Roumania Past and Present Part 5

'He took her by the hand at once And led her to the building, Then pointed out where she should stand, And he began to build: "Be, my beloved, without fear."

She did not interrupt his discourse.

'The other masons in astonishment All look at him with terror, And all stand at a distance, For they dare not venture near; When he softly speaks to her, And with haste builds her up.

'"This joke is not good, Manole, my beloved; Reflect that I am a mother, And that I am bringing up your son."

But Manole still jokes And hastens as much as he can.

'Up to her breast he had built up, And she sweetly sings to him; The strong wall bruised her, And she swims in tears, But when he had finished, The wall more than overtopped her.

'This was the remedy: And the wall was able to stand; And after this the monastery Ceased to fall any more; The wind, the earthquake do not shake it.

Utza within the wall upholds it.'

Thus far the poet;[43] but the legend does not end there. The boasts of the masons were so arrogant after the cathedral was completed that Radul, or Neagu (for he is called by both names), gave orders for the scaffolding to be removed, and left them to die of hunger on the roof.

Manole and his companions sought to save themselves by constructing parachutes of light wood, but as each attempted to descend he was dashed to the ground and turned into stone. Manole himself was the last to make the attempt, but when he approached the parapet he was horror-struck at hearing the plaint of his wife as he had heard it when he was building her up in the foundation, and, losing all sense and power, he fell to the ground. From the spot where he fell dead a spring of clear water gushed forth, and a fountain which was erected there is still known as Manoll's.

And now to pa.s.s from fiction to fact. According to the inscription upon a tablet outside of the church, it was founded by Neagu Ba.s.sarab, a prince of Wallachia, to whom we shall refer hereafter in our historical sketch. He is reported to have been very pious and patriotic, to have founded many monasteries and restored the cathedral of Tirgovistea. He died about A.D. 1520, and was buried in the church at Ardges.[44] He did not, however, live to complete the cathedral, for another tablet within the church says that John Radul, or Radul d'Affumaz, to whom reference will also be made in our historical summary, caused the paintings to be executed in 1526.[45]

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the church was desecrated and plundered by ruthless invaders, Christians (Hungarians) as well as Mohammedans, who carried off its treasures, which are said to have been of great value. In 1681, however, Prince Serban Cantacuzene, of whose good deeds we shall speak hereafter, completely restored the cathedral, as appears from the Roumanian inscription on a tablet outside near the portal. This inscription is quaint and interesting, and deserves a place in any work professing to deal with the history of the country. After a number of deeply pious and moral reflections it goes on to say:--

'Therefore Nyagoe Voivode Beserab, of happy memory, the great grandfather of my wife on the mother's side, who was a pious and G.o.d-fearing man, when he was invested with the government of Wallachia, did, amongst many other good deeds, cause to be erected a large and splendid monastery in this town of Argesia, along with the other cloister buildings in the vicinity, for the worship of G.o.d and in honour of his sainted mother; which monastery, as it may readily lie imagined from the high wages paid to the workmen engaged in its erection, must have been a very costly undertaking.

After a considerable period the foundation and steps began to give way, either through some error of the builders or owing to the damp caused by long-continued rains which loosened the stones. About that time I, Johann Scherban Kantakosino Beserab Voivode, in the name of G.o.d, was entrusted with the government of my ancestors. As soon as I became acquainted with the dilapidation of the monastery, I at once resolved to restore the building of my ancestors in order that the memory of that famous prince (Nyagoe) might not be forgotten, and I sent our boyard Dona Pepano as superintendent with numerous workmen, and thereupon restored the whole building where it had suffered damage, and bolted with iron the stones which had loosened, that they might thus continue to hold together, and then I further determined to endow the sacred monastery with the income from the hill[46] of Menesti, near Ardges, to hold and enjoy its entire revenues. These shall be in support of the holy monastery and in eternal remembrance of us and our ancestors.

'In the year 7190, the 26th August.

'This happened under the Metropolitan Kyr Theodosius.'

At the close of the eighteenth century Ardges was const.i.tuted a bishopric, and at the beginning of the present, Bishop Joseph was at great pains to renew and restore several portions of the cathedral. The inscription commemorating this event is brief:--

'To the glory of the Holy Trinity, to the glory and praise of the Holy Virgin Mary the Mother of G.o.d, this church was restored where it was injured by the rain. Where, however, the colour was only obliterated, it was repainted; at the instigation of Joseph the first Bishop of Ardges, in whose time also other work was done, under the Metropolitan Dositheos and Prince Constantine Ypsilanti.

The superintendent of the work was Meletin (of the Monastery). In the year 1804, 25th October.'

Besides having suffered at the hands of barbarians of various nations, this beautiful fabric has from time to time been injured by earthquakes; but it has survived all these calamities, and has been frequently repaired, restored, and beautified since the beginning of this century.

The property and incomes of monasteries have been largely applied to secular purposes, and amongst those whose resources have been much curtailed is that of Ardges. It is to be hoped, however, that, either through State support or private benevolence, this beautiful monument of mediaeval art and valuable historical record may not again be allowed to fall into decay, but may long remain what it is at present, undoubtedly the gem of Roumania.[47]

[Footnote 41: An excellent monograph, beautifully ill.u.s.trated, of this cathedral was published by Ludwig Reissenberger (Braumuller, Vienna, 1860), to which we refer the reader for further details concerning it.

Our two woodcuts showing the tracery are copied from that work, but the autotype plate is from a photograph by Duschek.]

[Footnote 42: Reissenberger calls it 'Grobkalk.' Similar stone is found in the neighbourhood.]

[Footnote 43: There are several versions of the legend. In some the prince is called Negru Voda, in others Negoije Voda, and in others again Radu Negru. The poem has been translated by Hon. H. Stanley, _Roumanian Anthology_, p. 215 (Hertford: Stephen Austin), an expensive and beautifully illuminated drawing-room book, containing some Roumanian poems in the vernacular, and others translated into English.]

[Footnote 44: The date on the tablet is 7209. This is Anno Mundi, according to the chronology of at least a section of the Byzantine Church, Christ having been born, after that reckoning, 5509 years after the creation of the world. (See Brown's _Vulgar Errors_ and Smith's _Dictionary of the Bible_.) Engel says Neagu reigned from 1511 to 1520.

Vaillant says he died in 1518.]

[Footnote 45: 7035 (A.M.) is the date on the tablet.]

[Footnote 46: Vineyard?]

[Footnote 47: As reference has been made from time to time to Roumanian ecclesiastics, the following brief particulars may not be uninteresting.

Christianity was introduced into the provinces bordering on the Danube at a very early date. According to A. de Gerando (_Siebenburgen und seine Einwohner_, p. 211, Lorck, Leipzig, 1845), a MS. was found in Hungary, bearing a cross and the date 274 A.D.; and in 325 A.D. a Bishop Theophilus was spoken of amongst the Goths. In 370 A.D. Athanaric, the Gothic king, persecuted and put many Christians to death. In 527 A.D. the Christian churches of Roumania (as then const.i.tuted) were taken in charge by the metropolitan of the Greek Church. But it was not until 865 A.D. that the Bulgarians and the native population a.s.sociated with them were actually converted to Christianity (Lauriani, p. 29). About that time intrigues existed between the heads of the Eastern and Western Churches for the possession of the headship in these countries, but the influence of the former predominated. About 860 A.D. a Slavonian liturgy was introduced into the churches, and, notwithstanding the denunciations and emba.s.sies of the Roman Pontiff, a separation occurred about 880 A.D., and the Roumanians joined the Orthodox Greek Church. Of the negotiations between Innocent III. and Johannitz, King of the Second Wallacho-Bulgarian monarchy, we shall speak hereafter, and although after that time the Papal power was in the ascendant in Wallachia and Moldavia amongst the princes and n.o.bles, the people always leaned to the Greek rite, and at length, in 1440, the metropolitan of Moldavia succeeded (Romish writers say by a religious _coup d'etat_) in making the Greek Church dominant. In the middle of the seventeenth century the most important Roman Catholic bishopries were suppressed, and down to the present time the Greek Church has been the state religion, and it is professed by nearly the whole nation; even the King, who was formerly a Roman Catholic, now conforms to the faith. Of the secularisation of the monasteries and other religious movements we shall speak in Part II, and it is only necessary to add that at present there are two metropolitans or archbishops, six bishops with dioceses and several without; in 1876 there were 9,800 secular priests, 1,700 monks and 2,270 nuns, 6,550 churches and 173 monasteries and nunneries. The priests or 'popes' marry and follow secular occupations in the country; in the towns they are 'non-productive' so far as labour is concerned. The services of the Greek Church are not impressive; but although much has been written concerning their superst.i.tion, the Roumanians do not differ greatly from the people of other Catholic countries in that respect. There is great indifference to religion, if not absolute atheism, amongst the higher cla.s.ses, which no doubt results from the great ignorance of the priesthood. The thing most to be regretted, however, is that whilst there are thousands of 'religieuses,' as they are called, in the country, all the nurses in its excellent hospitals should be paid servants, and the Church does nothing whatever towards maintaining the efficiency of those inst.i.tutions.]

CHAPTER V.

TOPOGRAPHICAL--COMMERCIAL.

Tramways in Bucarest--Other efforts at improvement--Galatz--Its position on the Danube--Quays, streets, buildings, &c.--Importance as a seaport--Languages requisite for trading there--Almost entire absence of English firms--Reports of the Consul-General, Mr. Percy Sanderson--The quality of British manufactures--(Note: The author's experience)--Causes of preference for foreign over British manufactures--Commercial treaties--Austrian pressure to the detriment of Great Britain--Statistics of our import and export trade with Roumania--Infancy of her manufacturing industries--Difficulties. .h.i.therto existing--War and uncertainty of investments--The new port of Constanta (Kustendjie)--Other Roumanian towns--Ja.s.sy--Its position and inst.i.tutions--(Note: Conflicting estimates of its population)--Ibrail, Craiova, Ploiesti, &c.

If many of the streets of Bucarest are badly paved and the city imperfectly sewered, it is at least striving hard to keep pace with other European towns in regard to modern conveniences. Its main streets are well lighted with gas, and it boasts a good line of tramways round and through various parts of the city. But when we come to consider what is now the second town of importance in Roumania, Galatz, we have to step back a few decades before we can realise its condition. It is situated on the left bank of the Danube about ninety miles from the Sulina mouth, and to the east of it is Lake Bratish, which is only separated from the great river by a strip of marshy land. On the whole it is more regularly built than Bucarest, and for about a mile along the river's bank the business portion extends, with its quays for ships discharging, ships loading, foreign agencies, timber yards, and railway loading and discharging berths. In the town itself there is nothing of interest to strangers. The streets are in a condition alternating between mud over your knees and dust over your ankles, imperfectly if at all drained, and lighted with oil lamps, of which one in every three is usually put into requisition. There are some good-sized public buildings, including the Prefecture, some hospitals, two of which, one called St. Spiridion, and another built during the Russo-Turkish war, were a great boon to the wounded of all the armies. There is also a cathedral, such as it is, and several Greek churches, one of which is said to contain the remains of Mazeppa; a synagogue or two, and a few other places of worship. Then there is a 'park' and a garden, and altogether Galatz resembles Bucarest on a small scale, and without its improvements. The chief boast of the place seems to be a constant water-supply, which is, however, so regulated that whilst one householder is watering his garden his neighbour cannot perform the same operation, but must wait patiently until he has finished; and finally there are, as a matter of course, a good many brick houses, some of one story and some of two, in which dwell a very kindly and hospitable set of inmates.

The importance of Galatz as a seaport is, however, quite another matter.

Although this country transacts a very considerable trade with it, there are very few English houses or agencies there, the chief business being carried on by German, Italian, Greek, and French firms; and not only those languages, but also Turkish and Bulgarian, are requisite for trading purposes.

The chief commodities exported to England are, as already stated, maize and barley, and the chief importations from this country are cotton yarn, cottons, woollens, machinery, hardware, cutlery, dry stuffs, spices, tea and sugar, but besides those there is hardly an article used by a civilised community which is not supplied to Roumania from this country. In two admirable reports published in 1877 and 1878, our Consul-General in Roumania, Mr. Percy Sanderson, has reviewed the trade between the two nations, and he gives some rather significant hints to 'fair traders,' that is to say not in the refined sense in which the term has been recently employed, but in its good old-fashioned signification of honest dealers. 'It cannot be said,' he remarks, 'that the bulk of the goods imported from Great Britain forms by any means a fair sample of its produce and manufactures,' and 'there is already a tendency amongst the well-to-do cla.s.ses to purchase French or Austrian manufactures when they are prepared to pay a high price for a really good article, although the same goods might possibly be furnished them from Great Britain at a lower rate.'[48] But Consul Sanderson gives another reason for the preference shown for foreign as distinguished from English manufactures. It is that the local trade is chiefly carried on by natives of those countries from which the articles preferred are imported, 'whilst there is not a single shop in Galatz kept by an Englishman--it seems doubtful whether there be one in the whole of Roumania.' And there is still a third reason, to which he only refers incidentally, but we question whether it is not the most cogent of all.

Whilst continental states, and especially Austria, have shown little delicacy in exacting favourable treaties of commerce from the Roumanian Government, England has been at a disadvantage in that respect. We may be told that we are placed on the most favoured nation footing, but we were informed at Bucarest by persons occupying high positions, and whose statements may be trusted implicitly, that, although this is apparently and nominally the case, it is not so in reality, as the commercial treaties have been initiated by Austria, and so framed as to give a preference to her manufactures.[49]

Notwithstanding these drawbacks, however, our exports to Roumania are on the whole increasing, as witness the following statistics (Board of Trade, 1881), although there has been a slight falling off in cotton stuffs on which the tariff is high, and in manufactured iron.

_Total Exports from Great Britain to Roumania._

+----------------------------+----------+----------+----------+ | | 1878. | 1879. | 1880. | +----------------------------+----------+----------+----------+ | | | | | |British manufactures | 887,488 | 997,078 |1,112,761| |Foreign and colonial produce| 112,987 | 100,354 | 86,501| | and manufactures | | | | +----------------------------+----------+----------+----------+ |Total |1,000,475|1,097,432|1,199,262| +----------------------------+----------+----------+----------+

_Total Imports into Great Britain from Roumania._

+--------------+---------+-----------+-----------+ | | 1878. | 1879. | 1880. | +--------------+---------+-----------+-----------+ |Maize |587,635 | 805,788 | 558,745 | |Barley | 316,402 | 462,622 | 796,808 | |Other produce | 66,518 | 104,592 | 106,283 | +--------------+---------+-----------+-----------+ |Total |970,555 |1,373,002 |1,461,836 | +--------------+---------+-----------+-----------+

The manufacturing industries of Roumania generally are hardly in their infancy, but at Galatz are to be found a wood factory and sawmills of a very superior order, owned by Messrs. P. Goetz & Co. They are lighted with the electric light, and are doing a large and increasing export trade; indeed last year (1881), as we are informed, a cargo of deals &c.

was shipped from this factory to the Panama Ca.n.a.l Works. There is a very large flour mill, and also the 'Galatz Soap and Candle Company;' but this last has not proved a success, inasmuch as the raw products, including stearine (which is found in Roumania as ozokerit), are all imported at a cost which interferes with their profitable employment.

Whilst we are dealing with the question of manufactures, we may mention that besides the petroleum refineries referred to in a former chapter, there are in Roumania sugar factories at Chitilla and Ja.s.sy, match factories in Bucarest and Ja.s.sy, and one cloth factory. Steam mills for grinding flour abound, and there are water mills for a.s.sisting in the preparation of flannel.

This seems a small beginning, but there is much hope in the future. The same causes that militated against the prosperity of Roumania in other respects have rendered the prosecution of national industries an absolute impossibility. Wilkinson referred at considerable length to this matter sixty years since. Who would have ventured to invest capital in mills and factories which were liable to be burned or plundered by Turks or Russians for strategical or other warlike purposes, or would be taxed beyond endurance by a suzerain master for the maintenance of his Constantinople harem and of his needy officials? The soil indeed could not be carried off, or there would not have been even an agricultural industry. But the time is not far distant when the advantages of Roumania as a manufacturing country will become apparent, and when her native products, coupled with her proximity to the Danube and Black Sea, will enable her to compete successfully with other nations, especially with those near neighbours from whom she is at present compelled to draw her supplies of manufactured commodities.

Her statesmen already recognise these facts, and they are taking steps accordingly. A new seaport is in course of formation at Constanta (Kustendjie), which will be connected with Bucarest and the whole of Roumania through the existing line to Cernavoda, and one in progress to Bucarest.[50] Besides being useful as a defensive maritime station, this new port will give an impetus to trade, which will be further stimulated by the establishment of _entrepots_, hitherto confined to the seaports, at Bucarest and elsewhere.

But we have devoted sufficient s.p.a.ce to Galatz and the nascent commercial and manufacturing industries of the country, and before treating of what is by far the most important source of her wealth, namely, her agricultural resources, we must say a word or two about the old Moldavian capital, Ja.s.sy. This is picturesquely situated at an alt.i.tude of more than 1,000 feet above the sea-level, on the railway from Pascani (Galatz-Cernowitz) to Kischeneff in Russia. The number of its inhabitants is uncertain, probably about 75,000, and includes a very large proportion of Jews, who monopolise the trade and banking business of the place.[51] It stands upon three eminences, and its princ.i.p.al streets have been paved by contract with a London firm at a cost of 200,000.[52] It is lighted with petroleum lamps, and is badly drained and sewered, but possesses some important buildings, and contains many fine residences belonging to the landed gentry. Besides a university where there are some men of considerable attainments, it has a museum, school of art, various secondary educational establishments, and law courts, including a court of appeal. A noteworthy circ.u.mstance connected with the inhabitants of Ja.s.sy, and which applies equally to the whole of Roumania, is that the death-rate is persistently lower and the birth-rate higher amongst the Jews than the Christians, and in fact there have been periods when the Jewish population was increasing whilst the remainder was at a standstill.[53] When Ja.s.sy ceased to be the capital of Moldavia, it claimed and was awarded compensation by the legislature; but, according to the authority just quoted, 'no payment has ever been or appears likely to be made.'

Next in importance to Galatz as a port is Ibrail, or Braila, also near the mouth of the Danube; indeed, according to Consul Sanderson, the exports of the latter exceed those of the former, whilst Galatz imports much more largely owing to its nearer proximity to the embouchure and to the fact that the steamers first touch there. The same writer believes it probable that some day Ibrail will be a more considerable port than Galatz, but both are likely to be interfered with by the new port of Constanta. The other large towns, Craiova, the former capital of Little Wallachia; Ploiesti, a considerable town, with many picturesque churches, on the line from Bucarest to Kronstadt, and the junction from whence the railway branches off to Galatz, &c.; Tirgovistea, a former capital of Wallachia, not situated on the railway; Pitesti, &c., are all interesting in their way, but not sufficiently so to detain us, and we must now direct our attention to other phases of Roumanian progress.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AT THE CABARET ON A HOLIDAY.]

[Footnote 48: Consular Reports, Roumania, 1878, pp. 965-966. This statement applies, we believe, to what was formerly Moldavia rather than to Wallachia. When we were in Bucarest we saw stalls in the street at which English note-paper and writing materials (if they were genuine) were sold; and one day having occasion to buy a pair of scissors we entered a shop for the purpose, and some very dear ones were shown to us. On complaining of the price we were told they were English, but that we could obtain cheap ones of Austrian manufacture at another shop close by. This we did, and although the scissors were doubtless inferior, it shows that English goods are liked and command higher prices.]

[Footnote 49: See Consular Report, Roumania, 1878, pp. 966, 968, where these statements are practically confirmed.]