April 25, 1918 
Lecomte de Neiiy, who 
gave immense pains to the 
task and encouraged and 
aided by the King and 
by "Carmen Sylva," who 
now, alas, lies within the 
building, having died since 
the days when they gra- 
ciously entertained me 
many times at Sinaia — 
he restored the building 
in superb style. Lecomte 
tells us in his own papers 
how diligently he visited 
thechurchesat Jassy, Horez, 
Cozia, Valcei, Padure, and 
Campulung. and from these 
famous buildings acquired 
a sound knowledge and 
deep affection for the 
Rumanian architecture of 
the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries. Satu- 
rated with this knowledge, 
he set to work, and now 
with wonderful frescoes 
and mosaics, glorious 
bronzes, rich marble, 
stained glass, and gold, 
silver, and wrought iron, 
the whole place is a glowing 
feast of colour. In archi- 
tecture the building is 
rectangular, with an ir- 
regular shaped annexe, and 
is surmounted by a dome 
with two small cupolas, and 
by a great dome surmount- 
ing the annexe; a strange 
mingling of Arab, Roman, 
and Byzantine forms, char 
Land & Water 
The Reredos 
acteristic of the people whose national shrine it has become. 
Its adornment is that of involved and intricate Arabesque, 
combined with wreaths of lilies carved on all the windows, 
cornices, and balconies. Wonderful bronze doors lead to its 
interior, adorned with fine tapestiy, superb marble columns, 
elaborate mosaic decoration in the saucers of the domes, 
long and decorative inscriptions, and extraordinary fresco 
17 
work. The accessories for 
worship are, of course, all of 
recent date, but specially 
designed and carried out 
in the sentient designs of 
Moldavia ; and bronzes and 
crosses, iconoatasis and 
icons, candlesticks and 
vestments alike speak of 
incessant attention to de- 
tail, profound study of 
native art and scrupulous 
adaptation to purpose. The 
book of the Gospels is alone 
worth a journey to see, as, 
painted and illuminated by 
Queen "Carmen Sylva" 
herself, it is one of the 
finest works of imaginative 
decorative art that the 
century has produced, a 
veritable triumph of illu- 
mination, the highest pos- 
sible achievement of that 
gifted lady for the sanc- 
tuary she loved so well 
and where now she is 
buried. 
The King and Queen 
devoted themselves to this 
great work, becoming more 
Rumanian even than the 
Rumanians in their earnest 
desire to help their people, 
and their names will ever 
be feelingly associated with 
the cathedral, where Masses 
for their souls will per- 
petually be said. 
When the work was com- 
pleted. King Carol in- 
structed Herr Jaffe to prepare a great book on the 
building, and from this elephant folio, privately pnnted and 
presented to the writer by the King himself, our illustrations 
have been taken. The plates are in colour and in mono- 
chrome, and it lavishly represents in every possible view 
the building and its contents that all Rumania loves and 
that 'the native regards as its great national shrine. 
Leaves from a German Note Book 
THE British blockade is making itself felt, despite 
German denials to the contrary. The food situation grows 
more and more difficult. Consider the rations of a large 
town like Frankfort for the first week of this month : Meat, 
7 oz. ; sausage, i| oz. ; margarine, 2 oz., costing 3d. ; i egg, 
costing 5d. Another change which is significant is that, as 
from the latter end of March, self-providers were ordered to 
reduce the quantity of flour for bread-making from ig lb. 
to 14 lb. This harcHy points to a state of plenty. 
Clothing, too, is expensive and unobtainable. Take a 
well-to-do woman's requirements. Before the war a pair of 
silk stockings in Germany cost afcout 3s. ; patent-leather 
boots, us. ; tailor-made costume, 40s. ; blouse, 20s. ; hat 
trimmed with an ostrich feather, 15s. ; pair of kid gloves, 2s. ; 
umbrella, 6s. And to-day ? Here are the prices taken from 
the lists of an ordinary Berlin general store. The silk stock- 
ings cost 15s. ; shoes (be it noted, made of substitutes), 36s. ; 
coat and skirt, 150s. ; blouse, 70s. ; hat, 50s. ; gloves, 8s. ; 
and umbrella, 25s. But even at these high prices, the goods 
are not always obtainable, and the latest ukase provides 
that as from the ist instant, only one purchasing permit for 
boots should be allowed for a whole year. 
Coal has gone up in price us. a ton .since August, 1914, 
and this limit would have been left far behind were it not 
that the coal merchants charge the neutral consumers 
unheard-of prices for the coal exported from Germany. Even 
so, a ton of coal costs to-day in Hamburg as much as 71s. 
The present is sombre enough, and over the future there 
hangs the shadow of economic ruin. Judging by the energy 
with which the authorities are endeavouritig to show the 
people that their future is not nearly so hopeless as is generally 
believed, it would seem that the Germans must be greatly 
terrified at the prospect of being deprived, when the war is 
over, of essential raw materials like rubber and cotton, jute, 
and copper, which the AUies control, to say nothing of such 
vital necessaries as palm-oil and grain. Lecturers have 
recently been sent all over Germany whose purpose it is to 
dispel the fears on this point. But the people have been 
deceived too often, and their eyes are no longer shut either 
to the past guilt or the future punishment of Germany. In 
view of all these sufferings and privations, the plaint of the 
Frankfurter Zeitung is intelligible : 
Germany's Lent has lasted almost four years— years of 
deepest sufiering, sharpest pain, bitterest need, and manifold 
death. ... Let us admit that we have at all times passed 
through hours of terrible anxiety, helplessness, and despair. 
But now the hope of peace through victory buoyl up the 
whole nation. This was written at the beginning of the 
Great Offensive, and victory once again is deferred. Rumours 
of May Day labour troubles are in the air. 
The Arbeiter Zeitung, of Vienna, which often looks at 
affairs dispassionately, did not share the optimism of its 
Frankfurt contemporary. Even if Germany forces France 
and Italy to their knees, she will still not have peace so long 
as England is in her island home and America protected by 
the ocean.- "They would always be able to continue the 
war by sea and cut us off from raw materials and food. Only 
a peace by understanding is possible with these two countries. 
A peace based on might cannot be enforced by Ihe most striking 
victory on land." What follows ? That if Germany desires 
peace, she must recover from her vain dreams of conquest and 
forgo all her plans of vain-glorious world-dominion. 
As long as England and .\nierica hold the command 
of the sea, even the mightiest \'ictories on land are 
futile, for the determining factor of the war is in their 
hands. This Vienna journal has spoken many a true word 
before now, but nothing truer than this. 
