Page:Nicolae Iorga - My American lectures.djvu/183

 system is also found during the Phanariot period, in the 18th century; Constantin Mavrocordato, Alexander Ghica in Wallachia became princes by popular vote. In 1821 the Wallachian peasantry, who revolted against their oppressors, claimed the right to nominate their chief, Tudor Vladimirescu, «domnul Tudor». It is true that Vladimirescu had previously lived in Serbia, where, as an officer in the Russian army, he had seen «the great captain of the people» at the head of an armed «parliament», but in Serbia too, it was the same popular tradition of South-Eastern Europe which inspired the idea of a revolution capable of creating a lasting State.

Much more uncommon that the elective principle was the second characteristic, of local authority, which lasted until the modern era of borrowed constitutions, which began with the «Regulament Organic» of 1834.

Before these attempts to change the character of a life which had developed naturally for more than a thousand years along gradual, organic lines, the greater part of public affairs was concluded, confirmed and sanctioned within the village itself. At the sale of a property, only the presence of the «oameni buni și bătrâni» and of the neighbours was necessary; these neighbours were relatives, the village having been formed by the expansion of a single family, all members of which bore the name of the ancestor; thus, if he was a «Ion» (or John), they were all called Ionescu (Johnson). Each village had its scribe, who committed the contract to writing; the prince had merely to confirm it. The military contingent to be furnished by the village in time of war was trained and led by the «captain» of the same group, the vătăman (a word derived from the German: hauptmann). As the officers of the state had financial needs, the charge was apportioned, through 169