged with red.

It is believed that this medal, like the two family orders, Mélusine and St. Catherine of Mt. Sinai, was readily obtainable if desired, for a financial consideration.

ORDER OF THE SWORD OF Cyprus or SILENCE. This appears to have been founded by Guy de Lusignan in the year 1195 A. D. The decoration was an oval of gold, bearing in the center a gold-handled silver sword (point down) encircled by a gold band inscribed SECVRITAS REGNI. This was suspended from a collar of white love-knots interlaced with gold letters S and R—the first letters of the motto. Some writers call this the Order of Silence and give the insignia as a sword piercing the letter S, and the inscription PRO FIDE SERVANDA, the letter S signifying Silence, and the sword, defense of the faith. Mennen gives the insignia as the crowned Arms of Lusignan encircled by a collar of S’s (for Silence) from which is suspended an inverted sword piercing an S-shaped scroll inscribed POUR LOYAUTE MAINTENIR. The order flourished in Cyprus during the reign of the Lusignan family in that island. When they ceded the island to the Republic of Venice about 1476 A. D. the Doges of the Republic continued as Grand Masters until 1688, at which time the records of its continuance disappear. The order seems to have been revived in Turkey about 1885, and plentifully bestowed, probably by Prince Louis of Lusignan or Guy, who revived the Order of St. Catherine of Mount Sinai.

LUSIGNAN Order of the Sword of Cyprus and Silence

As several members of the Lusignan family were living in Turkey and Armenia during the latter part of the previous century, and as specimens of the decoration have been obtained there recently, it is probable that the order was continued and awarded on terms similar to that of Mélusine. A print of the last Guy de Lusignan in a booklet published in 1892 (in the writer’s possession) shows him wearing the collar of the order and the plaque. The latter is of three ten-pointed stars, one on the other, the middle one having ball-tipped points and in the center on a blue field, a gold letter S pierced by a silver sword.

ORDER OF SAINT BLAISE OF Armenia. This was founded in the twelfth century by the Lusignan kings of Armenia. It appears to have been short-lived and is not mentioned in some of the accounts of that family.

The insignia is said to have been a gold cross, though one authority says it was red, having in the center an image of the patron saint of the family, Saint Blaise.

A stroller through the Latin Quarter of Paris in the summer of 1903 would no doubt have been surprised to see chalked on the walls and signboards “Vive l’Empereur du Sahara” or “Vive Jacques Ier” and would have wondered what it meant or who it was “whose game was empires.”

The so-called “Sugar King of France,” Jean Gustav Lebaudy, died in Paris in 1883, leaving a fortune which was estimated at the time as 60,000,000 francs. One half went to the widow, the other half was divided between his two sons. Max Lebaudy, the younger, was known as the “Petit Sucrier” or ‘the little sugar bowl’; Jacques, the older, was styled “Le Grand Sucrier.” The latter began at once a life of luxury and extravagance. He became a prince of the boulevards and a lavish spender on actresses, dinners and automobiles. In June, 1903, he organized an expedition of adventure for commercial purposes, gathering around him many soldiers of fortune and some who were members of the Legion of Honour. This force, in three vessels, armed with sixteen rapid-fire Hotchkiss guns, with plenty of ammunition and small arms, landed on the West coast of North Africa between Cape Jubi and Cape Bojador, opposite the Canary Islands. “This shall be an Empire and on the spot I proclaim myself the Emperor of Sahara,” said Lebaudy. The territory thus taken had about 200 miles of coast line. It had never been fully occupied by any recognized power, and was considered one of the most dangerous coasts of Africa. The natives were a mixture of Moor and negro and were constantly at war with each other. It is said that Lebaudy selected Troya as the name for his capital, even though some of the Parisians, knowing the origin of his wealth, suggested that it be called “Sucreville.”

Some writers claim Jacques Lebaudy was never within a thousand miles of his capital city, but the landing by his expedition on this coast created much excited comment in the press in England and Spain, when it was charged with being a scheme of the French to acquire more territory. This was promptly denied by the French Foreign Office. Lebaudy sent an emissary to The Hague Tribunal to demand recognition of his Empire; he established a newspaper and adopted a pink flag on which was an L. He also founded THE ORDER OF THE SAHARA, with which he could honour his adherents and benefactors. An Emperor’s Guard was dreamed of, which was to have rivalled that of Napoleon I.

Needless to say, the movement amused, rather than worried, Europe. As subjects were scarce, it was suggested that these might be secured for five francs per day. Lebaudy went to London with Colonel C. E. Gourand as Chief Assistant and purchased a crown and robes, preparatory to his coronation; money flowed like water, but the great event never took place. The new Empire of the Sahara did not prosper; Lebaudy even refused to succour some of his men who were captured by the Moors, and the Paris Journal tried to raise money to fit out an expedition for their relief.

Jacques Lebaudy was next heard from in 1908, when he arrived in New York. To establish a legal residence, he rented Lock Box No. 1655 at the New York Post Office. He is said to have lost over a million dollars in his speculations in the stock market in 1910. He bought a place called “ Phoenix Lodge,” not far from Hempstead Plains, Long Island, where he dwelt for a while with his wife and his daughter, Jacqueline, who was born in 1905. His life there was troublesome to his neighbors as well as to his family; he was much away from home, always making a mystery of his travels and affairs, and his weirdly fantastic adventures which were occasionally the cause of international diplomatic exchanges. On the evening of January 11, 1919, he returned to his home and attempted to enter. He was met at the door by his wife and daughter and an altercation took place. After he had tried to choke his wife and seize the child, his wife shot him five times, killing him. She was tried by the Grand Jury and freed, her action being adjudged justifiable homicide, the verdict being “No indictment." Madame Lebaudy applied for and was granted letters of administration of his estate, which at that time was said to consist of but $30,000 of realty and of about $200,000 of personal property. After disposing of his American property, Madame Lebaudy and her daughter returned to France.

Search has failed to reveal the details of the Order of the Sahara, but the decoration is said to have consisted of a five-pointed white-enamelled star, edged with gold, with four similar stars in the upper angles, encircled with a green-enamelled laurel wreath and surmounted by a royal crown with crescent above. The ribbon is dark green edged with a red band for the Commander and with an orange band for the lower grades. Much research has failed to attribute this decoration to any other order, and it is shown here with a question of doubt as to its proper classification.

Between Siam and Annam in Southern French Indo-China is a section of country, occupied by a tribe of the Mois called the Sedangs, with a population of about a quarter of a million people, industrious and much given to agriculture. 1 This remote section was chosen by an adventurer for his kingdom. 2

Charles-Louis-Marie-David de Mayrena (and self-styled, Comte de Ray) was born January 31, 1841, at Toulon, of a sea-faring family and educated for the navy. He joined the Spahis of Cochin-China in 1862 and took part in their expeditions until 1868. He later served in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870–1871, was awarded the Legion of Honour for his valorous actions, and in 1887 returned to Cochin-China. In 1888, M. Constans, the Governor-General of that colony sent him into the interior to aid the natives in ridding the country of some troublesome Germans. Reaching Sédang (or Cédang) in his travels, he stayed some time assisting the chief of the Mois in the management of their affairs. To reward him for his labours in their behalf, the natives gave him the title of Seigneur. In June, 1888, he had himself crowned as King of Sédang (with the title of Marie I.) at Pelei-Agua, though he later selected Kon-Jeri as his capital. He also embraced the Mohammedan faith of his subjects. He adopted a flag, a blue field bearing a white cross, in the centre of which was a red star. To interest others in his venture he instituted orders and decorations of honour. In 1889, Marie I went to Hong-Kong where he lavishily bestowed his Order of Marie I on many persons of importance who were much embarrassed diplomatically. The French authorities repudiated him and his kingdom, especially when they intercepted a cablegram he sent to the Kaiser appealing for protection and offering in return the allegiance of himself and his Sédang subjects to Germany. Leaving Hong-Kong on a German mail steamer he went to Ostend, where he is said to have been imprisoned for debt. Here he had printed by Jules Daveluy, “ Le Royaume Sédang, Bulletin des Lois, Decrets and Ordonnances 1888–1889.” He later visited London in an endeavor to secure British recognition of his kingdom, but without result. During his sojourn in Belgium he managed to interest some people of that country in his venture and started eastward again with a few adherents. Arriving at Singapore, his plans were frustrated by the British officials who did not relish trouble with the French Indo-China authorities. Marie, roi de Sédang then went alone to the island ofTioman (or Tiuman) in the China sea, east of Pahang in the Malay Peninsula and a British protectorate. Here he lived alone fearing both the French and British, as he understood an order for his execution had been issued. He died in 1890. He lies buried in this remote Malayan village, his grave unmarked and his kingdom forgotten. His Belgian followers, left alone in Singapore, were forced to return to their native land, sadder, poorer and wiser men, as he had left no funds for them.

SEDANG Royal Order of Sedang Plaque

SEDANG Order of Merit Chevalier

THE ROYAL ORDER OF SEDANG was founded at Kon-Jeri June 30, 1888, as a reward for services rendered, with five classes similar to the Legion of Honour. The decoration is a white-enamelled four-armed cross ancrée, surmounted by a royal crown. On the obverse medallion of white enamel is the arms of the kingdom (a rampant lion facing left on a blue shield, with an earl’s crown above, and, below, a ribbon bearing the motto Jamais Ceder; the ermine mantling is surmounted by a royal crown), encircled by a brown enamelled band inscribed in gold letters MARIA (sic) REX SEDA NORUM and two laurel branches below. The reverse medallion has a gold M crowned, encircled by a band inscribed ROYAL SEDANG. The plaque of the order is of silver rays on which is superimposed a ball-tipped Maltese cross enamelled brown with its medallion like the obverse of the cross. The ribbon is orange-yellow edged with silver for chevaliers and with gold for other grades.

ORDER OF MERIT founded at Kon-Jeri August 5, 1888, of five classes, according to the decree “ Pour récompenser les lettres, les arts, les sciences, l’industrie et le dévouement à la maison royale.” The decoration is a ball-tipped white-enamelled Maltese cross surmounted by a royal crown, having on the obverse blue medallion a gold M crowned, encircled by a white band inscribed in gold MARIE IER ROI DE SEDANG, and on the blue reverse medallion MERITE SEDANG encircled by a white band inscribed GUNG DEH SEDANG * 1888 *. The ribbon is garnet red with a vertical white band each side. The plaque is a white-enamelled cross superimposed on silver rays with a blue medallion bearing a gold M crowned and MERITE SEDANG on a white encircling band.

The chevalier’s cross is of dark red enamel and uncrowned, having on the obverse blue medallion a gold M crowned, encircled by a white band inscribed in gold GUNG DEH SEDANG 1888. On the reverse medallion of blue is MERITE SEDANG with the encircling motto of MARIE. IER ROI DE SEDANG *; the ribbon is rose edged with white.

ORDER OF SAINT MARGARET. This was instituted at Kon-Jeri August 5, 1888, with four classes, as a reward for military merit. The decoration is a ball-tipped five-armed double-pointed cross, surmounted by a royal crown, bearing on the blue obverse medallion an image of the saint encircled by a band inscribed MARGARITA VIRGO, and on the reverse medallion is IN PUGNA RAPITUR. The ribbon is blue moiré edged with silver for chevaliers and with gold for the other grades.

Philatelists may be interested to know that there were four varieties of postage stamps issued.

SEDANG Royal Order of Sedang

SEDANG Order of Merit

The Princely Order of the Chevaliers of Saint Leon was founded November 18, 1898, by one who styled himself Dom Leon Prince Laforge de Vitanval. According to the statutes, the objects were meritorious; to honor the noblest and the most worthy, as well as those proficient in the Arts, Sciences and Letters. This would-be Prince was Sovereign Grand Master of the Order and the Secretary General was Henry Romain, styling himself, Louis, Marquis de Guiry.

Louis Leon Laforg was born about 1873 or 1874 at Honfleur, Department of Calvados, at the mouth of the Seine. At the age of twenty-eight he possessed a yacht named the Sphynx, the commander of which was Count Revol de Grigny, who when ashore lived in a sparsely furnished room and did his own cooking, but when on the yacht dressed most elaborately. Laforg frequently attracted the attention of the police and was before the Courts of Havre, of Asnieres in 1900, and of Paris in 1901. He claimed to be a Roman Prince, which title he said was conferred by Pope Leo XIII who had awarded him the Cross of St. Gregorythe Great on November 15, 1898. According to Le Journal, Paris, May 4, 1901, LaForg appears to have paid 22, 150 francs for his title. He also claimed that King Humbert conferred on him the Order of the Crown of Italy for his literary work.

At the court trial in Paris, on May 2, 1901, it was testified that he made a charge of from 20 to 80 francs for the ribbon of the Order of St. Leon, and demanded one thousand francs for the decoration and diploma. At the conclusion of this trial, Laforg was sentenced to six months imprisonment for defrauding and for illegally wearing decorations. Thus ended the Princely Order of Saint Leon.

The elaborate certificate of award was designed and engraved by J. Van Driesten of Paris, who, according to a letter in the writer’s possession, received but little in payment, save a decoration and title of Officer of the Order.

It is to be regretted that no description or illustration of the insignia could be obtained.

About seven hundred miles east of Brazil, in latitude 20° south and longitude 29° west, is a small volcanic pinnacle, the island of Trinidad, about four miles long by two miles wide, inhabited by seabirds and turtles. It was visited by Edmund Halley in 1700, by Amaro Delano in 1803 and by Richard Owen in 1882, and although known to the early Portuguese and English navigators, no one seems to have bothered about settling it or claiming possession of this veritable bit of no-man’s land. 1 The latest maps mark it as belonging to Brazil.

About 1888, one Harden Hickey, self-styled a “Baron,” who had been publishing a little-known journal in Paris, the Triboulet, suddenly abandoned the boulevards and started on a tour of the world in an English sailing ship, the “Astoria.” During the voyage the schooner stopped at the island of Trinidad, and Hickey resolved to colonize it. After five years of deliberation, in September 1893, he formally took possession of this rocky bit of land and declared himself its sovereign Prince, under the title of James I.

About 1894 he issued a four-paged printed circular, which for brazen effrontery is unique. He starts by saying that three years before he had married the only daughter of Mr. John H. Flagler, a well-known American millionaire. This was no doubt intended to impress the readers with his> wealth and importance. The circular further states that the government was to be a military dictatorship. The officers were to wear a moustache and imperial like the Zouaves of the Second Empire. The flag authorized was a yellow triangle on a red field, and the arms of the principality were a shield “d’or chapé de gueules” and an order of Chivalry, THE CROSS OF TRINIDAD, was created. The State was to have a monopoly of the guano, the turtles and the pirates’ treasure, which legend said had been buried there. The colonists were to be free to possess the “vegetation luxuriante de fougères, d’acacias et de Haricots sauvages, propres a la nourriture de l’homme.” Only white colonists could become partners in this venture, provided they had good social position at home and purchased a sufficient number of shares in government stock. This circular was signed by “Le Grand Chancelier Secretaire d’État pour les Affaires Étrangères” M. Le Comte de la Boissière, 217 West 36th Street, New York, États-Unis, another ex-Parisian journalist, by the way. The telegraphic address was “Cerchra, Newyork.”

Possibly the “baron’s” only source of income for the government was from the sale of an immense number of postage stamps sold to American and European dealers. Brazil seems still to own the island; the guano and the buried treasure if ever there, still remain and the turtles are probably undisturbed by the colonists with their moustaches and imperials.

THE CROSS OF TRINIDAD was founded in 1893 by James I., the so-called Prince of Trinidad, “pour recompenser les lettres, les arts, les sciences, l’industrie, les vertus humanitaires et le devouement a sa maison.” Such a phrase was in practically all the statutes of these unofficial or pseudo orders. Devotion to the house or kingdom doubtless meant contribution to their support or welfare. The insignia was a red-enamelled Greek cross edged with gold, having in the center a gold princely crown on a blue field encircled by a gold band. On the reverse medallion of blue was an Old English T. () The cross was surmounted by a gold princely crown with ring attached for the ribbon which was half red and half yellow. No specimen of this decoration has been seen. The above description is obtained from a printed circular in the Mss. Daguin, in possession of the American Numismatic Society.

Not content with having received or purchased decorations, some of which were unofficial or family orders, one, Dominique Margiotta, founded September 1, 1880, a Society called the ARÉOPAGE DES DÉCORÉS of all nations. The central office was at 246 Cours Garibaldi, in Palmi, Calabria, Italy—surely a most inconvenient place for a society with a world-wide clientele. A circular letter was issued to possible members inviting them to enroll. This was very flowery in its phraseology. The addressee was advised that he had been proposed as an Officier d’Honneur of the institution, provided he adhered to the Statutes of the High Court. These were cleverly worded. The first required an entrance fee of 20 francs, and the second necessitated the payment of another twenty francs, to receive the Silver Star of Virtue—surely a modest sum, and as exchange was normal at that time, this meant the payment of about eight dollars. No doubt it brought some financial relief to “Le Sauveteur Dominique Margiotta,” the Founder and President of the Council of this high-sounding organization. Another requirement was that all monies must be sent to the President personally.

One can read between the lines and readily imagine why the Society never became known throughout the world.

An elaborate seal as well as a motto was adopted, VIRTUS. FAMA IN POSTEROS. The silver Étoile des Vertueux was a perfectly plain six-pointed star, bearing on the centre the word VIRTUS. How it was to be worn, or if with a ribbon, is not mentioned in the statutes of the organization. In this same letter a list of the Protectors and High-Protectors of L’Aréopage des Décorés was given. Heading the list appears the name of “Her Royal Highness, the Princess Marie of Lusignan”; followed by Antonio Guzman Blanco, the Dictator of Venezuela; the President of Liberia; three of his European ministers and others equally important in the diplomatic world. Among the other items of infor- mation intended to impress the desired member are the honours of the President. The first announces he is a Chevalier of Honour of the Royal House of Lusignan etc. etc. Seventeen other high-sounding titles follow. It will readily be seen that this society was formed to fleece in a smaller way those victims of other chimeric orders heretofore described. Nor is it any wonder that the Décorés are not proud to wear these insignia, and that the collector may now and then secure them in the small antique shops.

The foregoing description of ephemeral decorations by no means covers all of those which were established by would-be princes, kings or emperors. The order of St. John of Greytown, Nicaragua, created by the American filibuster, William Walker, when he attempted to capture that country, is not included, for the reason that the territory of Nicaragua was recognized as independent at the time and Walker was merely attemping to gain its control. It should be treated under the medals and decorations of that country.

Many other similar decorations were created, and for these the reader is referred to J. H. Lawrence-Archer’s The Orders of Chivalry London, 1887, where a number are mentioned which apparently belong in this class. As no detailed description is given, they are omitted here. Perhaps some numismatic student will later be able to supply information regarding other of these transitory medals and decorations.

End Notes