THE ENDOWMENT OF RESEARCH. 



203 



fordshire before the arrival of the 

 Gipsies ; which " effectually disposes 

 of the supposition that the Bun- 

 yans were Gipsies," and which as 

 " effectually disposes of the suppo- 

 sition " that there are Gipsies in the 

 country at the present day, since 

 they all, so far as I know, bear Brit- 

 ish names ! I have seen no further 

 allusion to the subject, nor indeed 

 any reference, at any time, to the 

 affirmative side of the question in 

 the Sunday Magazine, although it 

 has been furnished with all the evi- 

 dence in regard to it. Indeed, two 

 prominent Scotchmen, each control- 

 ling an organ, which should have en- 

 tertained this question, have gone to 

 their graves without apparently dar- 

 ing to look it in the face. How 

 strange it is that "champions of the 

 truth and standard-bearers of the 

 Lord," that might lay their necks on 

 the block, or go to the stake, for their 

 religious professions and opinions, 

 will yet (so far as I can judge) quail 

 before Mrs. Grundy on being asked 

 to entertain the question whether or 

 not John Bunyan was a Gipsy ! 

 And yet in recognizing and dis- 

 charging the duties incumbent on 

 them in the service of their divine 

 master, what could be more simple 

 or elementary than to acknowledge 

 people to be men, whatever the race 

 they belong to, before attempting to 

 make them Christians ? 



It would also be strange to have 

 it said that, in the year 1878, the 

 British press, religious or secular, 

 would not tolerate the idea that 

 John Bunyan was a Gipsy even to 

 appear in its columns ; and that 

 people frowned upon or became 

 fired with indignation at the bare 

 mention of it, while they wondered 

 that, if it were so, Bunyan should 

 not have told us plainly of the fact, 

 when it was odious to the rest of the 

 population, and death by law, for 

 being a Gipsy, and " felony without 

 benefit of clergy " for associating 

 with the race, or even being found 



in its company. In Contributions I 

 have said : 



" In mentioning that much of himself 

 which he did, Bunyan doubtless imag- 

 ined that the world understood, or 

 would have understood, what he meant, 

 and would, sooner or later, acknowledge 

 the race to which he belonged ; " and 

 that, " it is not impossible that people 

 intimate with Bunyan learned from his 

 own mouth that he was a Gipsy, but 

 suppressed the information under the 

 influence of the unfortunate prejudice 

 that exists against the name " (p. 1 58).* 



Settling this question in the affirm- 

 ative would resemble a decision in 

 a supreme court of justice in a case 

 that is representative of many 

 others ; and could not fail to have 

 an immense influence on the raising 

 up of the Gipsy tribe, to which Bun- 

 yan belonged. 



I have said that subjects that are 

 capable of proof " should be settled 

 by evidence as a fact is proved in a 

 court of justice; difficulties, supposi- 

 tions, or theories not being allowed 

 to form part of the testimony " (p. 

 28), whether that evidence is positive, 

 or circumstantial, or mixed. How 

 would it look if it were maintained 

 that any question should be decided 

 by any one, or by any number of 

 people, in the negative, by the mere 

 assertion of its belief in its non-ex- 

 istence, without any investigation, 

 rather than by evidence being led to 

 prove the affirmative ? And yet many 

 people, of whom better things could 

 be expected, especially in regard to 

 crude popular beliefs, of long stand- 

 ing, but not religious in their nature, 

 practically maintain, with the most 

 complacent assurance and sincerity, 

 the negative unless the affirmative 



* " In order to discover truth, we must 

 be truthful ourselves, and must welcome 

 those who point out our errors as heartily 

 as those who approve and confirm our 

 discoveries." Max Muller, "Chips from 

 a German Workshop" 1st vol., p. 1 6, New 

 York edition. 



