parts of Europe. There are no means of ascertaining whether they
themselves believed from the first in this story; they most
probably took it on credit, more especially as they could give no
account of themselves, there being every reason for supposing that
from time immemorial they had existed in the East as a thievish
wandering sect, as they at present do in Europe, without history or
traditions, and unable to look back for a period of eighty years.
The tale moreover answered their purpose, as beneath the garb of
penitence they could rob and cheat with impunity, for a time at
least. One thing is certain, that in whatever manner the tale of
their Egyptian descent originated, many branches of the sect place
implicit confidence in it at the present day, more especially those
of England and Spain.

Even at the present time there are writers who contend that the
Romas are the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, who were
scattered amongst the nations by the Assyrians. This belief they
principally found upon particular parts of the prophecy from which
we have already quoted, and there is no lack of plausibility in the
arguments which they deduce therefrom. The Egyptians, say they,
were to fall upon the open fields, they were not to be brought
together nor gathered; they were to be dispersed through the
countries, their idols were to be destroyed, and their images were
to cease out of Noph! In what people in the world do these
denunciations appear to be verified save the Gypsies? - a people
who pass their lives in the open fields, who are not gathered
together, who are dispersed through the countries, who have no
idols, no images, nor any fixed or certain religion.

In Spain, the want of religion amongst the Gitanos was speedily