Roumania Past and Present

J >> James Samuelson >> Roumania Past and Present

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At length for her, as for all suffering peoples, the day of liberation
was at hand; the iron bonds which Oriental despotism had forged were
loosened by the agency of Western progress, and, lightened of her load,
she this time struck a more effectual blow for liberty, and was amongst
the first to unfurl the flag of freedom in the East. But a long
succession of barbarian governors, the license of repeated military
occupations, the proximity of Tartar savagery on the one side and of
Oriental effeminacy on the other, these incidents of her long-continued
vassalage have necessarily, and, it is to be hoped, but for a time, left
their evil influence upon the nation, which it is now the earnest
endeavour of her patriotic leaders to exterminate.

[Footnote 193: Ozanne, p. 226.]

CHAPTER XV.

PRESENT ROUMANIAN LEADERS AND THEIR POLICY.

The King--Customs of the Court--The Queen--Her attainments--Extract
from her poetry--Madame Rosetti--Her patriotism and adventures--M.
Constantin A. Rosetti--His career and public services--M.
Bratiano--Other leaders of public opinion--The party of
progress--Their past foreign and domestic policy--Geographical
boundaries--Panslavism and Panroumanism--The future policy of
Roumania--Growth by pacific means--(Note: Comparative values of
Russian, Turkish, and Roumanian securities)--Roumania and Great
Britain--Conclusion.

I.

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
would not have been fitting in this treatise.

By his rank and patriotism, and not least by his extensive knowledge,
his Majesty King Charles is entitled to our first consideration. Of his
political career we have spoken in our historical summary, and little
more need be added. He was born on April 20, 1839, and is therefore
about forty-three years of age. On November 15, 1869, he married Pauline
Elisabeth, Princess of Wied, who was then about twenty-six years old;
but, unfortunately, the sole offspring of their union, a little girl,
lies interred in the grounds of the Asyle Helene. The King is a handsome
man, rather above the average height, and, so far as his regularly
formed features are concerned, he might belong to any nationality of
Western Europe. He usually wears a somewhat severe expression, but the
moment he begins to converse this at once disappears. His manner is
quiet and earnest, although he often warms into enthusiasm, and he has
the happy faculty of placing all with whom he comes into contact at
perfect ease. He possesses a wide range of information, and speaks with
evident knowledge on all matters of interest to his subjects or to
civilisation. Of course he is well acquainted with his adopted country
and its resources, takes a lively interest in its trade and
capabilities; and so far as the geographical configuration of Roumania
is concerned, he not only knows all about the level country, but has
either ridden or walked through every part of the Carpathians. His
scientific knowledge is such as one might expect in an educated German,
and is chiefly of a practical kind. He is deeply interested in
arboriculture, about which he knows more than many who are entrusted
with the care and fate of the vast woods that clothe the mountain
districts, and he has often pointed out to such persons errors in their
mode of felling timber. In private life the King is hospitable, genial,
and very regular in his habits; he is a devout Catholic, but a constant
attendant upon the services of the Greek Church.

[Illustration: H.M. PAULINE ELIZABETH,

FIRST QUEEN OF ROUMANIA.

IN THE NATIONAL COSTUME.

(FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANZ DUSCHEK.)]

But of course our interest in him is necessarily rather of a public than
of a private character. Is he constitutional? or is Europe likely some
day to be favoured with a Roumanian _coup d'etat_? The answer to these
questions is clear and emphatic. Although a Hohenzollern, he is a
Constitutional Liberal, we should say of an advanced type. We spoke
before of his misunderstandings with his ministers; but even those who
were originally opposed to him, and who watched his every act with
suspicion, state that he has managed with great tact to steer clear of
unconstitutional courses; indeed, from their own admissions and the
facts of history, it is clear that he must have served a very trying
apprenticeship in the art of constitutional rule. His demeanour towards
his subjects and that of his queen, of whom we shall speak presently, is
everything that can be desired, and both are winning their affections
more completely year by year.

When the court is at Bucarest a great portion of the king's time is
devoted to giving audiences, not only to officials, but to all who
desire to know their sovereign, and even to seek his counsel or that of
his amiable consort. Two books are kept at the palace, one for callers
only, and the other for persons who desire to see and speak with the
king or queen, for they give audiences apart. Those who enter their
names in the second book must give notice to the 'Hofmarschall,' and
they are then sent for in turn, and punctuality above all things is
insisted upon. The king gives audiences from 1 to 3 or 4 p.m.; the queen
for a longer time, and young as she is, for she has not yet attained her
fortieth year, she is regarded as the mother of her people, and many
there are who come to her for advice or consolation. But we are
digressing. If the king interests himself in the civil affairs of
Roumania, he is a soldier before everything else. The virtual as well as
the nominal head of the army, he always wears uniform, and nothing is
too unimportant for his consideration in the organisation of his army.
Those who have been in the field with him and much about his person
extol his coolness, bravery, and endurance. He has often risked his life
in battle, was always to the fore visiting outposts and bivouacs in the
most inclement weather, and there can be no doubt that it is to his
bravery as a general, and to his tact and patience as a statesman, that
Roumania is largely indebted for her independence and her promise in the
future.

II.

The Queen of Roumania is almost too well known in Europe, through her
literary attainments, to need any description here; still a few
particulars concerning her may be of interest to our readers. She is of
the middle height, has an amiable face and still more affable manner.
She, too, might pass for a lady of any western country, having very
little to indicate her German nationality. Her voice is soft and
melodious, and although she can speak well on literary and scientific
subjects, there is not the slightest pedantry or affectation of learning
in her discourse. She is said to speak six languages, and she certainly
speaks Roumanian, French, German, and English. We do not know what the
other two may be, but if she speaks the four languages here named as
fluently and with as little foreign accent as she does our own, she may
fairly claim to be an accomplished linguist. All educated Roumanians
speak French, and most of them German, besides their own tongue; indeed
French is almost the universal language of the middle classes, whilst
those who have been educated here, especially the younger men, naturally
speak English well, and therefore the Queen is in this respect only
somewhat ahead of her more accomplished subjects. But, as we have
already stated, she is a poetess, and her verses are often marked by
great depth of feeling. She possesses, too, considerable scientific
knowledge and great taste in art, and one of her chief desires is to
promote national industry. She sets the example by wearing the national
costume (in which her portrait is usually taken) whilst in the country,
and requires it to be worn on State occasions, her main object being, we
were told, to encourage the peasant women who make these costumes in
their own homes. But whilst in these matters, as in her devotion to
public duty, the Queen identifies herself with the Roumanian people and
their interests, she would not be a German if she had forgotten the
'Fatherland.'

'Land of greenwood and of vine,
Sparkling wavelets of the Rhine,
Hushed thy song, afar thy gleam.
All to me, now, but a dream.

'Oft when I these eyelids close,
Purling sounds haunt my repose,
Vessels in the sunlight's ray,
'Fore the wind, speed on their way.

'Lovely home on German plain
Once my own, but ne'er again,
Thou wilt be to mem'ry dear
Till they place me on my bier.'[194]

[Footnote 194: The first three verses of the dedication in _Rumaenische
Dichtungen_, by Carmen Sylva (the Queen's _nom de plume_), Leipzig, W.
Friedrich, 1881. Lest our halting verse should prejudice the illustrious
authoress, we append the original for those who know German:--

'Du Rebenland, du gruener Wald,
Du Rhein mit deinem Schimmer:
Dein Glanz ist fern, dein Sang verhallt,
Ich bin entflohn fuer immer!

'Oft, oft schliess' ich die Angen zu,
Dann hoer' ich's singen, rauschen,
Seh' Schiffe zieh'n in sonn'ger Ruh',
Den Wind die Segel bauschen.

'Dass ich die schoenste Heimath hab'
In deutschen Gau'n besessen,
Das macht, dass ich sie bis zum Grab
Nun nimmer kann vergessen.'
]

III.

But her Majesty, who is a Protestant, is not the only lady now living
who has made her mark in Roumanian history. There is another of whom we
are sure our readers will be glad to hear something, for she is an
accomplished Englishwoman, and it is very questionable whether, after
all, the Roumanians do not owe their independence as much to her energy
and devotion as to any other cause; we mean Madame Rosetti, the wife of
the Home Secretary.[195] It was mentioned in our historical summary that
the patriots of 1848 made their escape to France in that year, and that
they returned after the Crimean war in 1856. That is a long story told
in a, couple of sentences, and but for Madame Rosetti it is probable
they would never have escaped, but would have languished and died in a
Turkish prison in Bosnia, whilst Roumania might have been at this day a
Turkish pashalik or a Russian province. The fact is that all the leaders
of the revolution, fifteen in number, were arrested and conveyed on
board a Turkish man-of-war lying in the Danube; and Madame Rosetti,
whose heroic adventures have formed the theme of a work by
Michelet,[196] helped them to escape from their captors. As we have
already said, she is an Englishwoman, whose maiden name was Grant, and
she had only been married about a year when the revolution broke out.
Her first child was born a day or two before her husband and his
comrades were arrested, but she at once left her bed, and, taking her
infant in her arms, prepared to follow them. First she managed to obtain
an interview with the patriots on board the Turkish vessel to which they
had been conveyed, and there plans were formed which she skilfully and
courageously executed. Disguising herself as a peasant, and carrying her
child, she followed them up the Danube to Orsova, communicating with her
friends from time to time by signals. At Orsova the prisoners were
landed, and whilst they were on shore she succeeded in making their
guards intoxicated, and, with the connivance of the authorities,
prepared suitable conveyances, in which the patriots made their escape.
First they passed through Servia, and reaching Vienna in safety they
entered that city the day after the bombardment, and subsequently they
made their way through Germany, accompanied by their deliverer, and
found a hospitable asylum in Paris. Since her return Madame Rosetti has
been as valuable a coadjutor to her husband in his prosperity as she was
in his adversity, and she is also a useful and willing adviser to any of
her countrymen who, visiting Roumania, may stand in need of her
assistance.

[Footnote 195: When the above lines were penned, M. Rosetti was the Home
Secretary, although he has since resigned. It was as such that we knew
him, and we therefore prefer to leave our account, of him and his
amiable lady as it was originally written.]

[Footnote 196: _Legendes demoeratiques du Nord_, Madame Rosetti, p. 279
_et seq._]

IV.

Her husband, his Excellency Constantin A. Rosetti, has also reaped the
reward of his devotion to his country's welfare. He is of an old boyard
family of Italian origin, and in his early youth he was not only a
soldier in the national army, but his pen also gained for him a
considerable reputation, for he composed and published many interesting
Roumanian poems. At the age of about thirty-two years he married the
English lady to whom he owes so much, and of his adventures in 1848 we
have already twice spoken. Before he permanently took up his residence
in Paris after his escape, we believe he spent some time in
Constantinople. In Paris he was the companion of Michelet, Quinet, and
other leading writers, and with them and his countrymen the brothers
Bratiano and Golesco lie managed by his patriotic publications to keep
the lamp of liberty burning in his own country. Here, too, he is said to
have enjoyed the support of our own distinguished statesman, William
Ewart Gladstone, who was subsequently made a Roumanian citizen by an Act
of the legislature about the year 1861, and whom the Roumanians still
regard with feelings of great respect and admiration. On the return of
M. Rosetti to Roumania after the Crimean war he founded the 'Romanal' a
daily paper which still occupies a high position amongst the journals of
the capital, and which remains his property.[197] He took a conspicuous
part in the union of the Principalities under Prince Couza, and
supported that prince whilst his proceedings were constitutional, but he
was one of the most active agents in his deposition, and the only
serious objection that has been taken to his acts and those of his
colleagues on that occasion is that he employed the army to bring about
the prince's overthrow. To this matter, however, we have already
referred in our historical summary. In 1866 he was one of the
provisional government, and was at first by no means favourably disposed
towards the present king, who was, we believe, recommended to the
Roumanians by the Emperor Napoleon III. In later times, however, he
became one of his Majesty's most faithful advisers.

[Illustration: Constantin A. Rosetti]

M. Rosetti is about sixty-seven years of age, full of life and energy.
His career of hardship has somewhat bowed his physical frame, but it has
in no way interfered with his cheerful and kindly disposition. In
appearance he is an Italian, has very prominent but mild eyes, and a
most thoughtful, somewhat careworn countenance. He is _vif_, hot and
excitable, and not unfrequently lets his voice be heard if anything is
going wrong in public affairs, and something is very often going wrong
in Roumania. He speaks Roumanian, French, and German, and can write
English (of which he is fond of interjecting an expressive word now and
then when he is speaking in French) fairly well. Unfortunately for
scandal-mongers, of whom there are a good many in the capital and
elsewhere, M. Rosetti lives with great simplicity on the premises of the
'Romanul,' and upon, the profits of his paper and his salary; so they
are unable to charge him with peculation, which they would certainly do
if he gave them the slightest justification. He is a Radical, and an
uncompromising enemy of _coups d'etat_, and of despotism or
unconstitutional proceedings in any form, a man of unflinching honesty
and the leader of political thought in his country. In fact, he is a
patriot, and his countrymen know and appreciate the fact.

They usually couple his name with that of M. Bratiano, who is President
of the Council and Minister of Finance, and, so far as temperament is
concerned, the very opposite of his colleague. M. Bratiano is a quiet,
courteous gentleman, somewhat younger than M. Rosetti. His features are
regular and handsome, his beard and hair iron-grey, and his voice even
and melodious. He is full of pleasant humour, and has the bearing and
manner of an English gentleman; but although an excellent debater, he is
not a good linguist. In Roumania they say, 'Rosetti thinks and Bratiano
speaks,' but Bratiano thinks as well as speaks. So completely at one are
the two statesmen that many of the uninformed poorer classes who have
not seen them believe them to be one person, whom they call
'Bratiano-Rosetti,' and whilst we were in Bucarest we saw a caricature
(an art in which the Roumanians take great delight) where the two
statesmen were depicted as the Siamese twins.

[Illustration: M. BRATIANO.]

The aim and policy of M. Bratiano are well expressed in one of his
despatches on the question of the Danube, which were made public by that
diplomatic phenomenon M. Callimaki-Catargi. 'Our attitude,' he says,
'like the whole policy of the ministry to which I belong, has always
been, and ever should be, defensive, not offensive.'[198]

Amongst the other leaders of political thought in Roumania is Prince
Demeter Ghika, President of the Senate, a fine burly good-natured
gentleman of the old school; Prince Jon Ghika, at present the Roumanian
Ambassador in London, a patriot and a savant, whose sons were educated
in England; M. Statesco, the Foreign Minister, a young and promising
statesman; M. Stourdza, the director of the National Credit Association;
and there are doubtless many others of whom we do not like to speak
without a nearer acquaintance, or better information than we possess.
One of these is M. Cogalniceanu, a deputy, who has written a good
history of Roumania, was a minister under Prince Couza, and we believe
the author of the celebrated Act of 1864 which created the peasant
proprietary of the country.[199]

[Footnote 197: There are daily papers in Bucarest for readers of every
nationality resident there, the _Romanal, Independance Roumaine,
Bukarester Tagblatt_, &c., all of which are free to say whatever they
please--_and they say it!_]

[Footnote 198: Despatch, February 1, 1880.]

[Footnote 199: Of the leaders of intellectual thought and industries in
Roumania we have already spoken elsewhere.]

V.

From men to measures is a natural transition in politics. Although we
have endeavoured to show, and do not hesitate to repeat here, that some
of the great principles laid down in the Constitution of Roumania are
only beginning to be carried out in practice, it is but just to add that
the vigour and energy with which the party of progress has of late years
developed the resources of the country is a matter of surprise and
admiration even to foreigners resident there who are acquainted with our
Western methods. The present _regime_ began, as we have already said, in
1875, and since that time the foreign policy of the party in power first
liberated the nation from the last vestige of foreign despotism; then
firmly established it as a European kingdom. That they occasionally
make mistakes no one can deny. For example, the recent announcement in
the speech from the throne, that Roumania was prepared in the present
and future for every sacrifice which it might be necessary to make to
ensure in all respects absolute facility of navigation of the Danube,
appears to an outsider to have been an error in judgment, if the
government were not prepared to hear with equanimity of the threatened
departure of the ambassador of a neighbouring State which had put the
cap upon its head, and against whose unwarrantable pretensions the
remark was directed. But it is easy to be wise after the event, and we
admit that it is presumptuous for anyone to criticise hastily any matter
that is being tossed about on the troubled sea of Oriental politics.
Living as we do on a seagirt isle which is practically unapproachable to
an external foe, and having for centuries enjoyed the blessings of
freedom, we can have no conception of the difficult cards which
Roumanian statesmen have to play in the political game in which they are
often compelled, much against their desire, to participate. From time to
time they hear great international theories propounded for the benefit
of their powerful neighbours, to which they are compelled to close their
ears, however nearly those principles may apply to their own condition.
Suppose, for example, some European Power claims new territory on the
ground of geographical position. Why, ask the Roumanians, should we be
hemmed in as we are on every side? Why should not the plains on both
sides of the Danube guarded by the Balkans and the Carpathians
constitute a strong realm, one and indivisible, with the great river
flowing as an artery through its centre? The answer is, Russia! If an v
of the Great Powers had insisted upon such a readjustment in the East,
she would have opposed it, for is not Bulgaria her last stepping-stone
to Constantinople? 'Skobeleff the First, King of Bulgaria' would suit
her aims far better. This reminds one of 'Panslavism.' Who will deny the
right of adjacent branches of the same race to live under one
government? Admitted; but then why not also Panroumanism? In that case
considerable portions of Austro-Hungary, Bessarabia, Bulgaria, Servia,
would have to be added to the present dominions of King Charles of
Roumania; for there are almost as many Roumanians in those countries as
there are within the present boundaries of the kingdom.[200]

But if Roumanian statesmen are permitted to enjoy their _reflections_ on
these interesting political topics, they know that it would be unsafe to
publish them, for, as we have seen, if they venture even, to cry too
loudly 'Roumania for the Roumanians,' some hectoring neighbour instantly
takes the alarm and threatens to withdraw its ambassador; and in case of
a fracas between any two such neighbouring States, even the rights which
she at present enjoys would hardly be respected. Her policy is therefore
tolerably well defined, and it was ably set forth in the royal speech
which contained that dangerous reference to Austrian pretensions. Peace
is requisite for her, in order that her Parliament may occupy itself in
developing the riches of the soil and the economic interests of the
country; but the organisation of a strong defensive army is equally
necessary to protect those interests from grasping and despotic States
in her vicinity, and because, 'by the development of all the forces of
the nation, Roumania will become an element of order, peace, and
progress in Eastern Europe.' In fact, she must make herself, by peaceful
measures, what Michael the Brave succeeded for a very short time, and
from motives of personal ambition, in making her by the sword in his
day, the arbiter of surrounding nations, the Belgium of the East, which
no aggressive despot would dare to assail; and she must become
sufficiently strong to resist not only inimical but friendly foreign
occupations, which have such a demoralising effect upon her people.

On this undertaking her Government has already for some years past been
embarked. It has secured railway property for the State which was in the
hands of aliens, has begun to improve watercourses, created national
credit institutions, reduced the interest upon the national debt,
increased the value of Roumanian securities, and has generally followed,
as it still pursues, the ways of 'peace, retrenchment, and reform.'[201]

We have no wish to patronise Roumania even in words, for her best friend
is he who tells her to depend entirely on her own resources and develop
those herself; to carve her fortunes, and to shape her ends. But when we
look upon her sufferings, reflecting how for ages she has lain beneath
the claws of savage enemies, quailed under despots who sucked the
lifeblood of the nation, and then compare her constitutional democracy
with ours--nay, if alone from a material point of view we weigh the
interest we have in her prosperity, we cannot fail to see that in the
East is rising up a Power, in part of our creation, young and weak as
yet, but full of hope and promise; and therefore, in concluding this
imperfect record of her 'past and present,' we heartily commend her
future to the earnest watchfulness of every English friend of liberty.

[Footnote 200: According to some, there are more.]

[Footnote 201: Although we have endeavoured as much as possible to avoid
burdening this popular treatise with statistics, one set of figures
which have been kindly supplied to us by friends at Bucarest and in
London is so significant, and indeed of such general interest, that we
must claim the reader's indulgence for giving it _in extenso_. It
comprises the values of Russian, Turkish, and Roumanian securities from
1870 to 1880, which are as follows:--

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