Prince Charles of Roumania, in his proclamation to his people,
gives very cogent reasons for crossing the Danube, and interven- tion with all his might. For three months after war was declared by the Chambers, he confined himself to the defence of the Roumanian frontiers. But now that hostilities are likely to last, and that the Turks are urging a cruel and fanatical war, the position of Roumania becomes critical. She has no guarantee that she will be spared by Turkey, which, if victorious, would pro- bably make herself mistress of Roumania ; she has to fear the long line of Turkish fortresses from Adakale to Matehin, which bom- bard her towns ; and in the interest of self-preservation, and not from a desire of conquest, she is compelled to co- operate with the Russian army, to hasten the end of the war, at all cost. She is now resolved to fight for the in- dependence of the State of Roumania :—" Are we for ever to lean on others' shoulders, and not to rely on our own increased strength and vitality ?" The conduct of the Roumanians at Plevna has proved that these brave words are not idle talk, and there is something not merely in this proclamation—which will be read with as much eagerness at Belgrade as at Bucharest— but in the late acts of Prince Charles, which augurs that he has got in him a little of the iron of his race.
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