The Forrest City times., 1891-04-10
VERY STRANGE PEOPLE.
A GYPSY HERE IS 4 GYPSY
 EVERYWHERE.
An Outcast People with an Unknown Orl- gin as . Poople-They are Migrants Everywhere and they AL
 ways Have Been So.

| ways Have Been So.
 | We know the English and Scottish gypsies better than any other country, for although the gypsies have no litera- ture of their own, more attention has been given them in these two countries than elsewhere. The persistence of this remarkable people in their habits of life for 400 years at least since they appeared in Europe is one of the strangest incidents in history. They are now found everywhere: it is believ- cd that not less than 1,5OO, 900 are in Europe alone, to say nothing of those in the United States, in Canada, South America, Africa and Australia. They are abundant in all parts of Asia, are found even in China and Siam, arc everywhere the same. Wherever the climate permits they live in tents, are always wanderers, always outcasts; form a people separate from all others. and the preservation of their language, of their habits. of what VIC may call certain national individuality. is noth- ing less than sociological miracle.
 On their first coming into Western Europe, the wandering folk were al- most generally we'll received. They were clever people, generally more skillful at any craft than the native workmen at that time who practiced it, and what they did not know they soon | learned. Pleasant spoken, courteous, quick at acquiring the language of the country they adopted for their own, they easily insinuated themselves into good company. Early in the fifteenth century they were allowed to dance be- fore the English king at Windsor, be- fore the Scottish king at Holyrood, and acted plays at the French court. Early in the sixteenth century they became famous as fiddlers in Italy. as guitar players in Spain. as harpists in Wales and Ireland. They became painters, wood and iron workers, etchers or en- gravers on copper, soon learned to counterfeit. four of them being hanged for attempting to counterfeit the great seal of England in 1549; they made bows and arrows, knives and swords. | Sometimes they were even held in dis tinction for more than ono royal writ went out allowing their leaders to ad- minister justice in their bands ''ac- cording to the laws of Egypt"
 | In several countries of Europe this confidence was soon abused. and then came swift retribution. Up to the time of the general persecution the gypsies had been at worst merely petty thieves and swindlers, but finding them- selves the objects of general detesta- tion. they rapidly developed worse traits of character. These. in turn. excited more animosity. They were ac- cused of many and heinous offenses. It was charged that they were cannibals. that they robbed graves, that they stole children for the purpose of eating them, that they murdered men for the purpose of drinking their blood. In Germany hundreds were arrested and put them to the rack to make them confess They did confess, but when asked where they had concealed the corpses they had stolen they could not tell, and were again tortured. In France they were put to death by wholesale simply on suspicion and be- l rious charge than any brought up to | that time was made about the begin ming of the sixteenth century. charge which allied them to witches and asso- ciated them with witchcraft This was | quickly followed by an accusation that they had no religion. They may have had national religion at the begin ming of their wanderings, but seem to have lost it. for in whatever country they wore, they adopted or pretended to adopt the religion of the people. Notwithstanding the fact that they rendered an apparent conformity to tho religious rites of those by whom they were surrounded, they mingled with the adopted religion many secret ceremonies of their own, which in time. being discovered. added 10 the hei- pousnes of their offease.
 Thus. classed with vagrants. with heretics with witches. genaral cru sade was begun against them, and whatever faults they had were far moro than punished by the cruelty with which they wcre treated. During the reign of Henry VIII they were ordered out of England. and vessels were pro vided for their transportation. but a few years later we read of fines being inflicted on ship owners who brought them back. Indeed. it was found i'm possible to get rid of them entirely, for the people stood in awe of them. The mystery of their origin, the tales as to whence they came. their claims to deal in the black art. their pretended gift of prophecy, all made them dreaded by the country people. who were afraid to complain of them to the authorities
 and thus enabled them in many dis tricts to enjoy a comparative immunity.
 Apples Versus Learning.