508 Condusion oj a Morning's Walk from London io Kew. [Jan. I, 



was m.irricd at Acton Clmrch." "Then," 

 said I, "you cnil yourselves Cluislians?" 

 At this question itlioy all laiip;hcd ; and 

 the first man said, that, " If it depends 

 on our poing to church, we can't say 

 much about it ; but, as we do nobody 

 any harm, and « ork for our hvinjf, some 

 in one waj'', and sonic in anotlier, wc 

 suppose we arc as good Christians as 

 many other folks." 



Wlule this conversation passed, I 

 heard them spcakinfj to each other in a 

 langnas:e which had the effect of Irish, 

 but will) more shrill tones; and the first 

 man, notwithstanding his English phy- 

 siognomy, as w('ll as the others, spoke 

 with a foreign accent, not unlike that of 

 balf-angticizcd Hindoos. I mentioned 

 this peculiarity, hut he assured me that 

 neither he nor any of the party liad 

 been out of England. I now enquired 

 nbout their own language, when one of 

 them said it was Mallrse, but the other 

 said it was their cur)t. language. I 

 asked tlieir names for various objects 

 which I pointed out ; but, after half a 

 dozen words, the first man enquired, if 

 I had " ever heard of one Sir .Tosei)h 

 Banks — for," said he, " that gentleman 

 once paid nic a guinea for telling him 

 twenty words in our language." Per- 

 ceiving, therefore, that he rated this spe- 

 cies of information very high, and aware 

 tliat the subject has been treated at 

 large by mar.j antiiors, I forbore to press 

 him further. 



As I stood conversing with these peo- 

 ple, I could not help marvelling that, in 

 the most polished district of the most 

 civilized of nationn, with the grand pa- 

 goda of Kew-Gardcns in full view on 

 one hand, and the towers of the new 

 Bastile Palace in view on the other — I 

 should thus have presented under my 

 eyes a family of eleven persons in no 

 better condition than the Hottentots in 

 4heir kraals, the Americans in their 

 wigwams, or tlic Tartars in their equally 

 rude tents. I sighed, however, to tiiiuk 

 that difference of natural constitution 

 and varied propensities were in Eng- 

 land far from being tiie only causes of the 

 proximity of squalid misery with ostenta- 

 tious pomp. I felt too tliat the manners- 

 of these gipsies were assimilated to those 

 of the shepherd tribes of the remotest 

 antiquity, and that in truth 1 saw before 

 mc a family of the pastoral ages, as de- 

 scribed in the Book of Genesis. They 

 wanted their flocks and In rds, but tlie 

 possession of tiiese neither accorded with 

 their own policy, nor with that of the 



country in which they reside. Four 

 dogs attached to their tents, and two 

 asses grazing at a short distance, com- 

 pleted such a grouping as a painter 

 wonlil, I have no doubt, have found in 

 the days of Abraham in every part of 

 Western Asia, and as is now to be found 

 among the same people, at this day, in 

 every country in EurojK'. They exhibit 

 that .state of man in which thousands of 

 years might pass away without recoid 

 or improvement ; and, whetiicr they are 

 Egyptians, y\riibs, Hindoo.-s, Tartars, or 

 a peculiar variety of our species, whe- 

 ther they exhibit man in the rude state 

 which, according to Lord Munlboddo, 

 most nearly approximates the Ourang- 

 04itang of the oriental forests, or 

 whether they arc considered in their 

 separated character — they form an inte- 

 resting study tor the philosuphtr, the 

 economist, and the antiquary. 



In a few minutes alter I had left 

 the gipsy camp, I was overtaken by a 

 girl of fifteen, the quickness of wliose 

 brealliing indicated excessive fllann. 

 " O, sir," said she, " I'm so glad (o conic 

 up with you — I'm so friglitened — I've 

 been standing this quarter t>f an hour on 

 the other side of the stile, waiting for 

 somebody to come by." " And what 

 has so frightened you?" said 1. " O, 

 sir," said the still-terrified girl, looking ■ 

 behind her, and increasing Iter pace, 

 "thosegi|tsiesand witches — they frighten 

 every body ; and I wo'dn't have come 

 this way for all the world if I'd known 

 they'd been there." " But," said I, 

 "what are yon frightened at ? have you 

 heard that they have done harm to any 

 one?" "O dear yes, sir, I've h(\'nd my 

 mother say they bewitches peo])le ; and, 

 one summer, two of them beat my father 

 dreadfully." " But what did he do to 

 them ;" "Why, he was a little lipsy to 

 be sure, but he says he only called 'cm 

 a pack of fortune-tellers?" "And arc 

 all the children in this neighbourhood 

 as much frightened at them as you 2" 

 " O yes, sir ; but some of the boys throw 

 stones over the hedge at them, but we 

 girls arc afraid they'll bewitch us. Did 

 you see the old hag, sir?" 'J"he poor 

 gill asked this question with such sim- 

 plicity, and with a faith so confirmed, 

 that 1 had rca-on once more to feel asto- 

 nishment at the superstition which in- 

 fests and disgraces the common people 

 of this generally enlightened nation ! 

 Let me hope that the tutors in the 

 schools of Bell and Lancaster will con- 

 sider it as part of tlieir duties, to destroy 



thQ 



