true the Spaniards have their full share, had very little connection. Religion was assumed as a mask to conceal the vilest and most detestable motives which ever yet led to the commission of crying injustice; the Jews were doomed to persecution and destruction on two accounts, their great riches, and their high superiority over the Spaniards in learning and intellect. Avarice

to send him weeping into sackcloth and ashes. Were the fires of Protestant persecution, which illuminated the first years of the reformation kindled by flame from heaven-or did they catch intensity, from the breath of human passion-of love of gold, of bigotry and sin? Were the "other and more deserving hands," which divided the plunder of the English monasteries, moved

nish minds, their rage for money being only to be compared to the wild hunger of wolves for horse flesh in the time of winter; next to avarice, envy of superior talent and accomplishment, is the prevailing passion. These two detestable feelings united, proved the ruin of the Jews in Spain, who were, for a long time an eye sore, both to the clergy and laity, for their great riches and learning. Much the same causes insured the expulsion of the Moriscos, who were abhorred for their superior industry; while the reformation was kept down by the gaunt arm of the Inquisition, lest the property of the Church should pass into other and more deserving hands. The faggot piles in the squares of Seville and Madrid, which consumed the bodies of the Hebrew, the Morisco, and the Protestant, were lighted by avarice and envy, and those same piles would likewise have consumed the mulatto carcass of the Gitáno, had he been learned and wealthy enough to become obnoxious to the two master passions of the Spaniards.”—Vol. i. p. 153.

We pray the reader to observe the quiet nonchalance, with which Mr. Borrow denounces the "wild hunger" of "the Church" for its own possessions, as something wolfish beyond comparison, whilst the effort of the "other and more deserving hands" to lay hold of what, by no law of God or man, could belong to them, seems to be treated as commendably righteous! We will not embitter an article, mainly literary, by entering into invidious national comparisons, but we think that Mr. Borrow, if imbued with that Christian spirit which he professes so ostentatiously, might perhaps have found, in the history of his own dear native land, similar developments of "avarice and envy," on a scale horrible enough

the beauty of holiness? What is the moral, which is drawn by the philosophical Prescott, from the unhappy expulsion of the Moriscoes from the Peninsula? It is not one of denunciation, of wrath, or of insult. It is the mournful question which he asks of humanity, and the answer whereof, in every man's heart, should humble instead of feeding our pride. "Where is the land, which can boast that the spirit of intolerance, which forms the very breath of persecution, is altogether extinct in its bosom ?"* Can Mr. Borrow forget how the Jewish people were hunted down, during the reigns of Richard I. Henry III. and Edward I. of England? Does history tell no tales of torture, robbery and confiscation, of which these unhappy men were unceasingly the victims, until in the nineteenth year of the latter king, fifteen thousand of them, after having been plundered, were banished from the kingdom, where, as Hume says, few of them, down to his time, had afterwards lived? Was it "avarice or envy," which did these deeds of shame? Were the wolves raging for the horse flesh to such a degree, in " lightened England," that for three hundred and sixty-four years, down to the great rebellion, the children of Israel remained in weary banishment? Alas! that men's prejudices should so weaken their understandings, and extinguish their better feelings, as to bid them ascribe to systems which they hate, the sins that are common to our nature-as to send them forth, with a pretence to heal in others, the wounds that fester in their own breasts! From Mr. Borrow, this atrocious libel on the Spanish people comes with an especially bad grace. Dur+1 Hume, 448.

*2 Prescott, 456. Jac. L. Dic. Tit. Jews.

en

ing the long years that he passed in the peninsula-prosecuting an errand contrary to the laws-a stranger too, and not over civil-he was made welcome to all that the humble hospitality of town and country could afford him. The roof of the poorest peasant sheltered him, as comfortably as its master, and though the bread was brown and scanty, the half of it was his. Το these facts we have his own testimony.* Of these hungry wolves, he himself confesses, that " they always esteem it a privilege, to pay another person's reckoning."+ Of these Spaniards who have their full share of fanaticism and bigotry," he himself affirms, that "strange as it may sound, Spain is not a fanatic country. I know something about her and declare that she is not, nor has ever been; Spain never changes!" Where then is the truth? If Mr. Borrow were "a mere carnal reasoner," we should say that he had involved himself, inextricably, in most disreputable contradiction. As it is, we suppose that what is true, must be so taken-what is false must be understood in a Pickwickian sense only! We will have charity at least, and leave Mr. Borrow

We were going to say, we should leave Mr. Borrow to his conscience. Before we do so, we had better examine his notions of that tribunal.

"It has been said, that there is a secret monitor, or conscience, within every heart, which immediately upbraids the individual. on the commission of a crime; this may be true, but certainly the monitor within the Gitano breast is a very feeble one, for little attention is ever paid to its reproofs. With regard to conscience, be it permitted to observe, that it varies much according to climate, country, and religion; perhaps nowhere is it so terrible and strong as in England; I need not say why. Among the English, I have seen many individuals stricken low, and broken hearted, by the force of conscience; but never among the Spaniards or Italians." Vol. i, p. 313.

If this be not the acme of absurdity, or something worse, we are at a loss to com

prehend it. In the first place, it seems to us, to render the "still small voice" not only a very doubtful, but a very variable commodity, and may perhaps account for Mr. Borrow's cavalier mode of treating it, when beneath the Spanish sun. But, in good earnest, where is this English monopoly to stop? Power, commerce, enlightenment, religion, and last of all conscience

"Did you say all? What, all my pretty chickens and their dam, At one fell swoop?"

We should be pleased if Mr. Borrow would "say why." We confess ourselves entirely unable to understand " why," unless it be true, as Knowles has it, that

"Repentance is a grace, but it is one That grows upon deformity." And the most natural way of accounting for the superabundance of the "grace," is to suppose that there exists a large surplus of the "deformity.”

We have already extended this article, beyond the limits which we had appointed, and we shall close it, by a reference to our author's views of the Spanish Gipsy legislation."

"The first law issued against the Gipsies appears to have been that of Ferdinand and Isabella, at Medina Del Campo, in 1499. In this edict they were commanded, under certain penalties, to become stationary in towns and villages, and to provide themselves with masters whom they might serve for their maintenance, or in default thereof, to quit the kingdom at the end of sixty days. No mention is made of the country to which they were expected to betake themselves in the event of their quitting Spain. Perhaps, as they are called Egyptians, it was concluded that they would forthwith return to Egypt; but the framers of the law never seem to have considered what means these Egyptians possessed of transporting their families and themselves across the sea to such a distance, or if they betook themselves to other countries, what reception a host of people, confessedly thieves and vagabonds, were likely to meet with, or whether it was fair in the two Christian princes to get rid of such a nuisance at the expense

of their neighbors. Such matters were of course left for the Gipsies themselves to settle." Vol. i, p. 175.

Succeeding monarchs, down to Philip V, modified this law, and increased the severity of its provisions, confining the Gitános to their particular cantonments, and making it lawful for the proper officers to arrest or slay them, under certain circumstances of disobedience to the many prohibitory enactments proclaimed against them. In the year 1783, Charles III being king, the whole system was revised, and a new code enacted, remarkable alike for its wisdom and humanity. Instead of persecution, which was found to have had its usual effect, of increasing the evil, an opposite method was adopted. All trades and professions were thrown open to the Gipsies, as to other subjects. They were united to the body of the people, by freedom of access to common pursuits, and by the enjoyment of equal rights. The law punished them, precisely as other offenders, and only resorted to severity, after a wilful and notorious violation of its provisions, and a determined manifestation of their hostility to society and civilization. Under the influence of this system, Mr. Borrow admits that the wild, wandering propensities of the Zincali have been modified, and that they are now sinking into the bosom of the other race, their ultimate extinction being certain, if distant.

Now, one would think that in this happy result, there would be room for nothing but gratulation-that the errors of the old system would be forgotten and forgiven, through the merits of its successor. What says Mr. Borrow in that regard? Let him speak for himself.

"We should not have said thus much of Carlos Tercero, whose character has been extravagantly praised by the multitude, and severely criticised by the discerning few who look deeper than the surface of things, if a law passed during his reign did not connect him intimately with the history of the Gitános, whose condition to a certain extent it has already altered, and over whose future destinies there can be no doubt that it will exert considerable influence. Whether VOL. II.-No. 5.

Carlos Tercero had any thing further to do with its enactment than subscribing it with his own hand, is a point difficult to determine; the chances are that he had not; there is damning evidence to prove that in many respects he was a mere Nimrod, and it is not probable that such a character would occupy his thoughts much with plans for the welfare of his people, especially such a class as the Gitános, however willing to build public edifices, gratifying to his own vanity, with the money which a provident predecessor had amassed.

The law in question is dated 19th Sept., 1783. It is entitled, "Rules for repressing and chastising the vagrant mode of life, and other excesses, of those who are called Gitános." It is in many respects widely different from all the preceding laws, and on that account we have separated it from them, deeming it worthy of particular notice. It is evidently the production of a comparatively enlightened spirit, for Spain had already begun to emerge from the dreary night of monachism and bigotry, though the light which beamed upon her was not that of the Gospel, but of modern philosophy. The spirit, however, of the writers of the Encyclopédie is to be preferred to that of Torquemada and Moncada, and however deeply we may lament the many grievous omissions in the law of Carlos Tercero (for no provision was made for the spiritual instruction of the Gitános,) we prefer it in all points, to that of Philip III, and to the law passed during the reign of that unhappy victim of monkish fraud, perfidy, and poison, Charles II."-Vol. i, p. 188.

Were it not melancholy to see a man of intellect, pandering to the miserable prejudices which these paragraphs were obviously meant to foster, we should consider the weary cant which fills them, as a most amusing instance of the " caput insanabile."

It will have been observed that Mr. Borrow sneers at the law of Ferdinand and Isabella, for its cruelty in banishing the Gipsies without directing them where to go. The words "two Christian princes" are italicised in the original, to show, we suppose, that all the Christianity of Ferdinand and Isabella was in their title. Now it so

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happens, that by statute v Elizabeth, ch. xx, passed in 1563, when England, it is to be supposed, had none of the leaven of Catholicity about her, (unless, perhaps, the Protestant Catholicity now revived at Oxford), when "monachism and bigotry" were out of the question-it was enacted that "if the Egyptians themselves remain one month in the kingdom, or if any person, being fourteen years old, which hath been seen or found in the fellowship of such Egyptians, or which hath disguised himself or herself like them, shall remain in the same, one month at one or several times, it is felony, without benefit of clergy;"* that is to say, loss of lands and goods, and punishment of death! Now, where were the English Gipsies to find a home, in foreign lands, with only half the time to seek it, which was allowed by the law of Ferdinand and Isabella? Was it at all more fair, in the Virgin Queen and Defender of the Faith, "to get rid of the nuisance at the expense of her neighbors," allowing the Gipsies, under no circumstances, to remain in the realm, than it was, in the "Christian princes," to banish them, only in default of their pursuing an honest livelihood? The Gipsies were, as the facts prove, either unwilling or unable to leave the kingdom, and accordingly Sir Matthew Hale informs us,t that, at one Suffolk assizes, at a late day-shortly previous to the restoration-thirteen Gipsies were executed under this statute. Even Blackstone's toryism revolts at this barbarity.

By a singular coincidence, in the year 1783, the identical year of the reform by Charles III, the statute of Elizabeth was repealed, and not until then. The English reform was attended with no affirmative legislation, and the Gipsies were thrown back on the statute xvii George II, ch. v, which constitutes them, and all other "persons pretending to be Gipsies," ipso facto

lands, had quietly turned his eyes homeward, he would have found every difference of legislation palpably and notoriously in favor of the wisdom and humanity of the Spanish government. He would have found that the repealing statute of 1783 (23 George III, ch. li), like its Spanish contemporary, made "no provision for the spiritual instruction of the Gipsies." Instead of denouncing Charles III, as a "mere Nimrod," and going out of his way to deprive that monarch of the glory of a wise law, he would have found occasion to lament that George III, ultimately a mere idiot, was never wise enough to have the merit of any great measure requiring the exercise of statesmanship. He would have discovered, that if he himself, Mr. George Borrow, "agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society," had, at any time prior to 1783, presumed to consort with the Gipsies of England for one-twentieth part of the time which he spent with impunity among his friends, the Zincali, he would have been a felon, and would have died a felon's death! Finally, he would have seen, that down to the year 1825, when by statute v George IV, ch. lxxxiii, the statute of George II was repealed, he himself would have been liable to be whipped or sent to the house of correction, for "pretending to be a Gipsy ;" and that, even now, his roaming with them, speaking their tongue, and partaking of their adventures, would make out against him a prima facie case, in virtue whereof, he might be sent, by a single justice, on the oath of a single witness, to hard labor for three months in the house of correction.* Yet in the face of all these facts, Mr. Borrow not only sets himself up to bring all things to the level of "enlightened England," but indulges in the following "screed of doctrine," all of which our readers will perceive, is not only truthful, Christian, and unprejudiced, but likewise remarkably germane to the matter in hand.

"Spain for many centuries has been the country of error; she has mistaken stern and savage tyranny for rational government; base, low, and grovelling superstition for clear,

bright, and soul-ennobling religion; sordid cheating she has considered as the path to riches; vexatious persecution as the path to power; and the consequence has been that she is now poor and powerless, a pagan among the pagans, with a dozen kings, and with none. Can we be surprised, therefore, that, mistaken in policy, religion, and moral conduct, she should have fallen into an error on points so naturally dark and mysterious, as the history and origin of those remarkable people, whom for the last four hundred years, she has supported under the name of Gitános ?"-Vol. ii, p. 82.

Like a man bitten by a tarantula, Mr. Borrow removes the phrenzy of which the above is a trifling orgasm, by the musical strains of the following pleasant consolation.

"In England, of late, the Gipsies have excited particular attention, but a desire far more noble and laudable than mere antiquarian curiosity, has given rise to it, namely, the desire of propagating the glory of Christ among those who knew him not, and of saving souls from the jaws of the infernal wolf."—Vol. ii, p. 82.

Most sincerely do we trust that such a desire, if honestly entertained, may be gratified; but it appears that the Gipsies have already reached the highest point of hatred to their neighbors who are not of their class, and as this would seem to be the essence of what Mr. Borrow considers "soul-ennobling religion," we do not know that the jaws of the wolf are likely to be deprived of many victims by the "attention" which it is probable he would commend. At all events we do not anticipate much success from the adoption of Mr. Borrow's system as detailed in the following paragraphs. We rather opine that the "small glass of Malaga wine" was a more potent missionary than that gentleman, with all his eloquence. Our readers will perhaps concur with us, when they examine the uses to which our author's translated Gospels were applied. We commend to them the concluding story, which shows that Mr. Borrow in the absence of a good proselyte, could make out to gather a good joke for his book. "Try them with the Gospel, I hear some one cry, which speaks to all: I did try them

with the Gospel, and in their own language. I commenced with Pépa and Chicharona. Determined that they should understand it, I proposed that they themselves should translate it. They could neither read nor write, which, however, did not disqualify them from being translators. I had myself previously translated the whole Testament into the Spanish Rommany, but I was desirous to circulate among the Gitános, a version conceived in the exact language in which they express their ideas. The women made no objection, they were fond of our tertúlias, and they likewise reckoned on one small glass of Malaga wine, with which I invariably presented them. Upon the whole they conducted themselves much better than could have been expected. We commenced with St. Luke; they rendering into Rommany the sentences which I delivered to them in Spanish. They proceeded as far as the eighth chapter, in the middle of which they broke down. Was that to be wondered at? The only thing that astonished me was that I had induced two such strange beings to advance so far in a task so unwonted, and so entirely at variance with their habits as translation."—Vol. i, p. 318.

"The Gitános of Madrid purchased the Gipsy Luke freely many of the men understood it and prized it highly, induced of course more by the language than the doctrine; the women were particularly anxious to obtain copies, though unable to read; but each wished to have one in her pocket, especially when engaged in thieving expeditions, for they all looked upon it in the light of a charm, which would preserve them from all danger and mischance; some even went so far as to say, that in this respect it was equally efficacious as the Bar Lachi, or loadstone, which they are in general so desirous of possessing. Of this Gospel five hundred copies were printed, the greatest part of which I contrived to circulate among the Gipsies in various parts; I cast the book upon the waters and left it to its destiny."Vol. i, p. 319.