Wallachia

“ In the daily occupations and pastimes of the Boyars, little variety takes place. Those who hold no place under government, spend their leisure in absolute idleness, or in visiting each other to kill time. In Wallachia, the management of their estates and other private concerns, which do not relate to public appointment, does not occupy much of their attention, and sometimes the finest of their lands are left in total neglect, or in the hands of mercenary agents, who enrich themselves with their spoils. ”

“ The natural richness, and the various resources of Wallachia and Moldavia, are such, that if those countries could enjoy the important advantages of a regular government and a wise administration, under which industry and agriculture should receive their due encouragement, the trade of exports laid open, the commercial intercourse with foreign nations set upon a proper footing, and finally, the mines explored, they would in a short time become the 85most populous and most flourishing provinces of Europe. ”

“ Nature has furnished them with every possible means of becoming prosperous; men have ever proved themselves the determined enemies of their prosperity.
86 CHAPTER V.
BUKOREST AND TIRGOVIST, THE CAPITALS OF WALLACHIA.—YASSI, THE CAPITAL OF MOLDAVIA.—A DESCRIPTION OF THEM.—MODE OF TRAVELLING.—BREED OF HORSES. Bukorest, the present capital of Wallachia, is an extensive dirty town, situated on a low and marshy ground, and containing eighty thousand inhabitants, three hundred and sixty-six churches, twenty monasteries, and thirty large hanns or caravanserays. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Wallaby, wol′ab-i, n. a small kangaroo.—On the wallaby, On the wallaby track, out of employment, a slang Australian phrase derived from the shy habits of the kangaroo.
Wallachian, wäl-ā′ki-an, adj. of or pertaining to Wallachia, a Danubian principality, since 1878 forming with Moldavia the kingdom of Roumania.—ns. Wall′ach, Wall′ack, a native or inhabitant of Wallachia. [From a Slavonic term represented by Pol. Wloch, an Italian, Woloch, a Wallach; all from Old High Ger. walh (A.S. wealh) , a foreigner.] ”

“ Moreover, that province was no longer inhabited by a mainly Greek population; in the twelfth century it had passed so completely under Wallachian influence that it was known as Great Wallachia, and its colonists were the ancestors of those Koutso-Wallachs, who still pasture their herds in the country near the Thessalian frontier, descending to Bœotia in the winter, and who, in the war of 1897, were on the Turkish side. Finally a debased currency pointed to the financial decline of the Byzantine Government. In short, the Empire was ripe for the Latin conquest. ”

“ Those of Moldavia would view with pleasure any political change in their country which offered to them the sure prospect of improvement in civilisation. Those of Wallachia have long since consoled themselves for the improbability of any early change, 186by taking a very active part in the general system of rapacity, of which it has become the lot of their countrymen of inferior order to bear the weight. ”

“ The administration of these branches of government is always sold to private speculators; 68and the above-specified sums have been paid by them in advance the last six years. Some merchants, and others possessed of considerable fortunes in the country, have acquired their riches by these speculations.
In Wallachia it has become customary that most of the public officers give a share of their profits to the prince, who, according to the estimate of their amount, receives it in anticipation ”

“ As for the Albanians, they had not yet entered Greece; had they done so, the conquest would probably have been far less easy. Besides the Greeks and the Slavs, there were Wallachs in Thessaly, who extended as far south as Lamia, and who had bestowed upon the whole of that region the name, which we find employed by the Byzantine historian Niketas, of “Great Wallachia.” That the Wallachs are of Roman descent, scarcely admits of doubt ”

“ 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 inattention of the Turkish cabinet is not to be exclusively ascribed to the general system of governing the empire, but chiefly to the selfish views and personal avidity of the ministers who compose it. They have accustomed themselves to look upon Wallachia and Moldavia as two rich provinces over which they have but a momentary authority ”

“ It is remarkable that while no people living on the south of the Balkans appear to be mentioned as Wallachs until the tenth century, when Anna Comnena mentions a village called Ezeban, near Mount Kissavo, occupied by them, almost suddenly we hear of them as a great nation to the south of the Balkans. They spoke a language which differed little from Latin. Thessaly, during the twelfth century is usually called Great Wallachia. ... ”

“ The country now becomes flatter, particularly on the left bank, where extend the immense plains of Wallachia, and the eye finds no object on which it can rest. On the right hand rise terrace-like rows of hills and mountains, and the background is bounded by the sharply-defined lines of the Balkan range, rendered celebrated by the passage of the Russians in 1829. The villages, scattered thinly along the banks, become more and more miserable; they rather resemble stables for cattle than human dwellings. ”

“ The renewal of public officers every year naturally creates great confusion in the transaction of public business. The custom arises from the circumstance that the Boyars, whose number in Wallachia amounts to nearly thirty thousand, claim public employment, at least, for a time, as a right to which they are each entitled. ”

“ And see, in the present war, we have, with very few troops, defeated your numerous forces; and after taking the fortresses of Hotim, Bender, Ibraïl, Ismail, and Otchakoff, and conquering Moldavia and Wallachia from one extremity to the other, we passed the Danube with eight thousand men, and routed the Ottoman army consisting of fifty thousand. As you have no troops able to face ours, know that this time also, after being well beaten, you will make a worse peace than the former one. ”

“ In the big towns also they established important colonies—as for example in Jassy, where they form more than one third of the population, and in Galatz, where they occupy whole streets with their shops. In all these centres they live by trade or as craftsmen—tinsmiths, glaziers, shoemakers, hatters, tailors, butchers, bakers and the like. The southern province of Wallachia is studded with smaller colonies both of Spanish and of Polish Jews, while there are families, settled chiefly in Bucharest, whose ancestors have been in the country from time immemorial. ”

“ From there it is a day's journey to Sinon Potamo, where there are about fifty Jews, at their head being R. Solomon and R. Jacob. The city is situated at the foot of the hills of Wallachia. The nation called Wallachians live in those mountains. They are as swift as hinds, and they sweep down from the mountains to despoil and ravage the land of Greece. No man can go up and do battle against them, and no king can rule over them. They do not hold fast to the faith of the Nazarenes, but give themselves Jewish names. ”

“ The constitution of Moldavia does not permit the prince to interfere with the affairs of the ecclesiastical council, nor with the financial concerns of the metropoly. The archbishop is elected by the nobility, and must be a native. The bishop of Romano, 70next in rank, is usually chosen to that dignity. The same regulations ought to exist in Wallachia, but a series of abuses have there rendered many evils irremediable. ”

“ Moldavia was governed on the same plan as the sister province, and frequently shared the same fate in war; sometimes ravaged by the Turks, at other times successful in resisting them. Towards the close of the 16th century, after its successful co-operation with Wallachia, Sigismund of Transylvania seized it, deposed the Voïvode Aaron, his friend and ally, and appointed a man of his own choice, whom he bound to pay him tribute. But in 1597, a Polish army invaded the province, and rescued it from the hands of Sigismund. ”

“ The Wallachians under this Voïvode joined again the Hungarians in 1448, and made war on Turkey; but being totally defeated at the battle of Cossova, in Bulgaria, and finding it no longer possible to make any stand against the Turks, they submitted again to the annual tribute, which they paid until the year 1460, when the Sultan Mahomet II. being occupied in completing the conquest of the islands in 19the Archipelago, afforded them a new opportunity of shaking off the yoke. ”

“ Though the villages of the Wallachian plain are few and far between, and though it is no uncommon thing for a peasant to walk a dozen miles from his home to the fields in which he works, the whole region seemed a-hum with industry. ”

“ Notwithstanding the unfortunate position of this people, by no means enviable to their neighbours, the miseries of famine in Transylvania sometimes cause considerable emigrations of peasants from that vast province into Wallachia and Moldavia. All the best lands in Transylvania being in the hands of Hungarians, Szecklers, and Saxons, the others who form the bulk of the population are driven into hilly and barren situations, where at all times they subsist with difficulty ”

“ We of Wallachia are men of another mood. We smite our foeman where we find him, asleep or awake—at the wine-cup or in the battle—with the sword by his side, or arrayed in the silken garb of peace! Drag him from his steed, fellows! Let us see how lightly this adventurous English diver will leap the cataracts of the Danube!’
“Resistance was in vain. I had already given myself up for lost. Even at that moment the image of my Amalia rose before me in all its beauty—her name was on my lips ”

“ When used in the plural number, wall signifies fortification; works built for defense. To be driven to the wall, a figurative term, signifying to be so pressed that you can neither advance nor retreat.
Wallachia. One of the Danubian principalities, in the northeast of Turkey in Europe. This country formed part of the ancient Dacia of the Romans, and was subsequently brought under the dominion of the Goths and Huns. During the two centuries which preceded the fall of the empire of the East, it was sometimes subject to the Greek emperors, and sometimes to the monarchs of Hungary. ”

“ There are but few families at Bukorest who have long continued in an uninterrupted state of domestic harmony, and fewer still who can point out some relation who has not gone through a divorce.
Sometime back, a Wallachian lady of quality, who had brought but a small fortune to her husband, became desirous of fixing her residence in one of the principal streets of the town, and she pressed him to lay aside his accustomed system of economy, to sell his estate, the revenue of which 148gave them the principal means of support, and to build a fine house in that street. ”

“ In Ragusa a division of all the people was made.... Those who were the richest were (appointed) chiefs and governors.... Each family had its own saint, some San Sergio, some this saint, some that.... And when men had come from Lower Vulasi (Wallachia) ,28 a division of the citizens was made, each class for itself. Many Wallachians were rich in possessions—gold, silver, cattle, and other things: among them were many Chatunari, each of whom considered himself a count, and had 23his own Naredbenizi (stewards) . ”

“ The Wallack women, whether walking or standing, never have the spindle out of their hands: the attitude is very graceful, added to which the thread must be held daintily in the fingers. They are very industrious, making nearly all the articles of clothing for the family.
After a great deal of palavering—I think we must have spoken to every able-bodied man in the churchyard—I at last induced a young Wallachian to say he would accompany me. He spoke a little German, which was a great advantage. ”

“ The demands of commerce and industry interfere with their accustomed routine, and they will hardly survive much longer in their present form.
A great portion of Eastern Servia has been occupied by Wallachians, who were invited to the country after the war of independence, when vast districts had been depopulated. These new settlers, being more prolific than their neighbours, gradually gain upon the Servians, and already some of their colonies are met with on the western bank of the Morava. Many Servian villages have become Wallachian as far as language can make them so. ”

“ Besides the Wallachs in Thessaly, whose descendants are now called Kutzo-Wallachs, there were the Wallachs in Dacia, the ancestors of the present Roumanians, and Mavro-Wallachs in Dalmatia. Indeed, according to the Hungarian and Byzantine writers, there were during the twelfth century a series of Wallachian peoples, extending from the Theiss to the Dniester. ... The word Wallach is used by the Byzantine writers as equivalent to shepherd, and it may be that the common use of a dialect of Latin by all the Wallachs is the only bond of union among the peoples bearing that name. ”