Work for the Country.
In the second half of this century, royal ladies have realised that
their duty consisted in actively promoting all works of charity and
encouraging them by their influence, as well as furthering the social
and educational welfare of their people. And that this practical
knowledge which can adapt itself to circumstances can be combined with
ideal interests and high endeavours, is demonstrated by the noble and
beautiful example of Queen Elizabeth of Roumania. It is the highest joy
of artistic natures to see one of their own conceptions carried out and
to find it flourish and expand. In this the educator is to be compared
to the artist, for character is formed by the educational artist. A
longing desire to educate others had possessed Queen Elizabeth from
earliest youth. When we see her making the education of children one
of her first objects, we know that it is prompted by true and heartfelt
feelings.
The Queen follows the course of studies and the development of the
pupils in the Asyle Hélène, the orphanage already alluded to, with
peculiar interest. The well-known Doctor Davela had founded and endowed
this institution with his private means, and conducted it personally
for many years aided by his excellent wife. Both died too soon. They
bequeathed their care for the orphans as a legacy to the Queen. Four
hundred and sixty young girls are now educated there from their fifth
to their twentieth year. There they are taught all sciences, the
arts, foreign languages, needlework, book-keeping, &c., and remain
in the institution till they have passed their final examination as
governesses or otherwise. The good name of this institution is so
widely known that young men look for a wife from the Asyle Hélène,
as they know she will be capable. Many merchants, clergymen, and
schoolmasters come to the Principals of the College and ask them as a
favour to recommend a young girl to them whom they consider fit for
their mode of life. A meeting is arranged, and if the young people suit
one another, they are usually married in the Chapel of the Asyle.
If the pupils marry clergymen or schoolmasters, most of them become
teachers in their new home, and are capable of earning three hundred
francs a month.
The Queen does not often visit the institutions--“And then only to
encourage and help them.” “For I find,” she says, “that we do well to
let those act who understand the matter better than we do. The Grand
Duchess Hélène, who is my example, displayed her interest in such
things by caring for every detail rather than by visiting them.” The
royal lady is present at all the examinations in the girls’ school,
as well as at the School of Music. She awards the prizes with her own
hands, and increases their value by kind and considerate words which
delight both teachers and scholars.
The Queen founded a School of Embroidery, “The Scola Elisabeta Doamna,”
at her own expense. At this institution seventy of the poorest peasant
girls receive free instruction in reading and writing, and especially
in the national embroidery. Very beautiful patterns, mostly Byzantine,
are collected and used to decorate the national costumes. The peasant
girls often copy the patterns on ancient ecclesiastical robes, or
imitate a natural flower with a needle and thread. Certain styles of
embroidery are hereditary and peculiar to each district. Thus many
and original combinations are formed, and the eye is attracted by
their ever-varying colour and form. All Roumanian women, whether high
or lowly, have an inborn and highly cultivated eye for colour. They
execute minute and difficult patterns most tastefully upon the peculiar
linen woven in the country.
The first society for the help of the poor which the Queen arranged was
the “Société Elisabeth.” It distributes yearly thirty thousand francs’
worth of fuel to the poor. This society, to which about one hundred
ladies belong, arranges two to four balls every winter, which take
place in the Opera House with a Tombala. These balls are honoured by
the presence of the King and Queen and the members of the aristocracy.
All the ladies wear the Roumanian costume on these evenings, in order
that the peasant women may earn a good sum in winter by the sale of
their embroideries. Under the patronage of the Queen societies of the
same description have sprung up in many parts of the country.
Not only does the large charitable association “Société de
bienfaisance” owe its origin to the Queen, but her Majesty has also
started the German “Frauenverein” in Roumania. “The Albina” gives work
to poor women who can only do rough sewing. Ten years ago this idea
was started by six poor women thus finding employment--now a thousand
can get work there. A hundred and thirty of these have already bought
sewing-machines, and the numbers increase daily. Now (1888) they
furnish thirty thousand tents for the army, and sew all trousers,
shirts, cravats, sheets, and sacks for the soldiers, as well as for
the prisons and hospitals. When wood is distributed to the poor by the
Société Elisabeth, these women are considered first. A fourth society
is called “Concordia,” and its object is to encourage all branches of
native industry in the country, amongst which weaving is especially
furthered. Although hemp grows wild in Roumania, all material for the
linen used by the army and the public institutions had till then been
brought from foreign countries. New Schools of Weaving are instituted,
and the looms that have been idle for years have been improved and put
in motion. In order to carry out these plans for the benefit of the
country, the Queen had written a letter to the Ministers, which was
published in the newspapers. In this letter she sought their help in
encouraging weaving in the country, and guaranteeing that the State
would undertake the goods produced. This object could only be attained
if the requirements of the army, the hospitals, and prisons could be
produced and manufactured in the country.
As we have already mentioned whilst describing the “Société Albina,”
its efforts have been crowned with success. On the tableland of
Cotroceni, not far from the Asyle Hélène, lie the huge barracks in
which Queen Elizabeth nursed the wounded during the war. The new School
of Weaving is established there for the present. At first only forty
looms could be employed, but Parliament has voted two hundred thousand
francs for the building of a new School for Weaving. The building
required is to be erected on the great piece of land before the
barracks which King Charles had presented to the orphanage. “We shall
then use the barracks for the manufacture of silk,” writes the Queen,
“for which the land has been planted with mulberry trees. So one school
after another will be erected around us, following my motto, ‘Industry
in the home,’ and will, please God, open out new sources of wealth to
our country.”
To the “Concordia” is added the Society of the “Fornica,” which buys
Roumanian work only, such as embroidery, and the stuffs that are woven
and spun, and sells them again in a bazaar held for the purpose. The
peasant women bring the shirts they have sewn, and their strips of
embroidery, and bless their Queen for having brought such honour to
their national costume. Branches of this institution have sprung up in
many towns. They embroider a great deal in the mountains, as they have
less hard work in the fields there. In the plains, the women can only
embroider in the winter, as they must guide the oxen in the plough in
summer. In the workshop of the little mountain town of Campo Lungo four
hundred women are employed.
In imitation of the German kitchens for the people, the Queen has
arranged soup kitchens in many parts of the town, where the poor
children from the Schools of Embroidery receive their daily dinners
from her.
During the war the Queen also started a Home for Nursing Sisters at
her own expense. She began with two sisters, of whom she sent one to
the Deaconesses of Bethany at Berlin to be taught. The Deaconesses
of Bucharest wear a dark grey costume, with a white veil and apron,
which are picturesquely arranged. A black cross on a lilac ribbon
is worn round the neck. “Now there are more than twenty of them at
Bucharest, and they increase in numbers, and are much thought of. Many
of them lately passed their examinations, and received certificates
for practising simple surgery. They nurse in hospitals and private
houses for five francs a day, and are often sent for in the town. The
rich often give more than is asked, which enables the sisters to visit
the poor free of charge, and to bring them food and medicine. Now five
thousand francs have been voted for the School of Embroidery, and
twenty thousand for the Home for the Sisters. We hope to build a house
of our own with our savings, with a little hospital beside it, and to
have something over for aged and infirm sisters. I shall add to this a
School for Monthly Nurses, as so many women die in their confinement.”
Queen Elizabeth belongs to those highly favoured ladies who, though
surrounded by the pomp and state of royalty, can sympathise with the
sorrows of the poor and suffering, and combine with this a lofty ideal
of the intellectual duties of life. The Queen does not weary of helping
where help is required. None appeal to her in vain if they are really
in need. Where poverty is to be relieved, or cares to be lightened, the
Queen’s practical mind ever finds the right means and the best manner
of doing it. Her constant endeavour is to promote the cultivation and
industry of the country, and to awake a feeling of self-confidence in
the nation. To work for others is the source of her own happiness. The
following poem will show how anxious the Queen is to fulfil her duties
towards the country.