The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-05-26
Origin of the Gypsies.

Who are they, and where did they
come from originally, no one knows.
1t is doubtful if they know themselves.
That they are of Oriental origin there
can be no doubt, for their faces and
figures show that as plainly as though
it were branded on their foreheads.
And that they are of The same origin
if you go far enough back-as the
Hungarians and Bohemians is also true
for dress them alike and there are in
disputable points of resemblance be-
tween them. But Hungarians and Bo-
hemians are stationary, and the Gypsy
is not. There are few Gypsy farmers
in Hungary, but very few. The ma
iority of them are wanderers the same
as in other countries, and live by mu-
sic, in which they are all gifted, or
tinkering, horse-trading and theft in q
small way.
The probability is that they were a
distinct sect in Asia, long before
the great "folks-movement," which
broug chit the Asiatic hQrdes down upon
Central Europe. When Arpad led the
myriads of Asiatics into Europe it is
probable that this isolated sect fol-
lowed, and continued on this soil the
mode of life they had followed on the
other continent and that they have
lived here precisely as they did there.
Some of the leaders claim that they
have history, and that it is known to
the chiefs, but it is doubtful. Human
ity is humanity, and secret known even
to few could not be guarded so sacredly
for ages. Their origin doubtless is lost
and will never be known. Their con-
tinuance as a distinct race is not to be
wondered at when it is taken into ac-
count that they were prosecuted and
condemned and refused association with
other sects. The Jews were kept to-
gether so long as persecution lasted,
for they could do nothing else-but
when the persecution ended, the dis
tinct nationality ceased to be so dis
tinct As in America marriages be-
tween Jews and Gentiles are becoming
common, and despite the lingering
hatred that remains the Jews have more
and more a footing, and as that footing
grows more secure, the less they con-
tinue Jews in the distinctive sense of
the term.
Precisely so with the Gypsies. The
Hungarians are no longer a half-civi-
liked, barbarous race, and the Gypsies
are losing every year the distinctive
features that marked them for cen
turtles. Now and then one withdraws
from his tribe and settles down upon a
farm, and inter-marries with the Hun
garians, and though it will take many
generations to make the assimilation
complete, it is certain to come.
At present, however, they are, as a
rule the same gypsies we see in other
| countries, and are the terror of super
stitious women who believe in fortune
telling, as well as the dread of the
farmer whose hen-coops are not proper
ly protected. They are the best horse
breeders, trainers and veterinary sur
geons in Hungary, as well as the best
musicians, and they manage to accu-
mulate much wealth, which they carry
about with them.
There is another force working for
the assimilation of the Gypsy race with
those surrounding it, working silently
but surely, as the water which in little
rivulets wash down mountains-a force
which students of human nature do not
take sufficiently into account, and that
force is-the bonnet.-D. r. Locke, in
Toledo Blade.