Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-08-16
:
 ROYAL PAoEs.
Tho Boys in Blne and silyer Who Wait on
 Kfnns and Oyeena


 Tho Boys in Blue and Snyer Who Wait on
 Hings and Queens.
 It is only at the imperial and royal courts of Europe that the pretty page with the dimpled chin," so sweetly sung by the poet, and who constituted one of the most picturesque and TO- mantle features of medieval times, still survives.
 Royal and imperial pages range in age from twelve to sixteen years. They are appointed by the sovereign, enjoy pay, prerogatives and perquisites, much as do the grown-up attendants on royalty and are prescribed certain definite duties. The duties are, possi- ply, no more important than in the days of yore. when there was no postal service and the love-lorn princess was forced to rely upon the secrecy and the fidelity foi her page for the conveyance of messages to her knight or trouba- dour. But tact and discretion in per forming them are probably more neces- sary now than ever, owing to the popular craving for information con- corning the personal and home life of emperors and kings, and the attempts are often made to extract information of this kind from the pages or persons who imagine that because they are young their tongues are likely to be loose.
 To toughen them against such att tempts and qualify them for this ser vice the royal pages are subjected to very careful training. At the court of St. Petersburg, for instance, there is a regular college of pages, where they are educated and maintained at the ex- pense of the crown.
 Gentle birth is the first qualification for the post of royal page. At the courts of Vienna and Munich an ances- try of no less than sixteen generations free from plebleian strain on either fathers or mothers side is required in the candidates. In England and Rus sia so long nobility is not demanded. The pages of honor in the court of Queen Victoria are generally the sops of distinguished officers of the army or of high dignitaries of the royal house. hold. Thus, among the lads who at present hold the office of pages of
 
 year-old Sir Albert Seymour
 At the court of Berlin the pages fig are at all state ceremonies clad, like those of England, in blue and silver, and at thes court banquets they stand behind the chairs of the royal and im- perial personages These persenages, on rising from the table, sometimes ad- dress a few kindly words to the boys, and present f them with sweetmeats from the epergnes. Indeed, the late Emperor Frederick was wont to amuse himself by examining their mouths full of bonb6ns dntil they could not speak, and then plying them with questions demanding an immediate answer, or else cracking jokes that were sure to make them laugh. These pages are chosen for the occasion only from among the best looking boys of the School of Gsasts, nearly all the mem- hers of whjchsare of noble birth. This Schoal ofsgaaets is a sort of GernAp West Poiut,fbut. the pupils enter at tbe agesof fourtken and receive their com missiQpst as Officers at much eaflier age than iu this country.
 At the court of St, Petersburg the corps of pages is sort of imperial school where number of lads, sons d3 noblemen and state dignitaries, both ciYsland military, are educated at the ezat'B eSpense and under his superyi- sion. Qn3 attainfng their eighteenth yest they usually obtain commissions as.of6cerS ot&he regiment of Chevalier guards. Ihe ezarina maintains sim- liar institution for girls, who, on gradual receive the titular ap- pointment" of maid of honor to her majesty. Atsthe. court of. France, as long as there was one, similar provision was made for education of the pages at the sovereigna eSpense. They were care fully ataugRt how to write, they had a special riding. school at Versailles, and they were iDstrpeted in fencing. Their uniform was of royal blue with gold buttons, and one of their duties was..to attend upon the sovereign when he 3ssnt out walking or driving. It must have been no joke to be a page to KipE Louis XVIII. He was so enormously fat that it was impossible for him to walk Yet as he was accustomed to devour two dozen lamb chops for breakfast, and two fat capons on walk. ing in the middle of the night, and to eat at other times in proportion, he had Go take exercise; and so a special oRffiage was constructed for him which had no springs or straps behind, and went jolting over the cobble stones with which Paris and Versailles were paved in those days, in a manner quite terrific. However wholesome such jolting may have been for the king, it must have been very uncomfortable for the pages, whose duty 1t was to stand bebing the royal carriage or on the doorstep at either side. An old relative of mine. the Marquis de Chan aleilles, who died only few months ago, had related to ne the tortures which he endured as one of these poor pages. .-Louisville Courier-Journal. Dressing the Neck.