The Lamar register., 1895-02-16
LIVES OF ROYAL PAGES.
WHAT THEY WE'RE ANn WEAT
THEY NOW ARE.
Op All state oeea>ions They MAS"
brilliant Pieture-surSivsls OF the hAS-
of ChivsIry-u uow They Were Trained
In France

Great Britain have retained the ser
vices of pages and they remained an
Institution in France under her latest
kings and emperors At the court ot
Humbert they do not, however. con
sist of a special body or company
with only certain duties. but are Sc
lected for any royal function from
the military academy and drafted TO
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 q given time, and.
therefore. are entitled to wear on
tleir epaulets the badge of honor
which Is a gold number rising with
the number of 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 priyi-
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 arc 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 cere-
monies of inyestiture. royal mar
riages. etc. which have been so rare
of late years, as the queen invariably
now commands what is called semi
state.
Before the revolution Of '93 the
pages in France were in reality a
school Of cadets, They had to prove,
before admittance. four quarters OF
nobility. like the girls who sought
admittance at St Cyr. their breyets
of good birth being signed by the
chancellor of the college OF heraldry-
Whatever has since been said 10
the contrary. the pages had TO work;
their studies included French. math-
ematics. fencing and riding. They
had dancing master who 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 the coaches OF
Louis XVIII or rode by the carriage
doors of Charles X. Bent and hoary
with age, these surviyals OF an ex-
tinct epoch have filled high posts in
old France. and have a record OF
which younger men might well be
proud
The pages were divided into'.pages
of the greater and lesser stable. -
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 coat
"a la Francaise. of the peculiar
shade of 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 a flowing knot of
ribbons.
This was the costume for the in
terror of the palace. says a London