TUfiKEY. 



777 



conference of representatives of the great pow- 

 ers, held at Paris, September 6th, 1859, con- 

 firmed this double election. The Ottoman Porto 

 reluctantly yielded to the popular demand by 

 sanctioning the legislative and administrative 

 union of the two principalities, on December 

 4th, 1SC1. The first united assembly of the 

 principalities met at Bucharest, on February 

 5th, 1SC2. Although the Porte had given its 

 consent only to a union for the lifetime of the 

 reigning prince, the latter, in his opening dis- 

 course, spoke of a definite union. The address 

 of the assembly expressed in emphatic terms 

 the same sentiments. In this cause all the 

 people of the two principalities appeared to be 

 unanimous. The same was the case with re- 

 gard to the secularization of the property be- 

 longing to the Greek convents, which on Decem- 

 ber 14th, 1863, was adopted by the assembly by 

 a vote of ninety-seven against three, and not- 

 withstanding the protest of the Porte, in con- 

 junction with the Cabinets of London, St. Pe- 

 tersburg, Vienna, and Berlin, confirmed by a 

 unanimous vote on January 14th, 1864. On 

 January 27th the assembly voted an indemnity 

 of 50,000,000 francs to be paid to the religious 

 communities of the .Holy Places, this indem- 

 nity to be covered by a loan to be issued at 88, 

 and bearing 7 per cent, interest. 



Concerning many other questions, there was 

 manifested, however, an irrevocable difference 

 of opinion between the assembly which repre- 

 sented chiefly the aristocracy and the prince, 

 who was determined to introduce into the ad- 

 ministration of the country sweeping reforms. 

 On April 24th the Chamber of Deputies passed 

 a resolution that in future the Ministers should 

 take the oath of allegiance to the people and 

 not to the prince. On April 25th it passed a 

 vote of censure upon the Government for the 

 introduction of a rural bill rendering all the 

 peasants landed proprietors. 



Public opinion sided, however, with the 

 prince against the assembly, and the vote of 

 censure passed by the latter was very emphat- 

 ically disapproved by the people. A message 

 from the prince, announcing the prorogation 

 of the Chambers until the 14th of May, was 

 likewise enthusiastically applauded by the peo- 

 ple. When the Chambers met again, on May 

 14th, and refused to adopt a new (liberal) elec- 

 toral law submitted to them, the prince again 

 dissolved them, and promulgated a statute sup- 

 plementary of the fundamental law of the State 

 (convention of August 19th, 1858), and a new 

 electoral law. Both of these were submitted 

 by him to a general ballot, which resulted 

 in the adoption of the new constitution by a 

 vote of 683,928 for and 1,307 against. There 

 were, altogether, 766,905 persons entitled to 

 vote. According to the new constitution, the 

 Moldc Vallachian Chamber is to be composed 



of 160 members eighty-five for Wallachia, and 

 seventy-five for Moldavia. Out of the above 

 number the fifty-six towns of the two princi- 

 palities will send ninety-one deputies, whilst the 

 rural communes, although more numerous, and 

 possessing a more extensive territory, will only 

 be represented by sixty-nine. In consequence 

 of new remonstrances from the Ottoman Porte 

 and the great European powers, Prince Couza, 

 after having personally negotiated with the 

 Turkish Government at Constantinople, con- 

 sented to modify the new constitution by 

 forming a senate which will be partly nom- 

 inated by the prince and partly selected" by tho 

 people. 



While the new constitution was submitted to 

 the vote of the people, a conspiracy was dis- 

 covered at Bucharest to overthrow the Gov- 

 ernment of Prince Couza, and effect the separa- 

 tion of the principalities, with a return to the 

 former regime. The contents of the papers 

 seized on the person of Dr. Lamberti, showed 

 the connivance of foreign enemies of tho prince. 

 Dr. Lamberti was arrested with Prince Souto- 

 zo, formerly minister under Shirby. *The pris- 

 oner confessed his guilt, and acknowledged the 

 authenticity of the documents signed by him- 

 self, and by the other persons compromised in 

 the affair. Simultaneously, another reaction- 

 ary conspiracy was discovered at Jassy. Depu- 

 ty Balsch was arrested, and the papers of a so- 

 called national committee were seized. This 

 discovery excited a great indignation among 

 the people, and had a considerable influence on 

 the result of the election. 



The important rural law, which abolished 

 compulsory labor, and made the peasants land- 

 ed proprietors by the payment of an indemnity 

 to the landowners, was promulgated on Aug. 

 27th, and received throughout the country with 

 immense enthusiasm. The law divides the peas- 

 ants into three classes proportionately to the 

 number of cattle they possess. They will re- 

 spectively receive about 14-8 or 4 acres of land 

 in TTallachia, 16-12 or 6 acres in Moldavia, and 

 18-12 or 8 acres in Bessarabia, according to 

 the class to which they belong. 



Elections for the General Councils (Provin- 

 cial Diets) were held in November, and were 

 very favorable to the Government. All the 

 Councils Generals sent addresses of congratu- 

 lation to Prince Couza ; two of them also voted 

 the necessary funds Tor erection of statues of 

 the prince ; four, provincial colleges to bear his 

 name, and ten others, monuments to be ei\ 

 in his honor. 



The elections for the Chambers in Decem- 

 ber, were equally favorable to the Government. 

 They were opened by the prince on Dec. 18th, 

 in the presence of the diplomatic corps and tho 

 great bodies of the State. The message deliv- 

 ered by the prince was greatly applauded. 



