California 
 
 sgional 
 
 icility
 
 EX LBBRI3 
 
 DANIEL C 
 CAHALANE
 
 THE 
 
 GIPSIES ADVOCATE.
 
 THE 
 
 GIPSIES' ADVOCATE; 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE ORIGIN, CHARACTER, MANNERS, 
 AND HABITS, OF THE ENGLISH GIPSIES: 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED 
 
 MANY INTERESTING ANECDOTES 
 
 ON THE SUCCESS THAT HAS ATTENDED THE PLANS OF SEVERAL 
 
 BENEVOLENT INDIVIDUALS WHO ANXIOUSLY DESIRE THEIR 
 
 CONVERSION TO COD. 
 
 BY JAMES CRABB, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE PENITENT MAGDALEN. 
 
 " Let that mind be in yon which was in Christ Jesu?." 
 " The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.' 
 
 THIRD EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS. 
 
 The Profits of this Work will be devoted to assist the reformed Gipsies, 
 the Infants' Schools, and other religious objects, in Southampton. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SOLD BY NISBET; WESTLEY; HATCHARDS; AND CHAPPELL; 
 
 LINDSAY AND CO., AND JUNES AND CO., EDINBURGH; 
 
 COLLINS, GLASGOW; AND VVAKEMAN, DUBLIN. 
 
 1832. 
 Price Three Shillings and Sixpence.
 
 ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. 
 
 PRINTED BY MILLS, JOWETT, AND MILLS. 
 BOLT-COURT, FLBKr-STREET.
 
 THE JUDGES, MAGISTRATES, 
 
 AHD 
 
 at Cljrirft, 
 
 ORGANS OF PUBLIC JUSTICE AND REVEALED TRUTH, 
 
 THE GIPSIES' ADVOCATE 
 
 IS MOST 
 
 RESPECTFULLY AND SINCERELY DEDICATED 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE Author of the following pages has been 
 urged by numerous friends, and more particu- 
 larly by his own conscience, to present to the 
 Christian Public a brief account of the people 
 called Gipsies, now wandering in Britain. This, 
 to many readers, may appear inexpedient ; as 
 Grellman and Hoyland have written largely on 
 this neglected part of the human family. But 
 it should be recollected, that there are thou- 
 sands of respectable and intelligent Christians, 
 who never have read, and never may read, either 
 of the above authors. The writer of the pre- 
 sent work is partly indebted for the sympathies 
 he feels, and which he wishes to awaken in 
 others, towards these miserable wanderers, to 
 various authors who have written on them, 
 but more particularly to Grellman and Hoy-
 
 Vlll 
 
 land, who, in addition to the facts which came 
 under their own immediate notice, have pub- 
 lished the observations of travellers and others 
 interested in -the history of this people. A 
 list of these authors may be seen in the 
 Appendix. 
 
 But his knowledge of this people does not 
 entirely depend on the testimony of others, 
 having had the opportunity of closely examin- 
 ing for himself their habits and character in 
 familiar visits to their tents, and by allowing his 
 door to be free of access to all those encamped 
 near Southampton, when they have needed his 
 help and advice. Thus has he gained a general 
 knowledge of their vicious habits, their compa- 
 rative virtues, and their unhappy modes of life, 
 which he hopes the following pages will fully 
 prove, and be the means of placing their cha- 
 racter in the light of truth, and of correcting 
 various mistakes respecting them, which have 
 given rise to many unjust and injurious preju- 
 dices against them.
 
 IX 
 
 The Author could have enlarged the present 
 work very considerably, had he detailed all the 
 facts with which he is well acquainted. 
 
 His object however was to furnish a work 
 wliich should be concise and cheap, that he 
 might be the means of exciting among his 
 countrymen an energetic benevolence towards 
 this despised people ; for it cannot be denied 
 that many thousands of them have never given 
 the condition of the Gipsies a single thought. 
 
 Such a work is now presented to the pub- 
 lic. Whether the author has succeeded, will 
 be best known to those persons who have the 
 most correct and extensive information rela- 
 tive to the unhappy race in question. Should 
 he be the honoured instrument of exciting in 
 any breast the same feelings of pity, mercy, 
 love and zeal, for these poor English heathens, 
 as is felt and carried into useful plans for the 
 heathens abroad, by Christians of all deno- 
 minations, he will then be certain that, by
 
 the blessing of the Redeemer, the confidence 
 of the Gipsies will be gained, and that they 
 will be led to that Saviour who has said, 
 Whoever cometh unto me, I mil in nowise cast 
 him out.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 On the Origin of the Gipsies 9 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Observations on the Character, Manners, and Habits, of 
 the English Gipsies 23 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 The same, continued 46 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of the formation of the Southampton Committee, and the 
 Success that has attended its endeavours 64 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Of the Plans pursued by the Southampton Committee, 
 and the Success which has attended them, continued. . 75 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 Some Remarks on the Sin of Fortune-telling 88 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Plans suggested for the Reformation of the Gipsies, with 
 some encouraging accounts from Prussia and Bristol . 92 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Letters from a Seotch Clergyman, relating to a Gipsy 
 Colony in the South of Scotland 113
 
 Xll 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Plans suggested for the Reformation of the Gipsies, 
 continued ...................................... 128 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Further Account of encouraging Interviews with Gipsies, 
 and interesting Correspondence .................. 116 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Interesting Particulars of the Gipsies, related by a 
 Clergyman .................................... 165 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Visits to Gipsy Camps, including an Anecdote of his 
 late beloved Majesty George the Third ............ 176 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Further interesting Correspondence ................ 187 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 Concluding Remarks ....... . ..... . .......... . ..... 1 95
 
 THE 
 
 GIPSIES' ADVOCATE. 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 On the Origin of the Gipsies. 
 
 OF the origin of these wanderers of the human 
 race the learned are not agreed ; for we have no 
 authentic records of their first emigrations. Some 
 suppose them to be the descendants of Israel, and 
 many others that they are of Egyptian origin. But 
 the evidence adduced in confirmation of these opinions 
 appears very inconclusive. We cannot discover more 
 than fifty Hebrew words in the language they speak, 
 and they have not a ceremony peculiar to the Hebrew 
 nation. They have not many words of Coptic, and 
 but few of Persian derivation ; and they are deemed 
 as strangers in Egypt to the present time. They are 
 now found in many countries of Europe, Asia, and 
 Africa, in all of which they speak a language peculiar 
 to themselves. On the continent of America alone 
 are there none of them found. Grellman informs us 
 that there were great numbers in Lorraine, and that 
 
 they dwelt in its forests, before the French Revolution 
 B 
 
 -
 
 10 
 
 of 1790. He supposes that there are no less than 
 700,000 in the world, and that the greatest numbers 
 are found in Europe. Throughout the countries they 
 inhabit, they have kept themselves a distinct race of 
 people in every possible way. 
 
 They never visit the Norman Isles; and it is said 
 by the natives of Ireland, that their numbers are small 
 in that country. Hoyland informs us, that many 
 counties in Scotland are free of them, while they 
 wander about in other districts of that country as in 
 England. He has also informed us, in the sixth 
 section of his dissertation, of a colony which resides, 
 during the winter months, at Kirk Yetholm, in the 
 county of Roxburgh. A Scotch clergyman has also 
 kindly favoured the author with an interesting account 
 of the same clan, which is inserted in the eleventh 
 chapter. 
 
 Sir Thomas Brown, in his work entitled " VULGAR 
 ERUOR.S," says, that they were first seen in Germany, 
 in the year 1409. In 1418, they were found in 
 Switzerland ; and, in 1422,' in Italy. They appeared 
 in France, on the 17th of August 1427. It is re- 
 markable that, when they first came into Europe, they 
 were black, and that the women were still blacker 
 than the men. From Grellman we learn, that, " in 
 Hungary, there are 50,000 ; in Spain, 60,000; and 
 that they are innumerable in Constantinople." 
 
 It appears from the Statute of the 22nd of Henry 
 VIII, made against this people, that they must, at 
 that time, have been in England some years, and must
 
 11 
 
 have increased much in number, and in crime. In 
 the 27th of that reign, a law was made against the 
 importation of such persons, subjecting the importer 
 to 401. penalty. In that reign also they were con- 
 sidered so dangerous to the morals and comfort of the 
 country, that many of them were sent back to Calais. 
 Yet, in the reign of Elizabeth, they were estimated 
 at 10,000 * 
 
 Dr. Walsh says, that the Gipsies in Turkey, like the 
 Jews, are distinguishable by indelible personal marks, 
 dark eyes, brown complexion, and black hair; and, 
 by unalterable moral qualities an aversion to labour, 
 and a propensity to petty thefts. f 
 
 The celebrated traveller Dr. Daniel Clarke speaks 
 of great numbers of Gipsies in Persia, who are much 
 encouraged by the Tartars. Formerly, and particu- 
 larly on the Continent, they had their counts, lords, 
 and dukes; but these were titles without either power 
 or riches. 
 
 The English Gipsies were formerly accustomed to 
 denominate an aged man or woman among them, as 
 their king and queen ; but this is a political distinction 
 which has not been recognised by them for many years. 
 
 * See Norland, pages 78, 79, and 80. 
 
 t We should not forget that the grace of God can change 
 their hearts and morals. The facts contained in this book 
 are very encouraging examples of the power of divine grace 
 upon the heart and character of the Gipsy people. The reader 
 Avould do well to turn to the following scriptures Isaiah xi, 
 69. 1 Cor. vi. 911. 
 
 B-2
 
 12 
 
 If we suppose the Gipsies to have been heathens 
 before they came into this country, their separation 
 from pagan degradation and cruelty has been attended 
 with many advantages to themselves. They have 
 seen neither the superstitions of idolatry, nor the un- 
 natural cruelties of heathenism. They are not destitute 
 of those sympathies and attachments which would 
 adorn the most polished circles. In demonstration of 
 this, we have only to make ourselves acquainted with 
 the fervour and tenderness of their conjugal, parental, 
 and filial sensibilities, and the great care they take of 
 all \fho are aged, infirm, sick, and blind, among them. 
 "Were these highly interesting qualities sanctified by 
 pure religion, they would exhibit much of the beauty 
 and loveliness of the Christian character. I am aware 
 that an opinion is general that they are cruel to their 
 children; but it maybe questioned if ebullitions of 
 passion are more frequent among them, in reference 
 to their children, than among other classes of society; 
 and when these ebullitions, which are not lasting, are 
 over, their conduct towards their children is most 
 affectionate. The attachment of Gipsy children to 
 their parents, is equally vivid and admirable ; it grows 
 with their years, and strengthens even as their con- 
 nexions increase.* And, indeed, the affection that 
 
 * Children, after grown up to men and women, have an 
 affection for their parents somewhat childish. A young Gipsy 
 man, known to the Author, when his mother stays longer 
 from the camp than usual, expresses his anxiety for her return 
 by saying, Whtre is my mum ? I ivish mil mum would eome home.
 
 13 
 
 sisters and brothers have for each other is very great. 
 A short time since, the little sister of a Gipsy youth, 
 seventeen years of age, was taken ill with a fever, 
 when his mind became exceedingly distressed, and he 
 gave way to excessive grief and weeping. 
 
 Those who suppose these wanderers of mankind to 
 be of Hindostanee or Suder origin, have much the best 
 proof on their side. A real Gipsy has a countenance, 
 eye, mouth, hands, ancle, and quickness of manners, 
 strongly indicative of Hindoo origin. This is more 
 particularly the case with the females. The testimony 
 of the most intelligent travellers, many of whom have 
 long resided in India, fully supports this opinion. 
 And, indeed, persons who have not travelled on the 
 Asiatic Continent, but who have seen natives of 
 Hindostan, have been surprised at the similarity of 
 manners and features existing between them and the 
 Gipsies. The author of this work once met with a 
 Hindoo woman in this country, and was astonished 
 at the great resemblance she bore, in countenance and 
 manners, to the English female Gipsy. 
 
 The Hindoo Suder delights in horses, tinkering, 
 music, and fortune telling; so does the Gipsy. The 
 Suder tribes of the same part of the Asiatic Continent, 
 are wanderers, dwelling chiefly in wretched mud huts, 
 who, when they remove from one place to another, 
 carry with them their scanty property; and the English 
 Gipsies imitate these erratic tribes in this particular : 
 they wander from place to place, and carry their small 
 tents with them, which consist of a few bent sticks
 
 14 
 
 and a blanket.* The Suders in the East eat the flesh 
 of nearly every unclean creature; nor are they careful 
 that the flesh of such creatures should not be putrid. 
 How exactly do the Gipsies imitate them in this ab- 
 horrent choice of food ! They have been in the habit 
 of eating many kinds of brutes, not even excepting 
 dogs and cats; and, when pressed by hunger, have 
 sought after the most putrid carrion. It has been a 
 common saying among them, That which God kills, 
 is better than that killed by man. But, of late 
 years, with a few exceptions, they have much im- 
 proved in this respect; for they now eat neither dogs 
 nor cats, and but seldom seek after carrion. But in 
 winter they will dress and eat snails, hedge-hogs, and 
 other creatures not generally dressed for food. 
 
 But the strongest evidence of their Hindoo origin is 
 the great resemblance their own language bears to the 
 Hindostanee. The following vocabulary is taken from 
 Grellman, Hoyland, and Captain Richardson. The 
 first of these respectable authors declares, that twelve 
 out of thirty words of the Gipsies' language, are either 
 pure Hindostanee, or nearly related to it. 
 
 The following list of words contains some of those 
 which ^bear the greatest resemblance to that lan- 
 guage. 
 
 * Some of those Gipsies who have families, and a little 
 property, provide themselves with a cart or wagg< n, as most 
 convenient for a warehouse for their goods, and more comfort- 
 ahle than a tent to dwell in durinsr winter.
 
 15 
 
 Gipsy. 
 
 Hindostanee. 
 
 English. 
 
 Ick, Ek, 
 
 Ek, 
 
 One. 
 
 Duj, Doj, 
 
 Du, 
 
 Two. 
 
 Trin, Tri, 
 
 Tin, 
 
 Three. 
 
 Schtar, Star, 
 
 Tschar, 
 
 Four. 
 
 Pantsch, Pansch, 
 
 Pansch, 
 
 Five. 
 
 Tschowe, Sshow, 
 
 Tscho, 
 
 Six. 
 
 Efta, 
 
 Hefta, Sat, 
 
 Seven. 
 
 Ochto, 
 
 Aute, 
 
 Eight. 
 
 Desch, Des, 
 
 Des, 
 
 Ten. 
 
 Bis, Bis, 
 
 Bjs, 
 
 Twenty. 
 
 Diwes, 
 
 Diw, 
 
 Day. 
 
 Ratti, 
 
 Ratch, 
 
 Night. 
 
 Cham, Cam, 
 
 Tschanct, 
 
 The sun. 
 
 Panj, 
 
 Panj, 
 
 Water. 
 
 Sonnikey, 
 
 Suna, 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Rup, 
 
 Ruppa, 
 
 Silver. 
 
 Bal, 
 
 Bal, 
 
 The hair. 
 
 Aok, 
 
 Awk, 
 
 The eye. 
 
 Kan, 
 
 Kawn, 
 
 The ear. 
 
 Mui, 
 
 Mu, 
 
 The mouth. 
 
 Dant, 
 
 Dant, 
 
 A tooth. 
 
 Sunjo, 
 
 Sunnj, 
 
 The hearing, 
 
 Sunj, 
 
 Sunkh, 
 
 The smell. 
 
 Sik, 
 
 Tschik, 
 
 The taste. 
 
 Tschater, 
 
 Tschater, 
 
 A tent. 
 
 Rajah, 
 
 Raja, 
 
 The prince. 
 
 Baro, 
 
 Bura, 
 
 Great. 
 
 Kalo, 
 
 Kala, 
 
 Black. 
 
 Grea, 
 
 Gorra, 
 
 Horse.
 
 16 
 
 Gipsy. 
 
 Hindostanee. 
 
 English, 
 
 Ker, 
 
 Gurr, 
 
 House. 
 
 Pawnee, 
 
 Paniee, 
 
 Brook, drink, 
 
 
 
 water. 
 
 Bebee, 
 
 Beebe, 
 
 Aunt. 
 
 Bouropanee, 
 
 Bura-panee, 
 
 Ocean, wave. 
 
 Rattle, 
 
 Rat, 
 
 Dark night 
 
 Dad, 
 
 Dada, 
 
 Father. 
 
 Mutchee, 
 
 Muchee, 
 
 Fish. 
 
 This language, called by themselves slang, or gib- 
 berish, invented, as they think, by their forefathers 
 for secret purposes, is not merely the language of one, 
 or a few of these wandering tribes, which are found 
 in the European nations; but is adopted by the vast 
 numbers who inhabit the earth. 
 
 The account of these Asiatic wanderers, as recorded 
 by the late Bishop Heber in his Journal, cannot fail 
 to interest the reader: the author gladly quotes it. 
 " On the other side of the river was a large encamp- 
 ment of wretched tents of mats, with a number of 
 little packeries, paniers, ponies, goats, &c. &c., so 
 like Gipsies, that on asking what they were, I was 
 not much surprised to hear Abdallah say they were 
 Gipsies ; that they were numerous in the upper pro- 
 vinces, living exactly like the Gipsies in England ; 
 that he had seen the same people both in Persia and 
 Russia ; and that in Persia they spoke Hindostanee, 
 the same as here." In Russia he had no opportunity 
 of ascertaining this fact ; but in Persia, by Sir Gore
 
 17 
 
 Ousley's desire, he had spoken with some of the 
 wandering tribes, and found that they understood and 
 could answer him. 
 
 One of our reformed Gipsies, while in the army, 
 was with his regiment at Portsmouth, and being on 
 garrison duty with an invalid soldier, he was surprised 
 to hear some words of the Gipsy language uninten- 
 tionally uttered by him, who was a German. On 
 inquiring how he understood this language, the Ger- 
 man replied, that he was of Gipsy origin, and that it 
 was spoken by this race in every part of his native 
 land, for purposes of secrecy.* 
 
 A well-known nobleman, who had resided many 
 years in India, taking shelter under a tree during a 
 storm in this country near a camp of Gipsies, was 
 astonished to hear them use several words he well 
 knew were Hindostanee ; and going up to them, he 
 found them able to converse with him in that language. 
 
 * " Should any be inclined to doubt, which I scarcely 
 suppose possible, the identity of the Gipsy or Cingari, and 
 Hindostanee languages, still it will be acknowledged as no 
 uninteresting subject, that tribes, wandering through the 
 mountains of Nubia, or the plains of Romania, have conversed 
 for centuries in a dialect precisely similar to that spoken at 
 this day by the obscure, despised, and wretched people in 
 England, whose language has been considered as a fabricated 
 gibberish, and confounded with a cant in use among thieves 
 and beggars ; and whose persons have been, till within the 
 period of the last year, an object of the persecution, instead 
 of the protection of our laws." Extract from a letter of 
 "William Marsden, Esq., addressed to Sir Joseph Banks, 
 r.R.S., and read to the Society of Antiquaries in London, 1785, 
 B5
 
 18 
 
 Not long ago, a Missionary from India, who was 
 well acquainted with the language of Hindostan, was 
 at the Author's house when a Gipsy was present; and, 
 after a conversation which he had with her, he de- 
 clared, that her people must once have known the 
 Hindostanee language well. Indeed, Gipsies have 
 often expressed surprise when words have been read 
 to them out of the Hindostanee vocabulary. 
 
 Lord Teignmouth once said to a young Gipsy 
 woman, in Hindostanee, Tue hurra tschur that is, 
 Thou art a great thief. She immediately replied 
 No / am not a thief / live by fortune-telling. 
 He also conversed, in the same language, with an 
 old Gipsy at Norwood. 
 
 It can be no matter of surprise that this language, 
 as spoken among this people, is generally corrupted, 
 when we consider, that., for many centuries, they have 
 known nothing of elementary science, and have been 
 strangers to books and letters. Perhaps the secresy 
 necessary to effect many of their designs, has been 
 the greatest means of preserving its scanty remains 
 among them. But an attempt to prove that they are 
 not of Hindoo origin, because they do not speak the 
 Hindostanee with perfect correctness, would be as 
 absurd as to declare, that our Gipsies are not natives 
 of England because they speak very incorrect English. 
 The few words that follow, and which occurred in 
 some conversations the Author had with the most in- 
 telligent of the Gipsies he has met, prove how incor- 
 rectly they speak our language ; and yet it would be
 
 19 
 
 worse than folly to attempt to prove that they are not 
 natives of England. 
 
 Expencival 
 
 for 
 
 expensive. 
 
 Cide 
 
 for 
 
 decide. 
 
 Device 
 
 for 
 
 advice. 
 
 Dixen* 
 
 for 
 
 dictionary.* 
 
 Ealfully 
 
 for 
 
 equally. 
 
 Indistructed 
 
 for 
 
 instructed. 
 
 Gemmem 
 
 for 
 
 gentleman. 
 
 Dauntraent 
 
 for 
 
 daunted. 
 
 Spiteliness 
 
 for 
 
 spitefulness. 
 
 Hawcus Paccus 
 
 for 
 
 Habeas Corpus, 
 
 Increach 
 
 for 
 
 increase. 
 
 Commist 
 
 for 
 
 submit. 
 
 Brand, in his observations on POPULAR ANTI- 
 QUITIES, is of opinion, that the first Gipsies fled from 
 Asia, when the cruel Timur Beg ravaged India, with 
 a view to proselyte the heathen to the Mohammedan 
 delusion ; at which time about 500,000 human beings 
 were butchered by him. Some suppose, that soon 
 after this period, many, who escaped the sword of this 
 human fury, came into Europe through Egypt ; and, 
 on this account, were called, in English, GIPSIES. 
 
 Although there is not the least reason whatever to 
 suppose the Gipsies to have had an Egyptian origin j 
 
 * " The gentleman spoke dixen to me," said a Gipsy to 
 the author; that is, long hard words.
 
 20 
 
 and although, as we have asserted in a former page, 
 they are strangers in that land of wonders to the pre- 
 sent day ; yet, it appears possible to me, that Egypt 
 may have had something to do with their present ap- 
 pellation. And, allowing that the supposition is well 
 founded, which ascribes to them a passage through 
 Egypt into European nations, it is very likely they 
 found their way to that place under the following cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 In -the years 1408 and 1409, Timur Beg ravaged 
 India, to make, as has already been observed, pro- 
 selytes to the Mohammedan delusion, when he put 
 hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants to the sword. 
 It is very rational to suppose, that numbers of those 
 who had the happiness not to be overtaken by an army 
 so dreadful, on account of the cruelties it perpetrated, 
 should save their lives by flying from their native land, 
 to become wandering strangers in another. Now, if 
 we assert, that the Gipsies were of the Suder cast of 
 Asiatic Indians, and that they found their way from 
 Hindostan into other, and remote countries, when 
 Timur Beg spread around him terrors so dreadful, it 
 is natural to ask, Why did not some of the other casts 
 of India accompany them ? This objection has no 
 weight at all when we consider the hatred and con- 
 tempt poured upon the Suder by all the other casts of 
 India. The Bramins, Tschechteries, and Beis, were 
 as safe, though menaced with destruction by Timur 
 Beg, as they would have been along with the Suder 
 tribes, seeking a retreat from their enemy in lands
 
 21 
 
 where he would not be likely to follow them. Besides, 
 the other casts, from time immemorial, have looked on 
 their country as especially given them of God ; and 
 they would as soon have suffered death as leave it. 
 The Suders had not these prepossessions for their 
 native soil. They were a degraded people; a people 
 looked on as the lowest of the human race ; and, 
 with an army seeking their destruction, they had every 
 motive to leave, and none to stay in Hindostan. 
 
 It cannot be determined by what track the fore- 
 fathers of the Gipsies found their way from Hindostan 
 to the countries of Europe. But it may be presumed 
 that they passed over the southern Persian deserts of 
 Sigiston, Makran, and Kirman; along the Persian 
 Gulf to the mouth of the Euphrates ; thence to Bas- 
 sora into the deserts of Arabia; and thence into 
 Egypt by the Isthmus of Suez. 
 
 It is a fact not unworthy a place in these remarks 
 on the origin of this people, that they do not like to 
 be called Gipsies, unless by those persons whom they 
 have reason to consider their real friends. This 
 probably arises from two causes of great distress to 
 them : Gipsies are suspected and hated as the per- 
 petrators of all crime ; and they are almost univer- 
 sally prosecuted as vagrants. Is it to be wondered 
 at, that to strangers they do not like to acknowledge 
 themselves as Gipsies? 
 
 We will conclude our remarks on the origin of these 
 erratic sons of Adam, by adding the testimony of Col. 
 Herriot, read before the Royal Asiatic Society Sir
 
 22 
 
 George Staunton in the chair. That gentleman, 
 giving an account of the Zingaree of India, says, that 
 this class of people are frequently met with in that 
 part of Hindostan which is watered by the Ganges, 
 as well as the Malwa, Guzerat, and the Deccan ; 
 they are called Nath or Benia; the first term signify- 
 ing a rogue, and the second a dancer or tumbler. 
 And the same gentleman cites various authorities in 
 demonstration of the resemblance between the Gipsies 
 and their neglected brethren in Europe. Nor does 
 he think that the English Gipsies are so degraded as 
 is generally supposed ; in support of which he mentions 
 some instances of good feeling displayed by them 
 under his own observation while in Hampshire.
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Observations on the Character, Manners, and 
 Habits of the English, Gipsies. 
 
 THE origin of this people is by no means of so 
 much importance as the knowledge of their present 
 character, manners, and habits, with the view to the 
 devising of proper plans for the improvement of their 
 condition, and their conversion to Christianity : for, 
 to any one who desires to love his neighbour as himself, 
 their origin will be but a secondary consideration. 
 
 Fifty years ago the Gipsies had their regular jour- 
 neys, and often remained one or two months in a place, 
 when they worked at their trades. And as access to 
 different towns was more difficult than at the present 
 day, partly from the badness of the roads, and partly 
 from the paucity of carriers, they were considered by 
 the peasantry, and by small farmers, of whom there 
 were great numbers in those days, as very useful 
 branches of the human family ; I mean the indus- 
 trious and better part of them. At that period they 
 usually encamped in the farmers' fields, or slept in 
 their barns; and not being subject to the driving 
 system, as they now are, they seldom robbed hedges; 
 for their fires were replenished with dead wood pro- 
 cured, without any risk of fines or imprisonments,
 
 24 
 
 from decayed trees and wooded banks. And it is 
 proper to suppose, that, at such a time, their outrages 
 and depredations were very few. 
 
 It has already been stated that the Gipsies are very 
 numerous, amounting to about 700,000. It is sup- 
 posed that there are about 18,000 in this kingdom. 
 But be they less or more, we ought never to forget, 
 that they are branches of the same family with our- 
 selves; that they are capable of beiiiy fitted for all 
 the duties and enjoyments of life; and, what is 
 better than all, that they are redeemed by the same 
 Saviour, may partake of the same salvation, and be 
 prepared for the same state of immortal bliss, whence 
 flows to the universal church of Christ that peace 
 which the world cannot take from her. Their con- 
 dition, therefore, at once commands our sympathies, 
 energies, prayers, and benevolence. 
 
 Gipsies, in general, are of a tawny or brown colour; 
 but this is not wholly hereditary. The chief cause is 
 probably the lowness of their habits; for they very 
 seldom wash their persons, or the clothes they wear, 
 their linen excepted. Their alternate exposures to 
 cold and heat, and the smoke surrounding their small 
 camps, perpetually tend to increase those character- 
 istics of complexion and feature by which they are at 
 present distinguishable. 
 
 It is not often that a Gipsy is seen well dressed, 
 even when they possess costly apparel ; but their 
 women are fond of finery. They are much delighted 
 with broad lace, with which they decorate their bon-
 
 25 
 
 nets ; large ear-drops, a variety of rings, and glaring 
 colours; and, when they possess the means, show how 
 great a share they have of that foolish vanity which 
 is said to be inherent in females, and which leads 
 many of the lowest class of society, destitute of the 
 faith and hope and love and humility of the gospel, 
 into utter tuin. 
 
 A remarkable instance of the love of costly attire in 
 a female Gipsy is well known to the writer. The 
 woman alluded to obtained a very large sum of money 
 from three maiden ladies, pledging that it should be 
 doubled by her art in conjuration. She then de- 
 camped to another district, where she bought a blood- 
 horse, a black beaver hat, a new side-saddle and 
 bridle, a silver-mounted whip, and figured away in 
 her ill-obtained finery at the fairs. It is not easy to 
 imagine the disappointment and resentment f the 
 covetous and credulous ladies whom she had so easily 
 duped. 
 
 Nor, indeed, are the males of this people less ad- 
 dicted to the love of gay clothing, if it suited their 
 interests to exhibit it. An orphan, only ten years of 
 age, taken from actual starvation last winter, and who 
 was fed and clothed, and had every care taken of 
 him, would not remain with his friends ; but returned 
 to the camp from which he had been taken, saying, 
 that he would be a Gipsy, and would wear silver 
 buttons on his coat, and have topped boats; and 
 when asked how he would get them, he replied, by 
 catching rats.
 
 Some Gipsies try to excel others in the possession 
 of silver buttons. They will sometimes give as much 
 as fifteen pounds for a set. The females too spend 
 many pounds on weighty gold rings for their fingers. 
 The Author has by him, belonging to a Gipsy, three 
 massy rings soldered together, and with half a sovereign 
 on the top, which serves instead of a brilliant stone. 
 We pity a vain Gipsy whose eyes are taken and 
 whose heart delights in such vulgar pomp. Are not 
 those equally pitiable who estimate themselves only 
 by the gaiety, singularity, or costliness of their apparel 
 or ornaments ? The Apostle Peter has given a rule 
 for the female character: Whose adorning let it not 
 be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and 
 of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel ; 
 but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that 
 which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a 
 meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God 
 of great price. 1 Pet. iii. 3, 4. 
 
 The Gipsies are not strangers to pawn-brokers' 
 shops ; but they do not generally visit these places for 
 the same purposes as the vitiated poor of our trading 
 towns. A pawn-shop is their bank. When they ac- 
 quire property illegally, as by stealing, swindling, or 
 fortune-telling, they purchase valuable plate, and 
 sometimes in the same hour pledge it for safety. Such 
 property they have in store against days of adversity 
 and trouble, which, on account of their dishonest 
 habits, often overtake them. Should one of their 
 families stand before a judge of his country, charged
 
 27 
 
 with a crime which is likely to cost him his life, or to 
 transport him, every article of value is sacrificed to 
 save him from death, or apprehended banishment. 
 In such cases they generally retain a counsellor to 
 plead for the hrother in adversity. 
 
 At other times they carry their plate about with 
 them, and when visited by friends, they bring out 
 from dirty bags a silver tea-pot, and a cream-jug and 
 spoons of the same metal. Their plate is by no means 
 paltry. Of course considerable property in plate is 
 not very generally possessed by them. 
 
 Most of the Gipsies of this country are very punc- 
 tual in paying their debts. All the shop-keepers, 
 with whom they deal in these parts, have declared, 
 that they are some of their best and most honest cus- 
 tomers. For the payment of a debt which is owing 
 to one of their own people, the time and place are 
 appointed by them, and should the debtor disappoint 
 the creditor, he is liable by their law of honour to pay 
 double the amount he owes ; and he must pay it by 
 personal servitude, if he cannot with money, if he wish 
 to be considered by his friends honest and respectable. 
 They call this law pizharris. 
 
 There are very few of these unhappy people that 
 can either read or write. Yet a regular and frequent 
 correspondence is kept up between the members of 
 families who have had the least advantage of the sort; 
 and those who have had no such advantages what- 
 ever, correspond through the kindness of friends who 
 write for them. Numerous are the letters which they
 
 28 
 
 receive from their relatives in New South Wales, to 
 which colony so many hundreds of this unsettled race 
 Lave been transported. Their letters are usually left 
 at one particular post-office, in the districts where they 
 travel ; and should such letters not be called for dur- 
 ing a long period, they are usually kept by the post- 
 master, who is sure they will be claimed, sooner or 
 later. A long journey will be no impediment, when 
 a letter is expected ; for a Gipsy will travel any dis- 
 tance to obtain an expected favour of the kind. They 
 are never heard to complain of the heavy expense of 
 postage. 
 
 We have already observed that there are many 
 genuine features of humanity in the character of this 
 degraded and despised people. Their constantly re- 
 taining an affectionate remembrance of their deceased 
 relatives, affords a striking proof of this statement. 
 And their attachment to the horse, donkey, rings, 
 snuff-box, silver-spoons, and all things, except the 
 clothes, of the deceased relatives, is very strong. With 
 such articles they will never part, except in the greatest 
 distress ; and then they only pledge some of them, 
 which arc redeemed as soon as they possess the 
 means. 
 
 Most families visit the graves of their near relatives 
 once in the year ; generally about the time of Christ- 
 mas. Then the depository of the dead becomes a 
 rallying spot for the living ; there they renew their 
 attachments and sympathies, and give and receive 
 assurances of continued good will. At such periods,
 
 29 
 
 however, they are too often addicted to intemper- 
 ance. 
 
 The graves of the deceased of this people, are 
 usually kept in very good order in the various church- 
 yards where they lie interred. This is done by the 
 sextons, for which they are annually remunerated.* 
 Sometimes large sums of money are expended on the 
 erection of head-stones ; and in one instance a monu- 
 ment was erected in the county of Wilts at consider- 
 able cost. It is not very long since, that the parents 
 of a deceased Gipsy child, whom they loved very much, 
 paid a great sum to have it buried in the church. 
 
 The Gipsies have a singular custom of burning all 
 the clothes belonging to any one among them de- 
 ceased, with the straw, litter, &c. of his tent. Whe- 
 ther this be from fear of infection, or from supersti- 
 tion, the Author has not been able to learn. Perhaps 
 both unite in the continuation of a custom which must 
 be attended with some loss to them.f 
 
 Another proof of their attachment to their dead is 
 well remembered by the author. A Gipsy man, who 
 was noted for his height and muscular strength, died 
 of a consumption. A medical gentleman, who knew 
 not the Gipsy character, applied to them for the 
 
 * A female Gipsy has just sent 7s. 6d. a distance of 75 
 miles, to pay the sexton for repairing the graves of three of 
 her children. 
 
 t May not this be a proof of their Hindostanee origin! 
 There is this difference, however: the clothes, &c. of the 
 deceased Gipsy are burnt instead of his body !
 
 30 
 
 corpse; when, astonished and filled with indignation 
 at his request, they would have done him a serious 
 injury had he not speedily galloped from the camp. 
 
 Suspecting that if they buried their friend in a 
 neighbouring church-yard, the surgeon might steal 
 him, they decamped with all possible speed to the 
 distance of thirty miles, where they buried him. But 
 fearing that, even there, the object of their solicitude 
 might be disinterred, a large party of Gipsies watched 
 the grave with weapons ten whole nights, to protect 
 the slumbering ashes of the dead. 
 
 Seldom do these mysterious sons and daughters of 
 Adam unite themselves in the holy obligations of mar- 
 riage, after the form of the Established Church of our 
 land ; nor indeed for so sacred a union have they 
 any ceremony at all. The parents on each side, are 
 consulted on such occasions, and if their consent be 
 obtained, the partits become, after their custom, hus- 
 band and wife. Should the parents object, like the 
 thoughtless and imprudent persons in higher life, who 
 flee to Gretna Green, the Gipsy lovers also escape 
 from their parents to another district. When the 
 couple are again met by the friends of the female, 
 they take her from her protector ; but if it appear that 
 he has treated her kindly, and is likely to continue to 
 do so, they restore her to him, and all objections and 
 animosities are forgotten. 
 
 As it seldom happens that they now stay any more 
 than a few days in a place, the Gipsy, his wife, and 
 each of their children, may severally belong to differ-
 
 31 
 
 ent parishes. This is an objection to their ultimate 
 settlement in any one place. It will be some time 
 before this objection can be removed : not till the 
 present generation of Gipsies has passed away, and 
 their posterity cease to make the wilderness their 
 homes, choosing a parish for a permanent place of 
 settlement. 
 
 It may naturally be expected that these inhabitants 
 of the field and forest, the lane and the moor, are not 
 without a knowledge of the medicinal qualities of cer- 
 tain herbs. In all slight disorders they have recourse 
 to these remedies^ and frequently use the inner bark 
 of the elm, " star-in-the-earth," pellitory-of-the-wall 
 (pyrethrum), wormwood (absinthium), and parsley, 
 (petroselinum). And many of their old women are 
 very useful in this way. They are not generally sub- 
 ject to the numerous disorders and fevers common in 
 large towns ; but in some instances they are visited 
 with that dreadful scourge of the British nation the 
 typhus fever, which spreads through their little camp, 
 and becomes fatal to some of its families. The small- 
 pox and measles are disorders they very much dread ; 
 but they are not more disposed to rheumatic affections 
 than those who live in houses. It is a fact, however, 
 that ought not to be passed over here, that when they 
 leave their tents to settle in towns, they are generally 
 ill for a time. The children of one family that win- 
 tered with us in 1831 were nearly all attacked with 
 fever that threatened their lives. This may be occa- 
 sioned by their taking all at once to regular habits,
 
 32 
 
 and the renunciation of that exercise to which they 
 have been so long accustomed, with some disposing 
 qualities in their change of diet and the atmosphere 
 of a thickly populated town. 
 
 This people often live to a considerable age, many 
 instances of which are well known. In his tent at 
 Launton, Oxfordshire, died in the year 1830, more 
 than a hundred years of age, James Smith, called by 
 the public the King of the Gipsies. By his tribe he 
 was looked up to with the greatest respect and venera- 
 tion. His remains were followed to the grave by his 
 widow, who is herself more than a hundred years old, 
 and by many of his children, grand-children, great 
 grand-children, and other relatives; and by several 
 individuals of other tribes. At the funeral his widow 
 tore her hair, uttered the most frantic exclamations, 
 'and begged to be allowed to throw herself on the 
 coffin, that she might be buried with her husband. 
 The religion of the Redeemer would have taught her 
 to say, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 
 away ; blessed be the name of the Lord. 
 
 A woman of the name of B lived to the re- 
 puted age of a hundred and twenty years, and up to 
 that age was accustomed to sing her song very gaily. 
 Many events in the life of this woman were very 
 remarkable. In her youth she was a noted swindler. 
 At one time she got a large sum of money, and other 
 valuable effects, from a lady ; for which and other 
 offences she was condemned to die. A petition was 
 presented to George the Third, to use the Gipsy's own
 
 33 
 
 expression, just after he had set up business, that 
 is, begun to reign, and he attended to its prayer. The 
 sentence was reversed, and her life was spared. But, 
 poor woman, she repented not of her sins j for she 
 taught her daughter to commit the same crimes for 
 which she had been condemned ; so that her delivery 
 from condemnation led to no salutary reformation. 
 
 The mutual attachment which subsists between the 
 nominal husband and wife is so truly sincere, that in- 
 stances of infidelity, on either side, occur but seldom ; 
 and when otherwise, the parties are deemed very 
 wicked by the Gipsies. They are known strictly to 
 avoid all conversation of an unchaste kind in their 
 camps, except among the most degraded of them; 
 and instances of young females having children, be- 
 fore they pledge themselves to those they love, are 
 rare. This purity of morals, among a people living as 
 they do, speaks much in their favour. 
 
 The anxiety of a Gipsy parent to preserve the purity 
 of the morals of a daughter, is strongly portrayed in 
 the following fact. The author wished to engage as 
 a servant the daughter of a Gipsy who was desirous 
 of quitting her vagrant life ; but her mother strongly 
 objected for some time ; and when pressed for the 
 reason of such objection, she named the danger she 
 would be in in a town, far from a mother's eye. It 
 would be well if all others felt for their children as 
 did this unlettered Gipsy. After having promised 
 that the morals of the child should be watched over, 
 she was confided to his care. And the author has 
 c
 
 34 
 
 known a Gipsy parent correct with stripes a grown 
 daughter, for mentioning what a profligate person had 
 talked about. 
 
 The following is an instance of conjugal attach- 
 ment. A poor woman, whose eldest child is now 
 under the care of the Society for the improvement of 
 the Gipsies, being near her confinement, came into 
 the neighbourhood of Southampton, to be with her 
 friends, who are reformed, during the time. This 
 not taking place so soon as she expected, and having 
 promised to meet her husband at a distance on a cer- 
 tain day, he not daring to show himself in Hampshire, 
 she determined on going to him ; and having mounted 
 her donkey, set off with her little family. She had a 
 distance of nearly fifty miles to travel, and happily 
 reached the desired spot, where she met her husband 
 before her confinement took place. The good people 
 at Warminster, near which place she was, afforded 
 her kind and needful assistance; and one well-dis- 
 posed lady became godmother to the babe, who was 
 a fine little girl ; the grateful mother pledging that, at 
 a proper age, she should be given up to Christians to 
 be educated. 
 
 Before this woman left Southampton, referring to 
 many kind attentions shown her by the charitable of 
 that place, she was heard to say, Well! I did not 
 think any one would take such trouble for me ! 
 
 Professing to be church-people whenever they speak 
 of religion, the Gipsies generally have their children 
 baptized at the church near which they are born,
 
 35 
 
 partly because they think it right, and partly, perhaps 
 chiefly, to secure the knowledge of the parish to which 
 the child belongs; as every illegitimate child is parish- 
 ioner in the parish in which it happens to be born. 
 They will sometimes apply to the parish-officers for 
 something towards the support of the child, which 
 they call settling the baby. 
 
 The sponsors at baptism are generally branches of 
 the same family, and they speak of their god-children 
 with pleasure, who, in return, manifest a high feeling of 
 respect for them, and superstitiously ask their blessing 
 on old Christ mas- days, when in company with them. 
 It is worthy of remark, that all the better sort of Gip- 
 sies teach their children the LORD'S PRAYER. 
 
 The anxiety evidenced by some parish-officers to 
 prevent these families from settling in their districts, 
 has occasionally led the Gipsies to act unjustifiably by 
 menacing them with the settlement of a number of 
 their families ; but this, from their perpetual wander- 
 ing, need never be feared. Happy would it be for the 
 Gipsies as a people, and perhaps for the public, if 
 these civil officers did encourage them to stay longer 
 in their neighbourhood ; for they then might be in- 
 duced to commence and persevere in honest, indus- 
 trious, and regular habits. Not long ago thirty-five 
 Gipsies came to a parish in Hampshire, to which they 
 belonged, and demanded of the overseers ten pounds, 
 declaring that, if that sum were not given them, they 
 would remain there. Seven pounds were advanced, 
 and they soon left the place. 
 c2
 
 36 
 
 From the mode of living among the Gipsies, the 
 parents are often necessitated to leave their tents in 
 the morning, and seldom return to them before night. 
 Their children are then left in or about their solitary 
 camps, having many times no adult with them ; the 
 elder children then have the care of the younger. 
 Those who are old enough gather wood for fuel ; nor 
 is stealing it thought a crime. By the culpable neglect 
 of the parents in this respect, the children are often 
 exposed to accidents by fire ; and melancholy instances 
 of children being burnt and scalded to death are not 
 unfrequent. The author knows one poor woman, two 
 of \vhose children have thus lost their lives, during her 
 absence from her tent, at different periods : and very 
 lately a child was scalded to death in the parish where 
 the author writes. 
 
 The Gipsies are not very regular in attending to the 
 calls of appetite and hunger. Their principal meal is 
 supper, and their food is supplied in proportion to the 
 success they have had through the day ; or, to use their 
 own wordsj the luck they have met with. 
 
 Like the poor of the land through which they wan- 
 der, they are fond of tea, drinking it at every meal 
 When times are hard with them, they use English 
 herbs, of which they generally carry a stock, such as 
 agrimony, ground-ivy, wild-mint and the root of a 
 herb called spice-herb. 
 
 The trades they follow are generally chair-mending, 
 knife-grinding, tinkering, and basket-making, the 
 wood for which they mostly steal. Some of them sell
 
 37 
 
 hardware, brushes, corks, &c. ; and many practise 
 rat-catching. Those among them who are musicians 
 often witness the most immoral scenes in towns, where 
 they mingle with the most degraded outcasts of so- 
 ciety, and with their tamborine and violin excite the 
 unholy dance, technically called the two-penny hop. 
 In the short space of five years the author was led, in. 
 the discharge of his ministerial duties, to the death- 
 beds of three of these unhappy fiddlers, who had suc- 
 ceeded each other in one of the houses of ill fame in 
 Southampton. 
 
 The first died after having beggared and ruined his 
 wife and family. The second shortened his days by 
 his intemperance, and died after having succeeded 
 the former only two years. For some time before he 
 died I was denied admission to his bed-side. O, my 
 blessed Redeemer, let me not die such a death ! The 
 third poor wretch was a Gipsy, whose death I shall 
 notice in another part of this work, and his days were 
 soon numbered. A companion of fools shall be 
 destroyed. 
 
 The widow of another Gipsy musician, in giving 
 me an account of their manner of life, said that they 
 generally attended fairs, wakes, private parties, and 
 houses notorious for immorality and vice. To these 
 places their poor, unhappy children are conducted, as 
 soon as they can perform on any instrument, or in any 
 other way assist their parents' gain. In the morning 
 after one of these midnight revels, the principal per- 
 former, a Gipsy, was taken up on the charge of house-
 
 38 
 
 breaking, because he was found in the com- 
 pany of the two young men who had committed the 
 act. He was acquitted in consequence of the " old 
 gentleman " (the master of the house) having ex- 
 pressed his astonishment at Gipsy Tom's steadi- 
 ness ; for he was neither drunh, nor had left the 
 dancing-room during the whole night. And the 
 " young gentleman" (the master's son) having offered 
 to make oath to the same, as he had stood at the door 
 himself to receive the two-pence for him from those 
 who entered. May all who profess to he Christians 
 walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and 
 drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness. 
 
 In general, neither old nor young among them do 
 much that can be called labour. And it is lamentable 
 that the greatest part of the little they do earn is laid 
 by to spend at their festivals ; for, like many tribes of 
 uncivilized Indians, they mostly make their women sup- 
 port their families, who generally do it by swindling 
 and fortune-telling. Their baskets introduce them to 
 the servants of families, of whom they beg victuals, to 
 whom they sell trifling wares, and tell their fortunes ; 
 which indeed is their principal aim, as it is their 
 greatest source of gain. Both parties have sometimes 
 been awkwardly situated, when the lady of the house 
 has unexpectedly gone into the kitchen and surprised 
 them while thus employed ; and sometimes, to avoid 
 detection, the obnoxious party has been hurried into a 
 closet, or butler's pantry, where there has been much 
 plate. Few are aware of the losses that have attended
 
 39 
 
 the conduct of unprincipled servants in this, as in other 
 respects. It may be hoped that few families would 
 knowingly look over conduct so improper, so dan- 
 gerous. 
 
 Many of these idle soothsayers endeavour to per- 
 suade the people whom they delude, that the power 
 to foretell events is granted to them from heaven, 
 to enable them to get bread for their families. It 
 would be well were the prognostications of these 
 women encouraged only among servants ; but this is 
 not the case. They are often invited into gay and 
 fashionable circles, whom they amuse, if they are not 
 cunning enough to deceive. They are well paid, and 
 are thus encouraged in their iniquity by those who 
 ought to know and teach them better. But it is asto- 
 nishing how many respectable people are led away 
 with the artful flattery of such visitors. They forget 
 that the Gipsy fortune-teller has often made herself 
 acquainted with their connexions, business, and future 
 prospects, and consider notthatMoses hassaid, Secret 
 things belong to the Lord our God. Deut. xxix. 29. 
 They use not the reason Heaven has given them, 
 and are therefore more easily led astray by these crafty 
 deceivers. 
 
 They generally prophesy good. Adopting the 
 readiest way to deceive, to a young lady they describe 
 a handsome gentleman, as one she may be assured 
 will be her " husband." To a youth they promise a 
 pretty lady, with a large fortune. And thus suiting 
 their deluding speeches to the age, circumstances, an-
 
 40 
 
 v 
 
 ticipations, and prospects of those who employ them, 
 they seldom fail to please their vanity, and often gain 
 a rich reward for their fraud. 
 
 They suit their incantations, or their pretended 
 means of gaining knowledge, to their employers. Two 
 female servants went into the camp of some Gipsies 
 near Southampton, to have their fortunes told by one 
 well known to the author, and a great professor of the 
 art. On observing them to appear like persons in ser- 
 vice, she said to a companion, I shall not get my 
 books or cards for them; they are but servants. 
 And calling for a frying-pan, she ordered them to fill 
 it with water, and hold their faces over it. This being 
 donej she proceeded to flatter and to promise them 
 great things, for which she was paid Is. 6d. by each; 
 This is called the frying-pan fortune: but it ought 
 to be remembered that all fortune- telling is quite as 
 contemptible. 
 
 It is probable that the folly of fortune-telling has 
 seldom been more strikingly manifested than in the 
 following case. 
 
 A British officer, who daily expected to be advanced 
 to the high station of an admiral, and who hoped soon 
 to be united to a lady in marriage, having heard of a 
 Gipsy who was notorious as a fortune-teller, sent for 
 her to his residence. Previously to her going to the 
 captain she acquired some knowledge of his expecta- 
 tions and wishes ; and, on being introduced to him, 
 she ordered a large glass of spring water, into which 
 she poured the white of a newly-laid egg. As the suo
 
 41 
 
 shone most beautifully on the glass, she worked so 
 successfully on the imagination of the officer, that he 
 declared to the lady with whom he lived that this Gip- 
 sy was the most clever woman he had ever seen ; for 
 she had shown him, in the egg and water, the ship in 
 which he should hoist the admiral's flag, the church 
 in which he was to be married, and his bride, going 
 with him into the church ! ! 
 
 So flattered and imposed upon was the officer, that 
 he gave the arch deceiver all the money he had about 
 his person (three sovereigns), and desired her to come 
 again on the following Monday ; which she was, 
 however, prevented doing. 
 
 The reader will be astonished to find how artfully 
 this fortune-teller acted her part. There was a lady 
 sitting with the gentleman when she entered the room, 
 who she requested might retire, saying the conversa- 
 tion must be private. The reason she assigned to. the 
 author, some time a-fter, for such a measure, was a 
 fear that the lady might perhaps frustrate her schemes. 
 This woman has since abandoned her wicked prac- 
 tices, and now gives the most pleasing and convincing 
 evidences of her love to the Saviour. 
 
 These artful pretenders to a knowledge of future 
 events generally discover who are in possession of pro- 
 perty ; and, if they be superstitious and covetous, they 
 contrive to persuade them there is a lucky stone in 
 their house, and that, if they will entrust to them all, 
 or a part of their money, they will double and treble 
 it. Sorry is the author to say that they often gain 
 c5
 
 42 
 
 their point. Tradesmen have been known to sell their 
 goods at a considerable loss, hoping to have their 
 money doubled by the supposed power of these wicked 
 females, who daringly promise to multiply the blessings 
 of Providence. 
 
 If the fortune-teller cannot succeed in obtaining a 
 large sum at first from such credulous dupes, she 
 commences with a small one ; and then pretending it 
 to be too insignificant for the planets to work upon, 
 she soon gets it doubled ; and when she has suc- 
 ceeded in getting all she can, she decamps with her 
 booty, leaving her mortified victims to the just punish- 
 ment of disappointment and shame, who are often 
 afraid of making their losses known, lest they should 
 be exposed to the ridicule they deserve. Parties in 
 Gloucestershire, Dorsetshire, and Hampshire, have 
 been robbed in this manner of considerable sums, even 
 as much as three and four hundred pounds, the greatest 
 part of which has been spent in Hampshire. 
 
 A young lady in Gloucestershire allowed herself to 
 be deluded by a Gipsy woman of artful and insinuating- 
 address to a very great extent. This lady admired 
 a young gentleman, and the Gipsy promised that she 
 would so influence him as that he should return her love. 
 The lady gave her the plate that was in the house, and 
 a gold chain and locket, with no other security than a 
 vain promise that they should be restored at a given 
 period. As might be expected, the wicked woman 
 soon fled with her booty, and the lady was obliged to 
 expose her folly. The property being too much to lose,
 
 43 
 
 the woman was pursued and overtaken. She was found 
 washing her clothes in a Gipsy camp, with the gold 
 chain about her neck. She was taken up ; but, on 
 restoring the articles, was allowed to escape. 
 
 The same woman afterwards persuaded a gentle- 
 man's groom, that she could put him in possession of 
 a great sum of money, if he would first deposit with 
 her all he then had. He gave her five pounds and his 
 watch, and borrowed for her ten more of two of his 
 friends. She engaged to meet him at midnight in a 
 certain place a mile from the town where he lived, and 
 that he should there dig up out of the ground a silver 
 pot, full of gold, covered with a clean napkin. He went 
 with his pick-axe and shovel, at the appointed time, 
 to the supposed lucky spot, having his confidence 
 strengthened by a dream he happened to have about 
 money, which he considered a favourable omen of the 
 wealth he was soon to receive. Of course he met no 
 Gipsy ; she had fled another way with the property 
 she had so wickedly obtained. While waiting her 
 arrival, a hare started suddenly from its resting place, 
 and so alarmed him that he as suddenly took to his 
 heels, and made no stop till he reached his master's 
 house, where he awoke his fellow-servants, and told 
 them his disaster. 
 
 This woman, who made so many dupes, rode a good 
 horse, and dressed both gaily and expensively. One 
 of her saddles cost more than 201. It was literally 
 studded with silver ; for she carried on it the emblems 
 of her profession wrought in that metal ; namely, a
 
 44 
 
 half- moon, seven stars, and the rising sun. Poor 
 woman, her sun is now nearly set. Her sins have 
 found her out. She has been in great distress on ac- 
 count of a son, who was transported for robbery ; but 
 has never thought of seeking, as a penitent, refuge in 
 the God of mercy ; for, seeing one of her reformed 
 companions reading the New Testament, she ex- 
 claimed, That book will make you crazy ; at the 
 same time calling her a fool for burning her fortune- 
 telling book. Her condition is now truly wretched ; 
 for her ill-gotten gains are all fled, and she is drag- 
 ging out a miserable existence, refusing still to seek 
 the mercy of God, and despising those who have made 
 him their refuge. 
 
 Another woman, whom the author would also call 
 a bad Gipsy, who likewise practised similar deceptions, 
 having persuaded a person to put his notes and money 
 in a wrapper and lock it up in a box, she obtained the 
 liberty of seeing it in his presence, that she might pro- 
 nounce certain words over it ; and although narrowly 
 watched, she contrived to steal it, and to convey into 
 the box a parcel similar in appearance, but which, on 
 examination, was found to contain only a bundle of 
 rubbish. This money amounted to several hundred 
 pounds. She was immediately pursued, and taken with 
 the whole amount about her person. She was allowed 
 to escape justice, because the covetous old man neither 
 wished to expose himself, nor waste his money in a 
 prosecution. 
 
 The daughter of this woman has followed the same
 
 45 
 
 evil and infamous practices ; and the crime has de- 
 scended to her through several generations. Many 
 circumstances like the above are hidden to prevent the 
 shame that would assuredly follow their exposure. 
 But the day of Christ will exhibit both these deceivers 
 and the deceived, who are equally guilty in the sight 
 of God. It were well if such characters had paid 
 more attention to the words of the apostle Paul; And 
 having food and raiment, let us therewith be con- 
 tent. They that will be rich fall into temptation 
 and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful 
 lusts, which drown men in destruction. The love of 
 money is the root of ail evil; which, while some 
 Jiave coveted after, they have erred from the faith, 
 andpierced themselves through with many sorrows. 
 Not to mention many other facts with which the 
 author is acquainted, and which he would relate, were 
 he not likely thereby too much to enlarge his work, he 
 will conclude this chapter with observing, that, thank- 
 fulness to Almighty God for the blessings we enjoy, 
 less anxiety about future events, and more confidence 
 in what God has revealed in his word and providence, 
 would leave no room for the encouragement of Gipsy 
 fortune-tellers, and their craft would soon- be discon- 
 tinued.
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 The Character, Manners, and Habits of the English 
 Gipsies continued, with some Facts relating to 
 their Sufferings. 
 
 AMONG this poor and destitute people, instances of 
 great guilt, depravity, and misery, are too common; 
 nor can it otherwise be expected, while they are 
 destitute of the knowledge of salvation in a crucified 
 and ascended Saviour. One poor Gipsy, who had 
 wandered in a state of wretchedness bordering on 
 despair for nearly forty years, had not in all that 
 time heard of the Name which is above every name; 
 for there is salvation in no other ; till in his last 
 days some Christian directed him to the Bible, as a 
 book that tells poor sinners the way to God. He gave 
 a woman a guinea to read its pages to him ; and he 
 remunerated another woman, who read to him the 
 book of Common Prayer. The last few years of his 
 life were marked by strong conviction of sin. His 
 children thought he must have been a murderer. 
 They often saw him under the hedges at prayer. la 
 his last moments he received comfort through a pious 
 minister, who visited him in his tent, and made him 
 acquainted with the promises of the gospel.
 
 A similar instance has been related by a clergyman 
 known to the author; nor should the interview of 
 GEORGE THE THIRD with a poor Gipsy woman be 
 forgotten ; for a brighter example of condescending 
 kindness is not furnished in the history of kings. This 
 gracious monarch became the minister of instruction 
 and comfort to a dying Gipsy, to whom he was drawn 
 by the cries of her children, and saw her expire, 
 cheered by the view of that redemption he had set 
 before her. 
 
 But how few are there of the tens of thousands of 
 Gipsies, who have died in Britain, that, whether living 
 or dying, have been visited either by ministers or their 
 people ! The father of three orphan children, lately 
 taken under the care of the Southampton Committee 
 for the improvement of the Gipsies, had lived an 
 atheist, but such he could not die. He had often 
 declared there was no God ; but before his death, he 
 called one of his sons to him and said, / have always 
 said there was no God, but now I know there is ; I 
 see him now. He attempted to pray, but knew not 
 how ! And many other Gipsies have been so afraid 
 of God, that they dreaded to be alone. 
 
 Another instance of the power and guilt of con- 
 science, in the last hours of a Gipsy, who has been 
 mentioned in a preceding chapter, came before the 
 author, which he will notice. The poor victim was a 
 fiddler, and often mixed with the worst and lowest of 
 degraded characters in towns and villages, to add 
 mirth to the unholy dance. In such employment the
 
 48 
 
 most wicked and debasing passions of human nature 
 were excited in him, and he became eager and re- 
 morseless in the practice of crime. But his days 
 were cut short by intemperance. The wicked shall 
 not live out half his days. When dying, he called 
 his family around him, and exclaimed that he was 
 a ruined man, and intreated his wife never to let his 
 children practise fiddling. The old woman, frantic 
 with grief at the death of her husband, leaped from 
 her cart, and, looking up toheaven, charged the Divine 
 Being with having killed her husband!! 
 
 It is a fact, not generally known, that the Gipsies 
 of this country have not much knowledge of tribes or 
 clans in counties distant from them, and they are 
 often very particular to keep to their own. Nor will 
 those who style themselves respectable, allow their 
 children to marry into the more depraved clans. 
 
 The following are a few of the family names of the 
 Gipsies of this country : Williams, Jones, Plunkett, 
 Cooper, Glover, Carew (descendants of the famous 
 Bamfield Moore Carew), Loversedge, Mansfield, Mar- 
 tin, Light, Lee, Barnett, Boswell, Carter, Buckland, 
 Lovell, Corrie, Bosvill, Eyres, Smalls, Draper, 
 Fletcher, Taylor, Broadway, Baker, Smith, Buckly, 
 Blewett, Scamp, and Stanley. Of the last-named 
 family there are more than two hundred, most of 
 whom are known to the author. 
 
 It is a well-authenticated fact, that many persons 
 pass for Gipsies who are not. Such persons having 
 done something to exclude them from society, join
 
 49 
 
 themselves to this people, and marrying into their 
 clans, become the means of leading them to crimes 
 they would not have thought of but for their connec- 
 tion with such wicked people. Coining money and 
 forging notes are, however, crimes which cannot be 
 justly attributed to them. Indeed it has been too 
 much the custom to impute to them a great number 
 of crimes of which they either never were guilty, or 
 which could only be committed by an inconsiderable 
 portion of their race; and they have often suffered the 
 penalty of the law, when they have not in the least 
 deserved it. They have been talked of by the public, 
 and prosecuted by the authorities, as the perpetrators 
 of every vice and wickedness alike shocking to civil 
 and savage life. Nor is this to be wondered at, living 
 as they do, so remote from observation and the walks 
 of common life. 
 
 Whoever has read Grellman's Dissertation on the 
 Continental Gipsies, and supposes that those of Eng- 
 land are equally immoral and vicious, are greatly 
 mistaken. The former are a banditti of robbers, 
 without natural affection, living with each other 
 almost like brutes, and scarcely knowing, and assuredly 
 never caring about, the existence of God ; some of 
 them are even supposed to be cannibals. The Gipsies 
 of this country are altogether different; as monstrous 
 crimes are seldom heard of among them. 
 
 The author is not aware of any of them being 
 convicted of house-breaking, or high-way robbery. 
 Seldom are they guilty of sheep-stealing, or robbing
 
 hen-roosts.* Nor can they be justly charged with 
 stealing children ; this is the work of worthless beggars, 
 who often commit far greater crimes than the Gipsies. 
 
 In England they avoid poaching, knowing that the 
 sporting gentlemen would be severe against them, and 
 that they would not be permitted to remain in the 
 lanes and commons near villages. They sometimes 
 take osiers from the banks and coppices of the farmer, 
 of which they make their baskets ; and occasionally 
 have been known to steal a sheep, when they have not 
 had anything to eat, or money to buy it with; for, 
 according to a proverb they have among themselves, 
 they despise those who risk their necks for their 
 bellies. 
 
 The author, however, recollects a transgression of 
 the sort in the county of Hants. Eight Gipsy men 
 united in stealing four sheep : four were chosen by lot 
 for the purpose. They sharpened their knives, rode 
 to the field, perpetrated the act, and before day-break 
 brought to their camp the sheep they had engaged to 
 steal; and, before the evening of the same day, they 
 were thirty miles distant. But, when pressed by 
 hunger, they have been known to take a worse method 
 than this.* Farmers seldom refuse them a sheep 
 which has died in the field, but one having lost a great 
 
 * One Gipsy, I believe, has been convicted of having some 
 stolen poultry in his tent ; but he had received it from the 
 thief. No other fact of the sort has come to my knowledge.
 
 51 
 
 number of sheep by death he suspected the Gipsies as 
 the cause. He therefore caused one of these animals to 
 be opened, and discovered a piece of wool in its throat, 
 with which it had been suffocated. The Gipsies, who 
 had no objection to creatures that die in their blood, 
 had killed all these sheep in the above manner. 
 
 Horse-stealing is one of their principal crimes, and 
 at this they are very dexterous. When disposed to 
 steal a horse, they select one a few miles from their 
 tent, and make arrangements for disposing of it at a 
 considerable distance, to which place they will ride it 
 in a night. An old and infirm man has been known 
 to ride a stolen horse nearly fifty miles in that time. 
 They pass through by-lanes, well known to them, 
 and thus avoid turnpikes, and often escape detection. 
 
 Unless they are taught better principles than at 
 present they possess, and unless those on whom they 
 impose use their understandings, it is to be feared 
 that swindling also will long continue among them, 
 as they are so ingenious in avoiding detection. When 
 likely to be discovered, a total change of dress enables 
 them to remove with safety to any distance. Instances 
 of this kind have been innumerable. But as it is the 
 aim of this book to solicit a better feeling towards 
 them, rather than expose them to the continuation of 
 censure, the writer will not enter into further detail 
 in reference to their crimes, than barely to show the 
 great evils into which they have been led by many of 
 those in high life, who have long encouraged them in 
 the savage practice of prize-fighting. Pugilism has
 
 52 
 
 been the disgrace of our land, and our nobility and 
 gentry have not been ashamed to patronize it. 
 
 Not long ago a fight took place in this county, which 
 will be a lasting disgrace to the neighbourhood. One 
 of the pugilists, a Gipsy, in the pride of his heart, 
 said, during the fight, that he never would be beaten 
 so long as he had life. The poor wretch fought till 
 not a feature of his countenance could be seen, his 
 head and face being swollen to a frightful size, and 
 his eyes quite closed. He attempted to tear them 
 open, that he might see his antagonist ; and was at 
 last taken off the stage. Not satisfied with this brutal 
 scene, the spectators offered a purse of ten guineas for 
 another battle. This golden bait caught the eye of 
 another Gipsy, who, but a few months before, had 
 ruptured a blood-vessel in fighting. Throwing up his 
 hat on the stage, the sign of challenge, he was soon 
 met by a fellow as degraded as himself, but with 
 much more strength and activity. He was three times 
 laid prostrate at the feet of his antagonist, and was 
 taken away almost lifeless. His conqueror put a 
 half-crown into his hand as he was carried off, say- 
 ing, it was something for him to drink. About three 
 months after this, the author saw this poor Gipsy in 
 his tent, in the last stage of a consumption ; but he 
 was without any marks of true penitence. Surely the 
 way of trajisgressors is hard ! 
 
 What a disgrace is this demoralizing mode of 
 amusement to our country ! Degrading to the greatest 
 degree, it is nevertheless pursued with avidity by all
 
 53 
 
 classes of people ; and large bets are often depending 
 on these brutal exercises. Gentlemen, noblemen, and 
 even ladies, are, oil such occasions, mixed with the 
 most degraded part of the community. In the instance 
 referred to, it is said, that the sum of fifty pounds 
 was taken by admitting carriages into the field in 
 \vhich the fight took place. Where were the peace- 
 officers at this time ? Perhaps some of them were 
 spectators of the horrid scenes ! 
 
 Verily our men of rank and fortune are guilty in 
 encouraging these shocking practices; and they are 
 little better than murderers, who goad their fellow- 
 men on to fight by the offer of money. Such persons 
 are frequently instruments of sending sinners, the 
 most unprepared, into the presence of a righteous 
 God. What an account will they have to give when 
 they meet the victims of their amusement at the bar 
 of Christ! 
 
 It is said by a historian, that a late Prince, after- 
 wards King of England, attended these sights, till he 
 saw a man fall in the conflict. He then prudently 
 withdrew from such brutal practices. 
 
 The Gipsies often fight with each other at fairs, 
 and other places where they meet in great numbers. 
 This is their way of settling old grudges ; but as soon 
 as one yields, the quarrel is made up, and they repair 
 to a public house to renew their friendship. This 
 forgiving spirit is a pleasing trait in their character. 
 The author knows one Gipsey who fought three times 
 in one day with his brother-in-law ; not in wrath,
 
 54 
 
 but to try their power in that art ; and at last he said, 
 My brother, you have beat me. 
 
 It has been the lot of Gipsies in all countries to be 
 despised, persecuted, hated, and have the vilest things 
 said of them. In many cases they have too much 
 merited the odium which they have experienced in 
 continental Europe; but certainly they are not deserv- 
 ing of universal and unqualified contempt and hatred 
 in this nation. The dislike they have to rule and 
 order has led many of them to maim themselves by 
 cutting off a finger, that they might not serve in either 
 the army or' the navy: and I believe there is one 
 instance known, of some Gipsies murdering a witness 
 who was to appear against some of their people for 
 horse-stealing : the persons who were guilty of the 
 deed have been summoned to the bar of Christ, and 
 in their last moments exclaimed with horror and 
 despair, Murder! murder! But these circumstances 
 do not stamp their race, without exception, as in- 
 famous monsters in wickedness. Not many years 
 since several of their men were hanged in different 
 places, for stealing fourteen horses near Bristol, who 
 experienced the truth of that scripture, Be sure your 
 sins will find you out. Indeed there is not a family 
 among them that has not to mourn over the loss of 
 some relative for the commission of this crime. But, 
 even in this respect, their guilt has been much over- 
 rated ; for in many cases it. is to be feared they have 
 suffered innocently. There was formerly a reward of 
 401. to those who gave information of offenders, on
 
 55 
 
 their being capitally convicted. Those of the lower 
 orders, therefore, who were destitute of principle, had 
 a great temptation before them to swear falsely in 
 reference to Gipsies ; and of which it is known they 
 sometimes availed themselves, knowing that few 
 would befriend them. For the sake of the above sum, 
 vulgarly, but too justly, called blood-money, they 
 perjured themselves, and were much more wicked 
 than the people they accused. But the Gipsies were 
 thought to be universally depraved, and no one thought 
 it his duty to investigate their innocence. Let us be 
 thankful that many at the present day look upon them 
 with better feelings. 
 
 Very lately, one of these vile informers swore to 
 having seen a Gipsy man on a horse that had been 
 stolen ; and although it came out on the trial, that it 
 was night when he observed him, and that he had 
 never seen him before, which ought to have rendered 
 his evidence invalid, the prisoner was convicted and 
 condemned to die. His life was afterwards spared by 
 other facts having been discovered and made known 
 to the judge, after he had left the city. 
 
 The Gipsies in this country have for centuries been 
 accused of child-stealing ; and therefore it is not to 
 be wondered at, that, when children have been missing, 
 the Gipsies should be taxed with having stolen them. 
 About thirty years since, some parents who had lost a 
 child, applied to a man at Portsmouth, well known in 
 those days by the name of Payne or Pine, as an 
 astrologer, wishing to know from him what was be- 
 come of it. He told them to search the Gipsy
 
 56 
 
 tents for twenty miles round. The distressed parents 
 employed constables, who made diligent search in 
 every direction to that distance, but to no purpose ; 
 the child was not to be found in their camps. It was, 
 however, soon afterwards discovered, drowned in one 
 of its father's pits, who was a tanner. Thus was this 
 pretended astrologer exposed to the ridicule of those 
 who, but a short time before, foolishly looked on him 
 as an oracle. 
 
 On another occasion the same accusation was 
 brought against the Gipsies, and proved to be false. 
 The child of a widow at Portsmouth was lost, and 
 after every search had been made on board the ships 
 in the harbour, and at Spithead, and the ponds dragged 
 in the neighbourhood, to no effect, it was concluded 
 that the Gipsies had stolen him. The boy was found 
 a few years afterwards, at Kingston-upon-Thames, 
 apprenticed to a chimney-sweeper. He had been 
 enticed away by a person who had given him sweet- 
 meats ; but not by a Gipsy. 
 
 I may be allowed here to say a word about this 
 boy's mother. She was a good and pious woman, and 
 had known great trials. Her husband was drowned 
 in her presence, but a short time before she lost her 
 son in the mysterious way mentioned ; and before he 
 was heard of, she was removed to the enjoyment of a 
 better world. Her death was a very happy one, for 
 \t took place while she was engaged in public worship. 
 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the 
 Lord delivereth them out of them all. 
 
 Instances have been known of house-breakers leav-
 
 57 
 
 ing some of their stolen goods near the tents of the 
 Gipsies; and these being picked up by the children, 
 and found upon them, have been the cause of much 
 unjust suffering among them. The grandfather of 
 three little orphans, now under the care of the South- 
 ampton committee, was charged with stealing a horse, 
 and was condemned and executed ; although the 
 farmer of whom he bought it came forward and swore 
 to the horse being the same which he had sold him. 
 His evidence was rejected on account of some slight 
 mistake in the description he gave of it. When under 
 the gallows, the frantic Gipsy exclaimed, Oh God, if 
 thou dost not deliver me, I will not believe there is 
 a God ! 
 
 The following anecdote will prove -the frequent 
 oppression of this people. Not many years since, a 
 collector of taxes in a country town said he had been 
 robbed of fifty pounds by a Gipsy; and being soon 
 after at Blandford in Dorsetshire, he fixed on a female 
 Gipsy as the person who robbed him in company 
 with two others, and said she was in man's clothes at 
 the time. They were taken up and kept in custody 
 for some days; and had not a farmer voluntarily come 
 forward, and proved that they were many miles distant 
 when the robbery was said to be perpetrated, they 
 would have been tried for their lives, and probably 
 hanged. The woman was the wife of William Stanley 
 (who was in custody with her), who now reads the 
 Scriptures in the Gipsy tents near Southampton. 
 Their wicked accuser was afterwards convicted of a 
 D
 
 58 
 
 crime for which he was condemned to die, when he 
 confessed that he had not been robbed at the time 
 referred to, but had himself spent the whole of the 
 Bum in question. 
 
 Another Gipsy, of the name of Stanley, was lately 
 indicted at Winchester for house-breaking, and had 
 not his friends at great expense proved an alibi, it is 
 likely he might have been executed. And in this way 
 have they been suspected and persecuted ever since 
 the days of Henry the Eighth. They have been 
 hunted ; their property has been taken from them ; 
 themselves have been frequently imprisoned, and in 
 many cases their lives taken ; or, which to many of 
 them is much worse, they have been transported to 
 .another part of the world, for ever divided from 
 their families and friends. 
 
 In the days of Judge Hale, thirteen of these un- 
 happy beings were hanged at Bury St. Edmonds, for 
 no other cause than that they were Gipsies ; and at 
 that time it was death without benefit of clergy for 
 any one to live among them for a month. Lately, 
 two of the most industrious of this people had a email 
 pony and two donkeys taken away, merely on suspicion 
 that they were stolen. They were apprehended and 
 carried before a magistrate, to whom they proved 
 that the animals were their own, and that they had 
 legally obtained them. The cattle were then pounded 
 for trespassing on the common, and if their oppressed 
 owners had not had money to defray the expenses, one 
 of the animals must have been sold for that purpose.
 
 Not long ago, a Gipsy was suspected of having 
 stolen lead from a gentleman's house. His cart was 
 searched, hut no lead being found in his possession, 
 he was imprisoned for three months, for living under 
 the hedges as a vagrant; and his horse, which was 
 worth thirteen pounds, was sold to meet the demands 
 of the constables. And another Gipsy, who had two 
 horses in his possession, was suspected of having stolen 
 them, but he proved that they were his property by 
 purchase. He was committed for three months as a 
 vagrant, and one of his horses was sold to defray the 
 expenses of his apprehension, examination, &c. 
 
 The author has just heard that a poor, aged, in- 
 dustrious woman, with whom he has long been ac- 
 quainted, has had her donkey taken from her ; and 
 that a man with four witnesses swore that it was his 
 property. The poor woman told a simple, artless tale 
 to the magistrates, and was not fully committed. She 
 was allowed two days to bring forward the person of 
 whom she bought it. Conscious of her innocence^ 
 she was willing to risk a prison, if she could not re- 
 cover her donkey and establish her character. After a 
 great deal of trouble and expense in despatching 
 messengers to bring forward her witnesses, she suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining them. They had no sooner made 
 their appearance than the accuser and his witnesses 
 fled, and left the donkey to the right owner the 
 poor, accused, and injured woman. 
 
 It cannot be expected that oppression will ever 
 reform this people, or cure them of their wandering 
 D 2
 
 6.0 
 
 habits. Far more likely is it to confirm them in their 
 vagrant propensities. And as their numbers do not 
 decrease, oppression will only render them the dread 
 of one part of their fellow-creatures, while it will make 
 them the objects of scorn and obloquy to others. 
 
 It is the earnest wish of the author that milder 
 measures may be pursued in reference to the Gipsies. 
 To endeavour to improve their morals, and instruct 
 them in the principles of religion, will, under the 
 divine blessing, turn to better account, than the hateful 
 and oppressive policy so long adopted. 
 
 Many persons are of opinion, in reference to the 
 Gipsies, that if all the parishes were alike severe in 
 forcing them from their retreats, they would soon find 
 their way into towns. But if this were the case, what 
 advantage would they derive from it ? In large towns, 
 ,in their present ignorant and depraved state, would 
 -they not be still more wicked ? They would change 
 their condition only from bad to worse, unless they 
 were treated better than they now are, and could be 
 properly employed ; but from the prejudice that exists 
 among all classes of men against them, this is not 
 likely to be the case : they would not be employed by 
 .any, while other persons could be got. At a hop- 
 plantation, so lately as 1830, Gipsies were not allowed 
 to pick hops in some grounds, while common beggars, 
 as unsettled and undeserving, were engaged for that 
 purpose. Had this been a parochial arrangement, to 
 benefit the poor of their own neighbourhood, who 
 were out of employ, it were not blamable.
 
 61 
 
 If they were driven to settle in towns, and could 
 not, generally speaking, obtain employment, it might 
 soon become necessary to remove all their children to 
 their own parishes ; a measure not only very unhappy 
 in itself, but one to which the Gipsies would never 
 submit. Sooner would they die than suffer their 
 children to go to the parish workhouses, at a distance 
 from them. 
 
 The severe and unchristian-like treatment they meet 
 with from many, only leads them to commit greater 
 depredations. When driven by the constables from 
 their station, they retire to a more solitary place in 
 another parish, and there remain till they are again 
 detected, and agairi mercilessly driven away. But 
 this severity does not accomplish the end it has in 
 view; their numbers remain the same, and they retain 
 the same dislike to the crowded haunts of man. For 
 they only visit towns in small parties, offering trifling 
 wares for sale, or telling fortunes ; and this is done to 
 gain a present support. 
 
 In this neighbourhood there was lately a sweeping 
 of the commons and lanes of the Gipsy families. 
 Their horses and donkeys were driven off, and the 
 sum of 31. 5s. levied on them as a fine, to pay the 
 Constables for thus afflicting them. In one tent, 
 during this distressing affair, there was found an 
 unburied child, that had been scalded to death, its 
 parents not having money to defray the expenses of 
 its interment. The constables declared to the author 
 that it would make any heart ache to see the anguish
 
 62 
 
 the poor people were in when thus inhumanly driven 
 from their resting places; but, said they, We were 
 obliged to do our duty. To the credit of these men, 
 thirteen in number, it should be mentioned, that, with 
 only one exception, they returned the fines to the 
 people ; and one of them, who is a carpenter, offered 
 a coffin for the unburied child, should the parish be 
 unwilling to bury it. 
 
 In this instance of their affliction and grief, the 
 propensity to accuse these poor creatures was strongly 
 marked, by a report charging them with having dug a 
 grave on the common in which to bury it; a circum- 
 stance very far from their feelings and general habits. 
 The fact was, some person had been digging holes in 
 search of gravel, and these poor creatures pitched their 
 tent just by one of them. 
 
 It was supposed by many in this neighbourhood, 
 that the poor wretches thus driven away were gone 
 out of the country ; but this was not the case. They 
 had only retired to more lonely places in smaller 
 parties, and were all seen again a few days after at 
 a neighbouring fair. This circumstance is sufficient 
 to prove that they are not to be reclaimed by prose- 
 cutions and fines. It is therefore high time the people 
 of England should adopt more merciful measures to- 
 wards them in endeavouring to bring them into a more 
 civilized state. The money spent in sustaining pre- 
 secutions against them, if properly applied, would 
 accomplish this great and benevolent work. And 
 without flattering any of its members, the author
 
 63 
 
 thinks the Committee at Southampton have discovered 
 plans, wholly different from those usually adopted, 
 which may prove much more effectual in accomplish- 
 ing their reformation ; for by these plans being put 
 into prudent operation, many have already ceased to 
 make the lanes and commons their home ; and their 
 minds are becoming enlightened, and their characters 
 religious. 
 
 In concluding this chapter, it may not be improper 
 to remark, that, bad as may be the character of any 
 of our fellow-creatures, it is very lamentable that they 
 should suffer for crimes of which individually they 
 are not guilty. Let us hope that, in reference to this 
 people, unjust executions have ceased ; that people 
 will be careful in giving evidence which involves the 
 rights, liberties, and lives of their fellow -creatures, 
 though belonging to the unhappy tribes of Gipsies ; 
 and above all, let us hope that such measures will be 
 pursued by the good and benevolent of this highly 
 favoured land, as will place them in situations where 
 they will learn to fear God and honour the King, 
 and support themselves honestly in the sight of all 
 men.
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of the formation of the Southampton Committee, 
 and the success that has attended its endeavours. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the Gipsies, on account of their un- 
 settled habits, their disposition to evil practices, and 
 that ignorance of true religion which is inseparably 
 connected with a life remote from all the forms of ex- 
 ternal worship, and from the influence of religious 
 society, may be said to be in a most lamentably 
 wretched state ; yet is their condition not desperate. 
 They are rational beings, and have many feelings ho- 
 nourable to human nature. They are not as the hea- 
 thens of other countries, addicted to any system of 
 idolatry ; and what is of infinite encouragement, they 
 inhabit a land of Bibles and of Christian ministers ; 
 and although at present they derive so little benefit 
 from these advantages, there are many of them willing 
 to receive instruction. The following details, to which 
 I gladly turn, will show that, when patient and pcrse~ 
 vering means are used, Gipsies may be brought to know 
 God ; and no body of people were ever yet converted 
 to Christianity without means. The following circum- 
 stances gave rise to the idea of forming a society for 
 the improvement of this people. 
 
 In March, 1827, during the Lent Assizes, the author
 
 65 
 
 was in Winchester, and wishing to speak with the 
 sheriff's chaplain, he went to the court for that pur- 
 pose. He happened to enter just as the judge was 
 passing sentence of death on two unhappy men. To 
 one he held out the hope of mercy ; but to the other, 
 a poor Gipsy, who was convicted of horse-stealing, 
 he said, no hope could be given. The young man, 
 for he was but a youth, immediately fell on his knees, 
 and with uplifted hands and eyes, apparently uncon- 
 scious of any persons being present but the judge and 
 himself, addressed him as follows : " Oh ! my Lord, 
 save my life!" The judge replied, " No; you can 
 have no mercy in this world : I and my brother 
 judges have come to the determination to execute 
 horse- stealers, especially Gipsies, because of the 
 increase of the crime.'' The suppliant, still on his 
 knees, entreated " Do, my Lord Judge, save my 
 life! do, for God's sake, for my wife's sake, for my 
 laby's sake !" " No," replied the judge, " / cannot : 
 you should have thought of your wife and children 
 before." He then ordered him to be taken away, 
 and the poor fellow was dragged from his earthly 
 judge while on his knees. It is hoped, as a penitent 
 sinner, he obtained the more needful mercy of God, 
 through the abounding grace of Christ. After this 
 scene, the author could not remain in court. As he 
 returned, he found the mournful intelligence had beea 
 communicated to some Gipsies who had been waiting 
 without, anxious to learn the fate of their companion. 
 They seemed distracted.
 
 66 
 
 On the outside of the court, seated on the ground, 
 appeared an old woman, and a very young one, and 
 with them two children, the elder three years, and 
 the other an infant but fourteen days old. The former 
 sat by its mother's side, alike unconscious of her bitter 
 agonies, and of her father's despair. The old woman, 
 held the infant tenderly in her arms, and endeavoured 
 to comfort its weeping mother, soon to be a widow 
 under circumstances the most melancholy. My dear, 
 dont cry, said she, remember you have this dear 
 little baby. Impelled by the sympathies o-f pity and 
 a sense of duty, the author spoke to them on the evil 
 of sin, and expressed his hope that the melancholy 
 event would prove a warning to them, and to all their 
 people. The poor man was executed about a fortnight 
 after his condemnation. 
 
 This sad scene, together with Hoyland's Survey of 
 the Gipsies, which the author read about this time, 
 combined to make a deep impression on his mind, and 
 awaken an earnest desire which has never since de- 
 creased, to assist and improve this greatly neglected 
 people. The more he contemplated their condition 
 and necessities, the difficulties in the way of their re- 
 formation continued to lessen, and his hope of success, 
 in case any thing could be done for them, became 
 more and more confirmed. He could not forget the 
 pour young widow whom he had seen in such deep 
 distress at Winchester, and was led to resolve, if he 
 should meet her again, to ofier to provide for her 
 children,
 
 67 
 
 Some weeks elapsed before he could hear any thing 
 of her, till one day he saw the old woman sitting on 
 the ground at the entrance of Southampton, with the 
 widow's infant on her knee. " Where is your daugh- 
 ter !" he inquired. " Sir," she replied, "she is my 
 niece ; she is gone into the town." " Will you desire 
 her to call at my house 1" "I will, sir," said the poor 
 old woman, to whom the author gave his address. 
 
 In about an hour after this conversation, the widow 
 and her aunt appeared. After inviting them to sit 
 down, he addressed the young woman thus : " My 
 good woman, you are now a poor widow, and I wished 
 to see you, to tell you that I would be your friend. I 
 will take your children, if you will let me have them, 
 and be a father to them, and educate them ; and, 
 when old enough to work, will have them taught some 
 honest trade." " Thank you, sir," said she ; " but I 
 don't like to part with my children. The chaplain at 
 the prison offered to take my oldest, and to send her 
 to London to be taken care of; but I could not often 
 see her there." I replied, " I commend you for not 
 parting with her, unless you could occasionally see 
 her ; for I suppose you love your children dearly." 
 " Oh ! yes, sir," said the widow. The old aunt also 
 added, " Our people set great store by their 
 children." " Well," I replied, " I do not wish you to 
 determine on this business hastily; it is a weighty- 
 one. You had better take a fortnight for considera- 
 tion, and then give me a another call." 
 
 How improbable did it then appear that this inter-
 
 68 
 
 view would ultimately lead to so much good to many 
 of her people ! When the fortnight expired, the 
 ividow and her aunt again appeared, when the fol- 
 lowing conversation took place. " I am glad you are 
 come again," said their friend. "Yes," replied the 
 widow, " and I will now let you have my Betsy ;" and 
 the aunt immediately added, pointing to one of her 
 grand-children, " I will let you have my little deary, 
 if you will take care of her. Her father," continued 
 she, " was condemned to die, but is transported for 
 life, and her mother now lives with another man." 
 The proposal was readily accepted ; and three days 
 after, these t\"o children were brought washed very 
 clean, and dressed in their best clothes. It was 
 promised the women, that they should see their 
 children whenever they chose, and all parties were 
 pleased. The eldest of these children was six years 
 of age ; the widow's little daughter, only three. The 
 first day they amused themselves with running up and 
 down stairs, and through the rooms of the house. 
 But when put to bed at night, they cried for two 
 hours, saying that the house would fall upon them. 
 They had never spent a day in a house before, and 
 were at night like birds that had been decoyed, and 
 then robbed of their liberty. A few kisses and some 
 promises at length quieted them, and they went to 
 sleep. 
 
 After remaining with the author three days, they 
 \vere removed to one of the Infants' Schools, where 
 they were often visited by the widow and her aunt.
 
 69 
 
 Soon after this the eldest girl was taken ill. A medical 
 gentleman attended her at the tent, a little way from 
 the town, whither her grandmother had begged to re- 
 move her for change of air. But the sickness of this 
 child was unto death. She was a lovely and affec- 
 tionate girl, notwithstanding the disadvantages under 
 which she had necessarily laboured. When on her 
 bed in the tent, suffering much pain, she was asked by 
 a gentleman, " Although you love Mr. Crabb so much, 
 would you rather live with him, or die, and go to 
 Jesus ?" She answered, " I would rather die and go 
 to Jesus." Her death very much affected her grand- 
 mother. She would not leave the corpse, which she 
 often affectionately embraced, till persuaded she would 
 endanger her own life. This appeared a melancholy 
 event to all who wished well to the Gipsies in the 
 neighbourhood of Southampton. For the widow, 
 fearing her child would become ill and die too, imme- 
 diately removed her from the school. And many of 
 the Gipsy people treated the women with great con- 
 tempt for giving up their children ; and the prospects 
 of doing them lasting good became very much be- 
 clouded. It was .however represented to them that 
 God was doing all things for the best, and their spirits 
 were soothed ; and in consequence, the little father- 
 less girl was again brought to the school. 
 
 After this event, the widow and her aunt remained 
 a considerable time in the neighbourhood, waiting to 
 see if the little one, again given up to the author, 
 would be kindly treated. By this detention they were
 
 70 
 
 often brought into the company of good people, whose 
 kindness gained their confidence. They began to listen 
 to invitations to settle in the town, and finally deter- 
 mined on doing so. Even the old woman, who had 
 lived under hedges for fifty years, and who had de- 
 clared but a short time before that she would not 
 leave her tent for a palace, now gladly occupied a 
 house ; this greatly encouraged their friends, who well 
 knew that it was not a small sacrifice, for Gipsies to 
 give up what is thought by them to be their liberty, 
 which they view as their birthright. 
 
 A short time before these women removed from 
 under the hedges, the sister of the unhappy man who 
 had been executed came out of Dorsetshire with her 
 three children, on her way to Surrey, where she had 
 been accustomed to go to hop-picking. Encamping 
 under the same hedge with the widow and her aunt, 
 she was seen by the author in one of his visits to them. 
 He found them one evening about six o'clock at dinner, 
 and he took his seat near them ; and while they were 
 regaling themselves with broiled meat, potatoes, and 
 tea, the following interesting conversation took place. 
 
 " Sir," said the widow, " this is my sister and her 
 children." No one could have introduced this woman 
 and her little ones with more easy simplicity than she 
 did, while, by the smile on her swarthy countenance, 
 she exhibited real heartfelt pleasure. " I am glad to 
 see you, my good woman," said the author ; " are 
 these your children ?" " Yes, sir," replied she, very 
 cheerfully. " And where are you going?" "I am
 
 71 
 
 going into Surrey, sir." " Have you not many difficul- 
 ties to trouble you in your way of life ?" " Yes, sir," 
 answered she. The author continued, " I wish you 
 would let me have your children to protect and 
 educate." " Not I, indeed," she replied sharply ; 
 "others may part with their children, if they like, 
 but I will never part with mine." " Well, my good 
 woman, the offer has done no harm : let me hope it 
 will do good. I would have you recollect that you 
 have now a proposal made you of bettering their pre- 
 sent and future condition. You and I must soon meet 
 at the judgment-seat of Christ, to give an account of 
 this meeting ; and you know that I can do better for 
 your little ones than you can." She was silent. The 
 author then addressed these people and left the tents. 
 
 The next day he visited the camp again, when the 
 widow woman said, " Sir, my sister was so cut up t 
 putting her hand to her heart, with what you said 
 last night, that she could not eat any more, and de- 
 clared she felt as she never had done before ; and she 
 has determined to come and live with us at Michael- 
 mas." In consequence of what was said to this poor 
 stranger, she did not go to the races, although she had 
 stopped near Southampton for that purpose. 
 
 From this time endeavours were made to confirm 
 the woman's intentions to stay at Southampton, and 
 to place her children with the other. She was asked 
 why she would not stay at Southampton then. " Why, 
 to tell you the truth," said she, " for it's no use to tell 
 a lie about that, I don't want to bring my children to
 
 72 
 
 you, like vagabonds ; and as we shall earn a good bit 
 of money at hopping, I shall buy them some clothes ; 
 and then, if you will take me a room at Michaelmas, 
 I will surely return and live at Southampton, and my 
 children shall go to school ; but I will never give them 
 up entirely." She continued with her sister till the 
 house which had been taken for the latter was ready J 
 during which time Owen Lloyd, Esq., of Ireland, then 
 living near the encampment, had her children every 
 day to his house, and taught them to read. The re- 
 membrance of him will be precious to them for ever. 
 She came on the day appointed, and her children 
 were put to the Infants' School, where they have con- 
 tinued ever since, clean and respectable, and very 
 diligent in their learning. They often explain the 
 Scriptures to their mother. One of them has long 
 been a monitor in the school. May she continue a 
 credit to the institution in which she has been so far 
 educated. 
 
 Although the mother of these children is not yet 
 decidedly pious, she is very much improved. She is 
 DOW able to read her Testament with tolerable ease, 
 takes great pleasure in receiving instruction, and we 
 hope is deeply impressed with the importance of per- 
 sonal religion. She attends public worship diligently, 
 and loves Christians, whom she once hated. She weeps 
 with abhorrence over past crimes, and says she would 
 rather have her hands cut off than do as she has done. 
 For more than twelve months after living at South- 
 ampton, she continued occasionally to tell fortunes for
 
 73 
 
 the gain it brought her. But a remarkable dream 
 deeply affected her. She dreamed that she was at the 
 adult school, where she regularly attended, and, that 
 while she was reading her Testament, it changed into 
 a book of divination, and she began to tell the fortune 
 of the lady who was teaching her; and while thus 
 employed, she thought she heard awful thundering?, 
 and the sound of trumpets; after which a tremendous 
 tempest ensued, during which she fancied herself in 
 an extensive plain, exposed to all the fury of the 
 storm. She then thought the day of judgment was 
 come, and that she was summoned to render up her 
 account. She awoke in great terror, and as soon as 
 she had a little recovered herself, arose and followed 
 the example of those we read of in the Acts of the 
 Apostles: And many of them which also used cu- 
 rious arts, brought their books together, and burned 
 them before all men and they counted the price of 
 them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 
 Acts xix. 19. Large sums of money had been of- 
 fered her for this volume; but, though in extreme 
 poverty, she determined to make any sacrifice, rather 
 than enrich herself by its sale. 
 
 When relating this dream to a lady, she was asked 
 whether she had formerly been in the habit of seeking 
 by any means the aid of the devil, in order to know 
 future events ; it having been asserted that many of 
 the Gipsies had done so. She informed the lady that 
 she never had done so, and that she thought none of
 
 74 
 
 her people had any thing to do with him, otherwise 
 than by giving themselves up to do wickedly, as those 
 who neglect to seek God for help, must of course be 
 under the power of the wicked one.
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Of the plans pursued by the Southampton Com- 
 mittee, and the success which has attended them, 
 continued. 
 
 TWENTY-THREE reformed Gipsies are now living 
 at Southampton, (one of whom is the aged Gipsy 
 whose history has been published by a lady.* There 
 are also her brother and four of his children, her 
 sister who has been a wanderer for more than fifty 
 years, and her daughter, two orphans, a woman and 
 her three children,f and the young widow before 
 mentioned, who has, since her reformation, lost her 
 two children by the measles, and is now living at a 
 gentleman's family in Gloucestershire. 
 
 In addition to those who have retired from a wan- 
 dering life, and are pursuing habits of honest industry, 
 three other families, whose united number is sixteen, 
 begged the privilege of wintering with us in the be- 
 ginning of 1831. These Gipsies regularly attended 
 
 * Sold by Seeley, and by Westley and Co., London ; 
 Clark, Bristol; Binns, Bath ; and Lindsay and Co., Eclin-. 
 burgh . 
 
 t This woman has learned to make Gloucester boots, by 
 which means she assists in supporting her family.
 
 76 
 
 divine service twice on a Sunday, and on a work-day 
 evening the adults went to school to learn to read. 
 The children were placed atone of the Infants' Schools. 
 The prospects of doing one of the families lasting good 
 are rather dark, as they are grown old and hardened 
 in crime ;* but the condition of the others is more 
 encouraging. The children, who would gladly have 
 stayed longer with us, were sickly ; and it is ap- 
 prehended, had not this been the case, the parents 
 would have continued longer, that they might have 
 gone to school. Two women, mother and daughter, 
 in one family, are much interested in the worship of 
 God, and already begin to feel the value of their souls ; 
 and both regret that they are under the necessity of 
 submitting to the arbitrary will of the father. One 
 of them declared that she could never more act as a 
 Gipsy, and with weeping eyes she said, that she 
 feared she never should be pardoned or saved. When 
 directed to go to Jesus, she replied, she knew not 
 how to go to him. In three days they will leave us, 
 and it will be a painful separation. The prospects 
 are still encouraging relating to these persons. Many 
 are now wintering with us in 1832. The father has 
 returned with them. It is very gratifying to the 
 author to see so many Gipsies attend the house of 
 God ; and he frequently recollects with pleasure that 
 
 * But these once hardened characters are now penitent and 
 industrious.
 
 77 
 
 promise of Holy Scripture, For as the ram cometh 
 down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not 
 thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it 
 bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the 
 sower, and bread to the eater; so shall my word be 
 that yoeth forth of my mouth : it shall not return, 
 unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I 
 please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I 
 send it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led 
 forth with peace; the mountains and the hills 
 shall break forth before you into singing, and all 
 the trees of (he field shall clap their Jiftnds. In- 
 stead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and 
 instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: 
 and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an ever- 
 lasting sign that shall not be cut off'. 
 
 The children are sent to school ; one young man is 
 learning to be a coach wheelwright. This youth has 
 behaved so veil in his situation, that he has been, 
 advanced by his master to a higher branch in the 
 business. His fellow-workmen, who at first disliked 
 him for being a Gipsy, have subscribed money to as- 
 sist him in the purchase of additional tools, to xvhich 
 the foreman added Jive shillings, and the master, 
 one pour.d. This is a most encouraging circum- 
 stance. 
 
 The aged man who has been so many years re- 
 formed is a basket- maker. He often visits his brethren 
 in their tents, under the direction of the Committee, 
 to give advice and instruction. His sister, lately
 
 78 
 
 reclaimed, takes care of the Gipsy children, and is be- 
 come very serious and industrious ; and though in the 
 decline of life, she receives but one shilling per week 
 from the Committee. Two instances of the gratitude 
 of this woman ought not to be omitted. 
 
 The author's horse having strayed from the field, a 
 sovereign was offered to any one who would bring it 
 back to him. Several persons sought for it in vain. 
 This old Gipsy woman was sent in quest of it, and in 
 two days returned with the horse. Of course she was 
 offered the sovereign that had been named as a re- 
 ward ; but she refused to take it, saying, she owed 
 the author more than that; yea, all that she had, for 
 the comfort she was then enjoying. This was the 
 language of an honest and grateful heart. On being 
 compelled to take it, she bought herself some gar- 
 ments for the winter. 
 
 On another occasion, when she was coming from 
 some place which she had visited, and was detained 
 on the road longer than she had expected, she became 
 penniless ; yet would she not beg, lest it might be 
 looked on as one step towards turning back to habits 
 she had entirely abandoned. She assured the author 
 that she would rather have starved than return to her 
 old trade of begging; and besides, added she, " the 
 people know that I am one of your reformed Gipsies, 
 and I will never bring a reproach upon my best 
 friends." 
 
 The young widow was taught to make shoes j but 
 becoming depressed in spirits after the death of her
 
 79 
 
 children, she has been placed in service. And an- 
 other young Gipsy woman has also obtained a situa- 
 tion as a servant. 
 
 But while the Committee has had to rejoice over 
 the success that has attended its efforts, it has also 
 experienced great and manifold disappointments. But 
 its members are not discouraged, and it is hoped they 
 never will be. 
 
 One young woman stayed with the Committee a 
 month, and then ran away. She was lamentably igno- 
 rant, and could never be brought to work.* Another, 
 very promising in temper and habits, stayed in a family 
 three months, and then left them to live again with 
 her parents, who encouraged her to believe that she 
 would be married to one of her clan. It may be hoped 
 the knowledge she gained while in service may be 
 useful to her at some future time. She is not, cannot 
 be happy, and is sorry that she left her service and her 
 friends. The father and mother have promised to stay 
 in Southampton through the next winter, which they 
 will be encouraged to do, with the hope of their gain- 
 ing instruction in the truths of religion. 
 
 A woman, her four sons, and their grandmother, f 
 
 * I ought to say, that though this young and ignorant wo- 
 man ran away, she did not go with anything that was not her 
 own ; for she left behind her a bonnet that had been lent her, 
 while she had nothing more on her head than a piece of cloth. 
 
 t The latter was the daughter of the dying Gipsy, an ac- 
 count of whom may he seen in the tract numbered 803, and 
 published by the Tract Society.
 
 80 
 
 joined the family of reformed Gipsies for a short time, 
 and we had considerable hopes of them all, the two 
 eldest boys excepted, who refused to work, and who 
 grew much more vicious than when urder the hedges. 
 Their father had formerly been sentenced to death, 
 but by the interest of a friend, the sentence was 
 changed to fourteen years* hard labour on board the 
 hulks at Portsmouth, nearly nine of which had expired 
 at the time his family came under the direction of the 
 Committee. His wife intimating that if an application 
 were made for his release it might be granted, and that 
 then he might govern the boys, and make them work, 
 his liberty was obtained. But within three days after- 
 wards, he declared he would not constrain any of his 
 children to labour ; they might do it or not, as they 
 pleased. And in the course of the week he took them 
 all away, and went to Brighton. 
 
 A lady then staying at that place, and who had 
 known this family at Southampton, sent to the place 
 where the Gipsies usually encamp ; hoping to recall 
 , some of them to a sense of their duty, but was in- 
 formed that the whole of the party had set off a few 
 days before. Early on the following morning a Gipsy 
 called at the house of this lady, and offered to tell tho 
 fortunes of the servants. She was asked if she krew 
 the woman who was inquired for the preceding day. 
 She replied, that she was the very person. On hear- 
 ing by whose servant she was addressed, she became 
 almost speechless with shame, and said, I would rather 
 have met the king. On recovering, she expressed
 
 81 
 
 great delight and gratitude that she was not forgotten 
 by the lady, and declared that she had been very un- 
 happy since she had left Southampton, and that the 
 sin of fortune-telling greatly distressed her mind ; but 
 that she knew not how to support her family without 
 it. They had undergone many hardships. The little 
 boys, she said, had frequently amused themselves with 
 trying to spell the different things about their tent, and 
 were often wishing for their Southampton fire. The 
 next morning she brought them to see her kind bene- 
 factress. The youngest of them, a fine promising boy, 
 both as to talent and disposition, was overjoyed at the 
 meeting ; his little eyes were filled with tears, and he 
 could scarcely speak. He and his brother were im- 
 mediately provided with clothing, and sent to the 
 School of Industry; where, in addition to the religious 
 instruction given them, they were taught reading, 
 writing, arithmetic, digging, &c. Their master has 
 been much pleased with their progress. The mother 
 was afterwards induced to winter at Brighton, being 
 allowed a small sum weekly. She has been taught to 
 read by some kind friends, and great hopes are en- 
 tertained of her conversion to God. A letter has lately 
 been received which gives a very interesting account 
 of her increase in knowledge and improvement in 
 morals. 
 
 A very promising Gipsy youth, who was placed 
 
 with a coach-maker in Southampton, after working 
 
 some time, cut his hand, and then relinquished his 
 
 employment to wander with his father, who is arat- 
 
 E
 
 82 
 
 catcher. But it is hoped that he, as well as others 
 of his brethren who have returned to their former 
 courses, will be brought back, or find some other de- 
 sirable and permanent abode ; that what has been 
 done by this society may not ultimately be lost. In- 
 deed, while writing this, I am happy to be able to state 
 that the morals of this young man appear very correct, 
 and that he has, by constant application, learned to 
 read tolerably well since he left Southampton. He 
 supports himself by selling brushes, lines, and corks, 
 but talks very seriously of giving up his wandering 
 habits to return to us again.* The widow of a fiddling 
 Gipsy has also relinquished her wandering habits, 
 and three of her sons, and a woman who travelled 
 with them. Two of the children go to school, and 
 the eldest, a young man, is learning to be a black- 
 smith. A fourth son joined us, but he loved the 
 violin more than work. 
 
 Among the reclaimed Gipsies are five women 
 who were notorious fortune-tellers, and who doubt- 
 less have done much injury to society. Their 
 morals are now very promising; and there is a fair 
 prospect of their children being saved from much sin 
 and misery, as they are gradually acquiring useful 
 scriptural knowledge, and correctness of habits; in 
 which, if they persevere, by the grace of the Re- 
 
 * Tlrs young man is now settled in Southampton, and 
 is placed with a carpenter; and is very industrious in his 
 callin<r.
 
 83 
 
 deemer, their present and everlasting welfare will be 
 secured. Such examples of success amply repay the 
 Committee for the labour and expense already be- 
 stowed on the Gipsies ; and it is hoped its members 
 will be stimulated to every exertion in their power by 
 the good done to those in a state of reformation and 
 improvement, that the whole wandering race may be 
 led into the right way. 
 
 A Gipsy woman, of whose reformation we have 
 already taken some notice, having gone to solicit the 
 assistance of the parish to which one of her children 
 belonged, met with many difficulties and troubles. She 
 was not at this time destitute of the knowledge of reli- 
 gion. She had learned to read, and had become ac- 
 quainted with the Scriptures at an adult school, and 
 by attending at a place of worship * and these in- 
 structions were not thrown away on her ; for, although 
 she was frequently invited by the Gipsies on her 
 journey to feast with them, she conscientiously re- 
 fused, fearing that what they were partaking of might 
 not be honestly obtained. She informed them that 
 her Testament had taught her better habits than those 
 she had formerly known. Her children helped to 
 keep alive her religious impressions. They often talk- 
 ed to her about their school, of their lessons, and the 
 observations of the master and mistress, on different 
 parts of the Scriptures, and at other times they cate- 
 
 All the adults go to an adult school.
 
 chised each other on the objects that presented them- 
 selves on the road, in the same way they had been 
 used to in the Infants' Schools ; to which they often 
 begged their mother to let them return. These cir- 
 cumstances, she has since said, so affected her while 
 on their journey, that she felt she could not live as 
 she had done. 
 
 Some time after this, she made a visit to a parish 
 in which another of her children was born, near Ba- 
 singstoke. She entered the cottage of an old couple 
 who sold fruit, &c. Tea being proposed, the old wo- 
 man expressed her surprise that she had not seen her 
 visitor for so long a time, saying, she was glad she 
 was come, as she wanted her to tell her many things, 
 meaning future events. She mentioned a great deal 
 that another Gipsy woman had told her, on which the 
 reformed one exclaimed, Don't believe her, dame. It 
 is all lies. She knows no more about it than you do. 
 If you trust to what she says, you will be deceived. 
 The old woman was still more surprised, and asked 
 " how she, who had so often told their fortunes, and 
 had promised them such good hick, could be so much 
 altered." The woman taking her Testament from 
 her bosom, replied, " I have learned from this blessed 
 book, and from my kind friends, that all liars shall 
 have their portion in the lake that burncth with 
 brimstone and Jire ; and rather than tell fortunes 
 again, I would starve." She then opened her book 
 and began reading a chapter, endeavouring to explain 
 it as she read, at which her host and hostess began
 
 85 
 
 to weep. She told them " that though she knew she 
 had been a great sinner, and was one still, yet she 
 never had felt so happy as then." The old woman 
 observed, " that she could not say she was happy, 
 and wished to know what she must do to feel happy." 
 The Gipsy replied, " You must leave off selling on 
 Sundays, and go to a place of worship, and learn to 
 read the Testament, and to pray, and then you will 
 become happy." 
 
 This poor Gipsy woman, who was so anxious to 
 instruct those she had many times deceived, was soon 
 after taken sick, at which time her distress of soul was 
 very great; and she then said, "were she to die, 
 her soul could not go to heaven." 
 
 Many were her temptations, while in great poverty, 
 to renew the practice of fortune-telling. Several gen- 
 teel parties have visited her, and sometimes offered 
 her gold, tempting her to begin again the sins she had 
 for ever given up ; but much to her credit, she at all 
 times resolutely refused all such unholy gain. 
 
 At one time some very gay young women called on 
 her, desiring to have their fortunes told. Her Testa- 
 ment lay on the table, which she had but a short time 
 before been reading, and pointing to it, she said, That 
 book, and that only, will tell your fortunes', for it is 
 God's book ; it is his own word. She reproved them 
 for their sin, and said, " The Bible had told her, all 
 unrighteousness is sin." They then requested " she 
 ' would not tell the author that they had called upon her." 
 She replied, Oh ! you fear man more than God ?
 
 86 
 
 A few days since, this reformed woman was sweep- 
 ing the pavement in front of her house, when two fe- 
 male servants came up, inquiring for the house of 
 the fortune-teller ;* mourning over them for their folly 
 she said, My dears, she cannot tell your fortunes. I 
 Jiave been a professed fortune-teller, and have de- 
 ceived hundreds. She succeeded in persuading them 
 to go home. 
 
 At a meeting of Gipsies held at a gentleman's house, 
 Jan. 1830, the youngest child of this woman said to 
 lier mother, Mammy, who be all these folks ? The 
 mother replied, They are Gipsies. Was I ever like 
 'em? asked the child. Yes, said the mother, you was 
 once apoor little Gipsy, without stockings and shoes, 
 and glad to beg a halfpenny of anybody. It is a 
 circumstance not to be lamented, that the condition 
 even of a little child has been so much bettered by 
 the exertions of the Committee. 
 
 In addition to the encouragement afforded us by 
 this woman, givingupwith so much decision the prac- 
 tice of fortune- telling, the author must not forget to 
 mention an instance of her forbearance of temper 
 under provocation and outrage. She had, when a 
 vagrant, a quarrel with some of her ignorant people of 
 another tribe. Meeting with them after her reforma- 
 tion, she was severely beaten by them, and had her 
 ear-drops torn from her ears, and they contemptuously 
 
 * A Louse dweller, uot a Gipsy.
 
 87 
 
 called her Methodist. When asked " why she did 
 not bring her persecutors to justice," she replied, How 
 can I be forgiven if I do not forgive? That is 
 what my Testament tells me. 
 
 The young widow we have before mentioned conti- 
 nued to tell fortunes for some time after we had taken 
 her children ; but it pleased the Holy Spirit to awaken 
 her conscience, and to show her the wickedness of such 
 crimes, by which she was led to true repentance and 
 reformation of character. 
 
 After the death of both the children of this inter- 
 esting individual, she went into the service of a kind 
 and pious lady in London. For this situation she was 
 prepared by one, of equal benevolence, in Southampton, 
 who had her for some time in her own house for that 
 purpose. She continued in this situation till the lady's 
 death, and has since been in other service, where she 
 has conducted herself so well as to prove she is become 
 a sincere servant of Christ. She is respected by her 
 present employer.
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Some Remarks on the Sin of Fortune-telling . 
 
 THE author will be pardoned, he is willing to hope, 
 by the kind reader, if he digress in one or two para- 
 graphs, in this part of his work, purposely to expose 
 the great wickedness of prognostication and fortune- 
 telling ; as the whole is not only unsound, foolish, 
 absurd, and false, but is most peremptorily forbidden 
 in the Scriptures. 
 
 In the law of Moses it is commanded, that there 
 should not be found among the people, any that used 
 divination, or that was an observer of the times, or that 
 was an enchanter : Deut. xiii. 10. In the prophecies 
 of Malachi, the Lord has declared, Thou shalt have 
 no more soothsayers: Mai. v. 12. Balaam and 
 Balak were cursed of the Lord of Hosts ; the former 
 for using enchantments, and the latter for employing 
 Balaam in this wicked work. Woe to them that de- 
 vise iniquity : Micah ii. 1. Those who employ un- 
 happy Gipsy women, should think on the portion of 
 the liar: Rev. xxi. 8: for the person who tempts 
 another to utter falsehood by offering rewards, is 
 equally guilty before God. A companion of fools 
 shall be destroyed : Prov. xiii. 20. Though hand 
 join in hand, in sin, the wicked shall not go unpun-
 
 89 
 
 ished: Prov. xvi. 5. The destruction of the trans- 
 gressors and the sinners shall be together: Isai. i. 
 28. It may be safely affirmed that the sin of those 
 persons, who trifle with Gipsy women in having their 
 fortunes told by them, bears some resemblance to that 
 of the first king of Israel ; who, by consulting in his 
 trouble a wicked woman who pretended to superna- 
 tural power, filled up the measure of those sins, by 
 which he lost the protection of heaven, his crown, and 
 his life, and by which he involved his family in the 
 most ruinous calamity. 
 
 Reader, have you encouraged any of these people in 
 such crimes 1 If you have so far forgotten yourself, 
 the commands of God, and the curse that awaits you, 
 and those who deceive themselves in the same way ; 
 reflect, before it be too late, on the evil into which you 
 have willingly, wilfully, and without the least reason- 
 able excuse, fallen ; and, on the guilt that must of 
 necessity attach to your conscience thereby. Should 
 you never meet those you encouraged to sin in this 
 Avorld, and therefore never have an opportunity of 
 warning them of their danger, yet must you meet at 
 the bar of Christ ; and if then loaded with the weight 
 of the sin in question, how awful will be }'our condi- 
 tion ! Yourself and a fellow-creature turned out for 
 ever from God, and heaven, and hope ! You may find 
 mercy now, if you by faith in the Redeemer seek for 
 it ; and who can tell but if you sincerely pray for those 
 you led into sin, but that the mercy of which you par- 
 E 5
 
 90 
 
 take may find out them! May it even be so, to your 
 everlasting comfort ! 
 
 Some have supposed that this contemptible practice 
 was first introduced into Europe by the Gipsies : but 
 such persons are greatly mistaken. In the dark ages 
 of superstition, in which this wandering people came 
 to our part of the world, prognostication and fortune- 
 telling were carried on to an infinite extent ; and so 
 enraged were the deceivers of those days against the 
 Gipsies, that they proclaimed they knew nothing of the 
 art ; that they were deceivers and impostors. 
 
 It were well if the Gipsies were now the only per- 
 sons addicted to such wickedness ; but this is not the 
 case; for it is well known that almost every town is 
 cursed with an astrological, magical, or sleight-of-hand 
 fortune-teller. There are two now in Southampton; 
 and their wretched abodes are visited, not only by 
 vain and ignorant servants, but often by those who 
 belong to the higher circles, and not unfrequently by 
 those who drive their carriages. 
 
 To conclude this chapter, it may be safely said, that 
 the sort of wickedness in question is not only forbid- 
 den in the Scriptures, and will add much to the guilt 
 of an impenitent death ; but that it is calculated to 
 give us the most airy anticipations, or oppress us with 
 the most unreasonable despair. Sufficient unto the 
 day is the evil thereof; why should we then afflict 
 ourselves about ill-fortune in future years? If we 
 seek, as the first great object of life, the kingdom of
 
 91 
 
 heaven, all necessary things shall be added. And 
 why should we deceive ourselves with gay and splen- 
 did expectations ? Riches make themselves wings 
 and soon fly away.
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Plans suggested to the pious and benevolent for 
 promoting a Reformation among the Gipsies, 
 with some encouraging accounts from Prussia 
 and Bristol. 
 
 As no event happens without a cause, so no good is 
 accomplished without means. It is in the power of 
 man as an instrument, frequently to make his fellow- 
 creatures either happy or miserable. And it may 
 safely be asserted, that much of the ignorance, de- 
 pravity, and consequent misery found in the world, 
 are occasioned by the want of a united and persever- 
 ing application of the energies of Christians, to the 
 reformation of the most debased classes of society. 
 This backwardness to perform that which is good, with 
 respect to our fellow-men, must be accounted for, by 
 the want of faith in God's word, and the little influ- 
 ence we allow the religion of the Saviour to have on 
 our own hearts. It may also be occasioned by the 
 strong evidences we have of the corruption of human 
 nature, and the little good we see attend the labours 
 of others : and we are often likewise discouraged, 
 because our own efforts fail. On these accounts, how 
 often do we sigh foropportunites of doing good, whilst 
 we neglect the openings of Providence in little things,
 
 93 
 
 which would frequently lead to the accomplishment 
 of most important usefulness ! Dr. Johnson used to 
 say, " He who waits to do a great deal of good at 
 once, will never do any." Good is done by degrees. 
 However small in proportion the benefit which follows 
 individual attempts to do good, a great deal may thus 
 be accomplished by perseverance, even in the midst 
 of discouragements and disappointments. The first 
 missionaries who visited England, had to contend 
 with all the frightful cruelties of savage life, and the 
 more horrid rites of Druidical worship. But now, 
 though much wickedness abounds in England, it is, in 
 a religious point of view, the paradise of the earth. 
 May all those who wish to diffuse the genuine in- 
 fluences of Christianity among the poor Gipsies, 
 imitate the example of the adorable Saviour, who 
 made himself of no reputation, that he might en- 
 lighten the most ignorant, and impart happiness to the 
 most miserable. 
 
 It will not be denied that the Gipsies are capable of 
 feeling the influence and appreciating the worth of 
 the Gospel: and no one will doubt that the earlier 
 the plans are adopted for their improvement, the 
 sooner will this desirable work be accomplished. 
 
 The reader is requested to pay particular attention 
 to the following suggestions. 
 
 The establishment of an Institution to supply in- 
 struction to the Gipsies by regular ministers, or Mis- 
 sionaries, would be of but little use. Indeed such a 
 measure could scarcely be carried into effect. For the
 
 94 
 
 Gipsies, besides associating in very small companies, 
 are perpetually driven from place to place. To sup- 
 ply them, therefore, with regularinstruction, a preacher 
 would be necessary to every family ; who would con- 
 descend to their mode of life, travel when they tra- 
 velled, rest when they rested, and be content with the 
 ground and straw for his bed, and a blanket tent for 
 his covering! All this would subject them to great 
 personal inconvenience, and at the same time be very 
 expensive, and highly improper. Neither would it be 
 possible for missionaries to be appointed regularly to 
 visit the Gipsies in any county. For it might often 
 happen that, before intelligence could be forwarded to 
 those appointed to give them instruction, they might 
 be removed by a peace officer, or have set out on a 
 journey of several miles distance. Benevolent, zealous, 
 and prudent persons may do much by visiting the 
 camps near towns; and the most suitable parts of 
 the day for promoting this object, are morning and 
 evening. But the most simple and easy plans of in- 
 struction should invariably be adopted. 
 
 To those persons who are afraid of visiting the 
 Gipsies, lest they should be insulted, abused, and 
 robbed, the author may be allowed to say that they 
 have not the least grounds for such fears. In Scot- 
 land this fear is quite as general among the religious 
 people as it is in England ; and in that country the 
 inhabitants are even afraid to prosecute them for their 
 depredations and crimes. In England ladies are fre- 
 quently known to visit their camps singly, when more
 
 95 
 
 than a mile from towns, and to sit and read and con- 
 verse with them for a considerable time, with the 
 greatest confidence and safety. 
 
 There is not the least prospect of doing them good 
 by forcing instruction upon them. About the year 
 1748, the Empress Theresa attempted the improve- 
 ment of the Gipsies in Germany, by taking away, by 
 force, all their children of a certain age, in order to 
 educate and protect them ; but such an unnatural and 
 arbitrary mode of benevolence defeated its own object ; 
 and this is not to be wondered at : the souls of the 
 free resist every effort of compulsion, whether the ob- 
 ject be good or bad. Compulsory instruction, therefore, 
 would do no good among the Gipsies. But they are 
 easily won by kindness, and whoever wishes really to 
 benefit them, must convince them that this is his in- 
 tention, by patiently bearing with the unpleasing parts 
 of their characters, and by a willingness to lessen their 
 distresses so far as it is in his power. Such kindness 
 will never be lost upon them. Nor would the author 
 recommend their being encouraged to live in towns, 
 except they are truly desirous of leading anew life, 
 as it is almost certain that their morals would be 
 greatly corrupted thereby : and they would be capa- 
 ble of more extensive injury to society, should they 
 take to their wandering habits again. 
 
 A correspondent of a friend of the author has just 
 communicated the following particulars, which prove 
 the truth of the above remarks. 
 
 There is in the neighbourhood of Harz, at Nordhau-
 
 96 
 
 sen, a colony of Gipsies, to whom a missionary has 
 been sent from Berlin. His last letter speaks very 
 favourably of their disposition to receive the word of 
 life. The manner of his introduction to them was by 
 no means likely to ensure him a favourable reception. 
 " Here/' said the person who brought him among 
 them, " you have a missionary, who is come to con- 
 vert you ; now mind and be converted, or you shall 
 go to prison." The effect this foolish speech produced 
 on the Gipsies may be easily imagined, and likewise 
 how useless it rendered the situation of the missionary 
 who desired to labour among them. They took to 
 flight whenever they saw him approach, and thus, 
 humanly speaking, there appeared not the least 
 prospect of success, as the seed of the word could not 
 so much as be sown. But HE who alone is able to 
 turn the heart, mercifully looked upon the work, and 
 directed him to the right means effectually to bring it 
 about. 
 
 The Gipsies were obliged to cultivate the land on 
 which they were permitted to reside ; but being quite 
 ignorant of agriculture, they were at a loss how to 
 proceed. The missionary undertook himself to give 
 them advice and assistance in the work. Seeing the 
 success that attended his labours, they began to be 
 much more diligent in the cultivation of their grounds, 
 while their confidence daily increased in their mis- 
 sionary, and they became more accessible and willing 
 to be taught. At last they asked him for what 
 reason the people at Berlin had sent him among them ;
 
 97 
 
 and when he told them, they were overpowered with 
 gratitude, and melted into tears. Their attachment 
 to him and the friends who had sent him became 
 stronger and stronger. In some cases, it may be true, 
 the conquest of their prejudices against the missionary 
 might proceed from the advantages they reaped by 
 attending to his advice; and this is much to their 
 credit, and is a most desirable improvement. It is 
 hoped they will soon be led to attend sincerely to his 
 religious instructions. 
 
 This pleasing intelligence has been since confirmed 
 by the Countess of Reden, with many other interest- 
 ing facts, communicated in a letter to the Rev. C. I. 
 La Trobe, minister of the Moravian Church, London ; 
 extracts of which the author is happy in laying before 
 his readers. 
 
 Extract of a letter from the Right Honourable the 
 Countess von Reden, of Buchwald, Silesia, to the 
 Rev. C. I. La Trobe : 
 
 " Neuenhof, near Eisenach, May 23, 1831. 
 
 " My dear Friend, 
 
 " You are never sure of being left long without 
 being called upon to assist your friends ; I therefore 
 write to you from Thuringia, and send you a few 
 papers which speak for themselves, and do not need 
 any comments. It appears to me, that the business 
 at Fried rickslohra is a work of God, and a spark of 
 his kindling, which he may raise into a flame, so as 
 to become the means of converting and ameliorating
 
 the condition of a great many of the Gipsy race. 
 Who therefore would not contribute his mite towards 
 it? I have given 150 dollars towards the purchase 
 of the house, and endeavour to interest benevolent 
 friends to assist in delivering these poor children from 
 the wretchedness to which they are exposed. I have 
 put your name foremost in the list of those to whom 
 I mean to apply, knowing you will not refuse a 
 widow's petition, but try to raise up friends in Eng- 
 land to assist those unfortunate people. 
 
 " On the 25th instant, I purpose to return to my 
 'home in Silesia." 
 
 A letter from a humane traveller to the Hamburgh 
 Missionary Society, relating to the misery of the poor 
 Gipsies near Nordhausen, in the year 1828. 
 
 *' My dear fellow Christians, 
 
 " The love of Christ constrains me to make you, 
 by these few lines, attentive to a tribe of heathen, 
 who seem hitherto to have been neglected : I mean 
 the Gipsies Avho live in the neighbourhood of Nord- 
 hausen, and in a village called Friedrickslohra, and 
 in the neighbouring forests. Their number amounts, 
 by their own report, to about three hundred. 
 
 " On a journey which I made in their vicinity 
 last autumn, I became acquainted with the life and 
 manners of this miserable community, when I resolved 
 to visit them, and first go to Friedrickslohra. Grief 
 and horror seized me when I beheld their wretched 
 and neglected condition, of which I heard more in
 
 99 
 
 the neighbouring villages. They live by begging, 
 stealing, and fortune- telling. The latter is chiefly 
 practised by the women, who are uncommonly fertile 
 in inventions to deceive the unwary. The Prussian 
 government has issued very severe edicts against 
 them, but the officers of government are afraid to put 
 them in force, the Gipsies being very revengeful, and 
 these edicts are seldom acted upon. The greater 
 part of the Gipsies call themselves Roman Catholics, 
 but this is only done when they are examined as to 
 their religion, for otherwise they seldom attend the 
 churches, except they get their children baptized, 
 hoping to obtain presents. This they do in many 
 parishes, with the same view; but the greater part of 
 them remain unbaptized, having been born in the 
 forest, where they are not noticed by the government. 
 " In winter, those who live in Friedrickslohra are 
 joined by the forest people, and crowded into small 
 houses, where they lie naked in every corner, and 
 every idea of decency and virtue is totally lost. Now 
 and then they sally forth from the abominable dens, 
 to procure the most necessary food for themselves and 
 their children, by begging, stealing, and poaching. 
 As a proof of their cunning, they manage all this so 
 as to escape the hands of justice. In spring, they 
 distribute themselves again into the forests, at a dis- 
 tance from the villages and sheep farms, where they 
 pitch their tents, keeping the country in a state of 
 alarm. But if they are received into any village, they 
 defend it against all other beggars and thieves.
 
 100 
 
 " I took a guide, and went into the forest to visit 
 these stragglers. They were exceedingly astonished 
 when I began to converse with them in a friendly 
 way, and I soon turned the conversation to the one 
 thing needful. Old and young, great and small, 
 crowded around me to hear what had never been 
 spoken to them before, as they had only been treated 
 with harshness and severity. I even saw tears running 
 down the sun-burnt cheeks of many of them, as I repre- 
 sented to them the cause of their inward and outward 
 misery. Oh ! my dear friend, as this country is under 
 Prussian government, I trust I am not pleading in 
 vain when I entreat you to send help to this wretched 
 people, to relieve their outward distress, and to pro- 
 cure for them the comforts of the gospel. Caution 
 and prudence are required in attempting the ameliora- 
 tion of their external condition. Every Gipsy is averse 
 to labour, and this must create difficulties. It would be 
 a real missionary post, and to each, devoting himself 
 to the service, means must be supplied to help them 
 to obtain their livelihood. Having always been treated 
 with severity, they are in general very shy. I found 
 the forest people eating their dinner, consisting of a 
 hog which had died of disease, and of which they 
 offered me a portion. With greediness they devour 
 all the dead cattle they can find. 1 offered to give 
 them some tracts published by the Prussian Tract 
 Society. Only one of them could read ; the rest 
 heard him with great attention. When I took leave, 
 every one of them begged for one of the little books.
 
 101 
 
 "They speak among themselves a peculiar language. 
 Their neighbours say that, sometimes a party of them 
 disappear, and others come in their place; which 
 seems to prove that they are in correspondence with 
 distant hordes. Most of the Gipsies are healthy, 
 powerful persons ; and the man that could read was 
 a truly handsome fellow. I was particularly affected 
 with the behaviour of a very old woman, who by signs 
 and words could not sufficiently express her joy, when 
 she heard that even for her the Son of God had come 
 into the world, and died for her salvation. I now 
 leave to your Christian love and humanity the case I 
 have described. May the Lord bless whatever you 
 may resolve to do on this occasion. It is still day, 
 and therefore let us work." 
 
 In consequence of this appeal, the Hamburgh 
 Missionary Society took the miserable state of these 
 poor people to heart, and found a man to whom they 
 could commit the instruction of the poor Gipsies iu 
 Christianity. This worthy man, William Blankenberg, 
 has already entered upon his labours, and in a letter 
 to his relations has given the following account of its 
 commencement and progress. 
 
 " I left Nordhausen on July 20th, 1830, and pro- 
 ceeded to Friedrickslohra, where I found things very 
 different from what I had expected. Friedrickslohra 
 is not situated in the forest, but close to it, in a 
 beautiful vale, and the country is in general like a 
 garden. The village is tolerably large. On the hill
 
 lies the Amts-lohra (bailiwick of Lohra) and the Lu- 
 theran Church. The inhabitants of this country are 
 all Lutherans, except sixty Catholic families in Fried- 
 rickslohra, among whom the Gipsies dwell. The 
 latter have no property, but must lodge with the for- 
 mer, who set them a bad example of morality. They 
 pay a high rent ; four families occupying a small 
 house, every one being charged six or seven dollars. 
 About twenty persons live in a house, each family 
 having a quarter of a room, and no furniture is to be 
 seen. The bare ground is their seat, table, and bed. 
 Their clothing consists of a few rags, and they lie 
 about half naked. They obtain the necessaries of 
 life by stealing, and spend whole days without food. 
 The women must go about begging; no one will give 
 them work, nor have they any inclination for it. Their 
 rent must be paid beforehand ; but they insult none, 
 nor appear to be vindictive, though they are altogether 
 despised and neglected. Every man curses and re- 
 viles them, and will give them nothing. 
 
 " As they are always threatened to be sent to the 
 house of correction, they thought that I came to carry 
 them thither, and were therefore in great trepidation, 
 till I promised them that if they were sent thither, I 
 would accompany them as a friend. Their fears are 
 now subsided, perceiving I only desire to promote 
 their welfare ; they love me as a father, and cheer- 
 fully do what I bid them. I attend their sick and 
 distressed, and the children assemble around my 
 house and beg to be instructed.
 
 103 
 
 "August 12th. I shall go with the whole company 
 to a place four hours' walk from hence, where I have 
 sought and found work for them. Other Gipsies, 
 who are strangers here, hogged to be employed. I 
 encourage them all to come, Jtnd furnish them with 
 tools. Their work is to clear a large piece of forest 
 land. They are to get two dollars and a half for 
 every thlafter (or quantity of logs, six feet square in 
 front and three feet deep). The work is heavy, and 
 no severe treatment would make the Gipsies under- 
 take it; but my people engage in it cheerfully, and 
 I shall work with them, for what I do they do like- 
 wise. What will not love effect ! 
 
 " My company consists of fifteen men, all volunteers. 
 These take their wives and children with them, and 
 live in huts. The other people are not at home. I 
 have furnished them with pick-axes, spades, and iron 
 levers and Avedges ; and to those who had no money, 
 I advanced twelve groschen (about Is. 6d.), on con- 
 dition that they return four groschen per week. Thus 
 they are enabled to work, and when they have paid 
 the debt, the tools are given to them. They are 
 engaged for two years. Several benevolent persons 
 assist in this labour of love." 
 
 Extract of a letter from the missionary's wife to 
 her family, dated November 14, 1830: 
 
 "October 18. I went in reliance upon the help 
 of the Lord to the Gipsies' huts, to collect some girls 
 whom I wished to teach to knit. On proposing it,
 
 104 
 
 they began to weep aloud. One of them had no 
 clothes, except a filthy and ragged little shift ; another 
 had no shift. Their hair hung over their faces, full 
 of filth and vermin. I could not refrain from tears. 
 I took four girls who could go with me ; combed, 
 washed, and cleaned them completely, and gave them 
 such clothes as I could find ; to all which they will- 
 ingly submitted. I began my instructions with prayer 
 to the Lord for his blessing, and now I have eleven 
 scholars that knit pretty well. The bigger girls knit 
 stockings, for which I must buy the yarn ; the lesser 
 ones knit garters. Children frequently come to me 
 early in the morning, and say, ' My mother is gone 
 abroad begging, and I get up to come to you without 
 anything to eat.' At noon, the case is the same. 
 Are we to eat and the children to suffer hunger? 
 That cannot be ; we must cook something for the 
 children also. We have hired a small room near our 
 dwelling for a school-room, for which we pay ten 
 dollars a month. Twenty-two children are capable of 
 learning, but all want clothing. We wish to give to 
 each girl t\vo shifts and petticoats, and to the boys 
 jackets and trousers. I work at these as much as I 
 can, and as I can do little in the day-time, spend half 
 the night in sewing. As soon as the children are 
 clothed, my husband will begin a school. Hitherto 
 these poor children have received no kind of instruc- 
 tion. Every evening we undress the children and 
 put their old ragged garments upon them, for we dare 
 not let them take the others home, as they would soon
 
 105 
 
 be pawned, sold, or filled with vermin. They go 
 home to their parents, to sleep upon the bare ground. 
 This is very unpleasant, for they all lie, without dis- 
 tinction of sex or age, huddled together in a small 
 space, and hear and see many things destructive of 
 morality. 
 
 " We grieve over this circumstance, but the Mis- 
 sionary Society is not able to furnish the means of 
 helping us. We wish we were enabled to provide 
 for the dwelling and education of these poor children, 
 that the girls might be taught to be good servants, and 
 the boys put apprentices to different trades. 
 
 " The parents being HOW convinced that we seek 
 the welfare of their offspring, and that their children 
 love us, are willing to commit them to our care ; but 
 it would involve much expense, and where are the 
 means to come from? A house might be bought, with 
 about two acres of land, for 300 dollars (about 50/.)> 
 which, though not at present habitable, has a very 
 eligible situation. 
 
 " O ! Lord God, our heavenly Father, to thee the 
 wants of these poor children are known, better than I 
 can describe them. Have mercy upon them for 
 Jesus Christ's sake, and grant that they may not walk 
 in the footsteps of their parents." 
 
 A gentleman resident in one of the towns of Hamp- 
 shire was agreeably surprised one Sabbath morning 
 by seeing a number of Gipsies at public worship ; and 
 on beinginduced to converse with them, was pleased to 
 F
 
 106 
 
 find that they regularly attended divine service at 
 Southampton, and other places. He directed them to 
 move their tents into a more commodious situation in 
 one of his own fields. This unusual act of kindness, 
 which however required no great sacrifice on his part, 
 made so deep an impression on the hearts of this 
 people, as is not likely to be forgotten : they will 
 speak of his kindness as long as they live. 
 
 A lady once said to one of my friends, speaking of 
 the Gipsies, " My neighbours are always complaining 
 that the Gipsies do them mischief, and rob them ; as 
 for me, I cannot complain ; / treat them kindly, and 
 in return, when they are near my house, they guard 
 it, and frighten away other thieves. / never lost any- 
 thing by having them near my house." 
 
 The author has had similar testimonies from farm- 
 ers, gentlemen and ladies of Sussex, Surrey, Hants, 
 and Dorset, which prove that Gipsies can be honest 
 and grateful. 
 
 They receive with willingness one of their own 
 people, who is now a reformed and pious character, 
 living at Southampton, and whom we have named in a 
 former page. They now rejoice, too, in the assurance 
 that a great number of good Christians pity and love 
 them, and are seeking to promote their present and 
 everlasting happiness. 
 
 It is therefore much to he wished, that committees 
 of ladies or gentlemen were formed in eveiy town in 
 the kingdom, and their attention directed to this neg- 
 lected class of British subjects. An active person
 
 107 
 
 might be found in every place, to act under the 
 sanction of such committees, who should visit their 
 tents, instruct them in the Scriptures, and pray with 
 and for them, the latter he should never neglect, by 
 which means he would gain their confidence, and 
 would always be looked on as a friend. Such a person 
 should not be ashamed to speak kindly to them when 
 he meets them in the street or on the road. Indeed 
 at all times he should converse with them plainly and 
 affectionately about the great love of the Redeemer 
 in coming into this our world to suffer and die for 
 guilty sinners, of whom they make a number. But 
 all the labour should not be confined to one person. 
 Every member of these committees should be alive to 
 this good work ; as also all Christians, and especially 
 ministers. 
 
 But should there not be sufficient energy and bene- 
 volence in all towns to form a committee, two or three 
 who are well disposed to the object may unite together 
 and accomplish a great deal. And should there not 
 be found more than one person thus benevolently dis- 
 posed, let not that one be discouraged. The single 
 talent must not be neglected, should it be only the 
 power to give a cup of cold water, or to speak one 
 word about the water of life, to a necessitous and 
 perishing Gipsy ; for it may not, cannot be in vain. 
 Reader, are you doing what you can in this humble 
 way ? It may be, you would rather ascend the pulpit 
 and preach to well-informed Christians, or visit the
 
 108 
 
 ignorant in your own town ! This is well ; but the 
 other should not be left undone. The wanderers in 
 the wilderness are not to be forgotten ; the outcasts of 
 society are to be sought after. Let us imitate our 
 adorable Redeemer, who went about doing good, and 
 who sought those who were not the least desirous of 
 finding him. As an encouragement to British Chris- 
 tians, who are alive to the happiness of the Gipsies, 
 they should know that there are many among them 
 desirous of a new mode of life, as will appear by 
 communications lately made to the author. 
 
 " Bristol, October llt/i, 1830. 
 " My dear Sir, 
 
 " I am unwilling to let a parcel go to Southampton, 
 without sending you a line to give you a little infor- 
 mation respecting H , of whom I made inquiry if 
 
 she had called on the friends to whom I directed her. 
 This was done by her ; but she could obtain no em- 
 ployment. Both H and her husband conduct 
 
 themselves in a very satisfactory manner. A young 
 lady, I hope, will employ her soon; and, perhaps, in 
 time she may get into regular work ; but at present 
 she gets very little, and it is very necessary that the 
 man should have employment. The cork trade is 
 aiow over (he used to sell corks). They can have the 
 loan of a donkey for two months for nothing, and that 
 
 being the case, I told H to look out for a small 
 
 part, which I desired her to hire for a week, and sell
 
 109 
 
 coals and potatoes in small quantities.* I have felt 
 fearful lest you should think me too busy ; but neces- 
 sity has compelled me to do something, or they must 
 have almost starved; and I cannot bear the thought 
 of their wanting bread, knowing it must be a great 
 temptation for them to return to their old habits. 
 The man appears much altered for the better. He 
 said one day, when they wanted food, that he would 
 rather beg than oblige his wife to return to fortune- 
 telling. H tells me that her husband and she 
 
 live happily, and that they have had words but once 
 since they left their vagrant life. I am also happy to 
 discover in her, pleasing evidences of honesty, as she 
 pays her weekly rent often before it is due, when she 
 has money, fearing that she may spend it in food. 
 Job, their son, has no work, but I hope that he will be 
 able to help his father. Do, my dear Mr. Crabb, pray 
 for this little branch of your family. I have received 
 
 two pounds for your Infants' Schools from Mr. , 
 
 and would send it now, but I have been obliged to ex- 
 pend a considerable part of it on these poor Gipsies. 
 Do write to me when you can, and give me advice 
 respecting this poor family." 
 
 The author must remark, that since the above letter 
 
 * The friends of tbis good cause at Bristol now think that 
 manual lubour is far more conducive to their conversion than 
 hawking any article whatever; the ahove plan is therefore 
 totally abandoned for labour, and a lady employs him con- 
 stantly in her garden.
 
 was received, others also have been sent from two 
 ladies in the neighbourhood, which give the South- 
 ampton committee great pleasure. The following are 
 extracts. 
 
 " I have seen Mr. , and have had a pleasing 
 
 interview with Miss relating to the poor wanderers 
 
 you wrote to me about. I have had the man and 
 
 woman at my house. After having heard H read, 
 
 I told her ' that the leprosy she had been reading of 
 represented the evil of our sinful heart ; that we were 
 born with it ; that it prevailed in every part of the 
 soul; and that we had lived always under its influence.' 
 She exclaimed, ' Dear me ! I never heard the like 
 of that before ! Now it seems good for me to know 
 this." She wept much. When I told her of the 
 love of Christ, she appeared struck with her own 
 extreme ingratitude. Her expressions were so simple 
 and full of pathos, that my heart was quite overcome. 
 She ran out of the room for her husband, and on her 
 return said, ' Ah! do talk to my poor husband, just 
 what you said to me.' I found him not so interesting, 
 but desirous of leaving his wandering life for ever, 
 and getting employment, if possible. They have made 
 some flower-baskets for me ; and hoping they may 
 obtain orders for more, I have recommended them to 
 my friends. I have heard of another family, consist- 
 ing of fourteen souls, who encamp on Bedminster 
 Down, and there, by God's help, I intend to send a 
 minister of Jesus, to try what can be done for them.
 
 Ill 
 
 There is also another family expected, who have a 
 house of their oivn at Bedminster, and who winter 
 there. Should the Lord bless our humble endeavours, 
 we must have a regular committee, and set about our 
 work in a workmanlike manner ; nothing short of a 
 colony will satisfy me. I intend to introduce this 
 interesting subject to a party this evening, and hope 
 the Lord will open the hearts of his people to do good 
 to those poor benighted wanderers." 
 
 In addition to these communications, which are so 
 encouraging, the author has to notice visits of some 
 of the students of the Baptist Academy of Bristol, 
 and those of another person, whose heart ever feels 
 for Gipsies. The Baptist friends to whom he alludes 
 saw a large number, whom they went to, and were 
 gladly received. They sat down with them in their 
 tents, and partook of some of their Christmas plum- 
 pudding, which they said was very good. Having 
 gained their confidence by kindness and familiarity, 
 they read and expounded the Scriptures, and accom- 
 panied their instructions by prayer. 
 
 The same Gipsies had heard, although so far from 
 Southampton, of the attempts of the friends of Gipsies 
 in that town to rescue them from wandering vice and 
 misery. 
 
 During a visit the author made to Bristol, he was 
 happy to find some evidences of attention to this per- 
 secuted class of our fellow-creatures. One lady has 
 in her family a female Gipsy, as a servant, of whose
 
 112 
 
 good conduct she speaks in unqualified terms. She 
 also employs constantly a Gipsy man in her garden. 
 We may hope soon to hear that a committee is formed 
 in that city, for the amelioration and education of 
 this forlorn people in its own neighbourhood, 
 
 To these pleasing accounts may be added a most 
 interesting one of a Gipsy family at Cambridge. A 
 professor in that University, to whom they are well 
 known, speaks in the highest terms of them as Chris- 
 tians ; and a parochial clergyman, of the same place, 
 bears testimony to their good order, and their genuine 
 Christianity. He that convertcth the sinner from 
 the error of his way shall save a soul from death, 
 and shall hide a multitude of sins.
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Letters received from a Scotch Clergyman, relating 
 to a Gipsy Colony in the South of Scotland. 
 
 THE author has also just received from a clergy- 
 man in the South of Scotland a most interesting ac- 
 count of a colony of Gipsies in that country, where, 
 he is happy to observe, they do not seem so much 
 hunted as in England. And as the severity of their 
 winters drives them into houses for three months, 
 during that season there is offered a fair opportunity 
 to both ministers and kindly-disposed Christians to do 
 them good. The letters alluded to are most gladly 
 inserted, with the view to encourage the Christian 
 denominations of England to imitate the benevolence 
 zeal, and industry of their much-respected brethren 
 the Scotch. 
 
 " Kirk Yetholm, a small village in the county of 
 Roxburghshire, upon the borders of the two kingdoms 
 of England and Scotland, has been long known, and 
 somewhat celebrated, as the favourite residence or 
 head -quarters of the largest colony in Scotland of that 
 singular and interesting race of people the Gipsies, 
 whose origin is involved in so much obscurity and 
 doubt. It is not, perhaps, correct to say that the 
 wS
 
 114 
 
 ' muggers' or * tinkers' of Kirk Yetholm are the pure, 
 unmingled Gipsy race, whose forefathers, upwards of 
 four centuries ago, emigrated to Europe from the 
 East. As in England, so also in Scotland, from their 
 intermixture with the natives of the country, and 
 with other wanderers like themselves, they are now 
 less distinguishable as a peculiar race. Still, however, 
 their language, their erratic and pilfering propensities, 
 and, in general, their dark or dusky complexion, black 
 piercing eyes, and Hindoo features, sufficiently betray 
 the original of this despised and long-neglected race. 
 At what period they first settled in Kirk Yetholm I 
 have not been able to ascertain. The family of Fa 
 or Fall (a name renowned in Gipsy story) seems to 
 have been the first, which probably was about the 
 beginning of the last century. Whether or not they 
 have any intercourse with the Gipsies in other parts 
 of the country I am unable to say; I have at least 
 no evidence that they have. That they have a 
 peculiar language, is a subject on which I have no 
 doubt; though they themselves deny the fact, and 
 seem astonished at the question. I do not mean to 
 Say that it is a regularly formed and complete lan- 
 guage, but they are able to converse with each other 
 in words unknown to others, and accompany many of 
 these words with the specimens furnished by Hoyland 
 from Grellman. I find that the slang or language 
 used by the Kirk Yetholm Gipsies is very much the 
 same with the language spoken by the English and 
 Turkish Gipsies, a fact which identifies the colony re-
 
 J15 
 
 siding in Kirk Yetholm with the same people in other 
 parts of the world. The number of Gipsies in the parish 
 of Yetholm is about 100. It would appear, however, 
 that the Gipsy population of this place is fluctuating. 
 In 1798, from the statistical report of the minister of 
 the parish at that period, there were only 59. In 
 1818, there were 109. In 1831, upwards of 100; 
 and, in a few years more, this number may be con- 
 siderably diminished or increased. Their occupations 
 are various. T\vo of the families are * homers' or 
 * spoon makers,' who manufacture horn into spoons; 
 one a travelling tinker ; another a travelling cooper ; 
 the rest are ' muggers/ or ' potters,' as they prefer 
 being called, who carry earthenware about the coun- 
 try for sale. Some of them also make baskets and 
 besoms for sale. The spoons fabricated by the homers 
 are very generally used by the poor, and farmers 
 purchase a considerable number of them before au- 
 tumn, for the use of the reapers. With the exception 
 of the individuals of this profession, whose occupation, 
 is better attended to at home, all the others are absent 
 from home, with their families, from eight to nine 
 months in the year. 
 
 " It is needless I suppose to describe a Gipsy tent, 
 which is the same in England as in Scotland. They 
 usually prefer for pitching their tents the least fre- 
 quented parts of the country, and where they may 
 have some convenient shelter. It is the business of 
 the women to carry about and to dispose of the articles 
 which they have for sale. The men, in the mean
 
 116 
 
 time, remain with their horses and carts, or occupy 
 themselves in fishing or poaching, in both of which 
 they show much dexterity. Occasionally two or more 
 families travel together. They seldom remain longer 
 than a few days in one place, and I believe they very 
 rarely or never travel on the Sabbath. They leave 
 their head-quarters very early in spring, probably the 
 beginning of March, and return usually after the 
 winter has fairly commenced, about the end of No- 
 vember. They seem to enjoy the best of health ; and 
 the older women of the tribe are supposed to possess 
 much skill in the management of wounds and diseases. 
 The only species of country work in which they en-- 
 gage with others is that of reaping, and for this pur- 
 pose many of them return about the beginning of 
 autumn, to hire themselves to those farmers who will 
 engage them. At home they usually conduct them- 
 selves in a quiet and peaceable manner, and their 
 quarrels are chiefly among themselves. These are 
 very violent whilst they last, and the occasion or 
 ground of quarrel is seldom known but to themselves. 
 On these occasions especially they are addicted to 
 profane and dreadful imprecations. Their character 
 for truth and honesty does not stand high. But they 
 have enemies enough to proclaim their faults, and 
 these faults it must be confessed are neither few nor 
 small. 
 
 " The greater number of writers, in Scotland at 
 least, when speaking of or alluding to this unfortunate 
 race, seern scarcely able to discover expressions suffi-
 
 117 
 
 ciently strong to manifest their abhorrence of them. 
 This is in some respects unjust. It is granted that 
 they are idle, disorderly, vicious, and unrestrained ; 
 without almost any knowledge of religion. But it 
 might also be recollected that this will always be 
 the character, more or less, of those who live as they 
 do a very wandering life, and it becomes therefore 
 the duty of society to inquire what they can do to 
 reclaim them from their erratic mode of life the 
 grand source of almost all their vicious habits. 
 
 " The Gipsies are not destitute of good qualities. 
 They have a species of honour, so that if trusted, they 
 will not deceive or betray you. They are grateful 
 for any attention that is shown them ; so that I be- 
 lieve there are few instances of those who have treated 
 them with kindness receiving any injury at their 
 hands. Many pleasing instances could be mentioned, 
 and several instances have come under my own ob- 
 servation, of their grateful sense of favours conferred, 
 and at any length of time will remember an act of 
 kindness shown to themselves or relations. They are 
 very sensible of the dislike which is generally enter- 
 tained against them, and would frequently conceal 
 the fact that they belong to a separate race; whereas, 
 formerly, it would appear they were rather proud of 
 being regarded as a peculiar tribe, and this feeling is 
 not altogether extinct among them. 
 
 " I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours, &c. &c."
 
 Second Letter relating to the Gipsies of Scotland. 
 
 " I do not think that the Gipsies of Kirk Yetholm 
 are much addicted to drunkenness. There are parti- 
 cular seasons and occasions indeed when they drink 
 to excess, and at such times may be guilty of dread- 
 ful extravagances ; but I am not aware that there is 
 one habitual drunkard here. A deep and dark spirit 
 of revenge seems to be the worst trait in their cha- 
 racters ; and at their merry-makings or carousals, which 
 are now however of rare occurrence, when their 
 blood is heated with whiskey, this revengeful spirit is 
 most apt to exhibit itself. Most or all of the Gipsy 
 parents have been married, I believe ; the greater 
 number however in an irregular manner. The major- 
 ity of the children have been baptised. They almost 
 invariably intermarry in their own tribes, and are 
 generally dissatisfied when this is not the case. The 
 interior of their houses is usually dirty, and the furni- 
 ture of a very mean description ; there are, however, 
 some very pleasing exceptions to this observation. 
 You rarely find them, except when very poor, destitute 
 of a blazing fire, which they seem to regard, and with 
 reason too, as one of the greatest comforts of life. 
 Most of the tribe can read ; many, however, very in- 
 differently ; but all of them seem very sensible of the 
 benefits of education. The parents generally express 
 themselves as extremely desirous that their children
 
 119 
 
 should be instructed, and they speak of education as 
 the only legacy which a poor man has to leave his 
 children. 
 
 " In Scotland, it will be remembered, that a person 
 who cannot read, and even write also, is rarely to be 
 met with. Still, however, there are many of the Gipsy 
 children not sent regularly to school, even during those 
 few months they remain at home ; and those of them 
 that are, during the many months they are travelling 
 in the country, are extremely apt to forget all they 
 have been taught, arid in the following winter must 
 probably commence the same course of instruction 
 anew. Generally they are remarked as clever children; 
 and considering the many disadvantages under which 
 they receive instruction, the progress they make is 
 surprising. The parents are in general very much 
 attached to their children. This, indeed, is one of 
 those features of their character which distinguish their 
 tribe wherever it is found. Nevertheless, so anxious 
 are they that their children should be instructed, that 
 they have again and again expressed their utmost 
 willingness to part with them for this purpose, and to 
 leave them at home during the summer months, that 
 they might attend school, but lament their inability 
 to maintain them. Most of the children have attended 
 the Sabbath School during their continuance at home. 
 Latterly a considerable number have attended church, 
 most of them only occasionally ; some of them, how- 
 ever, with exemplary regularity. The ideas enter- 
 tained generally on religious subjects, are extremely
 
 120 
 
 limited and erroneous. Indeed, how can they be ex- 
 pected to be otherwise than deplorably ignorant of 
 religion, when it is considered that their education is 
 so very defective, and that during eight or nine months 
 out of the twelve they are houseless wanderers, with 
 none to care for them, and none to instruct them ? If 
 we discover so much ignorance amongst our own 
 residents, and our own church-going population, there 
 is no wonder the Gipsy is totally ignorant, as in many 
 instances he is, of the very first principles of Chris- 
 tianity. Still they seem to profess a general respect 
 for religion. I am not aware that they entertain on 
 this subject any sentiments peculiar to 'themselves. 
 Like all persons whose knowledge of every substance 
 is extremely contracted, and who entertain a confused 
 belief of the truth of religion, without knowing what 
 it really is, they are very superstitious. Nor am I 
 sure that their superstition differs much from that of 
 the ignorant in general. They believe in apparitions 
 and witchcraft, and in the existence of invisible 
 beings, capable of doing them an injury. They have 
 also a belief in omens. They hold it to be very omi- 
 nous of evil, before commencing a journey, to meet 
 with certain animals early in the morning, or with 
 persons possessing certain features or deformities, and 
 on such occasions they will unload their carts or asses, 
 and wait a more auspicious season for their journey. 
 They all profess to belong to the established church of 
 Scotland. Most of them have Bibles or New Testa- 
 ments, or at least the tattered remains of some por-
 
 121 
 
 tions of the Scriptures in their possession. It will be 
 understood, of course, that in these remarks I speak 
 generally. As a proof that the)' are not universally 
 destitute even of ponderous folio Bibles, I may men- 
 tion rather an interesting fact, which occurred during 
 the late vacancy of the parish, or that interval of time 
 which elapsed between the death of the preceding 
 clergyman of the parish and the appointment of his 
 successor. 
 
 " The deceased minister's family had left the parish, 
 and carried with them the usual pulpit Bible. It 
 happened that on the Sabbath following the removal 
 of the Bible,' a young clergyman from a distance, an 
 entire stranger in the parish, was appointed to officiate; 
 it appears also that the absence of the Bible was not 
 discovered by the elders or church officers until the 
 moment almost when it was necessary that the minister 
 should be in the pulpit; upon this, as there was no 
 time to send to any distance, the elders immediately 
 proceeded to the nearest cottages, to inquire if a Bible 
 of something like orthodox dimensions could be pro- 
 cured. One cottage after another was entered, with- 
 out being able to furnish what was wanted. The 
 next was the cottage of a Gipsy. Probably they 
 lingered before the door, doubtful whether to enter or 
 not. They did enter, however, and thence returned 
 with a folio Bible of the largest dimensions, and with 
 copious notes."
 
 122 
 
 Third Letter relating to the Gipsies of Scotland. 
 
 " One circumstance in the character of the Gip- 
 sies I think ought not to he omitted. 1 allude to 
 their manners. While these in most instances are 
 rude and uncultivated, displaying only a bold and 
 fearless independence, there are individuals amtfng 
 them who, judging from their manners alone, might 
 have been bred at court. This is scarcely too exag- 
 gerated a description. In addressing their superiors, 
 no matter how elevated in rank, they display the ut- 
 most self-possession, and most perfect propriety of 
 behaviour. They express themselves tolerably well, 
 and without hesitation or awkwardness. 
 
 " Perhaps there is among them too much display, 
 but their movements are natural and even graceful. 
 Like a late departed monarch, his present Gipsy Ma- 
 jesty is the most polished of all subjects. The whole 
 of this (royal) family indeed, male and female, are 
 rather remarkable for this freedom and polish of man- 
 ner. His Majesty, moreover, who is now an old man, 
 without any family, and who never removes from 
 home, is also a regular hearer at church. 
 
 " Kirk Yetholm, therefore, has some pretensions to 
 the name, which it has sometimes received of the me- 
 tropolis of the Gipsy kingdom in Scotland. It is al- 
 luded to as their favourite residence in the following 
 lines by Ley den.
 
 123 
 
 ' On Yeta's banks the vagrant Gipsies place 
 Their turt'-built cots, a sun-burnt swarthy race; 
 Through Nubian realms their tawny line they bring, 
 And their brown chieftain vaunts the name of king. 
 With loitering steps from town to town they pass, 
 Their lazy dames rocked on the panniered ass. 
 From pilfered roost or nauseous carrion fed, 
 By hedge-rows green they strew the leafy bed. 
 While scarce the cloak of tawdrv red conceals 
 Their fine- turned limbs which every breeze reveals. 
 Their bright black eyes through silken lashes shine, 
 Around their neck their raven tresses twine, 
 But chilling damps and dews of night impair 
 Its soft sleek gloss and tan the bosom bare. 
 Adroit the lines of palmistry to trace, 
 Or read the damsel's wishes in her face. 
 Her hoarded silver store they charm away, 
 A pleasing debt for promised wealth to pay.' 
 
 " The practice alluded to in these lines is I believe 
 almost totally laid aside. Kirk Yetholm I may men- 
 tion is a small village, containing about 400 inha- 
 bitants, and situated a short mile from the boundary 
 which separates the two kingdoms of England and 
 Scotland. The boundary here is either a trifling 
 stream or more generally a mere imaginary line. 
 
 ' A river here, there an ideal line, 
 Bv fancy drawn divides the sister kingdoms ; 
 On each side dwells a people similar, 
 As twins are to each other, valiant both, 
 Both for their valour famous through the world.' 
 
 " There is another and larger village in the parish, 
 called Town Yetholm, perhaps one of the most beau- 
 tifullv-situated villages in Scotland. It is distant
 
 124 
 
 from the other less than half a mile. They are placed 
 on opposite sides of a valley, through which flows a 
 wild romantic stream, called the ' Bowmont Water.' 
 The parish lies at the foot of the Cheviot range of 
 mountains, is small though populous, at a consider- 
 able distance from any town, and peacefully secluded, 
 and embosomed amid pastoral hills, which are smooth 
 and green to the summit. The secluded situation of 
 the parish, and the immediate vicinity of Kirk 
 Yetholm, more especially to England on one side, and 
 to the wild and pathless range of the Cheviot on the 
 other, may perhaps be given as reasons why the Gip- 
 sies originally chose this as their favourite haunt. 
 If at any time pursued by the hand of justice, it was 
 easy, the work of only a few minutes, to cross from 
 the one kingdom to the other ; or if the magistrates 
 on both sides of the border were on the alert, the 
 nimble-footed Gipsies were soon safe from their pur- 
 suit among the wild valleys of the neighbouring 
 mountains. It is very generally said that the Gip- 
 sies of late years, probably since the end of the last 
 century, have lost character very much. I will not 
 inquire at present what truth there may be in this, 
 but if it be the case, several reasons may be assigned 
 for it. Many lawless and desperate characters, not 
 belonging to the tribe, have from time to time con- 
 nected themselves with it, and initiated them into 
 practices formerly unknown among them. Their 
 greater poverty also of late years may be another 
 cause of their increased immorality, and the severe
 
 125 
 
 and unfeeling treatment of them by society may be 
 regarded as a third cause of their more depraved and 
 lawless condition of late years. 
 
 " The Gipsies are at present known as a wild and 
 semi-barbarous race, * whose hand is against every 
 man's, and every man's hand against them,' who are 
 feared and dreaded by others, as setting all law, cha- 
 racter, religion, and morality, at defiance, and unfor- 
 tunately there is but too much truth in the description. 
 The original and fruitful source of all the vicious habits 
 and unfortunate peculiarities of this tribe has already 
 been stated to be their loose, irregular, and wandering 
 mode of life, and the natural consequences of this 
 mode of life have been aggravated, it would appear 
 of late years, by the causes above mentioned. 
 
 " There is nothing obviously in the native cha- 
 racter, blood, or constitution, of the Gipsy, to render 
 him more desperate and vicious than others. They 
 are neither better nor worse, I conceive, than other 
 members of society would be were they placed in si- 
 milar circumstances. Their wandering for instance 
 exposes them to many peculiar temptations, idleness 
 and rapine lead them frequently into scenes of mis- 
 chief and wickedness, and necessarily leave them 
 ignorant, uneducated, and uncivilized. Withdraw 
 them therefore from this mode of life, and at as early 
 an age as possible, before they have acquired the bad 
 habits of the tribe, and you save them from innumer- 
 able evils, and probably render them valuable mem- 
 bers of society ; and several cases fortunately can be
 
 126 
 
 referred to of Gipsies, who, owing to some peculiar cir- 
 cumstances, have been separated from their tribe, acquir- 
 ing domestic habits, residing contentedly at home, and 
 in no way to be distinguished from the rest of the com- 
 munity ; and an equal or greater number of cases 
 might be adduced of individuals in no way connected 
 with the tribe, and who in early life had been trained 
 to domestic habits, associating themselves with it, and 
 acquiring all their disorderly and vicious habits. Let 
 society, therefore, do their duty to these houseless 
 wanderers, regard them not as an outcast and infa- 
 mous race, but stretching forth to them the hand of 
 reconciliation, say by their altered conduct, let us be 
 friends and brothers, and as the poor, and ignorant, 
 and immoral, let a civilized, a religious and a bene- 
 volent society grant to them the privileges of educa- 
 tion, and the means of improvement. Until this be 
 done, they must naturally expect to have their proper- 
 ties injured, and perhaps even their own persons inse- 
 cure. And they have a fine class of subjects to work 
 upon ; a people who will be grateful for any attention 
 that is shown them, and the more so as they have been 
 little accustomed to kindness ; and a people whose ca- 
 pabilities of improvement are very great. 
 
 " It is obvious that the rest of the community would 
 be no small gainers by a change which is here contem- 
 plated. They would render their own homes, their per- 
 sons and property, more secure, while they would dis- 
 charge a long-neglected duty to a most interesting and 
 unfortunate portion of their brethren. It cannot and
 
 127 
 
 ought not to be said, that such an attempt will be 
 unsuccessful until it has been fairly tried and failed. 
 But by the blessing of God it will succeed. Let 
 Christians, uniting together, implore the divine bless- 
 ing of God on their undertaking, go forward in their 
 great Redeemer's name, and let them manifest how 
 highly they value the privileges they enjoy, by their 
 earnest and persevering efforts to bring these almost 
 heathen wanderers in a British land, to share the 
 comforts of social life, and the inestimable blessings of 
 the gospel of the Son of God. 
 
 " I still continue to send the children to school 
 during the winter months. I have lately supplied 
 them with Bibles, and the most necessitous of them 
 with clothes ; and I hope to be able to keep some of 
 the children at home when the parents take their de- 
 parture next summer. I might venture perhaps in 
 faith to do more, but I see little probability at present 
 of receiving any permanent or regular assistance from 
 others, and I see that the expense would be consider- 
 able. I make also a very bad beggar, and the people 
 in this part of the country at least have been little 
 accustomed to give to such purposes. "
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Plans suggested to the Pious and Benevolent for 
 promoting a Reformation among the Gipsies, 
 continued. 
 
 IT is usual, in Southampton, for a few pence to be 
 given to a child who informs any of the members of 
 the Committee when a family of Gipsies begin to erect 
 their tents on the common, that they may immediately 
 be visited by our reader. This may be done elsewhere. 
 It may be well too to buy a basket, or any other 
 article they may honestly have to dispose of, when 
 opportunity offers ; but it is not well to bestow money 
 on them, unless in sickness or want. When their 
 wives are confined, a favourable opportunity oilers to 
 bring into action the sympathies of compassion in other 
 females ; and what gratitude would such an instance 
 of tenderness beget ! These poor women have fre- 
 quently been heard to exclaim, while tears filled their 
 eyes, How kind, how good to us ! for favours very 
 much less. 
 
 The author has seldom met with instances of ingra- 
 titude, though he is obliged to record one. He was 
 interested in the reformation of a Gipsy family that 
 encamped, a short time since, about five miles from 
 Southampton, whom he visited early on a Monday
 
 129 
 
 morning. Reaching the camp, accompanied by the 
 old Gipsy he has often mentioned in the course of 
 tins work, he said to them, " Since you would not 
 come to see me, I am come to see you." The camp, 
 consisting of eight persons, gave him a cordial recep- 
 tion, the husband excepted, who said, he did not want 
 his company. " You certainly do not mean what 
 you say," said his friend ; to which he replied, " I 
 never speak words without meaning." In a good- 
 natured way, he was questioned as to the truth of his 
 being a Gipsy, accompanied with the remark, that 
 Gipsies were seldom ungrateful for the favours which 
 were shown them. In half an hour after, he left the 
 camp very angrily. This man had been released from 
 many years' imprisonment through the author's inter- 
 cession ; but having associated with thieves so long, 
 the worst principles of his heart were drawn forth. 
 Before he left the camp, he said he had no care about 
 his children, but to feed and clothe them. " Then, 
 you only treat your children as a man does his dogs 
 and pigs." He replied, that such treatment was 
 good enough. This is a common sentiment; for the 
 generality of parents have no further care about their 
 children than to feed and clothe them. Such persons 
 are not perhaps aware how nearly they come to that 
 dreadful state of mind and heart of which this un- 
 grateful Gipsy so wickedly boasted. 
 
 After he had left the party, those who remained 
 attended to conversation and prayer, when one of the 
 women wept bitterly on account of her sin of fortune- 
 
 G
 
 130 
 
 telling. The author has since been informed that this 
 poor man expresses his sorrow for his uncalled-for 
 behaviour. 
 
 The plans adopted in Southampton for the conver- 
 sion of the Gipsies in Hampshire are now generally 
 known among their people. Not long ago, an old 
 woman brought four orphans of a deceased relative 
 from a great distance, in order to place them under 
 the care of the Committee. On this occasion the 
 old woman thus addressed the author. " Are you 
 Mr. Crabb?" Being told, yes, she added "Mr. 
 Charles Stanley, a Gipsy, desired me to bring you 
 these poor children." The author being assured that 
 they were orphans, promised, after some conversation, 
 to visit their tent the following day. He did so, and 
 never can he forget the distressing scene he then 
 witnessed. It was winter, and the weather was un- 
 usually cold, there being much snow on the ground. 
 The tent, which was only covered with a ragged 
 blanket, was pitched on the lee side of a small haw- 
 thorn bush. The 'children had stolen a few green 
 sticks from the hedges, but they would not burn. 
 There was no straw in the tent, and only one blanket 
 to lay betwixt six children and the frozen ground, 
 with nothing to cover them. The youngest of these_ 
 children was three, and the eldest seventeen years old. 
 In addition to this wretchedness, the smaller children 
 were nearly naked. The youngest was squatted on 
 the ground, her little feet and legs bare, and gnaw- 
 ing a frozen turnip, which had been stolen from an
 
 131 
 
 adjoining field. None of them had tasted bread for 
 more than a day. The moment they saw their visitor, 
 the little ones repeatedly shouted, " Here is the gem- 
 man come for us!" Some money was given to the 
 oldest sister to buy bread with, at which their joy 
 was greatly increased. Straw was also provided for 
 them to sleep on ; four were measured for clothes, 
 and, after a few days, they were placed under the 
 care of one of our reformed Gipsies. The youngest 
 child died, however, a short time after, in consequence 
 of having been so neglected in infancy. 
 
 The children were cleanly washed and new clothed 
 before they were removed from the common. Perhaps 
 they had never been thoroughly washed before. The 
 eldest sister would not give up her wandering habits ; 
 and the eldest boy chose to go back to the camp 
 again ; so that the Committee had soon only three of 
 them in charge, and these were so filthy in their 
 habits for a long time, that it was very disagreeable 
 to be near them. It is hoped that, though they have 
 lost their earthly parents, they may be led, through 
 this event, to God their heavenly Father. 
 
 The author is happy to state that a marked im- 
 provement has taken place in one of these little 
 fatherless children, as will appear to the reader by 
 the testimony of the Infants' Schoolmaster, under 
 whose instruction they are placed. 
 
 " One day, when conversing with the children of 
 the school on the goodness of God in giving them 
 
 G2
 
 132 
 
 their kind and affectionate parents, a little Gipsy boy 
 said, ' Master, my father and mother be dead ; but 
 God will be my Father, because he is a father of the 
 fatherless ; and my uncle* says, if I look to him he 
 will love me.' When questioned as to the manner in 
 which he was to look to God, he said, ' I must pray 
 to him, and I do pray when I gets up in the morning, 
 and when I takes my meals, and when I goes to bed.' 
 
 " A short time after, a pair of scissars were missing, 
 and an inquiry was immediately made for them, with- 
 out success. On the following morning, when the 
 children were assembled in school, the little Gipsy 
 boy carne to me, and said, ' Master, I know where 
 the scissars be; our Tom (his brother) stole them, and 
 dug a hole in the ground and buried them ; and he told 
 me, if I told you he would beat me ; but I told him, 
 I would tell you.' 
 
 " At another time, when I was cautioning the school 
 against cruelty, the same little boy said, ' My brother 
 is cruel ; he, killed some butterflies this morning, and 
 afterwards caught two more, and he said he would 
 kill them, but I let 'cm flee' When asked why he 
 did so, when his brother had taken the pains to catch 
 them, he said, ' Because he shall not hurt them ; for 
 'tis cruel/ ' Why do you think it cruel ? ' '*He re- 
 plied, ' God made these little creatures, and gave 
 them life, and every insect is made by God ! ' ' 
 
 * Stanley, the Gipsy Scripture reader.
 
 133 
 
 A short account of their parents may not be out of 
 place here. The mother was a great fortune-teller 
 and swindler. She once robbed a poor shepherd in 
 Dorsetshire of twenty pounds by promising to fill his 
 box with money. Their father was a most depraved 
 character. Their life and practices are well described 
 in the language or' the Apostle, Let us eat and drink, 
 for to-morrow we die. 1 Cor. xv. 32. The man 
 was the buffoon of their company, and became more 
 depraved every year. They often had a great deal of 
 money, which was no doubt obtained through dis- 
 honest means. On one occasion, he and many other 
 Gipsies entered the parlour of a small public-house, 
 on the borders of Hants, when emptying the contents 
 of a dirty purse into a half-pint cup, he nearly filled 
 it with sovereigns ; and declared they would not leave 
 the house till they had spent it all. His wife, at this 
 time, who was intoxicated, was robbed of all the 
 money she had got from the poor credulous shepherd, 
 excepting one pound. 
 
 The same man once put 150 sovereigns into his 
 kettle, to treat himself with what he called gold 
 wafer, for his tea; apiece of folly and wickedness 
 only equalled by a fact with which the author is well 
 acquainted, when an old man had his gold put under 
 his pillow, and often shown to him, when he was 
 dying. We need not wonder, therefore, that the 
 children of this Gipsy couple should be so ignorant, 
 depraved, and destitute. For money that is ill-gotten 
 and squandered in extravagance, entails a double
 
 134 
 
 curse on the parties concerned. But to return to the 
 subject of this chapter. 
 
 To visit the Gipsies in their tents is of great impor- 
 tance. Clergymen of the establishment, dissenting 
 ministers, and home missionaries, have at various 
 times done this, and conversed freely with them on 
 the Christian religion ; and it has not been in vain. 
 Indeed, nothing that is done through Jesus Christ, 
 purposely to please God, and benefit the wretched, 
 can fail to produce a good effect. The Rev. Messrs. 
 Hyatt and Cobbin, who were deputed by the Home 
 Missionary Society to visit many parts of England, to 
 inquire into the condition of this people, had no doubt 
 but that much good may be done among them, if 
 proper means are pursued. It has many times been 
 prored, that to attempt to raise them in society, with- 
 out the influence of religious instruction, would be 
 improper. They have neither sufficient principles of 
 honesty, nor purity of conduct, till they are taught 
 those principles, and changed by religion. One, 
 among several instances, may be named. 
 
 A young female Gipsy, remarkable for the beauty 
 of her person, was much noticed by a lady of rank. 
 She was made to sit many times for her portrait, was 
 introduced into the drawing-room, and became of con- 
 sequence as one of (he family. She might have done 
 well, had she not given up all her prospects by running 
 away with a Gipsy youth, for whom she had an at- 
 tachment, and with whom she has ever since lived in 
 great misery. It' less attention had been paid to her
 
 135 
 
 beauty, and more to the cultivation of right principles, 
 she might now have been reformeJ, leligious, and 
 happy. 
 
 To those who wish to forward th.3 instruction of the 
 children of these wanderers, wLich is of vast import- 
 ance, the use of tins with letters and monosyllables 
 stamped upon them, is recommended. A little ink or 
 paint will be necessary to make the letters vhlb'.e. 
 This plan would save much expense, and render^ele- 
 mentary books unnecessary. They cou'd not be torn, 
 as books generally are. The pieces thrown a vay by 
 the tinman, if the corners were taken off, to prevent 
 accidents, would answer every purpose. To induce 
 those children, who cannot be got from the tent, to 
 learn from these tins, the visitor might promise them 
 an old garment, or some other trifle. Should the 
 Gipsies conduct themselves properly when thus visited, 
 a little willow-wood may be given them, to encourage 
 them in industry, and forward the manufactory of 
 baskets. And it might be well were a small piece of 
 ground devoted to the growth of willows, in neigh- 
 bourhoods frequented by them, the produce of which 
 may be given to them, on purpose to encourage them 
 thereby. Were a little money given them to purchase 
 fuel, on condition they would not steal wood from the 
 farmers, it might tend to weaken their pilfering habits, 
 and their numbers would be less objectionable. It 
 might be advisable, too, to give them testimonials 
 on a card of good conduct, when about to remove to 
 another district, which might serve as an introduction
 
 136 
 
 to benevolent persons, and those interested in their 
 welfare in other places; and this meane would effec- 
 tually prevent all imposition, keep up the attention of 
 the good among them, and would constantly bring 
 them before the notice of Christian society. Such 
 kindness would be felt by the Gipsies, and, in time, 
 might produce a good effect. 
 
 The great object that Christians should have in 
 view, should be to instruct them in the blessed truths 
 of the Christian religion, imbue them with a happy 
 sense of honesty and morality, and then reclaim them 
 wholly from their unsettled and wandering habits; for 
 until thay have some knowledge of religion, and some 
 anxiety to reform, they would only be worse by being 
 brought constantly before the bad examples that would 
 be set them in towns. Of course such a change can- 
 not be fully accomplished in the present generation; 
 it cannot be expected. But their conversion to God 
 will wholly be accomplished in time, if all Christians 
 do their duty, depending on the influence of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 From what has been said in this chapter it will 
 appear, that visiting their tents to pray for and instruct 
 them, teaching such children to read as cannot get to 
 public schools, and prevailing on all who are able to 
 do so, to attend public worship, are the principal 
 things to be attempted in this great and good under- 
 taking. Those Christians who wish for opportunities 
 of doing good to the Gipsies in and about London, 
 will find many of them in the suburbs in the months
 
 137 
 
 of April, May, and June, when they generally find 
 work in the market gardens. In the months of July 
 and August they move into Sussex and Kent, and are 
 engaged in the harvest. And in the month of Sep- 
 tember, great numbers of them are to be found in the 
 hop-districts of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, where they 
 find employment. During the winter, many of them 
 settle in London, Westminster, Bristol, and other 
 large towns, when a good opportunity is presented for 
 teaching, both to the children and adults of this class, 
 the elements of reading, and the principles of true 
 religion. For the information of those who may wish 
 to visit the Gipsies in London and Bristol, during the 
 winter, the author thinks it his duty to name the streets 
 where they generally reside. 
 
 Tottenham-court-road, Banbridge-street, Bolton- 
 street, Church-street, Church-lane, Battle-bridge, 
 Tunbridge-street, Tothill-fields, and White-street. 
 The commons near London are places on which they 
 constantly encamp. On Wimbledon common alone 
 there were seventy of them at the Christmas of 1831. 
 At Blackheath and Woolwich heath ; Lordship-lane, 
 near Deptford; Plum- street, near Woolwich; the Arch- 
 bishop's-wall, near Canterbury ; Staple and Wing- 
 ham- well, near the same city ; Buckland, near Dover; 
 and at their ancient haunt, Norwood. In Bristol 
 they are principally found in Saint Philip's, New- 
 foundland-street, Bedminster, and at the March and 
 September fairs. 
 
 At the Ascot and Epsom races they may be met in
 
 138 
 
 large numbers ; also at all the fairs round London ; 
 and if a benevolent, kind, and zealous minister of 
 Christ were to visit them at their encampments at 
 these seasons, and explain to them the facts, doctrines, 
 and blessings of the Gospel, much good might be 
 done. The morning would be the happiest time to 
 visit these Gipsies, as they are too often, at races, in- 
 ebriated before night. It is presumed little could be 
 said to profit them in a state of intoxication, and many 
 of the women are then employed either in swindling 
 or fortune-telling. 
 
 Though occupied by numerous engagements, the 
 author was led in the month of May, 1831, to visit 
 the Epsom race course, with a view to meet the 
 large company of Gipsies known generally to attend 
 the races. He was the more anxious to make such a 
 visit, as it would give him an opportunity of acquiring 
 a knowledge of those of them who travel in the mid- 
 land counties, numbers of whom reside during the 
 winter months in London. Stanley, the Southampton 
 Scripture reader to the Gipsies, was sent to acquaint 
 them wtih the author's intention to visit them ; and 
 he was introduced to great numbers, of whom till then 
 he had not the least knowledge. One of the men, a 
 relative of Stanley, whom he had never before seen, 
 was very kind to him, and mentioned him to the dif- 
 ferent families as the person employed by the com- 
 mittee at Southampton to impart religious instruction 
 to the Gipsies. In all the tents which he visited, he 
 read and expounded the holy Scriptures, which seem-
 
 139 
 
 ed considerably to gratify many of them. The author 
 himself, as early as convenient, after he had reached 
 the neighbourhood of Epsom, went on the part of the 
 course on which they had pitched their tents, and 
 was introduced to them by Stanley, and his kind re- 
 lative, as the gentleman, the Gipsies' friend, from 
 Southampton. The respectful and grateful manner 
 in which he was received, was in every respect gra- 
 tifying to his feelings. A part of the conversation 
 was as fellows : " I am come nearly a hundred miles 
 to see you, do you not therefore think that I love you \ 
 Many of them answered, " Yes, sir." " Come then, 
 make room for me in one of your tents ; for I must sit 
 down with you, and tell you the way to heaven." A 
 little wash-tub was fixed with the bottom upwards, 
 and covered with one of their shawls for me to sit on. 
 While conversing further with them, the writer found 
 they had many wrong impressions respecting the 
 manner in which our little colony of Gipsies is treated 
 at Southampton. He is happy to say that he succeeded 
 in removing most of them. They expressed great asto- 
 nishment at the kindness shown their people ; but inti- 
 mated their fears, that with the death of their present 
 friends the members of the Southampton colony 
 would lose all the advantages they now enjoy. One 
 of them said to Stanley, who sat at my left hand, 
 " Please, sir, will you read to us some of that pretty 
 book you did yesterday;" meaning the New Testa- 
 ment. I replied, " What, can you understand that
 
 140 
 
 book ?" " No," answered another of them, " how can 
 we, without somebody explains it to us ?" 
 
 I read to them of the death of the Saviour. When 
 they heard of his sufferings by crucifixion, the manner 
 of which was explained to them, they exclaimed, 
 " What rascals they were, (meaning the Jews and 
 Roman soldiers) to serve him so !" I then endeavour- 
 ed to lead their minds to contemplate the weightier 
 sufferings of his soul, and to charge on each of them 
 and on myself the cause of that inexpressible sorrow 
 which filled the holy mind of Christ when he ex- 
 claimed, " My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
 saken me?" Many of them wept. O that their 
 tears may be found to be tears of godly sorrow ! 
 They expressed many wishes that they should like to 
 be able to read. 
 
 While being collected, it was interesting to hear 
 the kind language of the parents to their children. 
 " Sampson, sit down to hear the gentleman ;" 
 " Onslow, come here ;" " Solomon, there's a good 
 boy, come here ;" and, many other kind modes of 
 address were used to them on the occasion. The 
 whole group of those who heard the author, would 
 form a fine subject for a Hogarth ; such a one alone 
 could have done justice to their grateful countenances, 
 while seated on the green sward, leaning on one an- 
 other's bosoms, with big tears rolling down their 
 cheeks. They were wholly destitute of Bibles, Tes- 
 taments, and Prayer-books; indeed none of them
 
 141 
 
 could read. Had they the Scriptures, however, they 
 might occasionally hear them read by visitors. At 
 one of the camps, where was a dying woman, the 
 party, which was numerous, appeared dead to all 
 religious feeling; only one of them ever attended 
 divine service. One lay asleep in a state of drunken- 
 ness in the open air, about whom a comrade observed 
 that he had had the misfortune to drink a little too 
 much. His shoes had been stolen from his feet in the 
 night while lying on the downs. 
 
 The author cannot but lament the many indecen- 
 cies and scenes of shameless wickedness, such as one 
 would suppose could be suffered only in Pagan coun- 
 tries ; such as are a disgrace to the amusements of 
 the lowest orders of the human race. He lamented, 
 too, when he recollected, that, beside those who are 
 the degraded perpetrators of the wickedness to which 
 he alludes, many tens of thousands either behold them 
 with pleasure, or sanction them by their attendance 
 at the races. At such evils human beings ought rather 
 to weep. Better in all respects would it have proved, 
 had the thousands of pounds that were expended at 
 the Epsom races been transmitted to the south-west 
 coast of Ireland, where, at that very time, 164,000 
 poor Irish were starving, and many of whom were 
 feeding on the weeds thrown on their shores by Atlantic 
 tides, which could hardly be supposed to sustain na- 
 ture. Shall not God visit us for such an uncalled-for 
 extravagance, when hundreds of thousands want even 
 bread !
 
 142 
 
 On this race-course, and on this occasion, the 
 author met with one family consisting of eight per- 
 sons in a most wretched and melancholy condition. 
 They had neither shoes, stockings, nor linen; and 
 scarcely one among them possessed anything that 
 deserved the name of a garment. The old man had 
 been long afflicted, and not being able to walk, nor 
 strong enough-to ride, he was thrown across a donkey, 
 as though he had been a dead sheep, his head hang- 
 ing over one side, and his feet over the other, and his 
 body was covered with a piece of old blanket. This 
 poor miserable man died during the races. The sur- 
 viving members of his family seemed to have neither 
 morality nor common humanity. They were ignorant 
 of God, of the Saviour, and of themselves. Eating 
 and drinking seemed to be that for which they alone 
 lived ; for rather than not eat, they would devour 
 carrion. It is well known that this family would 
 think little of twenty pounds weight of food for a meal, 
 eating enormously, like the beasts of the forest, and 
 tasting no more for two or three days. From their 
 comparative nudity, I suspected them of not attending 
 any place of worship; they confessed they did not; 
 but still said they were church people, having been 
 baptized at the church, and that they would never go 
 to a chapel. They said that they were not afraid of 
 going to heaven, as they had not committed any sin, 
 and that neither were they afraid to die. I read to 
 them the Scriptures, but they understood not the holy 
 truths their language is designed to convey. I desired
 
 143 
 
 they would kneel round the old breathless man, their 
 father, that I might pray for them ; but they only 
 laughed at me. I then said, You will offend me by 
 laughing at religion ; at which they seemed a little 
 ashamed, and wished to deny that they had laughed. 
 It was appalling to see the deceased old man lie on 
 the bare ground, with only an old piece of blanket 
 over him, which was not sufficient to cover him. His 
 countenance was most horrifying ; never do I wish to 
 behold another like it. In so much detestation were 
 the meanness and wickedness of this family held by 
 their own relatives, that not one of them would visit 
 him in his affliction, or attend his funeral, though 
 many were on the race course ; which is a great proof 
 that the generality of Gipsies are not given up to love 
 and work wickedness for the sake of it. 
 
 The author was much distressed at the want of 
 humanity in this family toward their deceased rela- 
 tive; it was really brutal. The corpse was left in the 
 open air, exposed to swarms of flies, from the time 
 that life became extinct until it was interred. The 
 first day I saw it, I had put round it a little fence, 
 and had it covered with some boughs ; but I found 
 the next day that the unfeeling relatives had taken 
 them all away, and had burnt them in cooking their 
 victuals. I did not expect to witness a scene like the 
 one I have just described. The camp was close by 
 the road-side, where thousands were passing to and 
 from the races ; and so much heathenism I witnessed 
 within sight of the world's metropolis, the far-famed
 
 144 
 
 city of London ! which is immortalizing herself with 
 exertions to diffuse the Gospel among the dark nations 
 of the earth, hy sending bibles and missionaries in all 
 directions ! Would to God that but half the attention 
 was paid to the 18,000 Gipsies in our own country, 
 nearly the whole of whom are living neglected and 
 uncared for. Nor can it be wrong to wish that more 
 of the sympathies and energies of institutions and 
 committees in London were directed to the degraded 
 nominal Christians of our country, hundreds of thou- 
 sands of whom are in a most alarming state of im- 
 morality, irreligion, and infidelity. 
 
 Should the sympathies of the British public be effi- 
 ciently directed to the Gipsies of this country, it may 
 call forth the zeal of other nations to improve their 
 still more degraded condition on the continent, where 
 more than half a million of them wander, ignorant as 
 the heathens of all that is necessary to salvation. 
 Those of this country, especially the families near 
 London, loudly call upon us for instruction, which 
 may easily be given them. Let all who have either 
 time, money, ability, or influence, give a helping 
 hand; and, above all, assist by their unfeigned and 
 earnest prayers. It may be very advisable to pray 
 publicly for them in places of worship, and at the 
 family altar, after visiting them in the highways and 
 hedges. It might impress those of them who attend 
 with a grateful sense of the gracious care of God, and 
 lead Christian congregations to think more of them, 
 and to do more for them. May the merciful God of
 
 145 
 
 heaven and of earth hasten the happy period, when 
 the Gipsies of this and of all other countries shall 
 embrace, and love, and be obedient to, the Gospel of 
 the gracious Redeemer !
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Further Account of encouraging Interviews with 
 Gipsies, and interesting Correspondence. 
 
 THE author laments that he has passed so many 
 years of his life wholly careless of the Gipsies of this 
 country. Having travelled many times through Eng- 
 land, he has had frequent opportunities of seeing them. 
 But, till now, he looked on their conversion as a hope- 
 less case, and nearly wholly neglected them. He 
 has already stated the manner his attention was first 
 roused to consider their condition and necessities more 
 particularly, and he reflects with pleasure on the 
 kindness of Providence in leading him to witness those 
 events which called for sympathy towards them, and 
 on the mercy of God so apparent in blessing the labours 
 of himself and others in their behalf. 
 
 The late Rev. Legh Richmond felt a deep interest 
 in the conversion of this people. To awaken the sym- 
 pathies and energies of his countrymen to that subject, 
 he composed the following hymn on their behalf. 
 
 Since the publication of the second edition, the 
 author has received the following information by 
 letter, from the Rev. Ingram Cobbin, extracts of which 
 letter he feels it a duty to present to the public.
 
 147 
 
 " I perceive that you have robbed me of my Gipsy 
 honours : the verses attributed to the Rev. Legh Rich- 
 mond are mine." 
 
 When Mr. Richmond heard that they were the 
 production of the pen of Mr. Cobbin, the real friend 
 of Gipsies, he gave the following account, by a letter 
 to Mr. Cobbin, of the manner in which he met with 
 them. 
 
 " I first saw them in the Northampton newspaper ; 
 was pleased with them, as also my family, and having 
 altered a few words to suit the music I had composed, 
 I sent them to an engraver, intending that this peti- 
 tion should be the first of an intended publication of 
 sacred songs with music, which I purpose to publish." 
 He adds, " I cannot wonder that you should have an 
 author's feeling, and you will not wonder that I 
 handled my newspaper unexplained verses without 
 suspicion or alarm." 
 
 May not the writer and the composer now look up to 
 God for his blessing, and trust that he will make them 
 harmoniously useful together, and own them jointly 
 as the means of good to the poor Gipsies ? May I. G. 
 and L. R. be united in a spirit of prayer and brotherly 
 respect ; and I trust their union on the poetical and 
 musical basis will eventually prove a blessing to each 
 and many more. 
 
 The original words, before altered by Mr. Rich- 
 mond, are in notes. The author understands that 
 Mr. Cobbin intends publishing the Gipsies' Petition, 
 with other productions of the muse, on a future day.
 
 148 
 
 THE GIPSIES' PETITION. 
 
 Oh ! ye who have tasted of mercy and love, 1 
 
 And shared in the blessings of pardoning grace, 2 
 
 Let us the kind fruits of your tenderness prove,* 
 And pity, oh ! pity the poor Gipsy race. 
 
 For* long have we wandered, neglected and wild, 
 Esteemed 5 by all people as wretched and base; 
 
 Nor once on our darkness has light ever smiled ; 
 Then pity, oh ! pity the poor Gipsy race. 
 
 Like you, we have lost that pure gem, which, when lost, 6 
 Not the mines of Golconda" can ever replace ; 
 
 To redeem it the blood of a Saviour 9 it cost : 
 Then pity, oh ! pity the poor Gipsy race. 
 
 Like us, you were wild in the sight of your God ; 
 
 But he looked, and he loved, and he pitied your case ; 
 The Redeemer 10 has cleansed you in streams of his blood 
 
 Then pity, oh ! pity the poor Gipsy race. 
 
 Ye who have found mercy, that mercy display; 
 
 Ye sons of adoption, your origin trace; 
 And then sure 11 you cannot your face turn away, 
 
 But will pity and prayfor n the poor Gipsy race ; 
 
 That u'e 13 may form part of that numerous throng, 
 Redeemed from destruction** by infinite grace; 
 
 And mingle with 15 you in the heavenly song : 
 Then pity, oh ! pity the poor Gipsy race. 
 
 1 Pardoning love. 2 Mercy and love. 
 3 For us let the bowels of tenderness move. 
 
 4 Too. 5 And viewed. 
 
 Like you, were adorn'd with that gem, which, if lost. 
 " A district in East India celebrated for diamonds. 
 
 8 Emanuel. 9 Vile. 10 And a Saviour. 
 11 As. 12 Then pity, oh ! pity. 1S We too. 
 
 '* All people. 1S Yet join.
 
 149 
 
 It has been the custom of the author to have a yearly 
 meeting of the Gipsies at his own house, which is then 
 open to all theic. families. Here, early in the year 
 1830, those who were in the lanes and on the common 
 near Southampton, met many of their kind and re- 
 ligious friends, who are interested in each other's happi- 
 ness. The morning was agreeably spent in a religious 
 service, conducted for their spiritual benefit; after 
 which s;ome attention was paid to their temporal wants. 
 Forty-eigh.t of them, all nearly related to each other, 
 who were at ihat time assembled in the neighbour- 
 hood to renew thsir family friendships, attended on 
 this occasion, and wer much pleased with the services 
 in which they engaged. Different portions of the 
 Scriptures were read and expounded to them, after 
 which they had a plain and familiar address. It was 
 a pleasure to meet these people at a throne of grace. 
 After partaking of bread and cheese and ale, during 
 which they conducted themselves very properly, a 
 blanket was presented to the proprietor of each tent, 
 a pair of stockings to every individual, and a quantity 
 of calico for changes* for the children. There were 
 thirteen reformed Gipsies among them, who spent the 
 rest of the day in reading the Scriptures to their 
 brethren at their own houses. 
 
 These people expressed themselves very gratefully. 
 One of the families, of whom the mother could read, 
 begged a Bible. Some weeks after this Bible had 
 been given, the family was visited in their tent by 
 the reader, when the holy book was shown to him,
 
 150 
 
 who observed many of the pages doubled down to 
 mark the passages with which the reader had been 
 impressed. The father of the family said, " I will 
 never rest till I can read that book through." This 
 poor man now attends divine service whenever he has 
 an opportunity, although he strongly opposed at one 
 time the reading of the Scriptures in his tent. 
 
 A lady, who was present at this meeting, asked one 
 of the reformed Gipsies, how she had felt herself on 
 that morning? She replied, " I never was so happy;" 
 and, after a short silence, continued, " The dinner we 
 had last year was much better than that we had to- 
 day, as it was roast beef and plum-pudding; but what 
 I heard then of the minister's address, was only the 
 word of man to me; but to-day it has been the word 
 of God ; I am sure it has." 
 
 Although it may be feared, that to many Gipsies 
 then present, the reading of the Scriptures, and the 
 familiar address, were only as the words of man, yet 
 is there reason to hope they understood it, and that 
 they will benefit thereby. 
 
 This woman had an only surviving brother who was 
 killed in righting, and whose death was instantaneous. 
 She was exceedingly distressed, and observed, in re- 
 ference to this awful circumstance, " I should not 
 have thought of his soul after death, at one time ; but 
 now I can read my Testament, I am sure that none 
 can go to heaven but those who are born again." 
 And she made an observation too of the utmost im- 
 portance, showing the great necessity there is for the
 
 151 
 
 Gipsies to be taught to read. " My being able to 
 read myself," said she, " has a great deal more 
 effect upon me than it would if another read it to 
 me, and I could not read- for now I AM SURE IT 
 is IN THE BOOK." She carries her Testament in 
 her pocket when she goes a journey, and reads it to 
 her former companions, when she meets them on the 
 road ; and if they express any wonder at the change 
 that has taken place, she refers them to the Scriptures 
 as the cause, and her kind friends at Southampton as 
 the instruments. 
 
 The following circumstance lately occurred, and 
 will show the improvement that has taken place in her 
 daughters. One of them had been sent by her mother 
 to receive the weekly sum allowed her. On receiving 
 the money, she said, "This is twopence too much, 
 sir." Being accustomed now and then to give her a 
 few pence towards buying a Testament, she was told 
 to keep it for that purpose. " I thank you," said she, 
 " I have got a Testament now, and mother has given 
 her' s to my next sister, since she has had a Bible ; 
 and my youngest sister had a Testament given her at 
 the Sunday School : but one of us is saving money to 
 buy a hymn-book with; I will give her the twopence." 
 
 This incident, trifling as it may seem to some, will 
 not fail to gratify others, whose hearts are anxiously 
 desirous of improving the Gipsies. 
 
 In the autumn of 1830, the author felt a strong 
 desire to visit Farnham, where were at that time 
 thousands of poor people assembled to pick hops, among
 
 152 
 
 whom were many Gipsies. Stanley was sent a few 
 days before to make known his intentions of preach- 
 ing to them on the evening of a fixed day. While 
 at Farnham, Stanley ate, drank, and slept in some 
 of their camps, by which he gained their confidence 
 and affection. 
 
 During the author's stay, he accompanied Stanley 
 to various hop- plantations, where great numbers of the 
 most wretched part of the community are employed 
 in the hopping season. Great numbers of tracts were 
 distributed among them, while the author entered 
 into many free and familiar conversations with them. 
 Many were found very much depraved; but none 
 were more depraved among the Gipsies than many 
 of the other class ; for they were blasphemers of God 
 and his religion. One man, like many of old, stirred 
 up the people to reject and despise the truth. He 
 said, " No one would get anything by praying to 
 God;" and, "if people wanted bread on a Sunday, 
 it would be better for them to steal a mess of potatoes, 
 and wood to cook them with, than go to church." 
 Some of the poor shuddered at his boldness, and 
 contempt of God's law. With' much impudence he 
 declared, that " he knew a man who put his dough 
 into the oven on a Sunday without heating it, and 
 then went to church to pray that God would bake it 
 for him ; but that the fool was disappointed." The 
 author said to him, " You know that you have told 
 a wilful lie. You never knew such a man. There is 
 not one of these little children will believe you." He
 
 153 
 
 appeared confounded at this unexpected rebuke. May 
 this sinner repent and be saved ! 
 
 Among the hop-pickers of Farnham were many 
 Gipsies the visitors had long known ; and their smiling 
 faces spoke the gladness of their hearts and the warmth 
 of their gratitude, Avhen they were noticed by their 
 friends affectionately and kindly ; nor had they for- 
 gotten the favours that had been shown them at 
 Southampton. 
 
 Those of the Gipsies, who were not acquainted with 
 the object the author had in view in paying them a 
 visit, were much alarmed when inquiries were made 
 for the Gipsies in the hop-grounds, supposing they 
 were pursued by the magistrates. One youth told 
 Stanley, that " he knew not whether to run or stay 
 where he was; but recollecting to have been in no 
 spray lately, he resolved on staying." When Stanley 
 spoke to him in his own language, and introduced the 
 minister, all his fears vanished. The Gipsies were 
 astonished that any one should travel forty miles to 
 see them. 
 
 Their public meeting was, after the labours of the 
 day, near one of the hop-grounds, about half an hour 
 after sun-set. A few small candles gave light to a 
 small tenement, used as a lodging place for the hop- 
 gatherers, where the congregation was accommodated. 
 A few of the inhabitants of Farnham, and some of the 
 female Gipsies, who were much delighted to mingle 
 with them in the worship of God, were put inside ; 
 and the men, with such women and children as could 
 a
 
 154 
 
 not get in, stood outside, the place being very much 
 too small for so great a number of people. The 
 preacher stood on the threshold of the door and ad- 
 dressed his hearers, of whom those without could only 
 be seen now and then, as an adjacent wood fire cast 
 at intervals upon them an intermitting light. The 
 Rev. Mr. Johnson kindly attended, and assisted in 
 the devotional part of the service ; and some of his 
 congregation obligingly assisted in the singing. 
 
 On this occasion the Gospel of Christ was addressed 
 to many who had never before heard an exposition of 
 the blessed word of God. The sermon was from Psalm 
 Ixxxvi. 5. After service the Gipsies were exhorted 
 to seek for opportunites of attending the house of God, 
 to beg of some minister a Bible for every tent, and to 
 ask every one who may come near them to read cer 
 tain of its pages to them. 
 
 During the address, many of their crimes were 
 enlarged upon, and their dread of, and liability to 
 punishment for them in this world ; and they were 
 urged to call on the God of all compassion and mercy, 
 for help and for forgiveness, by that all-powerful 
 motive, that he will never be inattentive to the prayers 
 of the most helpless, wretched, and guilty sinner, 
 when presented to God by faith in our only mediator, 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Stanley, who, after the service, accompanied the 
 
 Gipsies to their tents, found that the sermon afforded 
 
 conversation for the whole evening. One of them said, 
 
 The minister has told us everything, as though he
 
 155 
 
 had lived with us." Another observed, " If it be all 
 true what the gentleman has said, not a Gipsy can 
 be saved." A third exhorted his children " never to 
 say bad words again." The little creature replied, 
 " Then I hope my grandfer (grandfather) will never 
 swear any more." Many of them talked of the evils 
 of fortune-telling, and some resolved on going to South- 
 ampton, to see the reformed Gipsies. 
 
 During the stay of the minister in that neighbour- 
 hood, eighty of them were visited, among whom was 
 a dying woman, who very gladly received instruction, 
 and joined in prayer. A minister in the neighbour- 
 hood had been asked to visit her, but had neglected 
 to do so. 
 
 The author must not forget to acknowledge the 
 kindness of the farmers who assisted him in the dis- 
 tribution of tracts, &c. &c., and who solicited that 
 some might be left them for that purpose. 
 
 This visit afforded an opportunity to contradict many 
 false reports of the treatment with which the Gipsy 
 children had met in the Infants' Schools at South- 
 ampton. It was said that they were all confined, and 
 would at a future period be transported. This shows 
 how easily people who deceive others are imposed on 
 themselves. 
 
 In the autumn of 1831 the author intended to have 
 made a second visit to the hop- plantations at Farn- 
 ham, to see the Gipsies there assembled, but being 
 prevented by illness, he sent W. Stanley, who spent 
 several days with them. By day he visited the hop- 
 H2
 
 156 
 
 plantations, and distributed tracts among the Gipsies, 
 and conversed with them ; and in the evening he met 
 them to read and expound the Scriptures to them, for 
 which they appeared truly thankful. One of them, 
 who had till then advocated the innocency of fortune- 
 telling, declared, with tears in her eyes, that her soul 
 was endangered by the means by which she procured 
 every morsel of bread that she eat. May it not be 
 hoped that those who encourage fortune-telling will 
 think of this, and not tempt the poor Gipsy to sin ; 
 for a companion of fools shall be destroyed. 
 
 The proprietors of the hop-plantations showed no 
 small kindness to Stanley, by permitting him to have 
 access to the people for whose welfare he was so 
 solicitous. 
 
 The following letter was addressed to the author 
 by a Gipsy woman when she was in great trouble of 
 mind. It is presented to the reader just as it was 
 received, and may be found interesting to the friends 
 of their cause. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I Hope you will Excuse Me for Hi tin These few 
 Lines too you, I did Not Now where to Cend to My 
 Sister, I Have Been very II and my Familee. My 
 Children Ave Had The Measils, They are Got Well 
 from That. I am Sorry to hinform you I Have Had 
 A Shockin Accedent To my Little Girl, She was 
 Burnd to Death. I Give my Luv To My Son Job. 
 Plese to Give My Luv to My Sister Pashince, and
 
 157 
 
 Hur Children. Plese to Give my Luv To My Ant 
 Pheny, and Plese to Lett Me Now How My Cuzin 
 James doos Go on, Plese to Lett Me Now How My 
 Unkil Charls and His Family Is. Wm. Duff Gives 
 His Best Rispects To All. Plese To Tel My Sister 
 too Anser This Letter by Returne of Post. I Am So 
 unappy in My Mind Till I Do Hear From Er. Dear 
 Sister, I Have Mett With so Much Trubel Sine I Saw 
 you Last, That I am Sorre To inform you. Plese to 
 Tel My Child from Me To Be A Good Boy, and 
 Think Imself Wei off Wher He Is. My Distris and 
 My Trubel Makes Me Think More of My Sister. 
 Pies To Direct the Letter to Be Left At The Post 
 Offis, for Haryett Duff, Till Caulld for, in Bristil. 
 Plese To Give My Luv To My Son Job. So No 
 More At Prezint from your Umble Sarvint. Plese 
 God I Am Coming to See You Some time This 
 Munth. 
 
 " My Littel Girl Met The Accedent Wednesday, 
 April 23, 1828." 
 
 The following letter, too, refers to the writer of the 
 above. 
 
 " Bristol, August, 1830. 
 
 " My dear Sir, 
 
 " A I know that you are deeply interested in every 
 circumstance relating to the Gipsies, I trouble you 
 with the following anecdote. In the month of January 
 last, when walking in the city of Bristol, I met a 
 Gipsy woman, who accosted me with the usual salu-
 
 158 
 
 tation of her race, ' Shall I tell you your fortune ? "* 
 I inquired her name, and then said, ' You well know- 
 that you are not able to tell me my fortune ; and I am 
 sorry to see you carrying on such deception.' I then 
 endeavoured to speak to her about the importance of 
 considering her eternal welfare, and of seeking the 
 salvation which is in Christ Jesus; at the same time 
 pointing out the certain condemnation she was bring- 
 ing upon herself, by willingly following the multitude 
 to do evil, even carrying a lie in her right hand. 
 She urged that her practice, which she acknowledged 
 to be built on deceit and falsehood, was her only sup- 
 port; and that she must starve if she followed my 
 advice. I reminded her that she would be like Dives, 
 if she gained the whole world and lost her own soul ; 
 but that were she indeed to honour God, by giving up 
 her wicked trade, because she knew that it was dis- 
 pleasing to him, he would never suffer her to want 
 any good thing. After much more conversation, she 
 assured me that she would never tell fortunes again, 
 and would discontinue her evil habits of life. I told 
 her that I could not allow her to make to me any 
 promise of the kind ; for she did not know her wicked- 
 ness, nor the power which could alone prevent her 
 from committing sin. I again besought her to avail 
 herself of the means of instruction within her power. 
 " Before leaving the city, I commended her to the 
 care of some pious friends, who were interested in my 
 account of her, and who kindly promised not to lose 
 sight of her. Since that time I have received very
 
 159 
 
 pleasing accounts from them respecting her. They 
 have purchased materials in order that she may be 
 able to support herself by basket-making, which she 
 has begun; and I trust she has relinquished her former 
 employment. She is making progress in reading, and 
 constantly attends the preaching of the Gospel. I hope 
 also that she is really in earnest for the welfare of her 
 soul. I earnestly wish that every one would take an 
 interest in the same ; and I should be much rejoiced if 
 the circumstance which I have just mentioned should 
 be the means of encouraging any one to notice those 
 Gipsies with whom they may occasionally meet, and 
 to exert themselves in saving them from their present 
 degraded condition. 
 
 " I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours respectfully, 
 
 < s # * * # > 
 
 Wm. Stanley's Letter to the Author. 
 
 " Hon. Sir, 
 
 " As you wish me to give you some account of the 
 Gipsies, I gladly comply with your request. I am a 
 poor individual of that wandering race called Gipsies ; 
 yet, by the mercies of God, I was rescued from that 
 wandering life. In my youthful days I entered into 
 the Wiltshire militia, when it pleased God to bring 
 me under the preaching of the Gospel at Exeter; and 
 it was the means of awakening my conscience. From
 
 160 
 
 that time I have often been led to bepity the sad 
 state of the people whereof I made a part. I have 
 given them the best instruction that lay in my power, 
 and have frequently read the Scriptures to them; hut 
 with very little visible effect for many years. Neither 
 did I think till lately that there were any of them in 
 the world that cared for their souls, till the year 1827$ 
 when I was quite overcome with love to God, to find 
 that the Lord had put it into the hearts of his dear 
 people at Southampton, to pity them in their for- 
 lorn condition', and now wonder not if I am at a 
 loss for words to speak the feeling of my heart ; for 
 since that time I have seen seventeen or eighteen; 
 na >y> from twenty to thirty ; nay, from forty to 
 fifty, attend divine worship; and add to this the 
 many happy hours I have spent with them in their 
 tents near Southampton, in reading and praying with 
 them ; and some of them that six months ago would 
 not stay in their camp on my approach to them, but 
 would go away swearing, will now receive me gladly, 
 and produce a Bible or a Testament, which had been 
 given to them, and desire me to read it to them, say- 
 ing, this book was given to me by our dear friends 
 in Southampton. But, dreadful to relate, I find some 
 children, from three years old to fifteen, who never 
 said a prayer to their God; who never heard any 
 one pray, and who was never in a church or chapel, 
 nor have heard of the name of Christ, but in blasphe- 
 ming ; and these are the inhabitants of England ! 
 Oh, England! England! they are living and dying
 
 161 
 
 without God : no wonder if they drawdown the divine 
 vengeance of Heaven on the land ! 
 
 " Many of these poor ignorant mortals do not 
 know that they are doing wrong by fortune-telling ; 
 and being informed that it is displeasing to God, and 
 ruinous to their own souls, they will say, it is of no 
 service for me to give attendance to religion, for I 
 am forced to ruin my soul for every morsel of bread I 
 eat ; but if God spares my life I will leave it off as 
 soon as I can ; while others who are both ignorant and 
 hardened in their crimes, have told me it was the gift 
 of God to them, by which they were to gain their 
 Imng. Surely they call darkness light! Many of 
 my people who join in talk with me declare, that \f^ 
 the Bible which I read to them be true, there cannot 
 be many saved. But they say that a reformation is 
 needful, and this is promised by them, and I am in 
 great hopes that the time is at hand. Oh, Lord ! 
 work for thine own glory, and stir up the minds of thy 
 people in all parts of the land, that they may help 
 forward this good work amongst these poor wanderers! 
 
 " Their ignorance and their crimes seem to have 
 increased of late years. When I was a boy, I well 
 recollect their parting expression, which was so com- 
 mon amongst them Artmee Devillesty which is 
 God btess you. But now it is truly awful; it is 
 darkness itself, for they now ask God to send them, 
 good luck in their crimes. / myself thought for many 
 years, till I heard the Gospel, that God was like 
 some great gentleman, living at a great distance
 
 162 
 
 from us ; but I had not a thought that he was every- 
 where present to notice the conduct of his creatures, 
 or to hear prayer. The ignorance of my people in a 
 loud call to Christians to assist; and, blessed be God, 
 they find that assistance in Southampton. The Bible 
 has often been taken away from Southampton in the 
 Gipsies' pack, and I have seen it when they have 
 returned, preserved with a great deal of care, and 
 produced for me to read, with great delight on their 
 part. 
 
 " Surely this blessed book will not be idle, but will 
 do wonders amongst them through God's grace. I 
 see the effects already. Do you say, how ? I answer, 
 Was it ever known till now that Gipsies assembled 
 on the Sabbath-day on the common and in the lanes 
 for divine worship? Did you ever see them come to 
 town on a Sabbath-day in such great numbers as they 
 now do. when encamping near Southampton ? Some 
 of the most ignorant of them are now learning to read 
 the Scriptures. This is the beginning of good days. 
 Oh! the good this will do to my people at large! 
 Nothing of importance took place in their camp all 
 last summer, and I almost fainted tinder the dis- 
 couragement ; but of late it shows another face; 
 and I make no doubt but it will spread, and I shall 
 soon see greater things than these. 
 
 " I am, hon. Sir, 
 " Your most obliged and humble Servant, 
 
 " WILLIAM STANLEY.
 
 163 
 
 " P. S. On examining the different branches of 
 my family, I find upwards of two hundred of us in 
 different parts of England." 
 
 This poor man, when a soldier, and in the habit of 
 attending divine service as a part of his duty, often 
 heard his comrades speak of the text, on their return 
 to the barracks. He one day made up his mind to 
 bring home the text also, the next time he went to 
 church. He heard with attention, and when he re- 
 turned to the barracks, he said, " I've got the text 
 now." " What is it, Stanley *! " he was asked by a 
 comrade; when he answered, " The 19th day of the 
 month, and the 95th Psalm." When relating this 
 to the author, he added, " I had the mortification to 
 be laughed at by all my comrades who witnessed my 
 ignorance." Do not many professing Christians come 
 away from the house of God, as ignorant as this poor 
 Gipsy ? Or, if they have been taught to know and 
 remember the text, it is all they attend to. This 
 man's mind did not long remain in this dark state 
 After the above event he learned to read, and one 
 day taking up a Testament from the barracks' table, 
 he read a portion of it, when the sublimity of the 
 language, as he expressed it, struck his mind with 
 astonishment, and he said, / will buy that book if I 
 can. His comrade asked him thirteen pence half- 
 penny for it; and he was glad of his purchase, although 
 the Testament was very much torn. The Holy Scrip- 
 tures were scarce in those days, a copy of which could
 
 164 
 
 seldom be bought by the poor; nor, indeed, would 
 the word of life have been useful to them, as not one 
 in a hundred could read. 
 
 Soon after this he was invited to attend a Wesley an 
 chapel in Exeter, where a funeral sermon was to be 
 preached by the Rev. William Aver. The text was, 
 Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my 
 last end be like his. While the minister was de- 
 scribing the happiness of the righteous, divine light 
 shone upon his soul, he felt that he was not that 
 character, and that there was no prospect of his dying 
 happily unless he possessed it. This sermon was the 
 means of his conversion.
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Interesting Particulars of the Gipsies, related by 
 a Clergyman. 
 
 THE following account is selected from a tract pub- 
 lished in York, in 1822, detailing several interesting 
 visits that a Yorkshire clergyman made to some of 
 the camps of that wandering and neglected people. 
 Were the author of the little book known, application 
 would have been made to him for permission to re- 
 print these extracts. But it is hoped he will excuse 
 the liberty taken, as the design is to induce other 
 clergymen and ministers to go and do likewise. 
 This clergyman, having fallen in with a gang of 
 Gipsies on the road, who were travelling to their place 
 of encampment, addressed a young female among 
 them, and found her not ignorant of religion, " How," 
 said the clergyman, " did you obtain the knowledge 
 of religion?" " Sir," answered she, " in the depth 
 of winter, the men-folks only travel ; the women and 
 children belonging to my family and party always live 
 in the town. In those seasons I have gone with some 
 of our relatives, who live there, and are religious peo- 
 ple, to the worship of God : in that way I have learned 
 these things." 
 
 This was a practical comment on the text which
 
 166 
 
 says, The entrance of the word giveth light ; it 
 giveth understanding to the simple. After giving 
 her some suitable advice, and with it his benediction, 
 he left her; but not without hope that the seeds of 
 grace were sown in her heart. 
 
 He next overtook the grandmother and several of 
 her grandchildren. She was pleased at his noticing 
 her, and answered his inquiries with modesty and 
 propriety. She corroborated what her daughter had 
 said, and in her answers discovered not only an ac- 
 quaintance with the general truths of the Gospel, but 
 a feeling sense of their importance. She said, " f love 
 to go to church, and do go now, sir, when I can ; but 
 do not always meet with the right doctrines: my 
 prayers I offer up night and morning under the hedge. 
 I hope God Almighty hears my prayers." The clergy- 
 man observed, that sincere prayer was acceptable to 
 God any where, equally under the hedge, as in the 
 parlour, or in the church. When arrived at their 
 camp, he promised them a Bible, as they had none, 
 and directed some of the party to call at the friend's 
 house in the neighbourhood where he was staying. 
 Soon after his return thither, a knock was heard at 
 the door, when it was announced, " Two Gipsies, sir, 
 are come for a Bible." On going out, he found in 
 the hall the young man who could read, and a younger 
 brother, a fine boy of about fourteen years of age. The 
 gentleman who wrote the account, adds as follows: 
 
 " Their countenances were very animated and ex- 
 pressive ; there seemed to be a ray of heavenly bright-
 
 167 
 
 ness resting upon them; and while I gave them a 
 charge how to read the sacred gift, they were much 
 affected : the boy, in particular, listened with eager 
 attention, fixing his eyes first on me, then on the 
 Bible. After I had inscribed their names in the title- 
 page, they departed with my blessing; and, what is 
 better, with the blessing of God." 
 
 At another part of the year tliis clergyman returned 
 to the same spot where he had before been so delight- 
 fully engaged in attempting to benefit the poor Gipsies. 
 He found out another camp, and thus writes of them : 
 
 " On my approach to the camp (where was a group 
 of nearly naked children), the Gipsy girls rose up, 
 and, in a modest and respectful manner, answered my 
 questions ; while the little swarthy group of children 
 gathered around me. To one of these girls I said, 
 
 * How is it that you bear such a wandering and ex- 
 posed life?' In reply, she said, ' Sir, it is use ; use 
 is second nature.' ' But have you any religion? Do 
 you think about God, about judgment, and eternity ? 
 Do you know how to pray ?' She answered, ' I say my 
 prayers, sir, night and morning.' I then said, ' Can 
 any of your people read?' * Yes, sir,' she replied, 
 ' one of our men that is not here, can read very well.' 
 
 * Have you a Bible among you ?' ' No, sir ; we should 
 be thankful for one, sir.' " 
 
 On leaving the camp, the clergyman promised to 
 call on them again, when the other part of the family 
 should be returned from the town where they were 
 gone to vend their wares. 
 
 " On my return to the encampment," says he, " I
 
 168 
 
 was met by two men who came out to greet me. I 
 asked them kindly of their name. They informed me 
 it was Bosvill. The women and children were now 
 collected around me. I inquired who among them 
 could read. Captain Bosvill, for so I called him, an- 
 swered me, ' My wife, sir, can read any thing in 
 English.' I was glad to hear this, and asked them if 
 they had any books. Bosvill went to a package and 
 brought forth his stock, some fragments of an old Tes- 
 tament, and an old spelling-book. ' And what use do 
 you make of your spelling-book ]' asked I. ' My 
 wife,' replied Bosvill, ' when she has time, teaches 
 the children their letters.' I now showed them the 
 Bible I had in my pocket, saying, that as it was so 
 holy and blessed a book, it ought not to be given in an 
 indifferent and common manner; and asked, if I were 
 to ride over in the evening to give it them, and to ex- 
 plain to them its use, whether they would be all 
 together to hear me? ' Yes, yes / was the reply, 
 from many voices. I appointed seven o'clock for the 
 purpose. I then distributed amongst them some tracts, 
 containing passages for every day in the week, and 
 also the tract of Short Sermons ; for which they were 
 very thankful. I told them that I intended to give 
 them a Bible in the evening, a book which few of 
 them had ever seen, and which fewer understood. I 
 was pleased with the modesty of their deportment, 
 and with their eagerness for instruction. Surely they 
 are a people whose hearts the Lord has prepared 
 for the reception of his word. 
 
 " At the hour appointed, I put the Bible in my
 
 169 
 
 pocket, and rode again to the camp. The evening was 
 particularly fine ; the sun, hidden behind some thick 
 fleecy clouds, had thrown around a mild and pleasing 
 tint; the birds were every where singing their evening 
 song ; the ploughman was ' whistling o'er the lea ;" 
 and nature, after the labours of the day, was prepar- 
 ing for her wonted rest. It was a fit time for medi- 
 tation, prayer, and praise. Such an evening, perhaps, 
 as that which led the patriarch of old to meditation, 
 when he lifted up his eyes and saw the returning ser- 
 vants of his father bringing home his future wife. As 
 I drew near to the camp, I began to revolve in my 
 mind the best way of making them acquainted with 
 the importance of the most essential doctrines con- 
 tained in the holy book I was about to give them. Oa 
 my arrival I found that I had been long expected. 
 The men, however, were not there; they were gone to 
 water a horse, which they had lent all the day to a 
 farmer; but a tawny girl ran with great speed, bare- 
 footed, and brought them to the camp. I now dis- 
 mounted, and gave my horse, with my stick, to the 
 care of one of the men. The whole family was formed 
 into an irregular circle round some pale embers, some 
 of them sitting cross-legged on the grass, and others 
 standing. I placed myself so as to have the women 
 and children chiefly before me. The woman who 
 could read, was seated before me: the men, the tents, 
 and the package to the right ; while the horses and 
 asses belonging to the tribe, were quietly grazing at a 
 short distance in the lane. All was solemn stillness ;
 
 170 
 
 all was attentive expectation. As I took from my 
 pocket the Bible the eyes of the whole company were 
 instantly fixed upon it. This book, said I, which I 
 bring you, is the book of God ; it is sent from heaven 
 to make poor miserable and dying men happy. I then 
 spoke a short time on God ; on creation ; how God 
 created man upright ; how he was once happy in pa- 
 radise; the way in which he sinned, and broke the 
 law of his Maker, and became guilty, polluted, and 
 exposed to death and hell ; that to save men from this 
 dreadful state, God devised a plan of mercy ; that he 
 sent his Son and the Scriptures of truth, which show 
 unto us the way of salvation. This was something of 
 the outline of my lecture; but I added the responsi- 
 bility of men to read the book, and to seek to under- 
 stand it. I solemnly charged them, by the sacred 
 book itself, and by the account which they, at the day 
 of judgment, must give to God for it, to make the most 
 sacred and constant use of it, by reading it together 
 daily in their camp. In the course of my discourse, I 
 stopped, and said, ' Now do you understand what I 
 say ?' Captain Bosvill's wife replied, ' We under- 
 stand you, sir ; but we have not the same words which 
 you have.' In conclusion, I spoke of the coming 
 judgment, when they and all men must stand and be 
 judged at the righteous bar of God. The Bible was 
 then delivered to the care of the captain of the 
 gang, and of his wife, the woman who could 
 read. 
 
 " Now, I said, let us all kneel down on the grass,
 
 171 
 
 and pray for God's blessing with this holy book. In- 
 stantly a female brought from her tent a small piece of 
 carpet, and spread it before me on the grass, for me to 
 kneel upon ; and then all kneeling down, I prayed that 
 the minds of these miserable outcasts of society might 
 be enlightened, to discover the exceeding sinftilness of 
 sin, and the blessedness and efficiency of the Saviour; 
 that the sacred book given them through the influence 
 of the Holy Ghost, might lead them into the way of 
 righteousness, and finally guide them to everlasting 
 life. When we rose from our knees, gratitude was 
 seen in every countenance, and expressed by every 
 tongue. ' God bless you, sir ; thank you, sir; echoed 
 throughout the camp." 
 
 The next evening this clergyman went again to 
 the camp, when one of the Gipsies came to meet him, 
 and informed him of the arrival of some of their 
 relatives. "I shook hands with them," says he, 
 " and asked of their welfare. Never was a king re- 
 ceived with a more hearty welcome, or with greater 
 attention and respect. 
 
 " As I was expected, the utmost order, cleanliness, 
 and quiet, prevailed throughout the camp; and all 
 were dressed in their best clothes to receive me. 
 The arrangement of my congregation was much the 
 same as the preceding evening. I spoke to them of 
 the blessed Jesus ; his birth, his ministry, his death, 
 passion, and grace; and his glory at his second coming 
 in the clouds of heaven, to judge the world in
 
 172 
 
 righteousness. I spoke also of death, and of the im- 
 mortality of the soul. 
 
 "I had not proceeded far in my lecture, before 
 several farmers and passengers, some on horseback, 
 and others on foot, came and joined my congregation. 
 
 " Before concluding my address, I said, ' It may 
 seem singular to some of you that a stranger should 
 interest himself on your behalf in the way I have done ; 
 and it might be expected that I should give some rea- 
 sons for doing as I have. My chief reason is a sense 
 of duty. Gipsies have long been neglected, and left 
 to perish in their sins; but Gipsies have souls equally 
 precious as others, and of equal price in the sight of 
 God. Who, I asked, cares for the souls of Gipsies 1 
 who uses means for their instruction in riyhteous- 
 ness ? Yet must it be equally our duty to care for 
 them, and to endeavour their conversion and happi- 
 ness, as to plan societies, obtain subscriptions, and, 
 send out missionaries to the heathen.' 
 
 " I said, moreover, that, 'supposing, when I first 
 saw your camp, I had rode by you on the other side, 
 and taken no notice of you, nor felt an interest in your 
 welfare ; and after that, had met you at the bar of 
 judgment; what would have been the language with 
 which you might have addressed me at that awful 
 period ? Might you not have charged the misery of 
 your eternal condemnation upon me, and said, The 
 curse we are doomed to bear, thoughtless man, might, 
 perchance have been prevented by you ? You saw us
 
 1/3 
 
 when riding by our camp, lying in ignorance, and 
 unbelief: you might have rode up to us, and imparted 
 instruction to oar perishing souls ; because to you were 
 committed the oracles of God, and you knew the way 
 to heaven. But, no : cruel man, our state excited in 
 you no compassion, or desire for our salvation ! In 
 your conduct there was no imitation of your Lord and 
 Master. Go, cruel man, and if heaven you enter, let 
 your felicity be imbittered by the recollection of neglect 
 to the Gipsy wanderers, whom Providence had placed 
 in your way, that you might direct them to God, but 
 which you neglected !' In conclusion, I again referred 
 to the holy Bible, which I had given them ; and again 
 repeated the way to use it. After which I said, ' Now 
 we will conclude with prayer, as we did last evening.' 
 Immediately the same female who before brought the 
 carpet, again spread it, with great civility, for me to 
 kneel upon ; and again I offered up a solemn prayer 
 for the salvation of these lost and perishing mortal?. 
 The greatest seriousness and awe rested upon the 
 assembly. Surely the prayer was registered in heaven, 
 and shall, in time not far distant, be answered. Come, 
 and take these heathens for thine inheritance, and the 
 uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. When 
 I proposed to take leave of my swarthy flock, it was 
 not without feelings of attachment on both sides. I 
 had observed several of them much affected under my 
 discourse, and now they manifested it more openly. 
 As I shook hands with them, I said, 'You see, I did 
 not come among you to give you money. I consi-
 
 174 
 
 dered religious instruction of the most value ; therefore 
 I have endeavoured to impart it.' ' Sir,' replied 
 several, ' we did not want your money ; your instruc- 
 tion is better to us than money ; and we thank you 
 for coming.' The camp now resounded with voices, 
 saying, ' Thank you, sir; God bless you, sir;' and 
 every countenance seemed to glow with gratitude. 
 The young branches of the family seemed to think a 
 great honour and blessing had been conferred upon 
 them. 
 
 " As I mounted my pony to come away, I observed 
 one of the females, a fine young woman about twenty- 
 five years of age (the same that brought the carpet 
 from the package, and spread on the grass for me to 
 kneel upon), retire from the rest. She walked slowly 
 near to the hedge, and appeared evidently much dis- 
 tressed. Her expressive eyes were lifted up to heaven, 
 while the big tears rolling down her cheeks were wiped 
 away with her long black tresses. I thought, here, 
 surely, are some of the first fruits ! Thus did the 
 woman who was a sinner weep, and with her hair 
 wipe away the tears from the feet of her Saviour. 
 May those tears be as acceptable to God : may the 
 same Redeemer bid her go in peace ! Her conduct 
 attracted the notice of her family, and she was asked 
 the reason of her sorrow. At first she could scarcely 
 speak; but at length exclaimed, ' Oh ! I am a sin- 
 ner ! ' Then lifting up her eyes to heaven, she wept 
 aloud, and again wiped away the falling tears with 
 her hair. ' But did you not know that before 1 we
 
 175 
 
 are all sinners. What have you done to cause you 
 so much distress?' She made no reply, hut shook 
 her head and wept." 
 
 The author of the GIPSIES' ADVOCATE, who for 
 the encouragement of his readers has embodied the 
 above interesting paragraphs in his work, sincerely 
 hopes and prays that all ministers of Christ will, ere 
 long, be led to imitate this clergyman in his benevolent 
 and Christian attempts to benefit by the influence of 
 religion and the word of God, the lost, the ignorant, 
 the miserable, and the perishing among mankind.
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Interesting Visits to Gipsy Camps, including an 
 Anecdote of his late beloved Majesty, GEOUGE 
 THE THIRD. 
 
 THE following account is extracted from the Home 
 Missionary Magazine for June, 1823. 
 
 "March, 1823. 
 " Sir, 
 
 " If the following facts should afford any- encourage- 
 ment to the benevolent intentions of the Home Mis- 
 sionary Society, which has for one of its objects the 
 improvement of the state of the poor Gipsies, my end 
 in relating them will be amply answered. 
 
 " On Saturday evening, in the month of October, 
 the narrator followed several Gipsy families. Being 
 arrived at the place of their encampment, his first 
 object was to gain their confidence. This was ac- 
 complished ; after which, to amuse their unexpected 
 visitant, they showed forth their night's diversions in 
 music and dancing ; likewise the means by which they 
 obtained their livelihood, such as tinkering, fortune- 
 telling, and conjuring. That the narrator might be 
 satisfied whether he had obtained their confidence or 
 not,, he represented his dangerous situation, in the
 
 177 
 
 midst of which they all with one voice cried, ' Sir, 
 we would kiss your feet rather than hurt you ! ' After 
 manifesting a confidence in return, the master of this 
 formidable gang, about forty in number, was chal- 
 lenged by the narrator for a conjuring match. The 
 challenge was instantly accepted. The Gipsies placed 
 themselves in the circular form, and both being in the 
 middle, commenced with their conjuring powers to the 
 best advantage. At last the narrator proposed the 
 making of something out of nothing. This proposal 
 was accepted. A stone which never existed was to 
 be created, and appear in a certain form in the middle 
 of a circle made on the turf. The master of the gang 
 commenced, and after much stamping with his foot, 
 and the narrator warmly exhorting him to cry aloud, 
 like the roaring of a lion, he endeavoured to call forth 
 nonentity into existence. Asking him if he could do 
 it, he answered, ' I am not strong enough.' They 
 were all asked the same question, which received the 
 same answer. The narrator commenced. Every eye 
 was fixed upon him, eager to behold this unheard-of 
 exploit ; but (and not to be wondered at) he failed ! 
 telling them he possessed no more power to create 
 than themselves. Perceiving the thought of insuffi- 
 ciency pervading their minds, he thus spoke : " Now, 
 if you have not power to create a poor little stone, and 
 if I have not power either, what must that power be 
 which made the whole world out of nothing? men, 
 women, and children ! That power I call God Al- 
 mighty.
 
 178 
 
 " The night's diversion having received a turn, the 
 golden moment was eagerly seized to impress on their 
 minds the infinite power, holiness, and justice of their 
 Creator. This being done, the origin of sin, and the 
 immortality of the soul, were, in the second place, 
 impressed on their minds. Then followed the awful 
 effects of sin, and the soul's eternal punishment in hell, 
 because of offending this great God, whose holiness 
 could not look on sin, and whose justice would punish 
 it. Representing the soul's eternal punishment by the 
 wrath of an incensed God, never did the preacher be- 
 fore witness such an effect ; the poor Gipsies, with 
 tremulous voice, crying, ' Did you ever hear the 
 like ? Whatever shall we do ? ' These expressions 
 gave new energies to the preacher, and still brighter 
 hopes of a good effect. Going on with the awful re- 
 presentation, and in the act of turning, as if to leave 
 them, he bade them the long farewell, ' never, never 
 more to meet till we meet in eternity! Oh !' conti- 
 nued the narrator, ' what a dreadful thing it is, my 
 fellow sinners, that we have to part in this world, 
 with the thought of meeting in an eternal world of 
 pains, never to see God ! never to see heaven ! never 
 to see anything to comfort our poor souls ! Oh ! we 
 are lost, lost, poor souls ! we are lost for ever ! Fare- 
 well ! ' In the act of leaving them, these poor crea- 
 tures cried, ' Not yet, Sir ! not yet ! ' Now was 
 the glorious moment come, which the preacher eagerly 
 anticipated, of proclaiming the glad tidings of salva- 
 tion through a crucified Saviour. Asking how long
 
 179 
 
 they would stand to hear the way of escape from the 
 wrath to come, they instantly lifted up their voices, 
 answering, ' All night, sir all night!' Then the 
 preacher, without much persuasion, exhibited a Sa- 
 viour in all his sufferings, merits, death, and glory. 
 They were sorry that such a good being should suffer 
 so much; but the preacher took care to show the ab- 
 solute necessity of his sufferings. Their manner be- 
 spoke an imperfect idea of a substitute. This was 
 soon made clear to their understandings by compa- 
 risons, when the master of the gang cried, * I see it, 
 I see it ! ' He was asked what he saw. ' I see Jesus 
 Christ getting between us and God, and satisfying 
 our great God's justice by dying instead of us !' This 
 truly made the minister's heart glad, seeing the great 
 plan of salvation was so clearly understood by those 
 who declared (although in a land of light) they never 
 heard of Jesus Christ before. 
 
 " The preacher sang the hymn 
 
 ' How condescending, and how kind 
 Was God's eternal Son,' &c., 
 
 and then ended with prayer. They solicited him to 
 return on the Sabbath morning; he did so, and, as he 
 hopes, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The 
 master gratefully accepted of a Bible 5 for though the 
 Gipsies could not read, a little boy was among them, 
 who was not a Gipsy, that could read remarkably 
 well, having beeu taught at a Sunday school at Hast- 
 ings, in Sussex. They all joyfully anticipated the 
 i2
 
 pleasure of going to the Rev. J. Carter's chapel, of 
 Braintree, in the afternoon; but met with a disap- 
 pointment, arising from an unexpected decampment. 
 About one month after, in the latter end of Novem- 
 ber, twoXjipsy women called on the narrator, earnestly 
 entreating him to go and preach to them, which they 
 called CONVERSATION. Asking the reason why they 
 entreated this favour, their answer was, ' We have 
 heard much about your conversation, sir, and we 
 should like to hear it. Come, do come, and we will 
 be all ready to receive you. 1 Asking who they were 
 that told them of the conversation just mentioned, 
 they said, ' Some of our people, sir, that you were 
 with about a month since. They told us a great deal 
 about your conversation, and we should so much like 
 to hear it. Oh ! sir, do come to us poor creatures, for 
 we have an invitation for you, if you would condescend 
 to take it, to meet with the Gipsies on Christmas-day.* 
 That night the narrator] walked a few miles to their 
 camp, and in their smoky tent preached Jesus Christ 
 the only way of salvation, to these poor, despised, 
 neglected creatures. After being with them two hours 
 and a half, he bade them farewell, and going behind 
 a hedge, anxious to know what effect the new, un- 
 heard-of doctrines would produce on their minds, he 
 listened for a short time. In the midst of conversation 
 with each other, one of them said, * Well, I know this, 
 if I could get a house near where that gentleman 
 lives, and could live by my business, I would send all 
 my children to that school there, and hear him as long
 
 181 
 
 as ever I could live.' While they were conversing 
 about Adam and Eve, and the evil effects of sinning 
 against God, one of the women said, ' However, you 
 see all the punishment that us women get is sorrow 
 and pains in child-bearing.' ' Stop, stop,' says one 
 of the men, ' that won't do, Ann, that won't do. If 
 sorrow and pains in child-bearing be all the punish- 
 ment that women are to have, what punishment must 
 those women have that do not bear children ? You 
 are quite wrong, Ann ; you women are as bad as we.' 
 This led on to a further discovery, and the conversa- 
 tion among themselves was truly interesting. 
 
 " One of the children telling a lie, the mother 
 touched him on the head, saying, ; What are you 
 telling lies about ? Have you forgotten what the 
 gentleman said to-night ? You will go to hell if you 
 tell any more lies. Let me never hear you tell another, 
 you bad lad, for God will not take you to heaven.' 
 
 " These, and several remarks about Jesus Christ, 
 afforded no small pleasure to the preacher, and he 
 hopes that these facts will afford equal encouragement 
 to the Home Missionary Society. 
 
 " Your very humble Servant, 
 
 J. H. C." 
 
 Before the author relates one of the most extraor- 
 dinary anecdotes with which he is acquainted, one of 
 which a King and a dying Gipsy are the characters, 
 he will relate another interesting account of a visit to 
 a Gipsy camp, which will, it is hoped, prove that such
 
 182 
 
 visits are not in vain, when made in dependence on 
 the Divine blessing. A Gipsy, in great distress of 
 mind, and with weeping eyes, came to inform him of 
 one of their people, who was in great anguish of mind, 
 and entreated him to visit them at the camp, which 
 was several miles distant. The request was gladly 
 complied with. On arriving at the tent, he found a 
 woman sitting in a melancholy attitude on the ground ; 
 and distress and anguish were strongly marked in her 
 countenance. She appeared quite indifferent to any- 
 thing that was said, and kept herself apparently en- 
 gaged with the sticks and brands around the fire near 
 the mouth of the tent. The man also appeared very 
 melancholy. We learned that the cause of their dis- 
 tress was jealousy on the part of the man who was 
 called her husband. The circumstance which gave 
 rise to those unhappy feelings had taken place several 
 years before, yet the poor man has been so unhappy 
 that he has often intended to destroy both himself and 
 his wife ; and not many days before this visit to the 
 camp, he had threatened to execute his purpose. The 
 author talked and prayed with him, and exhorted him 
 to look to God for strength and grace. His repeated 
 conversations were made useful to them, and those 
 miserable feelings were subdued, and he now lives 
 happily with the woman he had before hated, even to 
 an intention of murder. This is another evidence, 
 although a distressing one, that a want of chastity is 
 evil in their sight. 
 
 " A king of England, of happy memory, who loved
 
 183 
 
 his people and his God better than kings in general 
 are wont to do, occasionally took the exercise of hunt- 
 ing. Being out one day for this purpose, the chase 
 lay through the shrubs of the forest. The stag had 
 been hard run, and to escape the dogs had crossed 
 the river in a deep part. As the dogs could not be 
 brought to follow, it became necessary, in order to 
 come up with it, to make a circuitous route along the 
 banks of the river, through some thick and trouble- 
 some underwood. The roughness of the ground, the 
 long grass and frequent thickets, obliged the sports- 
 men to separate from each other ; each one endea- 
 vouring to make the best and speediest route he could. 
 Before they had reached the end of the forest, the 
 king's horse manifested signs of fatigue and uneasiness; 
 so much so, that his Majesty resolved upon yielding 
 the pleasures of the chase to those of compassion for 
 his horse. With this view he turned down the first 
 arenue in the forest, and determined on riding gently 
 to the oaks, there to wait for some of his attendants. 
 The King had only proceeded a few yards, when, in- 
 stead of the cry of the hounds, he fancied he heard 
 the cry of human distress. As he rode forward, he 
 heard it more distinctly. ' Oh, my mother ! my 
 mother ! God pity and bless my poor mother ! ' The 
 curiosity and kindness of the sovereign led him in- 
 stantly to the spot. It was a little green plot on one 
 side of the forest;, where was spread on the grass, 
 under a branching oak, a little pallet, half covered 
 with a kind of tent ; and a basket or two, with some
 
 184 
 
 packs, lay on the ground at a few paces distant from 
 the tent. Near to the root of the tree he observed a 
 little swarthy girl, about eight years of age, on her 
 knees, praying, while her little black eyes ran down 
 with tears. Distress of any kind was always relieved 
 by his Majesty, for he had a heart which melted at 
 * human woe;' nor was it unaffected on this occasion. 
 And now he inquired, ' What, my child, is the cause 
 of your weeping ? For what do you pray ] ' The 
 little creature at first started, then rose from her knees, 
 and pointing to the tent, said, ' Oh, sir! my dying 
 mother!' 'What?' said his Majesty, dismounting 
 arxl fastening his horse up to the branches of the oak, 
 ' what, my child ? tell me all about it.' The little 
 creature now led the King to the tent : there lay, 
 partly covered, a middle-aged female Gipsy, in the 
 last stages of a decline, and in the last moments of 
 life. She turned her dying eyes expressively to the 
 royal visitor, then looked up to heaven, but not a word 
 did she utter ; the organs of speech had ceased their 
 office ; the silver cord was loosed, and the wheel 
 broken at the cistern. The little girl then wept 
 aloud, and stooping down, wiped the dying sweat from 
 her mother's face. The King, much affected, asked 
 the child her name, and of her family, and how long 
 her mother had been ill. Just at that moment another 
 Gipsy girl, much older, came out of breath to the spot. 
 
 She had been at the town of W , and had brought 
 
 some medicine for her dying mother. Observing a 
 stranger, she modestly curtsied, and hastening to her
 
 185 
 
 mother, knelt down by her side, kissed her pallid lips, 
 and burst into tears. ' What, my dear child/ said 
 his Majesty, ' can be done for you ! ' ' Oh, sir!' she 
 replied, * my dying mother wanted a religious person, 
 to teach her, and to pray with her, before she died. 
 I ran all the way before it was light this morning to 
 
 W , and asked for a minister, but no one could I 
 
 get to come with me to pray with my dear mother .'* 
 The dying woman seemed sensible of what her daughter 
 was saying, and her countenance was much agitated. 
 The air was again rent with the cries of the distressed 
 daughters. The King, full of kindness, instantly en- 
 deavoured to comfort them : he said, ' / am a minister, 
 and God has sent me to instruct and comfort your 
 mother.' He then sat down on a pack, by the side of 
 the pallet, and taking the hand of the dying Gipsy, 
 discoursed on the demerit of sin, and the nature of 
 redemption. He then pointed her to Christ, flie all- 
 sufficient Saviour. While doing this, the poor crea- 
 ture seemed to gather consolation and hope : her eyes 
 sparkled with brightness, and her countenance became 
 animated. She looked up she smiled; but it was 
 the last smile ; it was the glimmering of expiring 
 nature. As the expression of peace, however, re- 
 mained strong in her countenance, it was not till some 
 little time had elapsed, that they perceived the strug- 
 gling spirit had left mortality. 
 
 " It was at this moment that some of his Majesty's 
 attendants, who had missed him at the chase, and 
 who had been riding through the forest in search of 
 i 5
 
 him, rode up, and found him comforting the afflicted 
 Gipsies. It \vas an affecting sight, and worthy of 
 everlasting record in the annals of kings. 
 
 " He now rose up, put some gold into the hands of 
 the afflicted girls, promised them his protection, and 
 bade them look to heaven. He then wiped the tears 
 from his eyes, and mounted his horse. His attendants, 
 greatly affected, stood in silent admiration. Lord 
 
 L was going to speak, but his Majesty, turning 
 
 to the Gipsies, and pointing to the breathless corpse, 
 and to the weeping gi:ls, said with strong emotion, 
 ' Who, my lord, who, thinkest thou, was neighbour 
 unto these ? ' "
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Further interesting Correspondence. 
 
 " Dear Sir, 
 
 " In answer to your inquiries, I have to say, that, 
 within my knowledge, little or nothing has as yet 
 been accomplished for the Gipies. The home mis- 
 sionaries have frequently paid flying visits to their 
 camps, and prayed, read, preached, and distributed 
 tracts. In all cases they have been treated with much 
 respect, and their labour has been repaid with the 
 most sincere marks of gratitude. But I never met 
 with very warm support in carrying on this object, but 
 have been often exposed to some sarcastical insinu- 
 ations, or sardonic smiles, from those who thought the 
 attempt to ameliorate the condition of the Gipsies, 
 only Quixotic. 
 
 " I think their wandering life is one very great im- 
 pediment in the way of improving the Gipsy tribes, 
 and yet they are so attached to it, that when taken 
 into families, as servants, they will not stay. Nor caa 
 any good be done to their children ;* for, like all wild 
 people, the parents are attached to them to a fault ; so 
 
 * One Gipsy has been in respectable service nearly three 
 years, and some children have been under our care nearly 
 five years. AUTHOR.
 
 that they cannot allow them to be absent from them 
 even to enjoy the instruction of a school, suspecting 
 that such a separation might end in their final dis- 
 union. 
 
 " Were a distinct society formed to effect a re- 
 formation among the Gipsies, many of the nobility, 
 and other classes of the higher orders, would no doubt 
 subscribe. There is a feeling among them on the 
 subject, and many times the formation of a society 
 has been on the tapis. The Gipsies are singularly 
 attached to the establishment, and many of them are 
 married at the parish churches ; and it is a pity the 
 episcopalian body have not taken them up. There 
 is a prejudice against them which I think is un- 
 founded ; but I cannot enter into details in a mere 
 letter. People look on them as vagabonds, and they 
 seem shy in return ; and hence they continue a kind 
 of outcast body in a civilized country. 
 
 " If any further steps are taken, and if I can in any 
 way assist in promoting your good object, you may 
 command my services. 
 
 " I am, dear sir, respectfully yours, 
 
 " I. COBBIX." 
 
 I 
 
 Extracts from the Letter of a Clergyman's Lady. 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " My best thanks are due to you for your compli- 
 ance with my request; and, in return, I beg to assure 
 you, that I consider your answer to my friend's ob-
 
 189 
 
 jection, as quite satisfactory and efficient. I rejoice 
 to hear that God has been pleased to bless the endea- 
 vours and earnest exertion of the Scripture-readers 
 (to the Gipsies) with success. To behold sixteen, and 
 afterwards twenty-one Gipsies voluntarily attending 
 Divine worship, must convey feelings of gratitude to 
 the heart of every Christian, and at the same time 
 encourage him to persevere in earnest prayer to the 
 Father of mercies, to pour his Holy Spirit into their 
 souls, that they may become the true and faithful fol- 
 lowers of the Redeemer. You say you would be glad 
 to receive any intelligence respecting this interesting 
 people ; by which I am led to suppose that an account 
 of an interview which I had with some of them may 
 not be unacceptable ; an interview that was highly 
 pleasing and satisfactory, as I found them less igno- 
 rant of spiritual concerns, and to possess better quali- 
 ties, than I had imagined. 
 
 " Having sent for two women (the heads of the 
 camps), I received them in a cottage in the town of 
 , and after allowing them some refreshment, 
 
 proceeded to put the different questions to them that 
 are inserted in the Observer. They told me that their 
 family, altogether, consisted of eighteen persons, who 
 travelled about the country in three camps ; that the 
 men found it difficult to obtain regular employment ; 
 that sometimes, during the winter, they made cabbage- 
 nets, and mended culinary utensils; that in the sum- 
 mer, men and women were occasionally employed in 
 making hay, &c. These women appeared very desti-
 
 190 
 
 tute of necessary clothing, which they said they found 
 great difficulty in obtaining. They appeared careful to 
 speak the truth, alleging that it hurt their consciences 
 to speak otherwise. On the question being put to 
 them, whether they appropriated to themselves the 
 property of those near whom they encamped, they 
 candidly confessed that they sometimes took a little 
 straw, hay, and sticks ; but no fowls or any other live 
 stock. They showed a very affectionate disposition 
 and warm feelings towards their children. The eldest 
 of them assured me, that if any in their camp became 
 orphans, she considered herself more bound to provide 
 for them than her own, as the former needed it the 
 more, being destitute. She did not object to their 
 gaining instruction, if it came in the way, and she 
 wished to be read to herself, and appeared to take 
 much pleasure in listening to my explanations of the 
 important doctrines of religion. They said that none 
 of their party could read, but that they were some- 
 times visited by a relative who was a good scholar. 
 She said, too, that she always kept in her possession a 
 godly book, for the purpose of asking, as opportunity 
 offered, a traveller to read to them. She assured me 
 too (which I rather doubted), that they constantly 
 attended Divine worship, when encamped near enough 
 to churches ; that they send for the nearest clergyman 
 to preach to the dying, and that they never omit hav- 
 ing their babes full christened, excepting in cases of 
 sickness, when the child is only baptized : and should 
 such child die, they obtain the services of a parochial
 
 191 
 
 clergyman to inter it. They said, thinking no doubt 
 to please me, that they did not like the ranters, but 
 that they thought well of the church folks. I fear 
 that, though they had a general knowledge of the 
 Supreme Being, they were sadly ignorant of the most 
 important point of Christianity, namely, the all-suffi- 
 cient sacrifice that was made for the whole world. 
 While I expatiated to them on the day of judgment 
 and the final doom of man, portraying the exquisite 
 happiness of the righteous part of the human family, 
 and the dreadful misery of the wicked, the younger 
 of them, who appeared indisposed, was considerably 
 agitated. They then said, that they were not in the 
 habit of swearing, but occasionally did so, though they 
 were aware it was very wicked. When travelling, 
 they told me that they avoid breaking the Sabbath ; 
 and that they visit all places included in the district 
 through which they wander three times a year, from 
 which plan they seldom deviate. I inquired if they 
 would like to settle in cottages, and gain their live- 
 lihood by industry. They replied, that if house-rent ', 
 clothes, food, and all other necessaries, were found 
 them, they would ; but that they would not settle on 
 any other condition. 
 
 " I am desirous of obtaining your opinion respecting 
 the plan I have lately formed to benefit this people ; 
 for, should you approve of it, it will be carried into 
 immediate execution. I thought it would be very 
 advantageous to offer an adequate remuneration to a 
 pious person who would devote every half-day to
 
 192 
 
 reading and explaining the Scriptures to the old, and 
 teaching the young to read. I was aware that it 
 would be difficult to obtain one, who, while he would 
 teach the young to read, and explain the Scriptures 
 to the aged, Avould be wise enough to give wholesome 
 advice to every case of mental distress, and be gifted 
 to guide the first steps of those who are disposed to 
 be good, in the way of Christian godliness. After 
 much anxiety, and many attempts, I at length suc- 
 ceeded in meeting with a person most disinterestedly 
 pious ; one who was willing to accede to any proposal 
 to benefit his fellow-creatures. He appears to attach 
 little importance to himself, but to have much con- 
 fidence in God, in reference to his exertions. He is 
 really desirous to promote the immortal interests of 
 the poor people to whom his attention has been direct- 
 ed, and is pious, zealous, and intelligent. He, how- 
 ever, cannot devote himself to this work more than 
 three days per week. He will visit all Gipsy camps 
 for seven or eight miles round. 
 
 " Some clear, forcible, simple, religious tracts, such 
 as are likely to instruct and awaken, with the Scrip- 
 tures, would perhaps be of service. I shall hold out 
 rewards of clothes and books to those of whom I hear 
 the best accounts, and shall endeavour to meet them, 
 a few at a time, in a cottage, at least once a year. 
 Will you let me know whether you think I am doing 
 right?"* 
 
 * A committee is now formed in this place.
 
 193 
 
 Extracts of a Letter from a man of plain but 
 pious character, addressed to the Southampton 
 Committee. 
 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " It is natural for me to suppose that you expect, 
 by this period, to hear something of the success that 
 has attended my labours on the common among the 
 people called Gipsies. I visit them three or four times 
 a week, besides going among them on Sabbath days. 
 I go from tent to tent, and talk to them on religious 
 subjects, read and explain the word of God to them, 
 so far as I am able, and pray with them. At such 
 times they thankfully receive what I humbly commu- 
 nicate to them, and often, with tears and gratitude, 
 wonder that I should think of them in their poor de- 
 graded state. I hope some of them may be brought 
 to the knowledge of God." 
 
 After some other pleasing details, this humble per 
 son concludes his letter thus : 
 
 " With regard to the children, I meet with here and 
 there one among them that can read, but it is very 
 little. These children, however, are desirous, I may 
 say very desirous, to have some little books. To such 
 I have given books, till I have none left. I could have 
 given away, where desired, and with the prospect of 
 knowing they might be useful, many more, had I
 
 possessed them. Upon the whole, I think there is 
 cause for much encouragement. 
 
 " I am, gentlemen, your humble servant, 
 
 #***#*> 
 
 A clergyman, a most valuable correspondent, ob- 
 served, when addressing the committee 
 
 " In speaking to the Gipsies on the road-side, and 
 offering a tract, I have never but once met with im- 
 pertinence. It is probable that that individual had 
 been impertinently treated first, by people called 
 Christians. 
 
 " Dr. More has well said, with respect to the Jews, 
 ' If Christians had believed and acted like Christians, 
 it would have been a miracle if the Jews had not been 
 converted.' 
 
 " This observation is equally applicable to the Gip- 
 sies of England ; for, if Christian denominations did 
 their duty, they would cease to be Gipsies."
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Concluding Remarks. 
 
 HAD the author availed himself of all the facts 
 relating to the addresses which have been given in 
 different places by clergymen, home missionaries, and 
 other ministers, and published all the letters of an in- 
 teresting nature addressed to himself and the South- 
 ampton Committee, in reference to the Gipsies, to- 
 gether with the gratitude they have shown for such 
 Christian attentions, it might have gratified many 
 readers; but these pages would thereby have been 
 increased to too great a number. 
 
 But, before concluding this little work, he desires to 
 impress upon the reader the necessity there is of en- 
 gaging in the great work of the conversion of the 
 poor Gipsies. 
 
 Why do not all ministers, and all good people, unite 
 in it? May we not conclude that they do not feel 
 the value of their souls as they ought, if they do not 
 perform all that is in their power for this end ? Both 
 ministers and their congregations are too lukewarm. 
 We are discouraged by difficulties under the influence 
 of unbelief, and we often gay, How can these things 
 be accomplished ? Every Christian is called by his
 
 196 
 
 Saviour to attempt the instruction of his fellow-crea- 
 tures; and no common excuse, such as business, 
 poverty, a want of time, acknowledged ignorance, 
 and a want of talent, can justify us in neglecting the 
 attempt to speak a word of advice, or reproof, or pro- 
 mise, to our fellow-creatures. This is the duty of 
 every Christian, and, if done in faith, Almighty God 
 will bless the effort. 
 
 To the magistrates the author would make a most 
 ardent appeal on behalf of the despised members of the 
 Gipsy family. Most respectfully and most earnestly 
 does he entreat them to pity their destitute condition, 
 when brought before them as vagrants, and from 
 which thej r have been so often made to suffer ; for 
 sooner would the wild creatures of the forest be tamed, 
 than those branches of the human family be brought, 
 through coercion, to dwell in houses and follow trades, 
 who were born under the hedges, and have through 
 life made unfrequented solitudes their homes. Much 
 better would it be for the magistrates to encourage 
 the education of their children, with the view to im- 
 prove and reform the rising generation. The author 
 hopes and prays that they may. Blessed are the 
 merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 
 
 If we all felt the importance and necessity of dis- 
 charging our Christian duties as the sailor and the 
 soldier do in their different stations, no difficulties 
 would deter us ; but God expects every Christian to 
 do his duty. A celebrated commander once called his 
 officers together, and said, " We must carry such a
 
 197 
 
 garrison." The officers said, " It is impossible; the 
 attempt would be vain." The general replied, " It 
 can, and must be done, for I have the order in my 
 pocket" Oh! ye ministers of Christ! you have the 
 order lying on your table, and in your desks, at this 
 moment ; read it in the Bible: Go ye into the high- 
 ways and hedyes, and compel them to come in, that 
 my house may be filled. Luke xiv. 23. The duty is 
 ours: have we done it? Have we done it as oppor- 
 tunities have presented themselves? Have we done 
 it as we ought ? Yea, more ; have we sought for 
 opportunities to instruct souls 1 Our adorable Master 
 did so. He came from heaven to earth, to seek and 
 to save them who were lost. Private Christians! 
 you also have your order from the high throne of 
 heaven, in your houses, perhaps unnoticed; or, it may 
 be, you have not rightly interpreted these orders to 
 their full extent. Others may have acted the coward's 
 part, and thrown these orders aside. Would a soldier 
 or a sailor thus serve his king and country ? If you 
 saw your countrymen perishing on your shores by 
 shipwreck, or likely to be destroyed by fire, would you 
 not be anxious to assist both the virtuous and the 
 wicked ] Gipsies are perishing around you ; hear 
 their cries, ere they are plunged into eternity; and 
 attend to these orders from the King of kings: 
 Thou shall not avenge, nor bear any grudge against 
 the children of thy people; but thou shall love thy 
 neighbour as thyself. Levit. xix. 18. The stranger 
 that dwelleth with you shall be as one born amongst
 
 198 
 
 you, and thou shall love him as thyself; xxxiv. 5. 
 Beware of hardness of heart toward thy poor 
 brother. Deut. xv. 7. Be ye therefore merciful, 
 as your Father who is in heaven is merciful. Luke 
 vi. 36. For he raiseth up the poor out of the dust, 
 and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill. Psalm 
 cxiii. 7. Therefore all things ivhatsoever ye would 
 that men should do to you, do ye even so to them ; 
 for this is the law and the prophets. Matt. vii. 12. 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Matt, 
 xix. 19. And who is our neighbour? Read the 
 parable of the Good Samaritan, and go and do like- 
 wise . Luke x. 15. 
 
 The author will finally conclude by observing, that 
 England will have a great deal to answer for in refer- 
 ence to the Gipsies of past generations. For, from a 
 very moderate calculation that he has made, 150,000 
 of these outcasts must have passed into the eternal 
 world, uninformed, unacquainted with God, since they 
 came to this country. May the present and succeed- 
 ing generations be wiser than the past ! 
 
 The author having now redeemed the pledge which 
 he gave his friends, by furnishing them with a history 
 of the Gipsies, such a one as he hopes will be bene- 
 ficial to the race, whose conduct, condition, and 
 necessities, it narrates ; he offers his thanks to those 
 kind friends who have earnestly contributed to the 
 interest of these pages, and requests the continuation 
 of their favours, with a view to give increasing in- 
 terest to an intended fourth edition.
 
 199 
 
 The author commits these pages to the all-influ- 
 ential blessing of God, earnestly praying that these 
 poor, hard-faring wanderers, whose character he has 
 endeavoured to delineate, may be speedily rescued 
 from their present forlorn condition, and that they 
 may eventually be conducted to the mansions of eter- 
 nal bliss, where neither storm nor tempest shall any 
 longer afflict them, but where they shall join with 
 the ransomed of the Lord, in ascribing blessing, and 
 honour, and glory, and power, unto him that sittetk 
 upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 As the funds in aid of the above object are very 
 inadequate to its support, the author will feel happy 
 in receiving any donations or subscri ptions, either 
 himself or through his booksellers ; of whom also may 
 be had a list of the subscribers, and a report of the 
 proceedings of the committee. 
 
 THE END.
 
 LIST OF AUTHORS 
 
 WHO HAVE WRITTEN ON THE GIPSIES. 
 
 II. M. G. GRELLMAN'S DISSERTATION' ON THE GIPSIES. 
 
 Translated by M. Rapier. 
 HOYLAND'S SURVEY OF THE GIPSIES. 
 Twiss's TRAVELS IN SPAIN. 
 SWINBURNE'S TRAVELS IN ITALY. 
 DR. C. D. CLARK'S TRAVELS IN RUSSIA. 
 CAPTAIN DAVID RICHARDSON. Referred to in the seventh 
 
 volume of Asiatic Researches. 
 SIR THOMAS BROWN'S VULGAR ERRORS. 
 
 While these are the leading authors, whose works are either 
 composed in or ttanslated into English, it may impress us 
 with the importance with which the Gipsies hare been 
 viewed, to know that nearly two hundred have written about 
 them in other languages. 
 
 PRINTED BY MILLS, JOWETT, AND MILLS, 
 EOLT-COl'RT, FLEET-STREET.
 
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