Roumania Past and Present

J >> James Samuelson >> Roumania Past and Present

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27

IV.

Whilst we are speaking on this subject it may not be uninteresting to
add a few words on the mode and cost of living generally. The upper
classes, and such middle classes as exist, are remarkably hospitable and
social; they live in great comfort, and some of them in luxury, which we
fear is not always warranted by their revenues. The style of living is
Franco-German, in fact pretty much the same as in St. Petersburg. Many
people dine regularly at the large hotels, especially in those which
have open-air conveniences for that purpose during the summer months.
The theatres are well frequented, and in summer the favourite resort is
an open-air theatre of varieties near the St. George's Garden, where
native as well as French plays are performed, and where the songs of
'Erin and Albion,' sung by natives of these shores, are well
appreciated. Here may be seen grave diplomats sitting side by side with
the _bourgeoisie_, and the only objectionable feature is the doubtful
character of certain of the plays, which resemble some that are from
time to time performed at our English theatres; both have a common
origin, and would be better left in the place of their conception, that
boasted centre of civilisation, Paris.

Whilst the upper and middle classes in Bucarest live in the style of
many large continental cities, and often in great luxury, the poorer
population are by no means so badly circumstanced as some writers have
represented. A great many of the higher class of artisans occupy their
own houses. Land is comparatively cheap, and a workman may procure a
cottage with a couple of parlours, a small kitchen, and a little garden,
for about 3,000 francs, or 125L. The cost of a residence in the best
part of the city where land is comparatively dear, with six rooms,
stable, and garden, averages 80,000 francs, or 3,200L., land varying in
value in the city from two to twelve francs per square yard.

Much of the rougher work is done by gipsies, but the better class of
Roumanian artisans, such as carpenters, joiners, painters, tin workers
(who cover the roofs of buildings), receive from five to seven francs
per day, working from sunrise to sunset, with two hours for meals, or on
an average twelve hours per day. Italians and Germans, of whom many are
employed, receive one or two francs more than natives, whilst engineers
and fitters are paid eight to ten francs per day. A great deal of time
is lost in Roumania through feasts and holidays, of which there are,
including Sundays, over a hundred in the year. During this time not only
is there no production, but time spent in idleness leads to the same
demoralising waste there as elsewhere. The working classes are seen
hanging about wine-shops, as they congregate about public-houses here;
and, although it is a very rare thing to see people drunk in the
streets, many are heavy drinkers, consuming large quantities of rachin
(grain-spirit) and sour wine.[34]

The cost of living is moderate. Dark bread varies from 1_d._ to
1-1/2_d._ per lb., white from 1-1/2_d._ to 2_d._, almost as dear,
therefore, as with us. Roumania is essentially a stock breeding country,
and whilst butcher's meat varies from 4_d._ to 5_d._, mutton costs 3_d._
to 3-1/2_d._ per lb. Common wine is 3_d._ to 4_d._ per pint; fruits of
all kinds are very cheap, and afford an article of luxury to almost
every class of the population. Tobacco is dear, owing to the monopoly.
We believe there was an attempted revolution over the tobacco question
in 1805, which, had to be put down by military force. All kinds of
clothing for the poorer classes are imported, and a suit of best clothes
costs about thirty francs, a pair of boots eleven to twelve francs. This
does not, however, apply to the country. There the women, besides doing
field work and managing the household, make _all_ the clothes, the men's
as well as their own; and by that is meant that they spin, weave, and
make up the garments. The custom, already referred to, of wearing the
national costume by ladies in the country and on state occasions in
Bucarest, gives very lucrative employment to the native women, and such
costumes are exposed for sale in the shops of the capital at prices
varying from 6_l._ or 7_l._ to anything the wearer likes to pay. Many of
these costumes testify to the exquisite taste of the females by whom
they are made; for the combination of silk, wool, and thread, and the
beautiful lace-work, the effect of which is heightened by diminutive
spangles of gilt and silver, cannot fail to challenge admiration. These
costumes are, however, better adapted for young girls than for ladies of
a maturer age.

[Illustration: FRUIT-SELLER OF BUCAREST.]

Not only the women, but the men also, wear much livelier descriptions of
dress than we are accustomed to in the west of Europe; and whilst the
frilled unmentionables of some of them would excite ridicule amongst our
hardy operatives, the brocaded vests of others would perhaps be regarded
by them with envy.

[Illustration: GIPSY FLOWER-SELLER.]

The preceding remarks concerning the working classes do not, however,
apply to common labourers. These are chiefly gipsies, hundreds of whom,
men, women, and children, may be seen carrying bricks and mortar, and
performing every kind of drudgery, for which they receive about one or
two francs per day. If they are engaged upon the erection of a building,
they work, cook, and sleep in it; otherwise they find shelter where they
are able. They are frequently half-naked, the children sometimes
completely so; and their chief, if not their only food, which they eat
in common with all the poorest classes, is mamaliga, or maize-meal
boiled and flavoured with a little salt. This is sold at about 2_d._ for
3 lbs., but its price depends upon the maize crop.

[Footnote 34: It is not so much a question in Roumania of time actually
lost; for if we add the longer working hours on the one hand, and deduct
the Saturday half-holiday of our operatives, probably there will not be
found to be much difference; but it is the recurrence of feast-days and
holidays at irregular intervals, as is the case in those trades in
England where men go off 'on the spree' for a day or two at slated or
unstated periods. In Romania this is, in its way universal.]

V.

As to the gipsies themselves, concerning whom our readers will no doubt
have heard a great deal in connection with this country, they formed,
until recently, a nation within a nation, and even now they speak a
language of their own, and to some extent stand aloof from the remaining
population. They are the same people variously named Bohemians by the
French, Zigenner by the Germans, Gitanos in Spain, Tschinghenneh by the
Turks, and Tsigani by the Roumanians, who look upon them pretty much as
the white man regards the negro, between whose nature and that of the
Roumanian gipsy there is much that is analogous. That they are of Hindoo
origin few doubt, for their language has great affinity to the Sanscrit;
and when they first entered Roumania, probably early in the fifteenth
century, they were simply a race of wandering barbarians, a later
arrival, who were soon enslaved by the boyards. Many of them followed
the occupation of gold-washers in the Carpathians, and part if not all
the product of their labour fell to the portion of the wives of the
Voivodes; indeed, according to some writers, a considerable number were
slaves, whom the princess or her officials did not hesitate to sell,
maltreat, or even put to death with impunity.

[Illustration: GIPSY MUSICIANS.]

Wilkinson has given us anything but a flattering description of them in
his day (1820). The Principalities, he says, contained about 150,000 of
them, and 'they make a more profitable use of them than other countries
do by keeping them in a state of regular slavery.' They were able to
undergo constant exposure to the rigours of the weather, and were fit
for any labour or fatigue, but their natural indolence caused them to
prefer all the miseries of indigence to the enjoyment of comforts that
are to be reaped from industry. They were thieves from choice, but 'not
with a view of enriching themselves, and their thefts never extend
beyond trifles.'[35] The women were well-shaped before they began to
have children; both sexes slovenly and dirty in the extreme. An account
of their habits in the coarse language of the historian would be unfit
for our readers' perusal. There was no regular traffic in them, 'both
purchases and sales being conducted in private, and the usual price for
one of either sex was from five to six hundred piastres.' He says the
Government owned 80,000, consequently more than one-half of them, and
they were 'suffered to stroll about the country, provided they bound
themselves not to leave it, and to pay an annual tribute of the value of
forty piastres each man above the age of fifteen.' They lived in tents
near the large towns, and seem only to have worked as much as was
requisite to keep body and soul together. But, he adds, 'they possess a
natural facility and quickness in acquiring the knowledge of the arts,'
and musical performance was their forte. They were also employed as
slaves in the households of the boyards, especially in the kitchens,
which they made 'not less disgusting than the receptacles of swine.'
They were bastinadoed, often in the presence of the master or mistress,
and 'the ladies of quality, however young and beautiful, do not show
much delicate reluctance in similar instances of authority.' Other
punishments, some very inhuman, were inflicted; and although the owners
had no power of life or death over them, if the latter were the result
of too severe beating 'neither the Government nor the public took notice
of the circumstance.' Not only was it 'under the care of these depraved
servants that the boyards were brought up,' but as the women of the
higher classes were not in the habit of nursing their infants, they
placed them in the hands of gipsy wet-nurses, who imparted to them their
diseases, and no doubt influenced the morals of their after-life.[36]
Although the gipsies were nominally freed in 1848, their condition
remained unchanged after the revolution was suppressed, and it was not
until 1854 that they were permanently liberated. To-day there are
nominally 200,000 of them in Roumania, and until recently they were
divided, or divided themselves, into distinct castes following various
occupations. The highest of these were the Laoutari, or musicians, who
generally perform in bands consisting of four or five men each. These
usually play upon one or two violins, a mandoline, and the Pandean
pipes. Their music is wild and plaintive, giving the impression from a
distance that two or three bagpipes are being played. They have the
credit of being very good musicians, and of being able to perform
national airs from the ear alone. Some of them have risen to the
position of acknowledged composers, and indeed, for that matter, many
individuals amongst the gipsy race occupy comparatively high posts in
other departments of human intelligence.

[Illustration: ROUMANIAN GIRL.]

[Illustration: GIPSY.]

Another section are workers in metal, such as tinkers and
brass-founders; a third work in wood, and perform various duties
connected with the building trade; but a large proportion are still
vagabonds and thieves, who infest the country, and are a nuisance to the
honest peasants and labourers. The last-named class profess no religion
and obey no law, excepting the criminal law when they are forced. The
settled part of the gipsy community belong to the national Church; the
women are chaste as against the Roumanians, but their morality is said
to be very lax amongst themselves. It is, however, hardly fair to speak
in these general terms of the gipsy race at present. As already stated,
many of them occupy very honourable positions in society; and some years
since a German writer predicted what is now taking place, namely, a
fusion of the gipsies with the Roumanians.[37] We were informed by a
learned philologist in Bucarest that this process is rapidly going on;
the castes are not so clearly defined; intermarriages with Roumanians
are of daily occurrence; many of the gipsies do not even know their own
language; and their number is rapidly diminishing. Intellectually they
are talented, but lazy. Many of the men, and still more of the women,
are very handsome. Although every gradation of shade is to be found
amongst their faces, pretty much as one sees in the negro race in the
United States, the features of the Roumanian gipsies are generally
well-formed Indo-European. Nothing is more striking than to see two
women pass each other, or walking side by side: the one a Roumanian,
fair, florid, and blue-eyed, the other a gipsy with a skin as black as a
sloe, jet-black hair, and black eyes, and yet the features similar in
both cases, and each woman in her way handsome.[38]

Many stories have been related concerning the gipsies, and their
character has often been invested with romance; but we cannot afford
them more space, and we are loth to give _any_ to another class of
beings whom one sees in Roumania, namely, the self-mutilated sect of
Lipovans, well known to persons who are, or rather were formerly,
acquainted with Russia, out of which country they were driven when they
took up their abode in Roumania. They are chiefly hackney-carriage
drivers, and wear the Russian dress, consisting of a long cloth coat
bound at the waist by a belt, and a round peaked cap. We were informed
that the police are making efforts to get hold of the leaders of this
sect, which is undoubtedly a blot upon the civilisation of any country
in which its members are to be found.

[Footnote 35: Raicewich gives a similar account of them in 1789.]

[Footnote 36: Wilkinson, pp. 168-176.]

[Footnote 37: 'Und da sie ein sehr schoener Volksstamm sind, und
andrerseits die uebrige Bevoelkerung sie darchans nicht zurueckstoesst, so
sicht nichts entgegen dass sie in einer ziemlich nahen Zukunft mit der
Masse der roumaenischen Bevoelkerung verschmelzen.'--Petermann's
Mittheilungen, Ergaenzungsheft 4, 8. 12. Gotha: J. Perthes.]

[Footnote 38: There are two types of gipsies, the one Indo-European, the
other of an African cast.]

VI.

The Roumanians are very fond of bright colours, and one of the
peculiarities which strike the visitor to Bucarest is the hues of the
women's dresses, sometimes, but not always, as tasteful as they are
brilliant. Another feature is the love of the pictorial art in
connection with the advertisements of tradespeople. Amongst many
examples of this, in various vocations, is the frequent recurrence of
signboards, representing a lady reposing in her bed after an interesting
event, whilst the nurse (who thus advertises her profession) is holding
up a beautiful infant in her arms for the admiration of its parent and
the general public. The amusements of the working classes, and for that
matter of all classes, are by no means of the highest order. The
Roumanians love music, and many are accomplished musicians. The national
theatre is well attended by the middle classes during the season, so are
the _cafes chantants_ by the lower orders; but there is no intellectual
enjoyment as in Western countries, no popular lectures nor
entertainments, no societies for mutual improvement for any class of the
community. If one enquires what learned societies there are, he may
probably receive, as we did, a long list of them, bearing imposing
names, and many said to publish 'Transactions' (_Zeitschrift_); but
enquire a little further, and you will find that this society has been
defunct for so many years, and that one never met--that this
'Zeitschrift' was published once, but not a second time, and so on. The
Geographical Society has done some good work. In 1875 they published a
report through their secretary, M. Cantacuzeno, which contains a great
deal of valuable information concerning Roumania; but unfortunately, as
in the case of all Roumanian statistical records, this differs in many
cases from the statements of other 'authorities,' and cannot be accepted
as entirely trustworthy.

These remarks, however, are not applicable to the researches and
publications, in transactions and reviews, by savants such as Hasdeu,
Aurelian, Tocilesco, Bacologlu, Prince Jon Ghika, Cogalniceanu, and many
others. These are, however, entirely out of the reach of the multitude,
who stand greatly in need of popular instruction, a fact which has been
recognised by the Queen, who is not only doing all in her power to
popularise information by means of simple publications, but we believe
made an effort, hitherto ineffectual, to introduce a system of popular
lectures.

In another respect the city is behind the age, and that is in its
commercial arrangements. Although there are large transactions in raw
produce, in the manufactures of all nations, in stocks and shares, there
is no public Exchange, no Stock Market, no Corn Exchange, all the
business being transacted by ambulating brokers. But if the reader knew
in what condition the country was before the Crimean war, he would
marvel, not at the absence of such institutions, but that there should
be any need of them. In his work on the Roumanians published in 1857,
Edgar Quinet suggests as the means of their regeneration after so many
years of oppression 'a bank,' 'an institution of credit,' and railways,
of which there were at that time none in existence.[39] Now there are
banks, credit institutions, railways between most of the important
centres, and others in progress. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say
that the progress which has been effected in this country in twenty-five
years has in other European States necessitated one or two centuries;
and this is a circumstance of which most writers on the country have
lost sight in their criticisms. For the purpose of erecting suitable
buildings for trade, and for public bodies generally, a corporation has
recently been started which calls itself the 'Roumanian Company for
building Public Works.' Its capital is ten millions of francs, and
Prince Demetrius Ghika, President of the Senate, is the chairman, with
an unexceptionable board of directors, and no doubt the next five or ten
years will witness changes and improvements as rapid as those which have
occurred in the immediate past.

Much, perhaps too much, has been written concerning Roumanian funerals.
That they are showy, almost to irreverence, and that the exposure of the
face of the corpse in its glazed coffin is repulsive, there can be no
doubt, but they are not one whit worse than the lugubrious processions
with their 'arrangements' in black and feathers which are still to be
seen in England; and there, as here, it is to be hoped that with
improving national taste these exhibitions will be discontinued.

Very different, however, is the old-fashioned system of octroi, of which
the poorer classes complain bitterly, still in vogue not only in
Bucarest but in all the other large towns of Roumania, and the still
more iniquitous poll-tax. The latter amounts to eighteen francs per
head, and is levied on rich and poor alike. It is, however, needless to
say more on that subject; for the 'Romanul,' a daily journal, owned by
M. Rosetti, and published by him whilst he was Home Secretary (August
27, 1881), contained a most effective leading article against the tax,
from which it is clear that its injustice is recognised in the highest
quarters. As to the octroi system, it is bad beyond all conception. A
municipal tax, sometimes of so much per 100 kilos (4 to 44 francs), at
others _ad valorem_, or again upon each article, is levied upon almost
everything required by the inhabitants as it is brought into the city,
from food, clothing, and the necessaries of life, to such luxuries as
wine, artificial flowers, and carriages. And what aggravates the evils
of the system is that the municipality farms these duties to men
(usually Jews) who evade the authorised schedule by giving credit to
needy persons and then compelling them to pay exorbitant rates of
interest (if it can be so called) for the accommodation they receive. It
is for such practices as these, resulting in part from the want of good
government combined with the improvidence of the people, and from the
readiness of the Jews to turn these and similar circumstances to
favourable account, that the latter have been subjected to persecution
which formerly took the shape of violence and outrage, and which is now
confined to bitter invective and national ill-will.

The Jews, said 'Romania Libera' (a very inappropriate title for the
exponent of such views), are masters of the trade of the country and
poison everything economically. Joint-stock establishments are
recommended by it for the sale of clothes, shoes, and linen. The
Government must regard it as its sacred duty to foster this movement
with all its influence. 'The Jews need have no apprehensions. We will
not pitch them into the Danube, nor requite them with a Sicilian Vesper
as they deserve. Preventive economical regulations are much more
effective than the above-named measures.'[40] It is needless to remark
what a pernicious influence such an article as this would have upon an
excitable people who had been the victims of usury and oppression; and
whilst no language is sufficiently strong to apply to the perpetrators
of such outrages upon the Jews as have disgraced the Eastern nations who
have been guilty of them, Englishmen should hesitate before they fix the
blame upon the government of any country in which they occur. The Jews
are the chief traders in Roumania, and if they are exorbitant and
usurious the way to meet them is by competition and enterprise on the
part of the native traders, not by invective and abuse.

[Footnote 39: _Oeuvres completes_, vol. vii. p. 97.]

[Footnote 40: This article appeared in, and the extract was copied from,
the journal in question by the writer whilst he was in Bucarest, but he
omitted to copy the date.]

VII.

Before passing to the consideration of one or two other Roumanian towns
which will necessitate a reference to the trade of the country, we will
devote a few pages to the description of one of the most interesting
localities, or rather of a building therein, which is generally
considered its most noteworthy historical relic, and that is the church
or cathedral of Curtea d'Ardges.

The small city of Curtea d'Ardges, which contains one or two good old
churches, is situated on the river of the same name, a few hours' drive
from the station of Pitesti on the Bucarest and Verciorova (Vienna)
Railway; it is the seat of a bishop, and is one of the oldest towns in
Roumania. It is said to have been founded by Radu Negru, which is
tantamount to saying that its foundation is lost in obscurity. In its
immediate vicinity is a monastery containing a most beautiful cathedral,
around which cluster many interesting historical associations, and
whereof we propose to give a brief description.[41] It is of the
Byzantine order, but the architect has employed in its decoration a
large amount of Moorish or arabesque ornament, and the whole building
resembles a beautiful large mausoleum. The stone with which the
cathedral is faced has usually been called marble, but it is a whitish
grey limestone somewhat resembling lithographic stone,[42] which is very
easily workable with the chisel, but hardens on exposure to the air. We
have said it is faced with this stone, that is externally, for the
internal face of the building is of brick plastered for the reception of
paintings. The church is of an irregular form, being composed of a
square block, behind which is a large polygonal annexe; the whole is
raised upon a pediment seven feet in height, and the portal, which is
Moorish, is approached by twelve marble steps, said to symbolise the
twelve tribes of Israel. From the square main portion of the church a
large dome rises in the centre, and two smaller cupolas in front, whilst
a secondary dome which is larger and higher than the central one
surmounts the annexe behind. The domes and cupolas constitute the
summits of what are called by architects 'tambours;' the tambours of the
cupolas are round, that of the central dome octagonal, and that of the
hinder secondary one pentagonal. From all the domes alike there spring
inverted pear-shaped stones, each bearing a cross which consists of an
upright rod traversed horizontally by three smaller ones; the crosses
bear balls and chains, and symbolise the Trinity. On the ground,
opposite the portal, and within the stone balustrade which surrounds the
church, there is an exquisite little open structure resembling a shrine.
This consists of four plain Arabic pillars supporting a series of
mouldings which form a square cornice, and crowned with a dome,
pear-shaped ornament, and cross, precisely as in the cupolas of the
church itself. The windows in the body of the church and on the tambours
of the domes are very narrow, and those on the tambours or cylinders of
the smaller cupolas are curved and slope obliquely at an angle of
seventy degrees, which gives the spectator the impression that they are
leaning, somewhat in the same manner as the well-known spire at
Chesterfield. The ornamentation on the outside surpasses all powers of
description. It comprises a large corded moulding, about halfway
between the pediment and the cornice, passing right round the main
building; and circular shields above this moulding, which, along with
the windows, are decorated with the most exquisite tracery, wherein
flowers (chiefly lilies), leaves, and convoluted bands play a
conspicuous part. Everywhere, on the cornices, tambours, and balconies,
chaste wreaths and crowns of lilies add beauty and lightness to the
fabric, and give to the whole the appearance of a fairy structure.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27