George Makepeace Towle

“ For nearly a a century the Turkish Empire has been generally regarded as in a condition of slow but certain decay. One by one the Sultan has lost dominion over large and fair provinces, every year he has been sinking deeper and deeper into hopeless debt, and only considerations of self-interest on the part of other powers have kept life in that body-politic which the Czar Nicholas once so aptly compared to a sick man wasting away by a slow but fatal distemper. The Turks, it was said long ago, are only "encamped in Europe." ”

“ Song is an invariable incident of public meetings, and probably there is not an inn in Servia where there is not a singing every night. "On the mountain where boys tend the flocks, in the valley where the reapers gather in the corn, in the depth of the forest, the traveler hears alike the echo of these songs, ever the solace of the men in all their various occupations." There are many wandering minstrels in Servia, who tramp about the country with their gusls, and who never fail to receive a welcome, food, and a lodging wherever they go. ”

“ Miracles abound; there is scarcely a plaster image of a saint in the country that has not some supernatural property or power. Holy water blessed by the bishops is said to protect one from the "evil eye," from witchcraft and disease; it preserves cattle from lightning and the forests from blight, a house from fire and a ship from shipwreck. Unlike the Romish Church, too, that of the Moldo-Wallachians provides for an easy divorce. The secular power in Roumania has not yet succeeded in freeing itself from the bonds which unite it with the Church. ”

“ A large portion of the country is covered by dense forests of fir, oak, and beech; its soil is dark and rich, and it is well irrigated by the tributaries of the Danube. Moldavia is less hilly than its sister principality.It is almost wholly a broad and fertile plain, with the picturesque Sereth running through the centre, and on the east many of the tributaries of the Pruth afford abundance of water. The soil of Moldavia is also very rich, and needs but little care from the hand of man. ”

“ She must dress an infant, touch the walls of the house with a distaff, in token that she is to work with it under their protection, and stand upon a table with bread, water, and wine in her hands, as a sign that she is to have these in her care, and with a piece of sugar in her mouth, to admonish her that she should speak little, and that little sweetly. ”

“ The people of Moldo-Wallachia, though unhappily given over to what seems inveterate sloth and an inordinate love of frivolous pleasures, are still a tall, strong, and comely race, "with oblong countenance, black hair, thick and well-arched brows, a lively eye, small lips, and white teeth." ”

“ It seems certain that the first distinct appearance in history of the great Sclavonic race, which now embraces a large majority of the inhabitants of Eastern Europe, was early in the sixth century, when they appeared on the frontiers of the Roman Empire, defeated the imperial legions in Greece, besieged Byzantium, and, after rather more than a century of conflict, made a league with the Emperors of the East. ”

“ Whenever any event (as, for instance, the Herzegovinian rebellion) occurs to vivify this bugbear of the Eastern question, the position and probable action of the Principalities of the Danube become prominent subjects of speculation and discussion. They hold peculiar relations with the Turkish Empire and with Russia. Their geographical position gives them special importance in view of a probable war; and fostered and protected as they have been in their practical independence by the great states, they may be regarded in some sort both as belonging to Turkey and as wards of Christian Europe. ”

“ It is observed that the costumes of the upper Wallachian peasants, with their sandals, cloaks, and tunics, are very similar to those worn by the Roman peasantry in the days of the empire.
The state religion of Roumania is that of the Greek Church, which comprises almost the entire population. Every village has its sanctuary—a very curious edifice, low, but with a very high and slender spire. As in Servia, the Roumanian Church is virtually independent of the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople, choosing its own head, bishop, and priests. ”

“ Moldavia and Wallachia resemble Servia alike in the fertility of their soil and the laxity with which it is cultivated. Wallachia descends gradually from the mountain slopes on the west until it widens into broad level plains stretching to the banks of the Danube. In the upper lands of the west are extensive pastures, prolific in aromatic herbs, where sheep are raised in great quantities; below, on the Danube, cattle are in like manner fattened. ”

“ The people live long, and doctors rarely get rich there; the diseases are very few, and it is said that there are none indigenous to the soil.
With all their advantages, however, their political liberty and the unsurpassed bounties with which nature has endowed them, the Moldo-Wallachians, far from progressing, seem to be one of the declining races of Europe. The population of the principalities has actually dwindled within the past quarter of a century. They are neither enterprising nor hard-working. ”

“ When the patriarch of the family dies, his sons choose one of themselves to take his place, and the family remains together until it becomes too large for a single household. Then other houses are built near by, and thus it is states that "a single household often forms a whole street." Thus the family tie is a remarkably strong one in Servia, and especially strong is the bond uniting brothers and sisters to each other. ”

“ Despite the evidence of a decline in population and national production in Moldo-Wallachia, there are some signs, at least, of a better state of things than formerly prevailed. One of these is the gradual rise of a distinct commercial middle class. Half a century ago, the native population consisted almost entirely of two classes, between whom there was a wide gulf—the nobles and the peasants. What trade there was was mostly monopolized by Greeks and Jews. The Jews form a large population, and are easily distinguished from the Roumanians by their high fur caps and long pelisses ”

“ A superficial observation of the Moldo-Wallachians in the towns gives rise to the inference that theirs is mainly an Oriental type of civilization. A brief acquaintance with the society of Bucharest reveals that there is a universal craving to imitate the French. The French language is generally used in "the best circles;" no one is worthy of social consideration who is not familiar with it. The young ladies sing French songs, and not only they, but the lower classes, are extravagantly fond of the French opera. ”

“ What the future of these interesting peoples will be it is impossible to predict. They may form a portion of a revived Sclavian Empire, like that which flourished under the Servian Grand Zupans; they may fall finally to the lot of Austria on one side, and of Russia on the other; they may linger for generations in the precarious situation of nominal vassalage to the Sultan, and of real wardship under the protection of the power ”

“ In the long winter evenings, when work is over, and the family is gathered around the roasting fire of oak, one of the men sings stirring melodies to the gusl, while the women spin and weave. Even the superiors of the monasteries sing to the gusl. ”

“ As a race, they have been in the habit of seeing their half-grown fields devastated, their half-built villages burned. Thus they got into the way of sowing but little, and that hastily, and of building the cheapest and least ornamental dwellings that they could contrive.
Roumanian huts. The Moldo-Wallachian villages present an unfavorable contrast to those of Servia. A traveler who traversed the principalities not long ago describes them as consisting of "huts half buried in the earth," betraying a miserable condition of the people. They are, indeed, almost a subterranean community. ”

“ Only from an eighth to a sixth of the soil of Servia is under cultivation. A very large portion is devoted to pasturage and the rearing of swine—the latter the most valuable animal product of the country. In the charming valleys of the Save and the Morava and their tributaries, wheat, millet, and maize are plentifully raised. This is due, however, rather to the fruitful nature of the soil than to the skill of the Servian cultivators. The Servians are but indifferent farmers. The land is still tilled in a primitive fashion, improvements of modern invention finding no favor there. ”

“ Primitive in ideas and habits, patriarchal in their manner of life, intensely devoted to their country and jealous of its institutions, their lot is almost universally a comfortable, if not a prosperous one. A strong and stalwart race, much above the average Europeans and even of Sclaves in height and physical strength, they are contented with little, and existence runs smoothly with them. ”

“ Bucharest is in these respects more Oriental than European in character. It is a peculiar place for several reasons. There are so many dogs in the Roumanian capital as to be a downright plague, and more than once it has been found necessary to inaugurate a general massacre of them. The dogs thus killed are given over to be skinned by the peasantry outside the town. A permanent fashion in Bucharest is that of using vehicles. Nobody will go from place to place on foot if he or she can help it. ”

“ The parish priests of the Servian Church are obliged to be married by inflexible law; and as the canon also forbids them to marry a second time, when a priest's wife dies he ceases to preside over a parish, and retires to a monastery. ”

“ It has been remarked that while the Moldo-Wallachians of the cities and towns betray a Greek type of physiognomy, those of the rural districts still retain marked Roman features. The upper classes are excessively and even ludicrously haughty. They keep themselves ostentatiously aloof from the rest of the community, and are not disposed to be hospitable to strangers. ”

“ The people choose electors, and these electors choose the Senators and Deputies. The only restrictions on the suffrage are as to age, intelligence, and citizenship. The voter must be a native Rouman, be able to read and write, and be twenty-five years of age. ”

“ It is an excellent indication of the present prosperity of the principality that its exports considerably exceed its imports. An evidence of the primitive condition of Servia may be found in the fact that a separation of employments scarcely exists there. The people are supplied by "jacks-of-all-trades." As in our own villages, the same shop-keeper supplies his customers with groceries and household ware, hats and farming implements—indeed, whatever they find serviceable in the house or on the farm. ”

“ This is always the most conspicuous object which catches the traveler's eye.
The Moldo-Wallachian cities and towns, if we except Bucharest, Jassy, and one or two others, are scarecely more prepossessing than are the villages. The streets are seldom paved. The inns are execrable, and quite as uncomfortable as those of the Turkish towns beyond the Danube. ”

“ Servia holds no mean rank as a country of industrial resources. Its iron is pronounced the best in the world. In ancient times gold and silver mines were worked within its territory, and, indeed, they still exist, though they are no longer profitable. Coal, sulphur, and saltpetre are among its most lucrative productions. Experiments are even now being made to ascertain whether the Servian soil is not favorable to hemp and tobacco. ”

“ The practice of procuring absolution by the payment of fees is carried to a far greater extent than in the Romish Church; the Roumanian is easily able to compound for any sin he may commit, if he only has the requisite funds. ”

“ The curates of the churches are elected from among the people, and after performing their clerical functions on Sunday, return to their secular avocation, which may be that of a shepherd, farmer, or wood-cutter, on week-days. ”

“ On the east, its frontiers join those of the Russian province of Bessarabia, the boundary line being the river Pruth; the southern limit of Moldavia lies along the banks of the Danube and the border of Wallachia; the western limit is the picturesque range of the Carpathian Mountains. Wallachia, lying southwestward from Moldavia, stretches some two hundred and seventy miles from east to west, its southern frontier being along the Danube almost throughout its entire length, while to the north it is bounded by Moldavia and a part of Hungary, and on the west by the principality of Servia. ”

“ They work and take their meals in common, and in the evening gather in a group around the hearth. The houses, and even the furniture, are constructed by the owners themselves. These also make their own wagons and their own plows, carve the yokes of the oxen, shoe the horses, hoop the barrels, and make the shoes for the family. ”