Roumania Past and Present Part 4

This may be called the students' hospital, for here is not only the little chemical laboratory of Dr. Bernath, but also dissecting rooms, amphitheatre, and anatomical museum. Of the latter, indeed, there are several, osteological, physiological, &c., and they reflect great credit upon the gentlemen who have formed them under almost insuperable difficulties. There are several other important buildings in or near Bucarest. Two of these, the Agricultural College and the Asyle Helene in the outskirts, will receive a special description hereafter; but in the city itself there are, besides those already named, the National Bank, some of the monasteries devoted to philanthropic purposes, and three or four hotels, where travellers may live with great comfort and luxury at an extravagant cost.[33]

[Footnote 32: See p. 202. A high tower attached to it is said to have been built by the soldiers of Charles XII. of Sweden.]

[Footnote 33: The princ.i.p.al hotels are the 'Grand Hotel du Boulevard'

(on the boulevard), the Hotel 'Brofft,' 'Hugues,' 'Imperial,' 'Mano,'

&c. The cost of a room varies from six to ten francs per day, and of board about the same. Wine is very dear, varying from three francs for the native wines up to twenty francs for fine French descriptions. All these matters are, however, undergoing change from year to year.]

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 cla.s.ses, and such middle cla.s.ses 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 sh.o.r.es, 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 cla.s.ses 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 circ.u.mstanced as some writers have represented. A great many of the higher cla.s.s 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 125. 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 3,200., 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 cla.s.s 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 cla.s.ses 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 quant.i.ties 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 cla.s.s 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 cla.s.ses 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GIPSY FLOWER-SELLER.]

The preceding remarks concerning the working cla.s.ses 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 cla.s.ses, 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 Sat.u.r.day 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 a.n.a.logous. 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GIPSY MUSICIANS.]

Wilkinson has given us anything but a flattering description of them in his day (1820). The Princ.i.p.alities, 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 s.e.xes slovenly and dirty in the extreme. An account of their habits in the coa.r.s.e 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 s.e.x 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 circ.u.mstance.' Not only was it 'under the care of these depraved servants that the boyards were brought up,' but as the women of the higher cla.s.ses 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROUMANIAN GIRL.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GIPSY.]

Another section are workers in metal, such as tinkers and bra.s.s-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 cla.s.s 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 pa.s.s 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 s.p.a.ce, and we are loth to give _any_ to another cla.s.s 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 schoner Volksstamm sind, und andrerseits die ubrige Bevolkerung sie darchans nicht zuruckstosst, so sicht nichts entgegen da.s.s sie in einer ziemlich nahen Zukunft mit der Ma.s.se der roumanischen Bevolkerung verschmelzen.'--Petermann's Mittheilungen, Erganzungsheft 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 advertis.e.m.e.nts 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 amus.e.m.e.nts of the working cla.s.ses, and for that matter of all cla.s.ses, 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 cla.s.ses 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 cla.s.s 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 mult.i.tude, 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 inst.i.tutions, 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 inst.i.tution of credit,' and railways, of which there were at that time none in existence.[39] Now there are banks, credit inst.i.tutions, 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 circ.u.mstance 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 cla.s.ses 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 munic.i.p.al 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 munic.i.p.ality 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 circ.u.mstances 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 t.i.tle 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 compet.i.tion and enterprise on the part of the native traders, not by invective and abuse.

[Footnote 39: _uvres 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 pa.s.sing 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 cl.u.s.ter many interesting historical a.s.sociations, 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 const.i.tute 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 b.a.l.l.s and chains, and symbolise the Trinity. On the ground, opposite the portal, and within the stone bal.u.s.trade 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 surpa.s.ses all powers of description. It comprises a large corded moulding, about halfway between the pediment and the cornice, pa.s.sing 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TRACERY ON EXTERNAL SHIELD.]

Within, the building is less interesting; it is dimly lighted by the narrow windows, artificial light being furnished by means of numerous candelabra during divine service. The secondary dome is supported by twelve Arabic pillars, and the walls and domes are decorated with frescoes of the orthodox kind--the Saviour, Virgin, and Apostles, with scenes from the Old and New Testament, also with portraits of princes and bishops of the See. The length of the building inside is about 76 Vienna feet, the greatest breadth 41 feet. The height of the two domes is 86 feet and 81 feet respectively, and of the smaller cupolas 66 feet.

If the architecture and ornamentation of the cathedral are beautiful, the historical records which it contains are even more interesting. It is true that great uncertainty hangs over these, as over all other Roumanian chronicles, but certain facts in connection with the building and its history are well established.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TRACERY ON EXTERNAL SHIELD.]

Its archives have been carried off by the invaders who, from time to time, sacked and plundered its valuable treasures; but several inscriptions inside and outside of the church, some of which are in the Servian and old Slavonian language, and others in Roumanian, throw light upon its history and construction.

First, however, we must inflict upon our readers a little legendary lore, which, although it ill.u.s.trates the uncertainty of the early history of the country, will give them a glimpse of the national thought and feeling in the past. According to tradition the cathedral was founded by 'Neagu Voda,' of whom we shall speak hereafter; and it is said that whilst he was a hostage at Constantinople he built a magnificent mosque for the Sultan, who allowed him to take away to his own country the surplus materials, and that from these he constructed the cathedral after his own designs. A still wilder legend makes one Manoll or Manole the architect, and it is said that he had several master-masons a.s.sociated with him in the work, but that the efforts of the combined masons failed to raise the building. Neagu Voda had commanded them on pain of death to proceed with it, when Manole, to save their lives, proposed that they should follow the old custom (legendary let us hope) of building up a woman in the foundation; and it was decided that the woman who first made her appearance with the provisions for her husband on the following day should be the victim. They all swore to keep the fact secret from their wives; but Manole was the only one who kept his word, and consequently his wife Utza was the first to appear.