, 1864-12-23
Facts About Gypsies.

Childhood has many mysteries; among
them few have more interest than the fan
cies attached to the strange, wild race of
people called Gypsies. There is a certain
awe and respect Of their powers and their
revelations, which takes the growth and en-
lightenment of many years to wholly up
root The name Gypseyis a corruption of
Egyptian or Egypt, from whence they orig
mated In the fourteenth century party
of one hundred and twenty arrived at Paris.
They were probably political exiles; among
them was one duke, count, ten lords and
many women They represented themselves
as Christians expelled by the Saracens.
They said that they had confessed to his ho-
illness, Martin v, who had condemned them
to penance of wandering seven years with
out sleeping in beds, as a punishment for
sins committed on the way. These repre-
sentations were doubtless false.
They professed the art of diYination, and
people hocked to them in great numbers,
but the authorities soon expelled them from
the limits of the city, and assigned them La
Chapelle, near st. Dennis, as a residence !;
but they were finally driven from there by
the Bishop of Paris, and all persons who
had consulted them were accommodated.
From this time forth they were driven from
city to city, from country to country, yet re-
tanning their organization and all their dis
tjnctive habits, and rapidly increasing in
numbers until they became a nuisance
throughout Europe. Writs are extant by
Mary Queen of Scots, and by James W,
directing sherifs to aid John Faw, earl of
Little Egypt, to keep his subjects in sub
lection, he having promised to remove them
to their native country. Sir Matthew Hale
mentions thirteen of them being caught and
hung for not leaving the country within thir-
ty days Francis First ordered them to
leave France on pain of being sent to the
galleys without trial. The same course was
pursued throughout the continent.
In the 10th century they received large
accession to their numbers from Egypt, un-
der the lead of one Zinzarens, banished
rebel In 1852 severe measures were adop-
ted in Austria to bring them into a civil
lied condition, and with some measure Of
success but in most portions of Europe
they are still race of thieving vagabonds,
treacherous, revengeful, and depraved.
The Gipsey physiognomy is Asiatic; taw-
ny complexion, black eyes, high cheek
bones, small mouth and white teeth and
many of their women are considered beauti-
full They are tolerable musicians, some Of
them having become celebrated violinists.
The young people of both sexes are passion
ately fond Of dancing, and exhibit their pro-
fciency for money. Their language has no
word to signify God, the soul, or to convey
! of Il. Il, kbovr bov
no religious belief An ancient writer says
"the Gypsey church was built of lard, and
the dogs ate it . Their whole industry con-
sists in tinkering various kinds of hardware,
and in practising their skill in diyination,
principally by means Of palmistry. Their
observations are always made upon the left
hand, and with toerably well developed
system The elements observed are the
thumb, fingers, nails, joints, lines: the line
of life which is the most important, curvlng
between the fore6nger and the thumb, around
the base Of the thumb to the middle Of the
wrist; if regular and dark colored it indi-
Gates long life; if crooked, pale and broken,
it indicates i'll health and short life The
line of health starts at the base of the fore
finger and passes directly across the hand
If clear and regular, 1t indicates soundness
of mind and body; if tortuOus, it indicates
a propensity to steal; if interrupted in the
middle it points to great perils. The line of
fortune runs to the base of the little finger,
and according to its various phases indicates
happiness or misery, poverty or riches. The
mountains are the various protuberances
within the palm, and are called respectively
the mount of Venus, mount of Mars, noun
tain of the sun, or the moon, and so on.
Small lines parallel with the line Of fortune
at the base of the little finger, promise hap
py marriage. Small lines taking the form
of the branches of tree, indicate general
prosperity Spots on the nails indicate the
fulfllment Of hopes.
The foolishness of all this is perfectly ap-
parent; yet the longing which exists in all
minds to penetrate the future, in measure
sanctions and fosters its professions; if the
fortunes Of its dupes are not manifested, the
fortunes of its OWNERS are sustained.
Casting aside all the mysteries which sur
round them, and looking at them simply as
depraved people, the Gipseys are fit OBJ
jects for our commiseration
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