seems to have been attracted towards the strange people of whom he writes, and to have studied their history and habits with attentive interest. Having naturally great facility in the acquisition of language, he has not allowed the talent to suffer from neglect. He has made himself so familiar with the Gipsy tongue, as to be mistaken by the wandering tribes with which he has mingled, for one of their own blood. From their own lips, therefore, he has learned their laws and their observances. He has been a dweller in their camps, and a partaker in their adventures,-corroborating or correcting, by his own observation, the knowledge which he had obtained from other sources. In Russia, Hungary, Turkey, and England, he appears to have known them familiarly. Of their peculiarities in Spain, the pages before us are ample in detail-perhaps more pruriently so, in some particulars, than should have been expected from the knowledge or the taste of a semi-clerical historian.

The origin of the Gipsies must still remain a matter of doubt, notwithstanding that Mr. Borrow, with considerable array of reason, attributes it to India. Early in the fifteenth century they made their appearance in Europe, and their tents were found pitched, soon after, in the principal kingdoms. From that time to the present, it would appear that they have changed but little. The utmost effect of the laws regarding them, has been to modify the exercise of their peculiar characteristics, but in no wise essentially to change those characteristics themselves. Mr. Borrow informs us in his opening chapter, that they are, at this day, not more readily to be distinguished, by their unvarying complexion and features, than by their adherence, in spirit, to their common and time-honored professions, of thieving, tinkering, jockeying, and fortune-telling, all the world over. The tide of civilization which has swept over the countries where they have dwelt, has left their feet unwet. Like the outcasts of Israel, they seem to live in the expiation of a melancholy doom, and still worse, so far as society is concerned, they appear to rebel against the acquisition of every art which

would tend to bring them by degrees within the pale of industry and improvement.

"Religion," says Mr. Borrow, "they have none: they never attend mass, nor did I ever hear them employ the names of God, Christ, and the Virgin, but in execration and blasphemy."-Vol. i, p. 206.

Their whole moral law is embraced within a very small compass, as will be seen by an extract from a pithy dialogue between Mr. Borrow, and a singular Gitáno, whom he met at Badajos.

"Myself. What do you mean by the Gipsy law?

"First Gipsy.-Wherefore do you ask, brother? You know what is meant by the law of the Calés better even than ourselves.

"Myself. I know what it is in England and in Hungary, but I can only give a guess as to what it is in Spain.

"Both Gipsies.-What do you consider it to be in Spain?

"Myself.-Cheating and choring the Busné on all occasions, and being true to the erráte in life and death.

"At these words both the Gitános sprang simultaneously from their seats, and exclaimed with a boisterous shout-"Chachipé."-Vol. i, p. 204.

Our readers will observe from this last extract that Mr. Borrow is as prodigal with the Gipsy language, as Sir Walter Scott with the Scottish. Those who are curious must have frequent recourse to the glossary.

In a passage of the same dialogue, we find an instance eloquently described, of the free-masonry existing between the different tribes of these wild people. It is a fair specimen of Mr. Borrow's narrative ability. We hope, however, that it is not obligatory on us to make it a matter of faith. We have never been in a battle ourselves, but war is not so bad as we imagined, if two soldiers can retire to a knoll and hold a tête à tête, "for hours," while their respective parties are "fighting all around." Such opportunities would, we think, be embraced rather too often for discipline. Perhaps, however, the Gipsies have the knack of doing this, as well as other strange things, with impunity.

I

"Myself.-Have you ever met before with Caloré who were not Spaniards? "Antonio.-I will tell you, brother. served as a soldier in the war of the independence against the French. War, it is true, is not the proper occupation of a Gitáno, but those were strange times, and all those who could bear arms were compelled to go forth to fight: so I went with the English armies, and we chased the Gabiné unto the frontier of France; and it happened once that we joined in desperate battle, and there was a confusion, and the two parties became intermingled and fought sword to sword and bayonet to bayonet, and a French soldier singled me out, and we fought for a long time, cutting, goring, and cursing each other, till at last we flung down our arms and grappled; long we wrestled, body to body, but I found that I was the weaker, and I fell. The French soldier's knee was on my breast, and his grasp was on my throat, and he seized his bayonet, and he raised it to thrust me through the jaws ; and his cap had fallen off, and I lifted my eyes wildly to his face, and our eyes met, and I gave a loud shriek, and cried Zincalo, Zíncalo! and I felt him shudder, and he relaxed his grasp, and started up, and he smote his forehead and wept, and then he came to me and knelt down by my side, for I was almost dead, and he took my hand and called me brother and Zincalo, and he produced his flask and poured wine into my mouth and I revived, and he raised me up, and led me from the concourse, and we sat down on a knoll, and the two parties were fighting all around, and he said, 'Let the dogs fight, and tear each others' throats till they are all destroyed, what matters it to the Zincali; they are not of our blood, and shall that be shed for them?' So we sat for hours on the knoll, and discoursed on matters pertaining to our people; and I could have listened for years, for he told me secrets which made my ears tingle, and I soon found that I knew nothing, though I had before considered myself quite Zincalo ; but as for him he knew the whole cuenta; the Bengui Lango himself could have told him nothing but what he knew. So we sat till the sun went down, and the battle

was over, and he proposed that we should both flee to his own country and live there with the Zincali; but my heart failed me; so we embraced, and he departed to the Gabiné, while I returned to our own battalions."-Vol. i, p. 209.

Many amusing instances are given, with great vivacity, of the peculiar modes which the Zincali adopt to convert other people's money into their own. The "hokkano baro," or great trick, is the pride of the Gipsy women, and is a deception, our author informs us, "frequently practised at the present day, and not only in Spain, but in England, enlightened England, and in France likewise."

There are various ways of accomplishing this mode of financiering. "The most simple, and indeed, the most generally used by the Gitanas, is to persuade some simple individual to hide a sum of money in the earth, which they afterwards carry away."

We shall not enter more at large upon the subject, for we prefer to give our readers the account of a deception said by Mr. Borrow to have been practised on the queen regent by two of his especial friends and associates,―neither more nor less than his adjuncts in the somewhat dissimilar occupation of translating into the Rommany language the Gospel of St. Luke!

"There were two Gitánas at Madrid, and probably they are there still. The name of one was Pepita and the other was called La Chicharona; the first was a spare, shrewd, witch-like female, about fifty, and was the mother-in-law of La Chicharona, who was remarkable for her stoutness. These women subsisted entirely by fortunetelling and swindling. It chanced that the son of Pepita, and husband of Chicharona, having spirited away a horse, was sent to the presidio of Malaga for ten years of hard labor. This misfortune caused inexpressible affliction to his wife and mother, who determined to exert every effort to procure his liberation. The readiest way which occurred to them, was to procure an interview with the queen regent, Christina, who they doubted not would forthwith pardon the culprit, provided they had an opportunity of assailing her with their Gipsy dis

"What did you tell her?'

"I told her many things,' said the hag, 'many things which I need not tell you: know, however, that among other things, I told her that the chabori (little queen) would die, and then she would be queen of Spain. I told her, moreover, that within three years she would marry the son of the king of France, and that it was her bahi to die queen of France and Spain, and to be loved much and hated much.'

"And did you not dread her anger when you told her these things?"

"Dread her, the Busnee?' screamed Pepita. No, my child, she dreaded me far more; I looked at her so—and raised my finger so-and Chicharona clapped her hands, and the Busnee believed all I said, and was afraid of me and then I asked for the pardon of my son, and she pledged her word to see into the matter, and when we came away she gave me this baria of gold, and to Chicharona this other, so at all events we have hokkanoed the queen. May an evil end overtake her body, the Busnee!'"—Vol. i, p. 282.

We leave our readers to their own conclusions as to the probability of this story. We rather think the Gipsies "hokkanoed " the missionary.

The personal appearance of the Zincali is described as most singular. Their eyes are said to have a phosphorescent glare, which, no doubt, must be a remarkable addition to the points in which they differ

from the rest of the world. "Its peculiarity consists chiefly in a strange staring expression, which, to be understood must be seen, and in a thin glaze, which steals over it when in repose, and seems to emit phosphoric light." The handsomest of the race whom Mr. Borrow remembers to have seen, were, as would be imagined, English Gipsies. The description is worthy of notice. It is given as of three individuals who presented themselves at a pugilistic display which Mr. Borrow witnessed in his youth, and considering that between twenty and thirty years had elapsed, between the occurrence and the story, we cannot but remark that our author's memory is quite as notable as his gift of tongues.

"I have seen Gipsies of various lands, Russian, Hungarian, and Turkish; and I have also seen the legitimate children of most countries of the world, but I never saw, upon the whole, three more remarkable individuals, as far as personal appearance was concerned, than the three English Gipsies who now presented themselves to my eyes on that spot. Two of them had dismounted, and were holding their horses by the reins. The tallest, and at the first glance the most interesting of the two, was almost a giant, for his height could not have been less than six feet three. It is impossi ble for the imagination to conceive any thing more perfectly beautiful than were the features of this man, and the most skilful sculptor of Greece might have taken them as his model for a hero and a god. The forehead was exceedingly lofty-a rare thing in a Gipsy; the nose less Roman than Grecian-fine, yet delicate; the eyes large, overhung with drooping lashes, giving them almost a melancholy expression; it was only when they were highly elevated that the Gipsy glance peered out, if that can be called a glance which is a strange stare, like nothing else in this world. His complexion-a beautiful olive; and his teeth of a brilliancy uncommon even among these people, who have all fine teeth. He was dressed in a coarse wagoner's slop, which, however, was unable to conceal altogether the proportions of his Herculean figure. He might be about twenty-eight. His companion and his cap

tain, Gipsy Will, was, I think, fifty when he was hanged, ten years subsequently (for I never afterwards lost sight of him), in the front of the jail of Bury, St. Edmonds. I have still present before me his bushy black hair, his black face, and his big black eyes, full and thoughtful, but fixed and staring. His dress consisted of a loose, blue jockey coat, jockey boots and breeches; in his hand a huge jockey whip, and on his head (it struck me at the time for its singularity) a broad-brimmed, high-peaked Andalusian hat, or at least one very much resembling those generally worn in that province. In stature he was shorter than his more youthful companion, yet he must have measured six feet at least, and was stronger built, if possible. What brawn! what bone! what legs! what thighs! The third Gipsy, who remained on horseback, looked more like a phantom than any thing human. His complexion was the color of pale dust, and of that same color was all that pertained to him, hat and clothes. His boots were dusty of course, for it was midsummer, and his very horse was of a dusty dun. His features were whimsically ugly, most of his teeth were gone, and as to his age, he might be thirty or sixty. He was somewhat lame and halt, but an unequalled rider when once upon his steed, which he was naturally not very solicitous to quit. I subsequently discovered that he was considered the wizard of the gang.

......

"Gipsy Will.-The best man in England for twenty pounds?

"Thurtell.-I am backer.

"Twenty pounds is a tempting sum—and there were men that day upon the green meadow who would have shed the blood of their own fathers for the fifth of the price."-Vol. i, p. 21.

It would have been well for Mr. Borrow to have borne in mind the fact stated in his last sentence, while indulging in the many disparaging remarks, with which he has regaled the Spanish people, most especially as regards their love of gold. Surely a country where such a state of things could exist-where human life would be held dear at four pounds sterling-must present an ample field for home-missionary labor.

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Our author himself might certainly have found a vast sphere of usefulness in the eastern county" where this scene is laid; a sphere, perhaps not so romantic as the wild sierras, or the sunny landscapes of Spain, but one where he could have gratified his zeal for religion, without the risk of confounding his love of travel with his love of souls.

We have said that Mr. Borrow owed his admission into the Gipsy mysteries to his proficiency in the Rommany tongue. Although the Zincali are enthusiastically attached to their language, and greet with acclamation a stranger who possesses it, we are told by our author that it is fast becoming obsolete. No individual can speak it copiously. Mr. Borrow was himself obliged to collect from conversation with many, the Vocabulary which is subjoined to his work. We are not learned enough in such matters to say whether Mr. B. is right in attributing its origin to the Sanscrit.* He demonstrates to our satisfaction that the Gitáno is not, as by some writers supposed, a corruption of the Arabic or Moorish language. We have seen enough, however, of the dreams of philology, not to know that in the matter of tracing languages to their roots, the imagination is frequently consulting counsel, and we must confess our inability to discover any striking resemblance in some of the correspondences on which our author has based his opinion. We are willing, nevertheless, to yield to the conclusions of a more competent judge than ourselves, and to pass the Gitano over to the Sanscrit-the more too, when we find that the doctrine of the metempsychosis, common

The materials of Mr. Borrow's reflections on the origin and language of the Zincali, will be found much more learnedly and logically elaborated in Grellman's Dissertation on the Gipsies (Trans. London, 1807), sect. ii, chap. v. Our readers will there learn, that upon these, as upon many other points of his treatise, Mr. Borrow is by no means very original, in his facts, his reasoning, or his conclusions. They will see, also, how appropriately and profitably, a scientific treatise may dispense with propagandism and the "drum ecclesiastic."

It is to be lamented that the learned Feyjoo has not left a tract on Gipsy history. In his Teatro Critico, vol. ii, Disc. iii, sec. viii, et seq., he adverts to the subject slightly in connection with chiromancy. His remarks are so full of his customary point and intelligence, as to render their brevity a source of much regret.

to those who speak the two languages, or use them, seems to form, between them, a bond of unquestionable union. Mr. Borrow is careful to distinguish (and very satisfactorily) the Gipsy language from the Germania or slang language in use among them, generally, throughout Europe. The latter he proves to be in a great degree allegorical, the words being used differently. from their ordinary acceptation; while the Gipsy is an organized language, complete and regular in its parts, and in no wise the creation of a late day, or of robbers' necessities. There is a considerable collection of Gipsy rhymes at the close of the book. Unless its genuineness be a merit, we can see no other that it possesses. The thought— in all cases simple enough-never goes beyond a single strophe, and all the strophes or snatches are entirely unconnected.

At the commencement of this article, we apprised our readers of the development, in Mr. Borrow's work, of that peculiar, English trait of mind which (we think) the Count de Maistre calls, from its narrowness, "insular." One phase of that peculiarity is admirably portrayed, in the January number of the Edinburgh Review, in an article on "Dickens' American Notes." The writer says, "It is the nature of an Englishman, to think every thing ridiculous, which contrasts with what he has been used to; and it costs some effort of his reflective and imaginative powers, to make him feel that the absurdity is in himself, and not in the thing he sees." We fear that Mr. Borrow's defect goes deeper. It is rather an inability, growing out of an indisposition to see any good, where he has made up his mind, a priori, that every thing must needs be bad. Thus, there is scarce a Spanish author cited, without some disparaging qualification. They seem to be regarded, all as mere carnal reasoners," incapable of throwing any light on the subject they treat-full of "absurdities"-possessing "understandings of the very lowest order." Every opportunity is sought to throw their reflections into ridicule, and their religion into contempt. For

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* Vol. ii, p. 93, note.

instance, we have this very amiable piece of generalization gravely thrown out, as the result of the author's experience. "The Spaniard has no conception, that other springs of action exist, than interest or villainy!" In the same spirit, at the close of Part I. chapter x. he asks the following question:

"What steps did the government of Spain, civil and ecclesiastical, which has so often trumpeted its zeal in the cause of what it calls the Christian religion, which has so often been the scourge of the Jew, of the Mahometan, and of the professors of the reformed faith; what steps did it take toward converting, punishing, and rooting out from Spain, a sect of demi-atheists, who, besides being cheats and robbers, displayed the most marked indifference for the forms of the Catholic religion, and presumed to eat flesh every day, and to intermarry with their relations, without paying the vicegerent of Christ here on earth for permission so to do?"

By way of answer, he details the following reasons, which he says that he derived from an aged ecclesiastic at Cordova, who was himself formerly an inquisitor.

"The Inquisition always looked upon them with too much contempt to give itself the slightest trouble concerning them; for, as no danger either to the state, or to the Church of Rome, would proceed from the Gitános, it was a matter of perfect indiffer ence to the holy office, whether they lived with out religion or not. The holy office has always reserved its anger for people very different; the Gitános having at all times been Gente barrata y despreciable.”—i. e. low and despicable.

Those of our readers, who can believe that a Spanish clergyman could or did make to Mr. Borrow, the statement which we have italicised, will find no difficulty in perceiving that the additional observations of that gentleman which we quote, are redolent of toleration, humanity, and Christian charity.

"Indeed, most of the persecutions which have arisen in Spain against Jews, Moors, and Protestants, sprang from motives with which fanaticism and bigotry, of which it is