No one knows so well as I do how imperfectly my task has been performed, nor the difficulties with which it has been surrounded, and there are one or two matters of which I should like to unburden myself to the reader. He will probably enquire why I have put the cart before the horse, giving a sketch of the present condition of the country before treating of its past history. The answer is that it was not originally my intention to deal with the latter at any length; but when I came to read and study the works which have appeared on the subject in French and German (of which a tolerably full list is appended to this treatise), so many topics of interest presented themselves for the historical student that I determined to publish a connected history of the country, however imperfect it might be, from the earliest times down to the present day. And in this I was further encouraged by the fact that the attempt has not yet been made in English, excepting in a very perfunctory manner in Consul Wilkinson's work, published by Longmans in 1820, which is now quite out of date. That such a review of Roumanian history, condensed as it necessarily is, was sure to be considered very dry by many readers, seemed to be certain; I therefore placed it after the description of the country as it exists to-day, and for those readers the perusal of the last chapter of that part of the work, dealing with the notabilities of the day, will probably suffice. But I believe that some matters relating to the Roman conquest of Dacia, the character and movements of the barbarians (of which I have prepared and appended a tabular statement), the subsequent history of the country, its struggles for freedom, and the condition of the inhabitants at various periods, will be new to the general student of history and sociology, and if my share has been badly done, it need not prevent him from prosecuting enquiries, for which he will find ample materials in the works of the continental writers to whom I have referred. As regards the controverted questions of the descent of the modern Roumanians and the foundation of the Principalities, I would direct his attention more especially to the recent publications of Roesler and Píč, the first an Austrian and the second a Slav writer, where he will find those subjects fully and warmly debated.

The only other matter on which I desire to give an explanation is my reason for not entering more minutely into what is called 'the Eastern Question,' nor attempting, as other authors have done, to predict the future relations of Roumania in regard to it. An American humourist has said, 'Never prophesy unless you know,' and many a writer on Roumania must wish that he had refrained from dealing with probabilities, or from prognosticating the coining events of history. The future of the East depends upon a variety of divergent considerations: upon the relations of the Government of Russia with its people; the course of events in the newly acquired provinces of Austria, and the delicate relations between Austria and Hungary; the future action of the Prince and people of Bulgaria, the former of whom is at present under Russian influence; upon the growing power and influence of Greece; and, lastly, upon the possible, but not probable, regeneration of Turkey. And without speaking for others, I should feel it presumptuous, under the circumstances, to deal in prophecies.

As to the best policy for Great Britain, however, that is perfectly clear, and may be summed up in a short sentence. It is to facilitate, by pacific means, the solution of every difficulty and problem as it arises, and wherever it is possible, through our influence, to support and encourage constitutional government against autocracy and despotism. This we can do with great advantage in our relations with Roumania, and it will be a source of much gratification to me if the information which I have here attempted to disseminate should have the slightest tendency in that direction.

JAMES SAMUELSON.
Claughton, Birkenhead:
April 20, 1882.

CONTENTS.

PART I.
ROUMANIA, TO-DAY.
CHAPTERPAGE
I.Geographical and Descriptive[3]
II.Geographical—Archæological[20]
III.The Navigation of the Danube[30]
IV.Topographical, etc.[36]
V.Topographical—Commercial[67]
VI.Agricultural and Pastoral—The Peasant Proprietary[74]
VII.Educational—Ethnographical[88]
VIII.Judicial and Penal[100]
PART II.
HISTORICAL.
IX.From the Getæ (about 335 b.c.) to the Close of the Roman Domination in Dacia (about a.d. 274)[115]
X.From the Evacuation of Dacia by Aurelian (about 274 a.d.) to the End of the Barbarian Rule (about the Close of the Thirteenth Century)[138]
XI.From the Foundation of the Principalities, between the Middle of the Thirteenth and of the Fourteenth Centuries, to the Accession of Michael the Brave, a.d. 1593[161]
XII.The Times and Career of Michael the Brave[170]
XIII.From the Death of Michael the Brave (a.d. 1601) to the Deposition of Prince Couza (a.d. 1866)[199]
XIV.From the Deposition of Prince Couza (1866) to the Coronation of King Charles (1881)[233]
XV.Present Roumanian Leaders and their Policy[258]
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX
I.Movements and Settlements of Nationalities and Barbarian Tribes[272-3]
II.The 'Capitulations'[274]
III.The Roumanian Constitution[275]
IV.The Peasant Proprietary of Roumania[277]
V.List of Works (with references to Text)[278]
CLASSIFIED INDEX[281]