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the total disregard of cleanliness, revolting to more senses than one, marks its entire aspect with that oriental indolence from which no improvement can be hoped. The extremes of luxury and poverty unite here without any transition; indeed, it is quite impossible for persons of moderate fortunes to live respectably.

Jassi has been nearly consumed three times by fire; but when I said to some of its inhabitants, that these would have been good opportunities to have regulated and improved their city, they went into elaborate discussions to prove that there was as much beauty in their pell-mell confusion as in the most harmonious regularity. "Why should we straighten and pave our streets?" they asked me. "We should only have the more noise; they are sufficiently straight and clear for our carriages, which roll equally well through mud and dust, from one end of the city to the other." And yet a gradual change may be seen taking place in some parts of the city, not only among the residences of the nobility, but also among those of the merchants and bankers; the inhabitants are also beginning to appear in gloves, shoes, and hats, and other marks of civilization. In one of its better streets I found a library of French literature, quite surrounded by Jewish shops, with the usual variety of merchandise which characterizes them elsewhere; among them, as is usual, were many money-changers. There is also a theater, where comic operas and French vaudevilles are represented once or twice a week. With these slight pretensions to the character of a city, Jassi seems more like a large village, with its nameless streets, its large and numerous gardens, and its mysterious mahalas (faubourgs) six or seven miles in circuit.

Among the churches which escaped the great fire of 1827, the most remarkable is the Church of the Tresphetitili, or Three Saints; consecrated in 1622 to Saint Basil, Saint John Chrysostom, and Saint Gregory. It is constructed of large stones, its exterior is covered with beautifully executed arabesques in relief, and it is crowned with towers of light and graceful forms. The interior walls are ornamented with frescoes; its three naves are illuminated by magnificent silver lamps constantly burning day and night, for the high and narrow arched windows only admit a pale and mysterious light. It is

surrounded with a spacious monastery, which has always been well fortified. This church was originally gilded throughout its interior, and was celebrated for its vast treasures. It has been burned and pillaged three times during the invasions of the Tartars, and at the beginning of the present century was overthrown by an earthquake. About twenty-five years since it was robbed of one of the richly ornamented portraits of its founder. The avaricious thieves, who escaped detection, had no reverence for the holy Basil, but they coveted the numerous and valuable fine pearls with which his robe and headdress were covered. The church still preserves an incomplete collection of portraits of great beauty, embroidered with inimitable perfection by the Princess Theodocia, the wife of Basil. Among them is one of the princess herself, and her son, the eldest of her twenty-seven children. The only one which is still preserved of the founder is in fresco, representing him with his unfinished church upon his left hand, while his three patron saints are bestowing their benedictions upon him from the skies.

Like most imperfectly civilized nations the Moldavians are thoroughly superstitious. It is an exceedingly bad omen for the eyebrows to meet; persons with this peculiarity are suspected of an "evil-eye.” On certain days of the week malicious fairies possess a supernatural power, which increases in activity toward evening, when their short-lived spells are to perish. They also believe in sorcerers, who only live to injure those around them; but fortunately they are easily recognized by their tails, which they sometimes wear under their arms and sometimes where it is said the devil wears his. They suspect a person of causing drought, and another of producing rain. A physician was one day gathering herbs upon the mountain-side; some travelers upon the road were able to distinguish a form moving among the trees, and took it into their heads that they had discovered a wolf, of which vague reports had been circulating among the inhabitants. They started in pursuit, but what was their surprise upon near approach to find that the animal arose and looked at them with a human face. Nothing but a sorcerer could thus change its form, and the poor physician, as he descended from his

scientific elevation, found himself sustaining a new character in the eyes of his frightened pursuers. Fortunately a passing vehicle relieved him from his dilemma. I was told that some Wallachian peasants, believing that some sorcerers were among them, placed in the church one evening as many pots of milk as there were cows in the village. The milk, which turned during the night, was taken as a sure proof of the wicked influence of their owners. Frequently more cruel tests are tried for the discovery of the suspected, and often the most absurd practices are used the sorcerers of whom they are in so much dread, are interred like other mortals; but if there is the slightest suspicion of their reappearing in the form of an animal, for this is firmly believed in by these simple people, the grave is opened, and its occupant is securely fastened in his quarters.

Wallachia and Moldavia, which are designated under the general name of Danubian Principalities, are perilously situated between Turkey, Russia, and Austria; if they succeed in establishing peaceful relations with one of these neighbors, they are sure to be interrupted by one of the others. The land of Wallachia rises gradually from the plains of the Danube, where it is about forty-five feet above the level of the sea, to nearly eight thousand feet, which is the height of the most elevated peaks of the Carpathian Alps. This range crosses the country with four hundred and eighty-one separate peaks, each bearing its proper name. The soil is well-watered, and so fruitful that scarcely any cultivation is necessary. Flowers are everywhere in abundance: even the dusty roadsides are bordered with these fragrant ornaments: some of them have received most poetical names from the simple-hearted inhabitants. A modest little blossom which grows in shade and obscurity is called "little tears;" and a magnificent flower, resembling a candelabra, is known as "The Light of the Lord." Nothing can exceed the beauty of the "prairies" in the verdure of spring or the golden hues of autumn, diversified as they are with an infinite variety of flowers and flowering shrubs, nut and fruit trees, and orchards bending beneath their luxurious burdens of plums, apples, and apricots. The solitary valleys of the mountains are lovely beyond description,

fully equaling Swiss scenery in variety and beauty. The olive and orange are the only European trees which do not thrive in Moldo-Wallachia. The vine is cultivated to some extent; grain is also very abundant.

The mountains are covered with magnificent forest trees, which are exported for ship-building. It is said likewise that they inclose vast mineral treasures of gold, silver, sulphur, and nitre, which might be important articles of commerce but for the indolence of the inhabitants. The Turks used to call these provinces the Peru of their empire; but scarcely any of the mines have been worked except the salt ones, which are a government monopoly.

An old Turkish proverb declared that a Persian boy and a Moldavian horse were the most perfect beings produced by nature; but my observations have by no means been confirmatory of the latter part of this statement. The horses are very degenerate; but the animal kingdom is as varied as the vegetable, and almost every species known in Europe is found in this province.

There are only two seasons in MoldoWallachia winter commences with November and terminates with April; the ground is then covered with snow, and sleighs are the only vehicles in use; the remaining seven months belong to sum

mer.

The middle of the day is very warm at this season, but the mornings and evenings are so cool that a cloak is never unwelcome. This sudden change of temperature produces many fevers, which are almost unknown in the dry cold weather of winter.

In the population of Wallachia, where the fusion of races is almost complete, the Saxon can only be distinguished by his light hair from his Flemish neighbor; but in Moldavia, the aboriginal race is easily recognized by its language, manners, and frequently even by its costume. The Russian is short, stout, blond, and with little regularity of feature; those called Hungarians have round faces, black hair, and large noses. They profess Catholicism, and their language is a jargon of rough sounds. The Lippovan, (was it not formerly Philippovan?) whose name to me seems expressive of his disposition in this respect, preserves his ancient love of horses, and is always either a coachman or a jockey. He also

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keeps his Tartar visage and superstitions. He despises dogs, and holds the stork in great reverence. His children are baptized at seven years of age. The Jews are either Spanish or Polanders; the former are generally handsome, well-formed, and easily refined under the influence of European civilization, particularly in Wallachia, where many of them are distinguished by their intelligence in the best society. Those who crowd together in Jassi, forming a third of the population, have something of the Tartar in their appearance, and they always recall to my memory those Avars who embraced Judaism in the ninth century. The Seindromes, or Romans, descendants of Trajan's colonies, are called Tziganes, and form an entirely separate class; they are generally tall, well-made, and robust. They have oval faces, black hair, vi

vacious eyes, set off with well-defined and beautifully-arched eye-brows, small lips, and white teeth, when they are not discolored or spoiled by too frequent use of the pipe or confectionery. Those of the class who reside in the cities are marked by quite a Greek physiognomy, while those of the country preserve the Roman features accompanied with an air of languor, perhaps produced not less by their insufficient nourishment and miserable dwellings, than by the political yoke which has weighed so heavily on them for more than one hundred and fifty years. The Wallachians are gayer, more intelligent, and more hospitable than the Moldavians; but they are equally brave, sober, agile, adroit, and have as much military spirit. The upper classes of both provinces were formerly frank, ardent, proud, enterprising, and even reckless in their daring: but the

influences of late times have rendered them, in prosperity, vain, dishonest, suspicious, avaricious though with large professions of generosity, cowardly, proud, and insolent; in poverty or misfortune, they are sullen and indolent. They assume the responsibilities of men at fifteen, become diplomatists at eighteen, lose all their individuality of character and purpose at twenty-one, and are old at twentyfive. I may be thought severe in my estimate of their character; but I have found them incredulous, insincere, destitute of attachment to their friends or their country, and ungrateful for the greatest benefits. No sentiment of union binds them together unless it is an absurd pride in the native nobility, though there are scarcely a hundred who can claim a place in its ranks either by money, talent, or descent. Not more than a tenth of these can date further back than the middle of

the sixteenth century. Besides the features which are common to both sexes, the Roman women are distinguished by their long eye-lashes, full throats, plump hands and feet, with a skin of extraordinary softness and whiteness. They are amiable and spirituelle, less passionate than the Spanish, less romantic than the German, less cold than the English, and gifted besides with such correct good taste that nothing but a better education is necessary to make them most charming creatures. They have better abilities than their husbands, and certainly show themselves capable of more attachment and greater devotion. They formerly appeared to best advantage in their oriental costume, which was considered finely adapted to set off their beautiful forms; but French modes and French manners have almost entirely displaced it. No traveler who visits these beautiful

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provinces, can fail to be struck with the sparseness of their inhabitants, and with the misery which meets him at every turn, notwithstanding the smiling landscapes and universal luxuriance of nature. This splendid land should be the happiest and most densely populated country in the world, and the only reason why it is not, must be found in the social and political condition of the people. The deplorable aspects everywhere visible, are only to be explained by a knowledge of the history of the Principalities, through their successive developments to their origin. The past alone can explain the present,

and point out the future; without it their actual condition is a dead letter, more obscure than the hieroglyphics of Egypt. As impending events are attracting the eyes of the world to them, you will not demur to a few historical glances over their checkered history - only glances, however, for I insist on retaining my desultory style of observation.

Wallachia and Moldavia are dismemberments of ancient Dacia, which included also the countries now known under the names of Banat, Auraria, Lower Hungary, Transylvania, Buseovine, and Bessarabia. Under the reign of Domitian,

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