Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-12-04
Qualifications Necessary to Candidates For
Highly Valued Preferment.

Qualifications Necessary to Candidates For
Highly Valued Prefsrment.
1.-The pretty page with the dimpled
chin" so sweetly sung Of by the poet,
and who constituted one Of the most
picturesque figures Of medieval timeA
still survives.
Royal and imperial pages range in
age from IL to 10 years. They are ap-
pointed by the sovereign, enjoy pay pre-
negatives and perquisites much as do the
grown up attendants Oh royalty and are
prescribed certain definite duties The
duties are possibly no more important
than in the days of yore, when there
was no postal service and the lovelorn
princess was forced to rely upon the Sc
crecy and fidelity of her page for the
conveyance of messages of her knight
or troubadour. But tact and discretion
in performing them are probably more
necessary now than ever, owing TO the
popular craving for information Of this
kind from the pages by persons who
imagine that because they are young
their tongues are likely to be loose.
To tougher them against such at
tempts and qualify them for this service
the royal pages are subjected TO very
careful training. AT the court Of St.
Petersburg, for instance, there is reg
ular college of pages, where they are
educated and maintained at the expense
of the crown.
Gentle birth is the first qualification
for the post of royal page. AT the courts
Of Vienna and Munich an ancestry Of
10 less than l6 generations free from
any plebeian strain on either fathers or
mothers side is required in the candi-
dntes In England and Russia nobility
is not demanded. The pages of honor in
the court of Queen Victoria are gener-
ally SONS of distinguished officers of the
army or Of high dignitaries Of the royal
household
On state occasions they wear gorgeous
uniforms OF blue and silver, and many
fair American who has been presented
at one Of the drawing rooms of Queen
Victoria will recall TO mind the appear.
ance which they presented standing
slightly behind her majesty or behind
the Princess of Wales when the latter
officiates in the place of her illustrioos
mother in-law. In fact, their duties are
| limited to attendance upon royalty at
drawing rooms, state concerts, state
balls and royal weddings.
At the courts of Berlin and Vienna
! the pages figure at all state ceremonies,
clad like those Of England in blue and
silver. At the court banquets they stand
behind the chairs Of the royal and i'm
perial personages. These personages on
rising from the table sometimes address
few kindly words to the boys and pre-
sent them with sweetmeats Indeed, the
late Emperor Frederick was wont to
amuse himself by examining their
mouths full Of bonbons until they could
rot speak and then plying them with
questions demanding an immediate IN
swer or else cracking jokes that were
sure to make them laugh,
These pages We're chosen for the occa-
Ion only from among the best looking
boys Of the school of cadets at Berlin
and from the imperial Thcresianum col
lege Ut Vienna, all the members Of
which are Of noble birth. These schools
resemble the American West Point, but
the pupils enter at the age OF IA and
receive commissions as officers at much
earlier age than in this country
At the court of st. Petersburg the
corps of pages is a sort Of imperial
school, where a number of lads, sons of
noblemen and state dignitaries, both
civil and military, are educated at the
czar's expense ard under his supervision
On attaining their eighteenth year they
usually obtain commissions as officer Of
the regiment of chevalier guards. The
ozarina maintains a similar institution
for girls, who on graduating receive the
titular appointment of maid of honor to
her majesty. Chicago Record