Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-10-25

CARMEN SYLVIA.
Romantic Career Of Tho Benevolant Qus
and Poetess Of Roumania.

CAAME EN- SILVA
Romantic Career Of tho Benevolent Queen
and Postess Of Ronmania.
On the vine-clad shores of the Ger
man Rhine was born to the Prince Of
Wied in the early part of the century
little daughter. who. from her baby
hood, showed signs OF great independ-
ence Of character. Nothing and no
one could tame the lively child into
the staid. self-contained type proper
to the conventional Princess. and the
nicknames OF !. Wild Rosebud and
!" Hurricane" were bestowed on her
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 beggars
| 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 fnyorite brother;
her adored mother, too, lay for five
years on a bed of sickness, and when
she was eighteen, she had the grief to
/ 1<~, o. ~ - 3<>vr~
| It was then she first began to write,
| iotting down poems and stray thoughts
into her diary, but with no idea of pub
| lication; merely as 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 a
/ 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 q 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 that
career; but If she did marry, she
wished to be of use, and she saw how
little real good can be done by Princes
| as rule, cribbed and confined as they
are in an iron circle of convention, eti-
t quette, falsehood and servility.
One day, in answer to 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. !"
/ When she so spoke, there was as yet
| 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 it's 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
4 OF 1869 Prince Charles sued TOR the
hand OF the Wild Rosebud OF Wied. and
a month later their wedding was quiet.
" 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 Rou.
mania there was much for her to do.
The Princess saw that she could in
deed be a 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-
/ II, o~l 1sIr.a,,snc oil mi nrlu rNy.ini-
mated and supported by the Princess,
but under her active management and
superintendence. And as though thc
lahors imposed by her kingdom were
not enough, she began at this time 70
write also for the press, sending forth
those poems and short tales which have
given her. at one bound 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
wife not whit less active in tending
the wounded, improvising hos.
and helping the poor. Many
and many painful operation
was cheered by her personal presence
and she shrank from no horrors, no ia
! tigues, in the path of we1l-doing.
. any of her people hearts had remained
unconguored by her, she now tool
them by storm, and popular acc.ama
ton gave her the proud title '.Mothe
! of the Wounded" A year later Prime
} Charles led back his troops in triumph
into Bucharest to the strains o
a hymn whose words and music ha,
been composed by his wife. A littl
later, and Roumania was incorporate
as an independent kingdom among th
: sovereignties of Europe, and the Irin
cess became a Queen. Youths Com
panion.
An Ancient Burial Chamber.