740 



KOUMANIA. 



KUSSELL, JOHN. 



for the country, since it virtually stipulates its 

 occupation for two years." Another secret ses- 

 sion of the Senate and chamber was held on 

 March 3ist to draw up a formal protest against 

 the treaty of San Stefano. The Government 

 asked for a delay of two days, to communi- 

 cate with the Prime Minister, then on a special 

 mission to Vienna. In spite of this request, a 

 committee of five from each chamber was ap- 

 pointed to draw up the protest. The anti- 

 Russian feeling, however, gradually subsided, 

 and in the beginning of June an agreement was 

 made between the Government and the Rus- 

 sians, by which the various details incident to 

 a Russian military occupation of a part of the 

 country were regulated, and which in this way 

 officially recognized the presence of the Rus- 

 sian troops in the country. It contained no 

 limitation of the time during which it should 

 remain in force, and therefore by implication 

 legalized the Russian sojourn for any length of 

 time the Russians might desire. Prince Charles 

 closed the session of the Chambers on July 

 17th with a message, in which he said that his 

 country had been called upon to make sacri- 

 fices in order that the Berlin Congress might 

 preserve the peace of Europe. The Chambers 

 met in an extraordinary session on September 

 27th, and were opened with a message from 

 Prince Charles, which dwelt chiefly on the 

 painful sacrifice to which the Roumanians had 

 had to submit through the decision of the Ber- 

 lin Congress. The Prince, however, urged the 

 < nation to have faith in the future. On Octo- 

 ber 2d a bill was introduced forbidding the 

 peasants to sell the lands ceded to them by the 

 law of 1864. The act had for its real object 

 to prevent the Jews from becoming owners of 

 the country after they were given the right to 

 purchase all kinds of property, as provided for 

 by the treaty of Berlin. On October 12th the 

 Chamber of Deputies passed a resolution rec- 

 ognizing the provisions of the treaty of Berlin, 

 after the same had been previously passed by 

 the Senate. The session closed on the 16th. 



On November 26th the Roumanian troops 

 entered the Dobrudja, the Russians having pre- 

 viously taken possession of Bessarabia. Prince 

 Charlesissued a proclamation to the inhabitants, 

 promising protection to all, and abolishing the 

 tithes and other taxes. On the 27th the Cham- 

 bers were opened for their regular session. In 

 his speech from the throne, Prince Charles, 

 after referring to the annexation of the Do- 

 brudja, said that the neighboring Powers had 

 established diplomatic relations with Rouma- 

 nia, in conformity with the conditions of its 

 newly acquired independence. He was con- 

 vinced that the other Powers would follow 

 this example, and that an assembly would be 

 elected which would remodel the Constitution, 

 and thus enable the country to respond to the 

 expectations of Europe. The Chamber unani- 

 mously elected M. Rossetti for its President. A 

 new ministry was formed on December 4th 

 composed as follows: M. Bratiano, President 



of the Council, Minister of the Interior, and 

 Minister of War pro tern. ; M. Sturdza, Fi- 

 nance ; M. Campineanu, Foreign Affairs ; M. 

 Statescu, Justice ; M. Ferichidi, Public Works ; 

 M. Cantili, Worship and Instruction. The law 

 for preventing the peasants from, selling their 

 lands passed the Chamber on December 15th, 

 and the Senate on the 30th, where, however, 

 it was slightly amended, necessitating its return 

 to the Chamber. 



RUSSELL, JOHN, Earl, a British statesman, 

 born August 18, 1792, died May 28, 1878. He 

 was the third son of the sixth Duke of Bed- 

 ford, and was educated at the University of 

 Edinburgh, then the academic center of liber- 

 alism. After a tour through Spain and Por- 

 tugal, he was elected in July, 1813, when still 

 under age, member of Parliament for Fair- 

 stock. He immediately became an active op- 

 ponent of the Liverpool-Castlereagh Ministry, 

 and was an early advocate of retrenchment in 

 public expenditure. In 1819 ne began his great 

 battle for Parliamentary reform. He declared 

 that he would not " pledge himself to support 

 a measure that went the length of proposing 

 an inquiry into the general state of the represen- 

 tation," but proposed the disfranchisement of 

 corrupt boroughs, the transfer of their rights 

 to great unrepresented towns and counties, 

 and legislation against bribery. As an imme- 

 diate measure he asked the House to do sum- 

 mary justice upon the proved infamy of Gram- 

 pound. In 1821 Grampound was disfranchised 

 and its members given, not to Leeds as Rus- 

 sell had intended, but to Yorkshire. He again 

 brought forward the question in 1822, when he 

 suggested that 100 members should be added to 

 the House of Commons, and that they should 

 be chosen by the larger counties and the great 

 commercial and manufacturing communities 

 of the kingdom. He was also an advocate of 

 Catholic emancipation, and for that reason 

 lost his election for the county of Huntingdon 

 in 1826, when he was returned for Bandon 

 in Ireland. In 1828 he brought forward a mo- 

 tion for the repeal of the corporation and test 

 acts, and carried it by a majority of 44. In 

 1829 he voted for the Catholic relief bill ; and 

 in 1830, upon the accession of Earl Grey to 

 power, he was made Paymaster of the Forces. 

 Many at this time were puzzled by the ques- 

 tion, which has not yet been fully cleared up, 

 why no room was made for him in the Cabi- 

 net, although his family connections were most 

 eminent, and he had been for more than seven- 

 teen years a member of Parliament, and had 

 for fully ten years identified himself with the 

 championship of the cause which was at last 

 succeeding and bringing the Whigs back to 

 power. The Grey Cabinet was pledged to 

 Parliamentary reform, and the main manage- 

 ment of the matter was confided to Lord John 

 Russell. Together with Sir James Graham, 

 Lord Durham, and Lord Duncannon, he drew 

 up the bill which was submitted to the House 

 of Commons on March 1, 1831. After a fierce 



