The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1893-11-15

Italy. Spain, Portugal, Russia and
Ereat Britain have retained the SER
vices of pages, and they remained an
institution in France under her latest
kings and emperors- At the court OF
Humbert they do not, however, con-
sist of special body or company
with only certain duties. but are Sc
lected for any royal function from
the palace for the duration of the
same.
The boys chosen by the governor
of the military school are those who
have won the greater number OF
good marks in a given time, and,
therefore, are entitled to wear on
their epaulets the badge of honor
which is gold number rising with
the number Cf school terms during
which they have incurred no pun
ishment-
They are sent to the palace by the
| general, who is the head of the acad-
emy, and there they don the cos
tune of the pages and perform their
| duties, which are neither heavy nor
unpleasant. They return to their
fellows laden with sweets, and, more
over, the fact of having been singled
out for the Office entities them during
the following term to extra privi-
leges and holidays.
In England there are pagesof state
and pages of the ''back stairs " Their
functions are not very accurately de-
fined, and in most cases are more
honorary and nominal than active
and practical However, they are
bound to appear in the suite of her
majesty in any of the full state core
monies of investiture, royal mar
riages, etc, which have been so rare
of late years,a< tho queen invaria bly,
now commands what is called semi
state.
Before the revolution Of '99 the
pages in France were in reality a
school of cadets. They had to prove.
l. fore admittance, four .uarters of
nobility, like the girls 10 sought
admittance at St Cyr, t. sir brevets
of good birth being signed by the
chancellor of the college of heraldry.
Whatever has since ',een said 10
the contrary, the pages had to work;
their studies included Ere 1ch. math-
ematics. fencing and riding. They
had dancing master w 10 was also
a teacher of department. the accom-
plishment of perfect manners being
at that time one of paramount i'm
portance.
There are to this day still living
one or two of the men. who as BOYS
sat on the footsteps Of he coaches of
Louis NVlll- or rode ty the carriage
doors of Charles Y. Bcnt and hoary
with age, these survivals of an ex-
tinct epoch have filled high posts in
old France, and have u record of
which younger men might well be
proud.
The pages were divided into''pages
of the greater and lesser sta able,"
pages of the king" pages of the
queen" of the Comte d'Artois, and of
Monsieur. Their hierarchy was
strictly observed. They began with
the lesser stable, rose to the higher,
and left it with the brevet of sub
lieutenant. The ambition of every
youth was TO enter the queens dra-
goons. the crack regiment of the time
The Uniform of the page was a coat
"a la trancaise," of the peculiar
shade al blue called bleu de roi, with
gold lace. breeches in red cloth,
waistcoat of the same, white hose,
buckle shoes, three-cornered hat and
on the shoulder flowing knot Of
ribbons.
This was the costume for the in
terror of the palace. says a London
letter to the New York Sun. When
on horseback the pages wore the blue
breeches and the high riding boots,
with the linen covers over the
breeches.
A royal page instructed with a
message by his master, either verbal
or written. had to be introduced i'm
mediately to the addresses of the
message, and never kept waiting.
No intermediary was suffered, aud
he was entitled to reception beit-
ting a "gentilhomme-
When on duty ut the kings table
the pages personally did no waiting
but occasionally the sovereign would
instruct them to carry some particu-
lar dish to one of the guests it
pleased him to specially honor with
his attention.
They accompanied the king in de-
tachments when he travelled or
changed his residence. During the
royal hunts they had charge of the
spare guns, and led the horses
brought for their masters fresh
mounts.
Many stories are contained in the
memoirs of the period concerning
the sharpness, readi"a and also the
mischief OF the page
Their misdemea and their
pranks, their praC okes, their
EiTtatioGs with the Of honor,
and even with ladir f,~ III tsbcr rank