THE QUEEN OF ROUMANIA.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 16892, 8 February 1917, Page 7

THE QUEEN OF ROUMANIA.

DESCRIBES HER OWN LAND.

In two articles in the "Times" the Queen of Roumania gives some charming glimpses of Her adppted

"Roumania is fruitful, of vast ; plains, waving corn, deep forests, rocky mountains and rivers turbulent in spring but sluggish in summer of scorching suns, icy winters, and burning summers," she writes. "It jis a link between East and West 'Twenty-three years I have now spent in this country. ; I have moved amongst the most humble, I ha^e entered their cottages, asked them questions, taken their newborn in my arms. They are poor, they are ignorant, these peasants, neglected and.superstitious; but there is a grand nobility in their race. They are frugar and sober;'the one great dream ea<« man cherishes is to possess the ground that he tills and to call it his own. AUTUMN IN ROUMANIA. ''•■' "Aotumn is the season in which ta vis.it the villages amongst the hiils,v when the trees are a flaming glory. Many a hearty welcome has been given me in them, tli<a peasants receiving me with flower-filled hands Rustic riders, gallop out to meet me; scampering helter-skelter on their shaggy little horses, bearing banners of flowering branches, shouting with The bells ring, ,and gaily •-qM.< o^®n-.an4jDhjldren floc.k^ J oitt; of/the houses to strew flowers*before their Queen. The church, generally stands in the middle of the village; here the Sovereign must leave her carriage and is led to the sanctuary, where the priest receives hef at. the door, cross in hand. There is no awkwardness, no shyness, neither is there any pushing or crushing. The Roumanian peasant remains dignified, he is seldom rowdy in his ' y-j. Mostly their expression remains serious, and their children stare at one with grave faces and huge, impressive eyes.

"On; a burning summer's day 1 came once to a tiny town almost entirely inhabited by Turks. I distributed money amongst the poor and forsaken. Excited women in strange attire called me Sultana, and wanted to touch me; they fingered my clotthes, patted me on the back; one old,hag even chucked me under the chin. They drew me with them from hut to hut, from court to court Like a swarm of crows they jabbered and fought over me, overwhelming me with kind wishes.. ', HOMES OF PEACE.

"It is the old convents and monasteries of Roumania that have above -'■11 guarded the'treasures of the past. From the very first they attracted me. The Roumanian monks and nuns knew how to select the most enchanting places for thteir homes of peace. I have Wandered from one to another (discovering many a hidden treasure, visiting the richest and,the poorest,, those easy of- access and those hidden away in mountain valleys. • "Once at dusk, after a whole day's riding over the mountains, I came quite suddenly, upon a sanctuary, whitewashed, and half-hidden amongst pines and venerable beech trees. On my approach the bolls began to ring—their clear and strident

voices proclaiming their joy. Before I could dismount I was surrounded by. a dark swarm.. of nuns making humble gestures of greeting, crossing theraselvfes falling to their knees and pressing 'their foreheads against the stones on the ground, catching hold of my hands or part of my garment, which they kissed, whilst they cried and murmured, mumbling many a prayer. .

"The mother abbess, a venerable, tottering old woman, whose face was seared by age, conducted me towards the open church (door. From time to time she would furtively kiss mj shoulder in a sort of lowly ecstasy. The other nuns trooped after us like' $ flock of black plumed birds, their dark veils waving in tfce wind. Within the sanctuary the lighted tapei-a were as swarms of fireflies in a duslv filled forest. The nuns grouped themselves along the walls, then' dark dresses becoming one withtho shadow, so that their faces .were rendered almost ethereal by the wav.;r ing candle light. THE VILLAGE CEIWFTERIES. "Nothing is more touching than the village cemeteries; the humbler they are the more do they (delight the artisi's eye. Often they are placed round the village church, but sometimes they lie quite apart. They are not tended and cared for as in tidier lands, ■ ■ - » "On a Good Friday /morning 1 was roaming through one of these village churchyards. Each grave was | lighted with a tiny, thin taper. The living had come ta d*o honour to the dead. An old woman stoo^ quit© still beside one of those tapers, but I could perceive no grave at all. All that once had been a totmb had long since been trodden into the ground. 'Who is buried there?' I asked.. 'One of my own,' was her answer; 'she was my daughter's little daughter; how she Is at rest." 'Why is the grave no more to be seen?' was my next inquiry. 'What,' was the resigned reply, 'is the -use of keeping a grave tidy if the priest of the village allows his oxen to graze about amidst the tombs?' . v , THE LITTLE VILLAGE CHURCHES' . "There are some wonderful old churches in the country, stately buildings, rich and venerable. 1 have visitejd all, inquiring into their histotry, admring th.eir perfect proportions, examining their costly embroideries, carvings, silver lamps, enamelled crosses and Bibles bound In gold. But none of the greater buildings attracts me so strongly as the little yillage churches in far away corners. They lie scattered about in quite likely places, perched on steep hillttops, hidden in wooded valleys, often reflecting their silhouettes in rivers flowing at their base. Tall fir trees, planted before their porches, mark where they stand. Some, are air in wooid, warm in colour,, like newly-baked brown bread, their enormous roofs giving them the appearance of giant mushrooms. , "

"Many a time the inhabitants have crowded around me, kissing nay hands, the hem of. niy dress, falling down to kiss my feet, and more I;han once ;have they brought me their children, who made the sign of the Cross before me.'**" -•■--■

Walking through a hospital in Bucharest the Queen said:

"We had one $an very badly Wounded in another hospital where 1 visit. As soon "as he was settled in bes I asked him how he felt. "Not very grand, your Majesty,' he told me, 'but I don't care so long as you become Empress of all the Roumanians. ', Of course, you know how they all feel about their brothers in Transylvania. I feel with them, for I have become thoroughly Roumanian." -. : •