"... So long as the suzerainty was merely an empty form, restricted to the payment of tribute or to impediments in affairs of treaties, mints, and orders, Europe was justified in declining to hear our complaints; but from the moment that our dependence on the Porte hinders our economical development, hampers our financial reforms, and damages our credit, we can reasonably demand that a sharp political line of demarcation be drawn between an Empire which is incapable of any reform and a flourishing young State which has given Europe material guarantees during the last few years! I recently had a conversation on the subject with the Austrian representative, who admitted that this was the correct view of the situation, but that a precipitate step might compromise the excellent position which Roumania occupies to-day. I replied that, before all else, I desired the preservation of peace, in order to gain time for the execution of all necessary reforms, the re-acquisition of the railways, and the construction of connecting lines, and that it was the business of the Great Powers to secure us a position which corresponded to the interest and dignity of the country. "Unfortunately the result of this Eastern tangle cannot be foreseen. Do the three great Northern Powers really desire peace? And will they ever succeed in restoring peace? There are too many factors to be taken into consideration; Turkey seems to have been given up at last (in the public opinion of Europe); even the English are being forced to accustom themselves slowly to this idea, which will certainly cost them much. When once considerations for the Porte are abandoned, the solution of the Eastern Question, which frightens the diplomats of Europe, will be materially simplified. Roumania is destined to become the Belgium of the Lower Danube; why do the Cabinet hesitate to declare this? We can wait; but, as far as Europe is concerned, it would be a guarantee of peace in the East. "I opened the Chambers to-day with a short and powerful speech from the throne, which I am sure will make no unfavourable impression in Europe. The disturbances in Herzegowina could not be passed over in silence, but were mentioned with such caution that public opinion cannot be disquieted. Our relations with the Turks are strained: they will not grant us even the smallest concession; they actually refuse to concede us the name Roumania; all this is to their own disadvantage.... Greece has begun to stir; deputations from Thessaly, Epirus, and Crete have appeared in Athens, and their proposals have been very favourably received. The aggrandisement of Greece is the only salvation for that unfortunate country." _From_ PRINCE CHARLES ANTHONY, _December 1875_.