The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1856-09-25

Pritchard, in his work, "Natardt History Of
Man." gives colored portrait Of Ram Rut-
tun, Hindoo, the color of which agrees al.
most exactly with the Gipsies. The color,
we should think too deep to admit much Of
the blush.
Altogether these people seem of the gel.
i lou order, their heads had resemblance to
the progndthous form of the Negro, or the
pyrdmidal Of the Mongolian and American
Indian. The heads of several Of the adults,
both men and women, were very fair speci-
mems of the oral or eHipticdt form, the form
thought by many Psychologists and ethnolO-
gists to be peculiar to the Caucasian race
The face was small, oval, perpendicular;
mouths small; lips moderate; nose narrow
and rather aquiine; iris dark; cheek bones
aud zygomatic arch not out of proportion.
This people, were it not for the color Of
the skin, ought to pass, it seems to US, for
variety of the Caucasian. And of the three
divisions of the Caucasian race, the Ger
manic, Sclavonic and Celtic, the Gipsies
most nearly resemble certain branches of
the last
OF the origin of the Gipsies, nothing is
certainly known. The name Gipsy (from
EgypD was given to them by the English
statutes, perhaps on the supposition that
they came originally from the delta OF the
Nile. In different countries they seem to
have received different names. They call
themselves, however, Pharoan or Sinte, the
Hndoo name of the inhabitants of Hindos-
tan. There seems to be but little doubt
among ethnographers of their A static origin.
Their personal appearance, language and
nomadic habits, lend plausibility to this
view. 1t seems equally probable that they
are variety of the Hindoo stock Nations
said to be similar to them are found at the
mouth of the Indus, and also on the banks Of
the Ganges.
In every locality that they have occupied,
they seem to have preserved their national
pecuiarities. Various attempts have been
made to cvilize them. Being at one time
numerous in Austria, Maria Theresa formed
a plan of converting them into citizens. -
She issued an ordinance that Gipsies should
dwell in settled habitatons, practice some
trade, dress their children and send them to
school. This measure, as well as similar
ones by other governments, have had no
permanent effect. Laws have been passed
also for their expulsion from different coun.
tries. But even prosecutions were of little
avail towards roofing them out. Marriages
are formed in the rudest manner, one Of
their own number officiating as priest. The
young Gipsy takes wife without caring
whether she is his sister or a stranger; of
one thing, however, he must be satisfied, she
must be of the Gipsy blood. A want
of moral principle seems to have characteri'
zed the race since it has been known
Cheating, theving, and robbing, are the
means upon which reliance is placed to live.
Whether this chronological feature is the re-
suit of an innate absence of the sense Of
right and wrong, or an acquired habit, is
nut upon which moraiists may exercise their
faculties in trying to crack. Exhibited with
the utmost integrity for number of centu-
ries, and having resisted with perfect sue
cess the most wise and ingenious efforts al
reformation, such traits seem to the COM
f mon observer, to be part and parcel oil
their nature; and it seems that each individ'
ual is kind of an automaton through which
they are manifested. This, however, may
: yet prove to be superficial view Of the mat
s ter. Still, the way in which nation has
= always demonstrated itself, ought to teach
Y something in regard to its real character.
t Somebody has said that there is no ma
, ton without it's religion. This may apply
g to the Gipsies, but il is fact that they have
+. no religion that is peculiar TO them. Among
a the Turks they are said to be Mahometans
: in Spain they have followed the forms O
t the Christian religion, without having shared
0 in its spirit. Instances are given OF theil
t having had their children repeatedly baptisec
3 in different places. that they might get the
b money which it is customary in some coun
y tries to give to poor parents when thei
d children are made the subject of this ordi
u nance. ......
Like the Jews, the Gipsies have made W
their minds to live without work. On it, at
:, Epursted by the ploddihg, laborious Saxon OIL
: Celt, they look with indifference and con
. tempt; rather than labor, they Mould starvt
:, $50 says one who has observed them much
And without education in knowledge o
letters or figures, they, by their wits, man
= age to pass through life, and pick from 9th
!, ers which answers them to live.
4 We enquired Of one Of the more intelli
i. gent females, what they were in the habi
of doing for themselves when sick. Sht
q answered, "we take medicine" One o
;. their children had thrush, and for this, W,
were told,' they used borax. During th,
past year, the most of them had intermitten
n fever, for which they used quinine.
n The number of this race is not known
II A few years since it was supposed that ther,
l. were 100000 in Europe alone. They ar