will manage to escape from the odium of their fellow-creatures, which clings to them in their present condition. The fact of the poor travelling Gipsies knowing of such respectable settled Gipsies, gives them a certain degree of respect in their own eyes, which leads them to repel any advance from the other race, let it come in almost whatever shape it may. The white race, as I have already said, is perfectly odious to them.* This is exactly the position of the question. The more original kind of Gipsies feel that the prejudice which exists against the race to which they belong is such, that an intercourse cannot be maintained between them and the other inhabitants; or, if it does exist, it is of so clandestine a nature, that their appearance, and, it may be, their general habits, do not allow or lead them to indulge in it. I will make a few more remarks on this subject further on in this treatise (Ed., p. 436).

The latter part of the Gipsy nation, whether settled or itinerant, must be reached indirectly, for reasons which

* People often reprobate the dislike, I may say the hatred, which the more original Gipsy entertains for society; forgetting that society itself has had the greatest share in the origin of it. When the race entered Europe, they are not presumed to have had any hatred towards their fellow-creatures. That hatred, doubtless, sprang from the severe reception and universal persecution which, owing to the singularity of their race and habits, they everywhere met with. The race then became born into that state of things. What would subsequent generations know of the origin of the feud? All that they knew was that the law made them outlaws and outcasts; that they were subject, as Gipsies, to be hung before they were born. Such a Gipsy might be compared to Pascal's man springing up out of an island: casting his eyes around him, he finds nothing but a legal and social proscription hanging over his head, in whatever direction he may turn. Whatever might be assumed to have been the original, innate disposition of a Gipsy, circumstances attending him, from his birth to his death, were certainly not calculated to improve him, but to make him much worse than he might otherwise have been. The worst that can be said of the Scottish Gipsies, in times past, has been stated by our author. With all their faults, we find a vein of genuine nobility of character running through all their ac

have already been given; for it does not serve much purpose to interfere too directly with them, as Gipsies. We should bring a reflective influence to bear upon them, by holding up to their observation some of their own race in respectable positions in life, and respected by the world, as men, though not known to be Gipsies. For, in this way, the Gipsies, of all classes, would see that they are not outcasts; but that the prejudices which people entertain for them are applicable to their ways of life only, and not to their blood or descent, tribe or language. Their hearts would then become more easily touched, their affections more readily secured; and the attempt made to improve them would have a much better chance of being successful. A little judgment is necessary in conducting an intercourse with the wild Gipsy, or, indeed, any kind of Gipsy; it is very advisable to speak well of "the blood," and never to confound the race

with the conduct of part of it. There is hardly anything that can give a poor Gipsy greater pleasure than to tell him something about his people, and par

tions, which is the more worthy of notice, considering that they were at war with soci ety, and society at war with them. Not the least important feature is that of gratitude for kind and hospitable treatment. In that respect, a true Scottish Gipsy has always been as true as steel; and that is saying a great deal in his favour. I cannot agree with Mr. Borrow, when he says, that the Gipsies "travelled three thousand miles into Europe, with hatred in their hearts towards the people among whom they settled." In none of the earliest laws passed against them is anything said of their being other than thieves, cheats, etc., etc. They seem to have been too politic to commit murder; moreover, it appears to have been foreign to their disposition to do aught but obtain a living in the most cunning manner they could. There is no necessary connexion between purloining one's property and hating one's person. As long as the Gipsies were not hardly dealt with, they could naturally have no actual hatred towards their fellow-creatures. Mr. Borrow attributes none of the spite and hatred of the race towards the community to the severity of the persecutions to which it was exposed, or to that hard feeling with which society has regarded it. These, and the example of the Spaniards, doubtless led the Gitanos to shed the blood of the ordinary natives (Ed., p. 433).

ticularly should they be in a respectable | position in life, and be attached to their nation. It serves no great purpose to appear too serious with such a person, for that soon tires him. It is much better to keep him a little buoyant and cheerful, with anecdotes and stories, for that is his natural character; and to take advantage of occasional opportunities, to slip in advices that are to be of use to him. What is called long-facedness is entirely thrown away upon a Gipsy of this kind (Ed., p. 529).

It is the Christian who should be the most ready to take up and do justice to this subject; for he will find in it a very singular work of Providence-the most striking phenomenon in the history of man. In Europe, the race has existed,

in an unacknowledged state, for a greater length of time than the Jews dwelt in Egypt. And it is time that it should be introduced to the family of mankind, in its aspect of historical development; embracing, as in Scotland, members ranging from what are popularly understood to be Gipsies, to those filling the first positions in Christian and social society (Ed., p. 532).

It is the Christian who should endeavour to have the prejudice against the name of Gipsy removed, so that every one of the race should freely own his blood to the other, and make it the basis of a kindly feeling, and a bond of brotherhood, all around the world (Ed., p. 534).

R

EVEREND SIR:-I take the liberty of referring you to the accompanying papers on the Gipsies, a subject that well merits the attention of the Church, inasmuch as to it has belonged, almost exclusively, since the introduction of Christianity, the mission of raising up humanity in the religious, moral, and social aspects of its nature. That being the case with regard to the mere instruction of mankind, it becomes a much greater claim upon the Church, to treat people as men, before attempting to make them Christians, which is so necessary to be done with the Gipsies; for the feeling that people in general entertain for them is not much better than that which is displayed for toads and snakes, or reptiles of some kind. And yet, the Gipsies are physically a fine race of men, and anything but dolts in apprehension or capacity; and, in their way, are very polite at all times, and especially when properly approached by other people.

This tribe appeared in Scotland not later than the year 1506. Its existence for generations thereafter has been so established by the records of tradition, and so many acts of the Scots' Parliament, that its introduction and long continuance in the country cannot be questioned. The subject, however, has of late years so greatly passed beyond the attention of the public, that some even doubt the existence of the race at all. The civil and political rights of individuals or corporations may be proscribed by lapse of time; but such cannot be said of a principle, or of a people, so long as it can perpetuate its existence, whatever the form or aspect of its development.

The Gipsies entered Scotland in possession of a language totally distinct from the Scotch, one word of which they probably did not at first

*This, and what is said of John Bunyan

and the Jews, formed a communication I addressed to some of the Scottish clergy, early in 1871.

understand. They arrived completely organized, in the form of tribes, provincial chieftains, and a king over all, with their hand against every man, and the hand of every man (at least in feeling) against them. In short, they were a robber tribe, which held in the highest estimation successful and undiscovered theft, practised, with some exceptions, on all outside of their own fraternity. They were not originally a part of the native population that separated from the community, during a social, religious or political convulsion, and adopted habits that made them outcasts from society, and afterwards regained their social standing among their own race, by resuming their original habits; but were a people differing nearly as much from the inhabitants of Scotland, as the Indians did from the colonists settling in America. They were thus not Gipsies in consequence of certain habits, so that a change of habits, or the acquisition of means, or education, or creed, could not change them from being Gipsies into some other family, tribe or

race.

I have spoken of the singular feeling that is entertained for the Gipsies. In the face of that feeling, does it surprise you to be told that the race should hide everything connected with itself from others? It would be contrary to the simplest instincts of nature and all experience, should they have done otherwise; or that they should not marry among themselves," like the Jews, and "stick to each other," whatever may be their positions in life. Hence, the tribe have so far succeeded in preventing other people from knowing almost anything connected with them, that their very existence as Gipsies is almost, if not altogether, doubted, if not denied.

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A very natural question to ask is, Where have the Gipsies gone to? Has their fate been that of the lost ten tribes, which, it is generally ad

mitted, is beyond the reach of investigation? How could that be predicated of a people of such recent introduction among civilized nations-that really belongs to contemporary history, and is to be found in existence among us today? How unreasonable it is to conclude that the tribe has ended in nothing, rather than by a careful examination and induction discover the real history of it! You thus see that the subject becomes one of disinterested and serious inquiry, in which there should be shown none of that apathy and contempt, and unreflecting incredulity, that is generally manifested, and is so unworthy of the age in which we live, and especially of men of education, and social and official standing in society.

Speak of civilized Gipsies, and even intelligent people become bewildered as to the meaning of the phrase, or rise in arms against the idea, and demand proof that there is, or even can be, such a phenomenon in existence as a civilized Gipsy. I, of course, appeal to the fact, in all its bearings, showing how it is a fact, and state, as a simple elementary truth, that the children or descendants of Gipsies are Gipsies, whatever their habits, character or position in life may be; leaving to the intuitive intelligence of others to realize the fact, as explained, and to their candour to acknowledge it. I might even turn upon such objectors, and ask them what they mean, when they speak of Gipsies of any kind, and what these or their descendants must do to divest themselves of the character of belonging to a tribe that is to be found everywhere, and become different from what, in regard to blood, feelings and associations, they really are. Indeed, a remark of that kind generally closes the door to all further questions or objections of that nature. I might also expatiate on the unreasonableness of people dogma

may be) they know nothing personally, and can appeal to no one better informed on the point than themselves. I readily admit, in a general way, the truth of the adage, out of sight, out of mind; but I decidedly object to its being applied to the Gipsies to mean "out of sight, out of existence."

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To the world at large, the subject of civilized Gipsies is a new idea (although an old fact), that is very apt to be objected to because it is a new idea, for the reason that people allege they do not understand it. But do people in every instance understand what all admit to be facts? Do they even understand what a Gipsy of the popular kind means? We in reality understand little of what we believe, and it has been well said, that if we believed only what we understood, we would all have remarkably short creeds. As people have believed in Gipsies of the popular kind without really understanding the subject, or giving it a serious thought, so might they believe in those more or less civilized, on the simple ground that they are the children or descendants of ordinary Gipsies, having their blood, an inherent sense of being members of the tribe, and some of the language and signs peculiar to themselves, like a Masonic society, although the possession of these words and signs is not absolutely necessary to constitute them Gipsies; for the mere consciousness of the fact of being Gipsies, transmitted from generation to generation, and made the basis of marriages and the intimate associations of life, is in itself perfectly sufficient. Hence, we can understand the meaning of Gipsy lady's maids, Gipsy fiddlers at parties, Gipsy spae-wives, and Gipsies in other spheres of life, mentioned by the author, whose facts, in the language of an American writer, are so obviously derived from personal observation or conscientious inqui

to command belief; to say nothing of what I have added, in the way of facts and philosophy, establishing the perpetuation of the Gipsy nationality in a settled and civilized state.

You will thus see, as a result of the Gipsy nationality, forced as it has been to hide itself from the rest of the world, that a bond of sympathy exists between its members when they happen to meet, and that nothing can be more natural or credible. But, however natural or credible, we find the following singular comments on the subject in All the Year Round, for the 17th March, 1866 :

"Another craze, hitherto not general, but which, if believed in, will throw over society a delightful if slightly maddening amount of mystery, has been put forth in a certain book, written by a Scottish enthusiast, by which it appears that both Scotland and England are penetrated through and through with Gipsy blood, and that men and women and honest Anglo-Saxons, or at the whom we had all along taken for douce least Celts of the true breed, are nothing better than Gipsies." "Our lady's

maids may be Gipsies, with fair hair and blue eyes, chattering Gipsy' secretly to other romany managies,' likewise cunningly disguised. Soldiers and sailors may meet other Nawkens' or Gipsies like themselves in the enemy's camp, and cry, Zincali! zincali!' as at the discovery of a brother . . . but we do not believe it. Nothing is easier than to make up a mystery [?]. . . . It is all one to the mystery-monger, provided only he can weave his webs with the -"Once admit faintest show of reason."this base of secrecy, and you may build on it the most gigantic pyramid of marvel you choose. -"We may be excused if we somewhat doubt the accuracy of statements which cannot be proved by any modern methods known to us.” [As if research and observation, and the satisfying ourselves as to facts, were not

"modern methods known to us"! Or

that one can doubt the "secrecy" that characterizes the Gipsies!]

We thus see how mere novelists

treat a question like the present. Their minds seem to be so besotted with fiction, as not, in a matter of this kind, to be capable of distinguishing between fact and fable. As a class, or almost invariably, they are anything but men of science or philosophy. With their tawdry sentimentality and improbable coincidence of circumstances, and all their "mystery - mongering," they cannot produce anything of lasting interest, that can approach facts, when found out of the beaten track, and seem jealous of them in consequence. A man of Dickens' standing might naturally have been supposed to become fired with the new ideas presented to him, so as to make them the subject of one of his powerful romances; but that would have been inconsistent with his genius, which preferred to stick to what people already admitted; so that he proved but "an ordinary personage on the occasion, assuming that he was the writer of the article in question. Does the remark of Bunsen, in his Egypt's Place in Universal History, hold good, when he says:

"Sound judgment is displayed rather in an aptness for believing what is historical, than in a readiness at denying it.

Shallow minds have a decided propensity to fall into the latter error.” Incapability of believing on evidence is the last form of the intellectual imbecility of an enervated age, and a warning sign of impending decay.""

*Mr. Leland, in his English Gipsies, writes:-" Mr. Dickens has set before us Cheap Jacks, and a number of men who were, in their very face, of the class of which I speak; but I cannot recall in his writings any indication that he knew that these men had a singular secret life with their confrères, or that they could speak a strange language; for we may well call that language strange which is, in the main, Sanscrit, with many Persian words intermingled. Mr. Dickens, how ever, did not pretend, as some have done, to specially treat of Gipsies, and he made no affectation of a knowledge of any mysteries. He simply reflected popular life as he saw it" (p. 5). Dickens' making

The motive here presented rises no higher than the one described by Samuel Johnson, when he said, that such a one "would tumble in a pigstye, if he could but get people to come and admire him." I admit that the subject of the Gipsies, so far as it is understood, and as Blackwood will have, or will allow, it to be understood, presents little interest to the world, if it means only a certain style of life that may cease at any moment. The reviewer absolutely ignores the allusions of the author to the Gipsies, in a greatly mixed state, as regards blood, and in a settled and civilized condition, and characterizes my additions to the work in the following terms:

"But they [some of the facts and anecdotes] have unfortunately been mixed up on the editor's part with so much wild speculation, and so many unsupported assertions, which are made to pass for arguments." These accessories take up nearly half of the volume, which would be much more readable in every way if they had been

omitted."