The life of Carmen Sylva, Queen of Roumania

Front matter

r^

T T T-T ^ f T. i"

"^TT

Contents

CHAP.

I. THE COUNTS AND PRINCES OF WIED

II. THE PARENTS OF PRINCESS ELIZABETH

I. Zbc Counts an& princes of Mieb

" From high mountains floweth Bright Wied to the Rhine ; On the banks of it rises Princely castle so fine : And the old hero-race — Ne'er corrupted of ill — Noble flames constant rise From the roots of it still."

— Ernst Moritz Arndt.

OR many generations we find in the family

of the Counts, who later became Princes of

Wied, distinguished men and women. For

centuries we can find their trace, ever

striving for what is noble and ideal, and thus overcoming

the monotony of daily life. Leaders of armies, high

prelates, and learned men have sprung from that family.

Noble women have influenced the rising generation by

their educational powers. Intellectual pre-eminence can

A almost be called a heritage in the princely House of Wied.

In the year 1093 the Counts of Wied were already a mighty dynasty. Their possessions on the right and left banks of the Ehine extended to the heights of the Eifel and the Westerwald. The most ancient seat of the Counts of Wied was the Castle of Ober-Altwied, to which the Castle of Neider- Altwied was added later.

We find the earliest mention of the Rhenic branch of the dynasty of the Counts of Wied in a document- offoundation of the year 1093. Amongst the witnesses stands the name of Meffkid, Count of Wied. His consort Osterlindis was a near relative of Henry the Lion, and the mother of the Archbishop Arnold of Cologne. This energetic and highly-gifted prince of the Church took a leading part in the election of a king at Frankfort after the death of Conrad III. It was he who accompanied Frederick Barbarossa to Aix and .crowned him there.

Theodorick, Count of Wied, lived early in the thirteenth century. He was renowned for his piety and wisdom as a statesman when he was Archbishop of Treves. The Liebfrauen Church at Treves, that beautiful monument of Gothic architecture, owes its origin to him..

In the year 1243 the male line became extinct in the person of Count Lothar. The heritage of the Counts of

Zbc Counts anö princes of Mteö. 3

Wied then fell to Bruno, Count of Isenburg, who was married to the heiress of the House of Wied and took the name. At the death of Count William in 1462 the inheritance fell, in default of a male heir, to Frederick OF RuNKEL, of the House of Leiningen- Westerburg. His mother was Anastasia of Isenburg- Wied, a niece of Count William.

Count Frederick of Runkel-Wied then became the founder of the now flourishing dynasty of the Princes of Wied.

Amongst his descendants, let us first mention Herman OF Wied, Elector and Archbishop of Cologne from I 5 i 5 to 1547. He was born on the 14th January 1477, and was the fourth son of Count Frederick of Wied- Runkel and the Countess Agnes of Virneburg : already in his sixth year he received a benefice in the Chapter of the Cologne Cathedral. At fifteen he became Canon of the Cathedral, and on the 15 th of March I 5 15 he was elected Archbishop of Cologne. He reigned during the time of the most bitter religious strife. Although at first an implacable enemy of the Reformation, he was soon overcome by the power of the Gospel. Archbishop Herman declared himself a believer in the doctrines of Luther, sent for Protestant preachers, and corresponded actively with Luther and Melancthon. Martin Butzer, the Strasburg Eeformer, was invited by him to Bonn, to work out a plan for the ordering of the doctrines of the Reformation. At Easter 1543 Archbishop Herman dispensed the Holy Communion according to the rites of the Lutheran Church. A few weeks later Melancthon came from Wittenburg, and Pistorius from Hesse to confer with the Archbishop. His rivals and enemies now denounced him to the Pope and to the Emperor. He, however, declared calmly and decidedly that " at his age, and with one foot in the grave, he had held it to be his Christian duty to study the Bible and religious works himself, and to seek the advice of the learned. He could by no means depart from the conclusions he had thus come to, nor deny his convictions, which were of the greatest importance to his salvation and that of all true seekers after God. Whether unjustifiable machinations should succeed in dethroning him he would leave in God's hands. If the worst should befall him, he would close his life as he was born, a simple Count of Wied, but he would never cease to be the champion of the true faith."

After this he was excommunicated by Paul III. In order to preserve the country committed to his charge from the misery of war, which must otherwise inevitably have arisen, Count Herman renounced the Archbishopric.

Übe Counts anö princes ot Mteö, 5

For thirty-one years lie liad gloriously fulfilled tlie duties of his difficult office, and accomplished the arduous task with true German conscientiousness and Christian piety. He now returned to Altwied, the cradle of his race. In our days one can still see the extensive ruins of the old Castle, which crown a rocky summit, standing isolated in the valley of the Wiedbach, surrounded by mountains clothed with mighty forests. On the 1 5th of August 1552 Count Herman died there, and was buried in the neighbouring church of the village of Niederbiber. The fatherly solicitude with which he had ruled those committed to his care was treasured in the memory of the people for many years. Up to the end of the sixteenth century the saying was current among them : —

" When we had noble Herman of Wied, God, gold and peace were ours indeed."

Frederick, Count of, Wied, 161 8-1698, increased the well-being of his country under most difficult circumstances. The House of Wied had become Protestant. Count Frederick made up his mind to found a city of refuge for all Christians who were persecuted on account of their religion. The town of Neuwied was founded in the year 1649 upon the ruins of the village of Langendorf, which stood on the banks of the Rhine, and was destroyed during tKe Thirty Years' War. The toleration displayed by the Count towards the most conflicting opinions was, at that time of ruthless persecution, a bright example of Christian charity.

His son Frederick William, 1706-17 3 7, built the Palace of Neuwied, in which Princess Elizabeth was born. From the lofty windows of the saloons, which are decorated in the style of Louis XV., the view extends far over the flowing Rhine, and the many picturesquely situated towns and villages, and the wide chains of mountains which encircle the river on both sides. At sunset, when the last beams of the sun are reflected in a hazy mist, it is a picture of magical beauty.

The park lies close behind the Palace. For a long way it stretches along the Rhine to the mouth of the river Wied. Magnificent old trees form shady avenues and groves. They are so arranged as to heighten the eflect of the beautiful landscape, which constantly develops new charms in the ever-changing light.

Frederick Alexander succeeded his father from 1737— 1 79 1. During his reign Neuwied became an asylum for religious sects of the most various views, who built churches and founded lasting congregations there. Thither came the Moravians, Mennonites, Jews, Catholics, members of reformed Churches, Lutherans, and the

Übe Counts anO princes ot Mieö» 7

mystic sects of the Inspirationists. Frederick Alexander took them all under his immediate protection, and allowed them the free exercise of their religion.

In order to improve the condition of his country, he attracted foreign manufacturers and artists. Thus an industrial population was gradually formed at Neuwied, which has steadily increased. Frederick Alexander founded institutions for the good of the community, encouraged mining, built foundries, and interested himself in everything connected with the prosperity of the town of Neuwied. Practical reforms were carried out in the administration of the country and its agriculture. It was Frederick Alexander who erected the countryhouse of Monrepos, that "Paradise" of Queen Elizabeth, on a height of Westerwald.

On the 13th June 1784 the hereditary title of Prince of the Eealm was conferred on Frederick Alexander by Joseph II. Three years later he celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his accession. He and his consort, Countess Caroline of Hachenburg, also lived to see the celebration of their golden wedding, when they were surrounded by a large circle of grandchildren. His simple monument in the churchyard of Neuwied bears the inscription, " He was too gTeat to be replaced, too good to be forgotten ; his good works are his best memorial."

Prince Frederick Charles, the only son of Frederick Alexander, married, in 1766, the Countess Marie Louise Wilhelmina of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, and she became the mother of seven princes and three princesses. When Frederick Charles undertook the government of the country it was not for its welfare. In his anxiety to improve everything he went so far as to destroy all that was good and beautiful ; his generosity was extravagant, and he soon became involved in quarrels of all sorts. The Princes of Kunkel and Berleburg, who were sureties for the House of Wied, were obliged to appeal to the law and to nominate a Curator.

But the storm of the French Revolution had gathered meanwhile, and soon spread to Neuwied. The wave of emigration came and brought its adventurers, and the Franko-Austrian war succeeded with its horrors. The Princess and her children repeatedly had to flee from Neuwied. The Prince had also left his home, and stood up for his lost rights in Vienna until the government of his country was accorded to him once more. A French emigrant accompanied him on his return, in whom he placed the utmost confidence, but whose influence over him was most pernicious. The Princess was obliged to leave the Castle, for the citizens of Neuwied rebelled against their Prince. Violent measures were resorted to,

TLbc Counts anö princes ot Mteb. 9

in consequence of which Prince Frederick Charles gave up the government and went to Freiburg in Breisgau. Here he lived in quiet retirement till his death in 1809. Upon the abdication of the Prince a separation was arranged between him and his wife. Whilst her son was still a minor and serving in the Prussian army, Princess Marie Louise undertook the government of the country. This Princess preserved her unusually beautiful and graceful appearance to the last. Beloved by her people and children, she knew how to combine a sense of her dignity with great modesty. Wherever her services were required for the good of others she was ready to help with her clear judgment. For two years she presided over the affairs of the country with great circumspection and foresight. In her leisure hours she took great delight in translating the works of French, Italian, and English poets. She rendered Gellert's odes into French. Many of the hymns she composed are found in hymn-books of that time, and she excelled in music, drawing, and miniature painting. She corresponded diligently with Wieland, and Ernst Moritz Arndt was her friend. Amidst the difficult circumstances of her life of trial, she never lost her calmness and self-control, for her firm faith in the love and mercy of God gave her strength to bear adversity and never to despair. On the lo Carmen S^lva.

13th of July 1804 slie gave up tlie government of the country to her son.

Prince Augustus was very simple in his tastes, just and active, a true German who was impervious to French influence. When the Princes of the south-west of Germany made a league under the protectorate of Napoleon in i860, Prince Augustus of Wied remained true to his country. He refused to be incorporated in this alliance, which was hostile to the interests of Germany. In consequence of this he was deprived of his sovereignty and became subject to the House of Nassau. Later, when the difficult task of altering the state of things in Germany fell to the Congress of Vienna, it was decreed that the reigning Counts of the Empire should lose their independence. Consequently this fate befell the Princes of Wied also. A large part of their country came under Prussian rule, whilst a small part was given over to the House of Nassau.

Two brothers of Prince Augustus had fallen . in the wars of independence, when Prince Victor also, a youth of seventeen, was to join the army. Before he left his mother the Princess Louise, that enthusiastic patriot, took him once more to the Church at Niederbiber. Upon the grave of Archbishop Herman, before the altar, she made him solemnly swear " that he would dedicate his whole übe Counts anb princes ot Mteö^ n

life to the German cause, and not sheath his sword till the last enemy had left German soil." He faithfullykept his oath, and gave up his life for it. Prince Victor fought against Napoleon in Germany and in Spain, where he died the death of a hero when he had just attained the age of twenty-six. In one of his last letters to his mother he writes : — " All my hopes and desires are centred in our beloved Germany, the welfare of which is my first and last object in all I undertake." Ernst Moritz Arndt was his best friend, and immortalised his memory in a patriotic poem. He also published the Prince's letters to his mother from Spain, and wrote an introduction containining a sketch of the life of the Prince.

Pkince Maximilian of Wied, a younger brother of Prince Augustus, who was born in 1782, took an honourable place in the learned world as a traveller and natural philosopher. From his earliest youth he displayed a strong bent for the study of natural history. Captain Hof mann, who became famous for his antiquarian researches, was then at the Court of Wied as a tutor to the princely children. Under his guidance Prince Max, who was so eager for knowledge, was able to study with Professor Blumenbach in Göttingen, and became distinguished in natural history. During the wars of independence he saw much service with the Prussian army, from which he received his discharge, according to his request, after the peace of Paris.

Keturned to Neuwied, he occupied himself with preparations for a journey to Brazil which he had planned for many years. Accompanied by the German naturalists Freisz and Sellow, he explored the central provinces of Brazil from 1815 to 18 17, diligently seeking for specimens and collecting materials for his literary work. The first short account of his journey appeared in the "Isis" of Oken, and " A Journey to Brazil in the Years 181 5— 1 8 1 7 " followed later. The sketches of landscapes and figures which Prince Max had drawn from nature on the spot were beautifully etched -on copperplate by his accomplished sister, Princess Louise, and his brother. Prince Charles, and heightened the value of this beautiful work. Some years after, the Prince published two other books and a Natural History of Brazil.

No sooner had the latter appeared in print than the indefatigable Prince started on a second scientific journey to America. This time the United States and North America were his object, but he extended his journey to the Eocky Mountains and the Upper Missouri. Amidst the wilds of the primeval forests he made the minutest researches into the conditions of nature in that country and the native tribes of Indians. Surrounded by great

XTbe Counts anö piinces ot Mieö» 13

dangers, lie lived amongst tlie Mandam Indians, the Monnitaris, tlie Arriliares, and other tribes. On his return home Prince Max wrote an account of his journey through North America, which was published by Hölzer in Ooblentz between 1838 and 1841. It was in twelve volumes, and included an atlas which contained thirty-one copperplates. The drawings were made by the landscape-painter Bodmer, who had accompanied the Prince on his journey. It is a magnificent work, of great ethnograjohic importance. A museum was arranged for the rich collections, which remained for a long time an ornament to the town of Neuwied and a centre for the study of natural history. After the death of Prince Herman they were sold to America, where they are still kept together and bear the name of ' ' The Prince Herman of Wied Collection."

Until his death, in 1867, Prince Maximilian was an active member of the Leopoldine Academy. His merit has been fully acknowledged. Many learned societies elected him a member, and a beautiful creeper from the primeval forests of Brazil is called Neowedia Spezzoa after him. He was always the centre of life and cheerfulness in the family, and, in spite of his great intellectual powers, he was modest and retiring in the social circle and good and kind to all until the last.

But we must also particularly mention the Princess Louise here. She lived only for ideal interests, and is one of the most beautiful recollections of the childhood of the Princess Elizabeth. Her talents for music and painting were extraordinary. She painted many pictures which still adorn the Palace of Neuwied. Prince Augustus was also very musical, and as music was cultivated seriously and with artistic knowledge at the princely Court, its good influence was sure to be felt by the inhabitants of Neuwied. Princess Louise had started a class for singing, which performed admirably. She was also a poetess, and had not forgotten how to make ''rhymes" even in her ninety-third year. The "Songs of Solitude " reveal a deeply religious and poetical mind.

Prince Augustus of Wied had married the Princess Sophia Augusta of Solms-Braun-Fels on the 1 1 th July 1812. Her eldest son was Prince Herman, the father of the Queen of Roumania.

II

E have caused a long series of pictures from life to pass before us, and yet we have learnt to know but a small proportion of the distinguished men and women who belonged to the House of Wied. Prince Herman, who was born in 1 8 14, was also one of the most distinguished men of his time. After he had finished his studies in Göttingen, travelled in Germany and France, and served for some time in a regiment of Guards in Berlin, he undertook the management of his numerous estates. Of noble and aristocratic appearance, he was endowed with the finest qualities of the heart and was distinguished by his modesty, which virtue was ever to be found in the House of Wied. He was a man of deep learning and culture, and of great intellectual power. Being of a philosophic turn of mind which was of a speculative cast, the higliest object of his life was a ceaseless endeavour to attain to a knowledge of the important questions which concern the physical and spiritual condition of man. His mind was constantly fixed on the mysterious problems of human nature. The results of his reflections are enshrined in a work which was anonymously published in 1859 and bore the title "The Unconscious Life of the Soul and the Manifestations of God." Many experiences which took place in his own house or with which he had come in contact had convinced him of the reality and the efficiency of the superhuman elements in man. He did not doubt the fact of the magnetic powers of feeling, somnambulism, electric affinities, clairvoyance, &c. In order to elucidate these facts, the Prince sought to establish a theory which he himself only termed an hypothesis ; that the essential conditions of human nature should be a body, soul, and spirit ; the soul a personal and conscious principle, whilst the creative spirit is of God, ever present and working within man — an unconscious principle. The Prince named these " the three conditions of human nature," and this theory was the foundation of his views of life. His work, therefore, has to do with the unconscious life of the soul. The spirit manifests itself, the soul is acted upon by the spirit. What the spirit creates awakes the

XTbe parents ot princess B(t3abetb, 17

consciousness in tlie soul. The unconscious life of the soul is, therefore, a revelation of godly power. What Mesmer denominated magnetic power is, according to the Prince, the power of God. It is a creative and lifegiving power, which can heal the infirmities of the human body, restore organic life, and elevate spiritual life. Consequently the Prince regarded the so-called magnetic power as sacred, and magnetic healing as a religious work. We gather from this that the Prince acknowledges that these revelations are of God, but does not understand the idea in a dogmatic light. He does not regard the workings of this power as a miracle in the ordinary sense of the word, but as natural occurrences ; still, he believes with Hamlet that nature possesses more and higher powers " than are dreamt of in our philosophy."

As, according to the fundamental idea of his philosophy with regard to the threefold nature of man, soul and spirit may indeed act together, but at the same time they exist separate from one another, and, being by no means identical, the Prince could not assent to the dicta of the so-called Philosophers of Identity (Identitats Philosophen). The latter assert the identity of nature and spirit ; they look upon the human mind as being evolved

from the divine, and upon the soul as being evolved from

B the mind ; he therefore rejected the Pantheistic as well as the philosophical systems of Schelling and Hegel, and classed himself with those philosophers whom Schelling called Reflections menschen, i.e., thinkers who, according to the ordinary view, retain the contrast between the inner and the outer worlds, between internal and external phenomena, between perceptions and things, thinking and being, but who consider any knowledge going beyond this, and endeavouring to overcome this contrast by comprehending the unity of all things, to be impossible. His views were similar to those of Kant. Prince Herman therefore felt himself specially attracted towards the Königsberg philosopher, who in his critical works had so accurately and carefully distinguished the intellectual or spiritual world from the sensuous, the essence of things or the things-in-themselves from the phenomena. Only with respect to the free will of man he felt unable to follow the teaching of Kant, who, while declaring the essence of man as well as of things in general to lie beyond the range of knowledge, asserted the same with regard to that moral freedom which (as the Prince thought) should reveal itself to us by means of moral self- examination and become practically intelligible. Here Prince Herman thought he perceived a contradiction which he set himself to remove. With that object

XTbe parents of princess BUsabetb» 19

he wrote and published an essay entitled " The Kesults of an Examination of Kant's Doctrine of Free Will." To refute the objections he encountered, he defended his point of view in a pamphlet published shortly before his death under the title "Beplik unci Duplik!' It had been his endeavour to give an explanation of human free will, and the objection had been made that his doctrine was " Determinism." That doctrine, briefly expressed, was as follows. Free will, properly understood, consists in the liberty of will or choice, that is, in the power of choosing one among several possibilities or motives of action, which presupposes the power of reflection, of consideration, or of doubt. If man were omniscient, he would not have to reflect or to consider. Divine omniscience excludes free will, whereas human ignorance includes free will. Because the greater part of the conditions under which we act remains hidden to us, we act without knowing our dependence, and imagine a limited number of possibilities from among which we may choose. Consequently we cannot help imagining ourselves to be free, and this necessary imagination, the Prince thinks, is really freedom itself. The choice only is free, not the effect. According to the Prince's view, therefore, there are no free causes. The notion of a free cause appears to him as an empty phantom — " a cloud, which Polonius at one time takes

Carmen S^l\>a.

for a camel, at another for a weasel, and which yet remains nothing but vapour."

With his usual modesty, Prince Herman never represents his views as infallible, but regards them as material for the solution of the difficult problems of the connection of man to the spiritual world. He regarded opinions which differed from his own with the toleration of a thoughtful man who honours all intellectual labour. In his personal principles he was truly German. That the unity of Germany could only be brought about by means of Prussia was his firm conviction. He hoped that the German Princes would be brought to renounce their sovereignty of their own free will,- for the good of their country. He did not doubt that sooner or later circumstances would induce them to do so. In the Upper House Prince Herman represented Liberal opinions, but he soon retired from public life in order to live entirely for his family and his philosophic labours. He studied the historic works of Mommsen, Häusser, and Ranke with peculiar interest. Besides which he had a deep feeling for art, and was himself a painter of no mean merit. In consequence of a bath which he had imprudently taken at the camp of Kilish in 1835 the Prince contracted an illness which was a hindrance to him for the rest of his life, and was the cause of his early death.

Übe parents of iprtncess BUsabetb* 21

In 1842 Prince Herman married the youthful Princess Marie of Nassau. She was eminently fitted to fulfil the duties which devolved upon her in her position of princess, wife, and mother. Of dignified appearance, she is distinguished by her personal beauty and her truly noble mind. She is a woman of great power of will, of clear judgment, wonderful devotion, and untiring energy ; very severe in what she demands of herself, whilst her kindness and indulgence towards all with whom she comes in contact are unbounded. Having been much tried herself by sorrow and suffering, the Princess feels a true sympathy for the sufferings of others. To minister to the wants of the sick and poor, and to comfort them with her personal sympathy, is her greatest happiness. In the homes of the poor at Neuwied she is regarded as a beneficent angel, and a blessing enters with her. She possesses the happy gift of winning the love and sympathy of all classes of people. The Princess is beloved and honoured by all, and her wonderful charm delights all who approach her.

III. Cbilbboob

^,N Friday, tlie Qtli of December 1843, as the bells of Neuwied were, according to an ancient custom, ringing for prayer at twelve o'clock, whilst the chimes of the neighbouring villages joined in, the first child — a daughter — was born to the princely pair. After her godmothers, Queen Elizabeth of Prussia, wife of Frederick William IV., and the Grand-Duchess Elizabeth of Prussia, then a bride of the Duke of Nassau, she received in baptism the name of

Elizabeth.

The bells welcomed a life which was to be like them in fulness of awakening power. Beyond the borders of the Khine to the distant East has the prophetic meaning of the sound been accomplished in word and in deed.

A year and a half later, on the 22nd of August 1 845,

(Tbtlöbooö. 27,

Prince William was born. During the baptismal service little Elizabeth stood near her mother's chair, and followed the sacred proceedings with much interest, asking suddenly, with a loud voice, " What is the black man doing with the little brother ? " The baptism over, she approached the assembled group of town councillors on the tips of her toes. They were the only people strange to her in the circle of relations and friends. She looked up at them with a smile, and gave each of them her little hand to kiss.

" It was my first drawing-room," said the Queen, laughing, as this incident was told her.

Princess Elizabeth soon developed into a very peculiar child. She was of a passionate, unyielding, reserved character. Her education was confided to her mother alone, who discussed everything with the Prince, but, according to her arrangements, allowed no one to interfere. The recollections of the Queen of Roumania reached back to her third year. At that age the Princess of Wied took her to stay with her godmother. Queen Elizabeth, at Berlin. There the imaginative little girl fondled all the footstools, sofa-cushions, and bolsters with the greatest care, pretending they were her children. One day she ran up quickly, took hold of the feet of the Queen, which were resting on a footstool, placed them rouglily on the ground, and with the angry exclamation, " You must not stand on my child ! " she carried the footstool off. " Have you children ? " was her question to people she saw for the first time. Those who answered in the negative ceased to interest her. From her earliest childhood nothing seemed so sad to her as a house without children. In order to quiet and control her a governess was appointed for her in her fourth year, and she had regular lessons. She was so lively that the necessity of sitting still was a trial to her. In her fifth year she was to sit with her brother William to Professor Sohn for her portrait. Severity and kindness were tried in vain to keep her quiet. At last she made up her mind not to move again. Hardly, however, had the little Princess sat motionless for two or three minutes when she fell fainting from her chair. Only Fräulein Lavater, her mother's old governess, had a soothing influence over her. She told the young Princess many beautiful fairy tales and stories, and so found the right way of captivating the lively child. Fräulein Lavater ^ was a lady of a very independent spirit, and possessed great patience with clearness of perception. She was well versed in modern languages, and could remember the contents of half a