John Hoyland

“ On this point may be adduced the judicious observation of Grellmann: “If the Gypsey knows not how to make use of the faculties with which nature has intrusted him, let the State teach him, and keep him in leading strings till the end is attained. Care being taken to improve their understandings, and to amend their hearts, they might become useful citizens; for observe them at whatever employment you may, there always appear sparks of genius.” ”

“ When at length the veil that has obscured them is once drawn aside, can British benevolence withhold its exertions, to elevate the moral tone of this degraded eastern race, and to call forth the dignity of the human character, in exchange for the strange torpor and vileness in which this people are involved. Here an occasion presents for the display of a temper truly Christian, and for the erection of a standard to surrounding kingdoms, in which also these outcasts of society are dispersed, of that philanthropy and sound policy which are worthy of a great nation. ”

“ It is a just assertion, that one of the most infallible methods of determining the origin of a people, would be the discovery of a country in which their language is that of the natives. It is a fact incontrovertibly established, that besides the Gypsies speaking the language of the country in which they live, they have a general one of their own, in which they converse with each other. ”

“ One strange peculiarity in the ideas of Gypsies we have hitherto forborn to mention, but, disgusting as the task of recording it way be, it is so well authenticated, as to have excited the notice of the Hungarian Legislature; and as it will be found to have some reference to the origin of this singular race of human beings, it must not be withheld from public view. The greatest luxury to them is, when they can procure a roast of cattle that have died of any distemper: to eat their fill of such a meal, is to them the height of epicurism. ”

“ Their humane and intelligent biographer, Grellmann, styles them a “singular phenomenon in Europe;” and it may justly be observed of such of them as inhabit countries accounted the most enlightened, that the contrast which their destitute state presents to the numerous advantages of civilized life, and to the refinements of polished society, is truly astonishing. If there possibly can be a single Briton who is a skeptic to the benefits of education, let him only take a view of the intellectual degradation and disgusting condition of the Gypsies. ”

“ Some individuals, but very rarely, separate from the colony altogether; and when they do so early in life, and go to a distance such as London, or even Edinburgh, their acquaintances in the country get favourable accounts of them. A few betake themselves to regular and constant employments at home, but soon tire, and return to their old way of life.
“When any of them, especially a leader, or man of influence dies, they have full meetings, not only of the colony, but of the Gypsies from a distance, and those meetings, or Late Wakes, are by no means conducted with sobriety or decency.” ”

“ If we look back into the history of the Christian church, from the earliest ages, we shall find that the introduction of the gospel amongst any people, has generally been effected by means of Missionaries; and so numerous are the Gypsies, and so desultory in their habits of life, that it might well occupy the time of more than one zealous individual, to go amongst them, and by plain, simple, affectionate conversation and exhortation, when practicable, instruct them in the knowledge of their Redeemer. ”

“ There appears so little probability of any useful change being effected in the nomadic habits of adult Gypsies, that it seems better to bear with that propensity for some time longer, than by directly counteracting it, so disturb the minds of parents, as to indispose them to consent to the education of their children. There are thousands of other people in the nation, who, more than half their time, live out of doors in like manner. ”

“ We send apostles to the east and west, to the most distant parts of the whole earth; and even into the very country whence the Gypsies emigrated, to instruct the people who know not God. Is it not inconsistent for men to be solicitous for the welfare of their fellow-creatures in distant regions, and to throw off, and leave to chance, those who, equally wretched, have brought their errors home to us? ”

“ But it is universally admitted, that Gypsies did not bring any particular religion with them from their native country, by which they could be distinguished among other people; being as inconstant and unsettled respecting religion, as they are to place of residence.
Indeed it is asserted, that no Gypsey has any idea of submission to any fixed profession of faith; that patents suffering their children to grow up as themselves, without education or instruction, they acquire little knowledge either of morality or justice ”

“ Yet amidst all, one set of people seems to be entirely excluded from participating in any of those blessings; I mean Gypsies, who are accounted rogues and vagabonds. When we consider that they, equally with ourselves, are bought with a price, much remains to be done for them. These people, however wretched and depraved, certainly demand attention; their being overlooked with indifference, is really much to be regretted. ”

“ To propose means for improving the condition of Gypsies, before we have informed ourselves of their real state, and what has been done for them, would be as injudicious, as for a Physician to prescribe for a patient, without being acquainted with the nature or extent of his disease, and the means attempted for his cure. To form a just opinion, on the case of the Gypsies, it appears necessary to ascertain their general habits, and their mode of life. ”

“ A strong spirit of independence, or what they would distinguish by the name of liberty, runs through the whole tribe. It is no doubt a very licentious liberty, but entirely to their taste. Some kind of honour, peculiar to themselves, seems to prevail in their community. They reckon it a disgrace to steal near their homes, or even at a distance, if detected. I must always except that petty theft of feeding their shelties and asses on the farmer’s grass and corn, which they will do, whether at home or abroad. ”

“ It is time therefore that a better and a more enlightened policy should be adopted in Europe, towards a race of human beings, under so many hereditary disadvantages as are the helpless, the rude, the uninstructed Gypsies. ”

“ Continental writers state, that it is incredible how numerous the hordes of this people are, and how widely dispersed over the face of the earth. They wander about in Asia, the inferior of Africa, and have established themselves in most of the countries of Europe. Grellmann is of opinion, that America is the only part of the world, in which they are not known. Though no mention appears to be made of them by Authors who have written on that quarter of the globe; yet no doubt remains, of their having been in Europe nearly four hundred years. ”

“ They in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were esteemed supernumeraries; there being men of great learning, who not only read lectures in Colleges on the art of chiromancy; but wrote many books, vilifying these people, and endeavouring to spoil their market. But these wise men are no more; their knowledge is deposited in the dead archives of literature; and probably had there been no Gypsies, with them would have died the belief in chiromancy, as is the case with respect to astrology, necromancy, oneirocritica, and the other offspring of imbecile fancy. ”

“ Can a nation, whose diffusive philanthropy extends to the civilization of a quarter of the globe, and to the evangelization of the whole world, be regardless of any of the children of her own bosom, or suffer the pious, truly patriotic solicitude of her King, for the instruction of the meanest of his subjects to remain unaccomplished. ”

“ The author has much regretted, that scarcely any of the splendid histories of Counties in England, and even those in which the Gypsies abound, have in the least noticed that part of the population which so strongly claims our attention. By bringing their situation into view, the historian might not merely have served the cause of humanity; he would have advanced the interest of the state, by promoting an object of so much public utility, as the improvement of the whole Gypsey race cannot fail to prove. ”

“ Working in iron is the most usual occupation of the Gypsies. In Hungary, this profession is so common, that there is a proverb: “So many Gypsies so many smiths.”
The same may be said of those in Transylvania, Wallachia, Moldavia, and all Turkey in Europe; at least such workers in fire are very numerous in all those countries. But the Gypsies of our time, are not willing to work heavy works; they seldom go beyond a pair of light horse shoes. ”

“ The causes of these bodily qualities, or at least some of them, evidently arise from their education, and hardy manner of life.
The pitiless mother takes her three months old child on her back, and wanders about, in fair and foul weather, in heat or cold; there it sits winter and summer, in a linen rug, with its head over her shoulder. Gypsey women never use a cradle, nor even possess such a piece of furniture. The child sleeps in their arms, or on the ground. When a boy attains three years of age, his lot becomes still harder. ”

“ May Britons in their conduct towards the Gypsies, be actuated by a policy so liberal, as to induce the rising generation among this neglected class, to attach themselves to civil society, and to enter into situations designed to inculcate habits of industry, and prepare them to become useful members of the community. ”

“ Increased acquaintance with oriental customs and tongues, has, at length, discovered the near coincidence they have with the language of the Gypsies, and has developed an origin of this people, of which those of the present age were, till now, entirely ignorant. It will appear extraordinary, that these people should have been able, by oral means alone, and under all disadvantages, to retain their language, and yet not to have handed down with it, any tradition that might lead to a discovery of who they were, or whence they came. ”

“ In those parts of Hungary, where the climate is so mild, that horses may lie out all the year, the Gypsies avail themselves of this circumstance to breed, as well as to deal in horses; by which they sometimes not only procure a competency, but grew rich. Instances have been known on the Continent, of gypsies keeping from fifty to seventy horses each; and those the best bred horses of the country; some of which they let out for hire, others they exchange or sell. But this description of Gypsey horse-dealers is not numerous; the greater number of them deal in inferior kinds. ”

“ In this land p. 160of Christian benevolence, can we pronounce a certain proportion of its inhabitants to be wretchedly depraved, and even a wicked set of people; advertise them as rogues and vagabonds, and offer a reward for their apprehension, without devising any means of remedying the defects of their habits, or holding out encouragement to reformation, in any of them who are disposed to relinquish their vicious courses? ”

“ It is in reality, almost absurd to talk of the religion of a set of people, whose moral characters are so depraved, as to make it evident they believe in nothing capable of being a check to their passions. ”

“ It is not permitted for every one, without exception, to be a gold-washer; such only can follow the employment as have permission from the office of Mons, where a College was established by the Empress Theresa, in 1748. In the seventh article of instructions granted, the Gypsies were allowed the privilege of washing for gold, for which each person pays a tribute to Government.
The gold-washers in Transylvania and the Banat, pay four guilders annually in gold dust. The tribute collected in Wallachia and Moldavia does not go into the public treasury, but belongs to the Princesses for pin-money. ”

“ Any prevailing sickness, or epidemical disorder, sooner penetrates into ten habitations of civilized people, than finds its way into a Gypsey’s tent.
Though they are fond of a great degree of heat, and to lie so near the fire, as to be in danger of burning, yet they can bear to travel in the severest cold, bareheaded, with no other covering than some old rags carelessly thrown over them. ”

“ John Blair, Sheriff Substitute for the County of Bute, writes: “I have to inform that the people generally known by the description of Gypsies, are not in use to come hither, unless abject, itinerant tinkers and braziers, generally from Ireland, may be accounted such. A few of them often visit us, and take up their abode for a time in different parts of the country, where people can be prevailed upon to give them the accommodation of an out-house or hut.”
They are understood to be illiterate, neither they, nor their children, who are often numerous, being able to read. ”

“ The Gypsies, to whom this applies, are a people which, more than any other, it might have been considered the interest of society to reclaim, because of the depredations they commit upon it.
The efforts of the good, and of the great, have not been confined to meliorating the condition of the inhabitants of this country only, they have been directed to the alleviation of human misery in various other nations, and even to the augmentation of funds for civilizing the natives of distant regions of the globe. ”