this warlike people invaded the Roman possessions, and compelled the conquered emperor to pay tribute to them. Trajan, on his accession, resolving to avenge this affront, invaded Dacia with such success, that its chief was forced to sue for peace, which however was soon broken by a new revolt. The emperor, indignant at this want of faith, determined upon a conquest which should be final, and consumed a year in preparations; the most remarkable of these were the bridge constructed over the Danube by his order, and the wall, still so well known, bearing his name. Nothing could resist this attack. The Dacian chief, seeing his cause utterly lost, poisoned himself that he might not fall into the hands of his conqueror alive. The inhabitants either took to flight or were exterminated, and Dacia was declared a Roman province.

Great rejoicings followed this victory, not only at Rome but in the camp; the soldiers celebrated the glory of the emperor in military songs called ballettea, accompanied by dancing. From this military term the Italian ballare is derived, and from this amusement of the old Roman soldiers comes our ballet.

The bridge over which the Roman legions crossed the Danube for the conquest of Dacia, was one of the chef-d'œuvres of the celebrated Damascus architect, Apollodorus, who some years after immortalized himself by the Trajan column-one of the wonders of Rome. It was built of immense bricks, and the famous Roman cement which gave such solidity to all their constructions. This bridge must have been a bold undertaking, and modern times have few structures comparable with it. An examination of its situation confirms the fame of the architect's genius, showing that the course of the river must have been carefully studied before the selection of the site. It is said to have been supported by twenty-one arches; but the whole structure was afterward destroyed by Adrian, through fear, it is supposed, of the barbarians.

the bridge are the remains of some buildings, which, to any one who has seen Italy, are readily recognized as the remains of a Roman city.

The tourist, who descends the Danube, may see, between Skela, Gladova and Widdin, on the Wallachian side, one of these arches proudly standing near the Seneria tower-the latter one of those majestic monuments which the Romans planted in deserts as well as in cities, among the mightiest nations and amid the most obscure tribes.

Perhaps nothing is more significant of the character of the conquered people than the memorials which perpetuate the victory over them. The emperor, Septimius Severus, erected this tower in remembrance of their submission; bas-reliefs have also been found at Rome, representing the Dacians in the very costume still worn by their descendants in the mountainous regions where they dwell. These trophies of the glory of the conquerors immortalize no less the valor of the conquered. The victory must have been hardly won, which was deemed of so much importance by the triumphant Romans.

After the conquest, Trajan sent his legions into the country to repeople it, and the present inhabitants, who are designated under the name of Romans, are their descendants. Their language, which was evidently derived from the Latin, is a convincing proof; while many of their sentiments, habits, and expressions, are incontestable evidences. The lapse of centuries has not dimmed the remembrance of their origin. They have never forgotten that they are the sons of Trajan and children of Rome; and though they have yielded, under the irresistible pressure of circumstances, and are still ready to suffer anything, they look forward to a future which shall restore to them the glorious days of Stephen and Michael, when they may again prove themselves worthy of their illustrious origin. They have not forgotten the immortal names which are their proudest national boast. Galerius Ar

throne of the emperors; Dara, his nephew; Constantine the Great; his wife, Faustina; Licinius, who, though born a peasant, led forth the Roman armies as a general; and Justinian, as famous as Roman law-all of them were natives of these provinces.

Their own valor was displayed in many hard-fought battles in their earlier history; in their defeat of Alexis Commenes, and the steady repulse of the Tartars in their attempted passage toward Western Europe. Their brave resistance to the Turkish encroachments in later times, claims our admiration to their unconquerable bravery alone they owe their existence; for the division of their territory was several times arranged by Poland and Hungary. The process by which they have been robbed of all their political rights, and loaded with oppressions till they have at last sunk under the weight, must now be dismissed with a hasty glance, though centuries have been ex

hausted in these successive attempts to degrade them.

The colonies thus planted by the mistress of the world were under the dominion of Roman governors, until two hundred and seventy-four years after Christ. During one of the barbarian invasions of the country, the inhabitants crossed the mountains and settled in Transylvania, where they established two important colonies. After several years of exile, two of their chiefs, assisted by the Hungarians, drove out the Tartar possessors of their country, and established themselves under the title of Vaivodes, which is still preserved by their successors. It was at this time the division of the provinces was

RUINS OF THE BRIDGE OF TRAJAN AND THE TOWER OF SEVERUS.

made; though their manners, language, and religion, remained the same. Their independence, however, was short-lived. One of their vaivodes, or first commanders, made an unprovoked attack upon a Turkish colony, which had established itself upon the opposite shore of the Danube. It resulted in the complete defeat of the Wallachians, who were obliged to pay tribute to their conquerors. During the fifteenth century many attempts were made to free themselves from the galling yoke of their oppressors, but it fell more heavily upon them.

Toward the end of the sixteenth century, a man of obscure birth was raised to the dignity of vaivode. His name was Michael, and he was surnamed the Brave; a title which history has confirmed. He bound himself by an oath to free his country from the Turkish oppression; by an alliance with the chiefs of Transylvania and Moldavia he was successful; and after five years of successive defeats, the conquered sultan was compelled to renounce his dominion; but the brave Michael was assassinated by an Austrian general, and with him the stately edifice of national independence which he had constructed crumbled to dust. Before the people had recovered from the consternation into which this calamity had thrown them, the Turks resumed their sway; and the two Principalities again becoming tributary provinces, sunk into a state of lethargy for more than a century, during which the unhappy population were oppressed by a system of government more fatal than the rapine and devastation of the barbarian invasions. The conquered provinces were divided into pashaliks; and either through contempt of the office, or a remembrance of their own unfortunate experiences, they chose as the instruments of their government the Fanariotes, or descendants of the Greeks who remained in Constantinople after it was taken by the Turks in 1453. The quarter of the city where they resided was called the Fanac; and its residents were afterward known as Fanaciates. Many of them devoted themselves to the study of languages, and by this accomplishment became indispensable as interpreters and private secretaries. They soon proved that knowledge is power, and acquired great influence. With it, however, came the sordid passions which too often accompany it; they were ambitious VOL. V.-31

and avaricious, and by their management the provisional government became an office of bargain and sale secured to the highest bidder. Any governor was displaced by a larger sum of money; consequently, the only aim of this officer was to secure his fortune and those of his satellites who were the necessary attendants of his suite, in the shortest possible time. With the constant fear of removal before them, they exhausted invention in their endeavors to repay the enormous debts frequently contracted for the purchase of the office, and also to amass sufficient treasure for the inevitable displacement which awaited them. The most unheardof extortions were practiced upon the people to pay the bribes of the subordinates, or buy off the strife of competitors. These, perhaps, were the most favorable aspects of this monstrous system; human life and family ties were often sacrificed to this avarice for riches and power. Many a father bought the eagerly-craved office with the head of his son; and many a son paid for his brief enjoyment of power with the head of his father.

The immediate suffering produced by the shameless and cruel extortion of these miserable rulers was one of the least evils resulting to them. The sentiments of morality were utterly destroyed; they were taught, and soon learned the lesson well, that perfidy was another name for ability, cowardice for prudence, dishonesty for foresight; that success was the only test of right. It was easy to persuade them that integrity and uprightness were the conventional garbs of wickedness, adopted only that it might circulate with decency in the world. As sometimes happens, the evil had the antidote within itself; it was destroyed by its own excesses. When vice, grown bold by the impunity with which it ventured everywhere, stalked abroad without the protecting robes which had hitherto concealed its deformity, the people were horrified with its aspect. An army was forbidden, and the two Principalities, which had formerly maintained sixty thousand foot soldiers, were left utterly defenseless. Turkish brigands pillaged and murdered unnoticed; entire cities were evacuated at the approach of their organized bands, the inhabitants flying to the mountains or to Austria to escape death. The police, (if the word is not too absurd,) the very refuse of all countries, came forth

from the prisons and mines to be the satellites of the reigning powers; they were without uniform, order, or discipline; they were the accomplices of the thieves and brigands whom they sometimes pretended to pursue; but, as the inhabitants knew only too well, always without success. During the century of the Fanariote dominion, more than forty of its hospodars were displaced or beheaded. But one died peacefully upon the throne which he had bought several times over. The sway of this dastardly rule was several times interrupted by Russian invasion; but the changes which took place in the fated provinces seemed always only a change of oppressors. A ray of hope illumined their dark fate in 1792, when a stipulation was made that the term of a governor or hospodar should be fixed for seven years. In 1821, after a bloody insurrection, the Porte declared that the Fanariotes were infidels, upon whom the sultan could rely no longer; seven native candidates were chosen, and from them his highness selected Gregoire Ghika for Wallachia, and Jean Stourza for Moldavia. It was the first breath of independence enjoyed by the Principalities for more than a century-the first princes of their own nation who had sat on the throne since the days of Michael the Brave. The hopes which sprang up in this new state of things were destined to almost immediate extinction; for, in 1828, war was again declared between Turkey and Russia; the two provinces were occupied by the armies of the czar; a famine was produced by the immense exactions made for its support; a frightful pestilence was brought into the country by the soldiers, producing dreadful mortality; and a winter of almost unparalleled severity added its rigors to the already suffering inhabitants.

At the close of this war a new era apparently dawned upon them. The ancient limits were restored; the governors were to be chosen for life from their own nation; the ancient standard again waved over native troops, who were organized for the defense of the country; the navigation and fisheries of the Danube were guarantied; and a constitution was drawn up, by the provisions of which the government is in the hands of the nobility, and its support is entirely from the people. Time may modify and improve them, especially if pending events issue favorably; and this

nation, the last-born of civilization, profiting by the experience of its elders, and its own bitter vicissitudes, may come forth purified by its sufferings. The thorough education of the youthful nobility promises well for the future; but at this very day the privileged classes are marked with that fatal carelessness for the future, which has resulted from the oriental regime to which it has so long been subjected. No fault can be found with the elegant and somewhat theatrical personal decorations of the upper classes; but a glance from the lord of the mansion to the crowd of dirty idlers who surround him-the numerous, but inelegant equipages upon which he prides himself-the vast, but dilapidated resi dences, reveals the real poverty which pierces through all the display of luxury. You are charmed with the elegant manners of the master of the house-with the talent and gracefulness of his wife-the taste and brilliancy of conversation-the ease and purity with which European languages are spoken by the family, and you are ready to assert that more elegance and refinement cannot exist in any other country. But behind the doors of the saloon are a crowd of filthy dependents, the halls are strewn with repulsive and sluggish Bohemians, who sleep upon the very staircases; and as you make your way through them, you are forcibly reminded that the civilization which has so much delighted you, like the precious metal of the country, has not been cleansed from the earthy incrustation that obscures its brilliancy.

These brief glances at the transitions to which the Principalities have been subjected, will alone afford solutions of their present state. Their past history gives a sufficient explanation of the disproportion of the population to the extent of the country, the barrenness existing in the midst of such natural fertility, the want in the midst of such outward abundance, the failure of capital still more than of men, and the foreign importations which are made notwithstanding its own wealthy

resources.

Having thus entered this most interesting region of Europe, I have at once introduced you to it by its history and some general observations-an introduction which, however brief, may serve you in not only my further letters, but in the most interesting newspaper history of the next year

or two.