The Irish standard., 1886-12-25
CARMEN SYLVIA.
Romantic Career of the Benevolent Queen
and Poetexs Of RQumanfa.

Romantic Career of the Benevolent Queer
and Poetess of Roumania.
On the vine-clad shores of the Ger
man Rhine was born to the Prince o:
Wied in the early part of the century
a little daughter, who, from her baby
hood. showed signs of great independ.
ence of character. Nothing and nc
one could tame the lively child into
the staid, self-contained type prope,
to the conventional Princess and the
nicknames OF "Wild Rosebud and
Hurricane" were bestowed on hel
by family and friends. Many are the
anecdotes preserved Of her wild child
hood, that took its pleasure in roam.
ing the forests around the paternal. es'
tates, never happier than when the
elements waged warfare, when the
storm-wind shook the trees and scat
tered their branches hither and thither.
To give to others was one of her great
est Joys, and it would often happen
that she literally bestowed on beggar:
the clothes from off her own back.
ANY new dress of hers that chanced to
pleased the village children, with whom
no etiquette could hinder her from
playing was likely to be passed on to
them.
Taken as whole, her childhood was
sorrowful. Seven years she witnessed
the slow death of favorite brother;
her adored mother, too, lay for five
years on bed of sickness, and when
she was eighteen, she had the grief to
lose her father, q man Of rare wisdom.
It was then she first began to write,
jotting down poems and stray thoughts
into her diary, but with no idea of pub
lication; merely as a relief to her over
wrought feelings.
At seventeen she had been first in.
troduced in the great world Of society
by her aunt, the Grand Duchess Helen
OF Russia, who took her to spend q
winter at the court of Berlin. Here
she charmed all hearts by her whole
some naturalness, her geniality, her
earnestness and depth. AS is the case
with Princesses, her friends looked out
for suitable marriage, but Princess
Elizabeth would not hear of the mere
conventional princely union. She was
not at all desirous to marry, feeling in
herself no special vocation for tha,
career; but ii she did marry, she
wished to be of nse, and she saw how
little real good can be done by Princes
as rule, cribbed and confined rs they
are in an iron circle of convention, eti-
quette, falsehood and servility.
One day, in answer to a remark OF
some friends that they would like to
see her on throne, she replied, play
fully: 1.-The only throne that could at
tract me would be the Roumanian.
Down there, there would still be some
work for ME to do"
no kingdom of Roumania, but Prince
Charles had been called upon to assist
in the government of the province,
and the Princess Elizabeth had evinced
great interest in land so neglected
by its rulers, SO full Of excellent nat
ural material as regards people and
earth. The words spoken in jest ex-
panded into earnest. In the autumn
of 1869 Prince Charles sued for the
hand of the Wild Rosebud Of Wied, and
month later their wedding was quiet
ly celebrated, and the newly married
pair started for their Eastern home.
Scarcely arrived, the Princess soon
recognized that she had indeed not
been wrong in. assuming that in Esou-
mania there was much for her to do.
The Princess saw that she could in
deed be mother of her people in the
truest sense of the word. Her kindly,
sympathetic manner soon gained her
their respect and love. Then began
the founding of societies; societies for
the instruction of children, for charity,
for the encouragement OF native in
dustries, convalescent homes, hospit-
ais and libraries, all not only origi-
mated and supported by the Princess,
but under her active management and
:superintendence. And as though the
jjabors imposed by her kingdom were
mot enough, she began at this time to
write also for the press, sending forth
those poems and short tales which have
given her at one bound a respectable
place among authors, under the name
of Carmen Sylvia.
In 1877 there broke out the Russo
Turkish war, during which Prince
Charles was active in the field, and his
tW1l6 uOG d Wu1G lGSS dCtAfS AZ oCAIAAso
the wounded, improvising hos
pitfalls. comforting the sorrowful
and helping the poor: Many
and many painful operation
was cheered by her personal presence.
and she shrank from no horrors, no fa-
tigues, in the path of well-doing: If
any of her people hearts had rem aimed
.unconquered by her, she now took
them by storm, and popular acclama-
:tion gave her the proud title Mother
of the Wounded" year later Prince
Charles led back his troops in triumph
into Bucharest to the strains OF
ia hymn whose words and music had
been composed by his wife. A little
jlater, and Roumania was Incorporated
as an independent kingdom among the
.sovereignties of Europe, and the Prin-
cess became a Queen.-Youth's Com.
'pa'sion.