Roumania Past And Present - free ebook by James Samuelson

Of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS (BY E. WELLER), PORTRAITS, AUTOTYPE AND OTHER FULL-PAGE PLATES, AND NUMEROUS PLANS AND WOODCUTS (BY G. PEARSON), CHIEFLY FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY F. DUSCHEK, BUCAREST

Post Tenebras Lux...

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PREFACE.

There is no country in Europe which at the present time possesses greater interest for Englishmen than does the Kingdom of Roumania, and there is none with whose present state and past history, nay, with whose very geographical position, they are less familiar. Only about nine years since Consul-General Green, the British representative there, reported to his Government as follows: 'Ignorance seems to extend even to the geographical position of Bucharest. It is not surprising that letters direct

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GEOGRAPHICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.

The kingdom of Roumania is situated between 22° 29' and 29° 42' east of Greenwich, and between 43° 37' and 48° 13' north of the equator. Its general boundaries are, on the east and south , the Pruth and the Danube, with the exception of the Dobrudscha south of the latter river, at its embouchures, and on the west and north by the Carpathian mountains, along whose heights the boundary line runs. The limit which separates it from Bulgaria, on the south-east leaves the Danube just east of Silistria

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GEOGRAPHICAL—ARCHÆOLOGICAL.

The river system of Roumania constitutes one of the most remarkable features in its geography, has played an important part in its past history, and promises to exercise a powerful influence on its industrial and political future. This system comprises the great main artery, the Danube, with numerous confluents which take their rise in the Carpathians, and, rushing at first in torrents, then How as sluggish, often as half-dry streams, across the country before they empty themselves into the pare

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THE NAVIGATION OF THE DANUBE.

There is perhaps no question of greater real moment to the newly erected kingdom than the free navigation of the Danube; for whether its possessions are limited on the southern boundary by that river, or whether at some future time they should extend beyond it, the reader cannot fail to see from what has preceded that the Danube is the great artery through which, so to speak, the industrial life-blood of the nation circulates. But if it be a matter of primary importance to Roumania, it is hardly

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TOPOGRAPHICAL, ETC.

The chief cities or towns in Roumania are Bucarest, the capital, in the district of Ilfovǔ; Jassy or Iasi, the old capital of Moldavia, in that of the same name; Galatz or Galati, in Covurluiǔ; Curtea d'Ardges, in the district of that name; Braila or Ibrail, Craiova, Botosani, Ploiestĭ, and Pitesti. We have not named them exactly in the order of their size, as it is our intention to give some details of the first four only. Its archives have been carried off by the invaders who, from time to tim

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TOPOGRAPHICAL—COMMERCIAL.

If many of the streets of Bucarest are badly paved and the city imperfectly sewered, it is at least striving hard to keep pace with other European towns in regard to modern conveniences. Its main streets are well lighted with gas, and it boasts a good line of tramways round and through various parts of the city. But when we come to consider what is now the second town of importance in Roumania, Galatz, we have to step back a few decades before we can realise its condition. It is situated on the

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AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL—THE PEASANT PROPRIETARY OF ROUMANIA.

The area of Roumania, as already stated elsewhere, is about 49,252 square miles, and estimates have been made of the cultivated and uncultivated acreage, which approximate sufficiently to give us a fair idea of the agricultural condition of the country. According to those estimates, which were probably made at the period (1864) when the peasant proprietary was created, about one-fifth is employed for the growth of cereals, garden products, and vines; rather under one-third is pasturage and hay;

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EDUCATIONAL—ETHNOGRAPHICAL.

Theoretically education in Roumania is everything that can be desired; practically it is still far otherwise. The Constitution of 1866, article 23, declares that primary instruction shall be compulsory and gratuitous, and that primary schools shall, by degrees, be established in every commune. In 1877-8 there were two universities (Bucarest and Jassy), 96 private schools, 55 secondary and normal, 26 technical and special; 1,242 boys', 265 girls', and 628 mixed primary schools. The total number o

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JUDICIAL AND PENAL.

As in the case of education, so, too, in regard to its judicial and penal system, the Constitution of Roumania contains many admirable provisions (articles 13, 18, 104, 105, &amp;c.) for the maintenance of right and the suppression of wrong-doing. Equal rights, ordinary tribunals, speedy trial by jury, abolition of death punishment, these are the excellent principles upon which the judicial system is based; but neither there, nor for that matter in any country, are they completely put into p

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FROM THE GETÆ (ABOUT 335 B.C.) TO THE CLOSE OF THE ROMAN DOMINATION IN DACIA TRAJANA (ABOUT A.D. 274).

lthough the earliest authentic records of Roumania or, more correctly speaking, of Dacia, the Roman province which embraced Roumania, Transylvania, and some adjoining territories of to-day, do not reach further back than about the century immediately preceding the Christian era, a good deal of information is to be gathered from the writings of Herodotus, Dion Cassius, and other early historians regarding the Getæ , the race from whom the Dacians sprang. The Getæ were in all probability a branch

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FROM THE EVACUATION OF DACIA BY AURELIAN (ABOUT 274 A.D.) TO THE END OF THE BARBARIAN RULE (ABOUT THE CLOSE OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY).

If the reader will imagine a country somewhat larger than the United Kingdom situated in a part of the European continent which renders it accessible from almost every side, and can conceive of eight or nine great hordes of armed savages tens or hundreds of thousands strong, with many smaller ones, pouring intermittently, and even simultaneously in some instances, into that devoted territory, and there alternately burning and plundering or making slaves of each other or of the original settlers,

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FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE PRINCIPALITIES, BETWEEN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRTEENTH AND OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURIES TO THE ACCESSION OF MICHAEL THE BRAVE, A.D. 1593.

When the title of barbarian immigration was ebbing in the Danubian Principalities, it is natural to suppose that there must have remained a very mixed population; and that, owing to the necessity for defence against such ruthless invaders as we have described in our last chapter, the inhabitants would congregate in various places under their ablest leaders, and would fortify themselves in the best manner possible. This was indeed the case, but until recently the historians of Roumania have had l

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THE TIMES AND CAREER OF MICHAEL THE BRAVE.

As the state of the northern Danubian territories before the foundation of the Principalities has been compared by us to the present condition of what is called Independent Tartary, and at a subsequent period to that of the early Saxons, so in the reign of Michael the Brave (1593-1601 a.d. ) the state of society resembled that of England under the Norman kings; indeed, there is a remarkably interesting agreement in some of its phases. As in England there were greater and lessor barons, so in Mol

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FROM THE DEATH OF MICHAEL THE BRAVE (A.D. 1601) TO THE DEPOSITION OF PRINCE COUZA (A.D. 1866).

he history of Moldo-Wallachia during the seventeenth century—that is to say, from the fall of Michael to the dispossession of the native voivodes at the beginning of the eighteenth century—possesses little interest for English readers. Some of the more important incidents will be referred to in connection with the subsequent régime of the Greek, or, as they are called, the Phanariote rulers appointed by the Porte, and it will only be necessary to make a few brief comments upon the condition of t

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FROM THE DEPOSITION OF PRINCE COUZA (1866) TO THE CORONATION OF KING CHARLES (1881).

After the fall of Couza the two Chambers elected the Count of Flanders, a younger brother of the King of Belgium, as his successor, but, owing probably to the threatening attitude of the Porte, that Prince declined the honour. Their choice then fell upon the reigning sovereign, Prince Charles of Hohenzollern (son of Prince Charles Anton, of Hohenzollern-Siegmaringen), who accepted the nomination, and was proclaimed Prince of Roumania on the anniversary of his birthday, April 20, 1866, and was re

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PRESENT ROUMANIAN LEADERS AND THEIR POLICY.

We have passed in hasty and imperfect review those features in the national life of Roumania which we believed would be of interest to our readers, and will now endeavour to present to them sketches of a few of the persons of distinction who are forming public opinion, and are the leaders of progress in the country, premising, however, that there are many omissions, due partly to our own ignorance, and partly to the fact that the discussion of the merits and demerits of some of the public men wo

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APPENDIX I.

Table of Movements and Settlements of various Nationalities and Tribes in the Provinces bordering on the Lower Danube between the Getic period and about the end of the Thirteenth Century, a.d ., compiled by the Author, and corrected from the Ancient Historians (Tacitus, Dion Cassius, Eutropius) and the works of Gibbon, Smith, Lesage, Engel, Lauriani, Neigebaur, Henke, Wilkinson, Merivale, Freeman, Dierauer, Roesler, Pic, and others....

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The 'Capitulations.'

The original 'Capitulation' of Mircea I. of Wallachia to the Sultan Bajazid I. at Nicopolis, 1393 a.d. , is contained in a 'Hatthoumaioun' of the latter, said to have been preserved in Constantinople, and there seen by a Roumanian called Kitzorano, who was attached to the Wallachian Embassy, and who took a copy of it (along with others), which he sent to the Great Ban Takanitza Vacaresco. The Greek historian, Dionysius Photino, also saw it at the Porte, and published a copy of it in his 'History

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The Roumanian Constitution.

The Constitution of Roumania contains one hundred and thirty-three articles, and is framed with great regard to justice and to the national liberties. The following are some of its leading provisions. The country is divided into districts, the districts into arrondissements, the arrondissements into communes. [202] It grants (Article 5) freedom of conscience, of instruction, of the press, and of public meeting. Abolishes (10 and 12) [203] distinctions and privileges of class and foreign titles,

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The Peasant Proprietary of Roumania.

The precise terms and circumstances under which the peasant proprietary was formed in Roumania, as communicated to us by Prince Jon Ghika, are as follows:— Before the 'Convention of Balta Liman' between Russia and Turkey, there were three classes of peasantry: By the Convention above named each class was to receive the following land, to be paid for in certain cases by twenty-two days' labour, 1/10th of the harvest and 1/5th of the hay. In 1864 these holdings, varying, therefore, from 5 to 14 ac

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List of Works.

The following works, all of which have been consulted in the preparation of this treatise, deal either with the past history or present condition of Roumania. The words italicised are those used in the notes appended to the text, where also references will be found to other books and official reports, of which the titles are given in full. Almanach de Gotha . Justus Perthes, Gotha. 1882. 'Royaume de Roumanie,' pp. 898-907. Annual Report of the Board of Trade , 1880. Aurelian , Odobesco, and othe

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HISTORY, POLITICS, HISTORICAL MEMOIRS, &c.

History of England from the Conclusion of the Great War in 1815 . By Spencer Walpole . 8vo. Vols. I. &amp; II. 1815-1832 (Second Edition, revised) price 36 s. Vol. III. 1832-1841, price 18 s. History of England in the 18th Century . By W.E.H. Lecky , M.A. Vols. I. &amp; II. 1700-1760, Second Edition, price 36 s. Vols. III. &amp; IV. 1760-1784, price 36 s. The History of England from the Accession of James II . By the Right Hon. Lord Macaulay . Student's Edition , 2 vols. cr. 8vo. 1

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BIOGRAPHICAL WORKS.

Thomas Carlyle , a History of the first Forty Years of his Life, 1795 to 1835. By J.A. Froude , M.A. With 2 Portraits and 4 Illustrations. 2 vols. 8vo. 32 s. Reminiscences . By Thomas Carlyle . Edited by J.A. Froude , M.A. 2 vols. crown 8vo. 18 s. The Marriages of the Bonapartes . By the Hon. D.A. Bingham . 2 vols. crown 8vo. 21 s. Recollections of the Last Half-Century . By Count Orsi . With a Portrait of Napoleon III. and 4 Woodcuts. Crown 8vo. 7 s. 6 d. The Life of Giuseppe Garibaldi . By J.

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MENTAL and POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.

Comte's System of Positive Polity , or Treatise upon Sociology. By various Translators. 4 vols. 8vo. £4. De Tocqueville's Democracy in America , translated by H. Reeve . 2 vols. crown 8vo, 16 s. Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind . By James Mill . With Notes, Illustrative and Critical. 2 vols. 8vo. 28 s. On Representative Government . By John Stuart Mill . Crown 8vo. 2 s. On Liberty . By John Stuart Mill . Post 8vo. 7 s. 6 d. crown 8vo. 1 s. 4 d. Principles of Political Economy . By Joh

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MISCELLANEOUS & CRITICAL WORKS.

Studies of Modern Mind and Character at Several European Epochs . By John Wilson . 8vo. 12 s. Selected Essays , chiefly from Contributions to the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews. By A. Hayward , Q.C. 2 vols. crown 8vo. 12 s. Short Studies on Great Subjects . By J.A. Froude , M.A. 3 vols. crown 8vo. 18 s. Literary Studies . By the late Walter Bagehot , M.A. Fellow of University College, London. Second Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. with Portrait, 28 s. Manual of English Literature, Historical and Critical

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DICTIONARIES and OTHER BOOKS of REFERENCE.

One-Volume Dictionary of the English Language . By R.G. Latham , M.A. M.D. Medium 8vo. 14 s. Larger Dictionary of the English Language . By R.G. Latham , M.A. M.D. Founded on Johnson's English Dictionary as edited by the Rev. H.J. Todd . 4 vols. 4to. £7. English Synonymes . By E.J. Whately . Edited by R. Whately , D.D. Fcp. 8vo. 3 s. Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases , classified and arranged so as to facilitate the expression of Ideas, and assist in Literary Composition. Revised

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ASTRONOMY and METEOROLOGY.

Outlines of Astronomy . By Sir J.F.W. Herschel , Bart. M.A. Latest Edition, with Plates and Diagrams. Square crown 8vo. 12 s. The Moon , and the Condition and Configurations of its Surface. By E. Neison , F.R.A.S. With 26 Maps and 5 Plates. Medium 8vo. price 31 s. 6 d. Air and Rain ; the Beginnings of a Chemical Climatology, By R.A. Smith , F.R.S. 8vo. 24 s. Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes . By the Rev. T.W. Webb , M.A. Fourth Edition, revised and adapted to the Present State of Sidereal

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NATURAL HISTORY and PHYSICAL SCIENCE.

Ganot's Elementary Treatise on Physics , Experimental and Applied, for the use of Colleges and Schools. Translated by E. Atkinson , Ph. D. F.C.S. Tenth Edition, revised and enlarged; with 4 Coloured Plates and 844 Woodcuts. Large crown 8vo. 15 s. Ganot's Natural Philosophy for General Readers and Young Persons ; a Course of Physics divested of Mathematical Formulæ and expressed in the language of daily life. Translated by E. Atkinson , Ph. D. F.C.S. Fourth Edition, revised; with 2 Plates and 471

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CHEMISTRY and PHYSIOLOGY.

Experimental Chemistry for Junior Students . By J.E. Reynolds , M.D. F.R.S. Professor of Chemistry, University of Dublin. Part I. Introductory. Fcp. 8vo. 1 s. 6 d. Practical Chemistry; the Principles of Qualitative Analysis . By W.A. Tilden , D. Sc. Lond. F.C.S. Professor of Chemistry in Mason's College, Birmingham. Fcp. 8vo. 1 s. 6 d. Miller's Elements of Chemistry , Theoretical and Practical, Re-edited, with Additions, by H. Macleod , F.C.S. 3 vols. 8vo. Part I. Chemical Physics . 16 s. Part I

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The FINE ARTS and ILLUSTRATED EDITIONS.

Lord Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome, with Ivry and the Armada . With 41 Wood Engravings by G. Pearson from Original Drawings by J.R. Weguelin, Crown 8vo. 6 s. Lord Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome . With Ninety Illustrations engraved on Wood from Drawings by G. Scharf. Fcp. 4to. 21 s. or imperial 16mo. 10 s. 6 d. Notes on Foreign Picture Galleries . By C.L. Eastlake , F.R.I.B.A. Keeper of the National Gallery, London. Crown 8vo. fully Illustrated. [ In preparation. Vol. I. The Brera Gallery, Mil

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The USEFUL ARTS, MANUFACTURES, &c.

The Elements of Mechanism . By T.M. Goodeve , M.A. Barrister-at-Law. New Edition, re-written and enlarged, with 342 Woodcuts. Crown 8vo. 6 s. Railways and Locomotives ; a Series of Lectures delivered at the School of Military Engineering, Chatham. Railways , by J.W. Barry , M. Inst. C.E. Locomotives , by Sir F.J. Bramwell , F.R.S. M. Inst. C.E. With 228 Illustrations engraved on Wood. 8vo. price 21 s. The Engineer's Valuing Assistant . By H.D. Hoskold , Civil and Mining Engineer. 8vo. price 31 s

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RELIGIOUS and MORAL WORKS.

An Introduction to the Study of the New Testament , Critical, Exegetical, and Theological. By the Rev. S. Davidson , D.D. LL.D. New Edition, thoroughly revised by the Author. 2 vols. 8vo. 30 s. History of the Papacy During the Reformation . By M. Creighton , M.A. late Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. 2 vols. 8vo. price 32 s. Vol. I. the Great Schism—the Council of Constance, 1378-1418. Vol. II. the Council of Basel—the Papal Restoration, 1418-1464. [ In the press. A History of the Church of Eng

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TRAVELS, VOYAGES, &c.

Sunshine and Storm in the East , or Cruises to Cyprus and Constantinople. By Lady Brassey . Cheaper Edition, with 2 Maps and 114 Illustrations engraved on Wood. Cr. 8vo. 7 s. 6 d. A Voyage in the 'Sunbeam', our Home on the Ocean for Eleven Months . By Lady Brassey . Cheaper Edition, with Map and 65 Wood Engravings. Crown 8vo. 7 s. 6 d. School Edition, fcp. 2 s. Popular Edition, 4to. 6 d. Eight Years in Ceylon . By Sir Samuel W. Baker , M.A. Crown 8vo. Woodcuts, 7 s. 6 d. The Rifle and the Hound

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WORKS of FICTION.

The Hughenden Edition of the Novels and Tales of the Earl of Beaconsfield, K.G. from Vivian Grey to Endymion. With Maclise's Portrait of the Author, a later Portrait on Steel from a recent Photograph, and a Vignette to each volume. To the last volume, Endymion , is appended a brief Memoir of the Life and Political Career of the Earl of Beaconsfield. Eleven Volumes, crown 8vo. bound in cloth extra, 42 s. Novels and Tales . By the Right Hon. the Earl of Beaconsfield , K.G. The Cabinet Edition. Ele

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POETRY and THE DRAMA.

Poetical Works of Jean Ingelow . New Edition, reprinted, with Additional Matter, from the 23rd and 6th Editions of the two volumes respectively; with 2 Vignettes. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. 12 s. Faust . From the German of Goethe . By T.E. Webb , LL.D. Reg. Prof. of Laws &amp; Public Orator in the Univ. of Dublin. 8vo. 12 s. 6 d. Goethe's Faust . A New Translation, chiefly in Blank Verse; with a complete Introduction and copious Notes. By James Adey Birds , B.A. F.G.S. Large crown 8vo. 12 s. 6 d. Goe

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RURAL SPORTS, HORSE and CATTLE MANAGEMENT, &c.

Blaine's Encyclopædia of Rural Sports ; Complete Accounts, Historical, Practical, and Descriptive, of Hunting, Shooting, Fishing, Racing, &amp;c. With 600 Woodcuts. 8vo. 21 s. A Book on Angling ; or, Treatise on the Art of Fishing in every branch; including full Illustrated Lists of Salmon Flies. By Francis Francis . Post 8vo. Portrait and Plates, 15 s. Wilcocks's Sea-Fisherman : comprising the Chief Methods of Hook and Line Fishing, a glance at Nets, and remarks on Boats and Boating. Post 8

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WORKS of UTILITY and GENERAL INFORMATION.

Maunder's Biographical Treasury . Latest Edition, reconstructed and partly re-written, with above 1,600 additional Memoirs, by W.L.R. Cates . Fcp. 8vo. 6 s. Maunder's Treasury of Natural History ; or, Popular Dictionary of Zoology. Revised and corrected Edition. Fcp. 8vo. with 900 Woodcuts, 6 s. Maunder's Treasury of Geography , Physical, Historical, Descriptive, and Political. Edited by W. Hughes , F.R.G.S. With 7 Maps and 16 Plates. Fcp. 8vo. 6 s. Maunder's Historical Treasury ; Introductory O

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