235 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE GIPSIES. 



GIPSIES. HINDOO ORIGIN. MAJOR KEPPEL's ACCOUNT OF THEM. 

 ROGERS's DESCRIPTION. SORTES VIRGILIAN.E, HOMERIC^} AND 

 SANCTORUM. ROMAN NUMBER SIX. NINE OF DIAMONDS. 

 YEAR 88. COUNTESS OF ALBANY. LAST OF THE STUARTS. 

 TOMB IN ST. PETER'S. THE LADY ARABELLA. QUEEN ELIZA- 

 BETH. HER VANITY AND LOVE OF DRESS. ANECDOTES OF HER 



COURT. LEARNED LADIES. ANNE OR CLEVES. ANGLO-SAXON 



NEEDLEWORK. SPINSTERS. HYPATIA. VITTORIA COLONNA. 



HELEN CORNARO PISCOPIA. NOVELLA D'ANDREA. CLOTILDA 

 TAMBRONI. LAURA BASSI. AGNESI. ENGLISH FEMALE SCIENCE. 



" I see a column of slow-rising smoke 

 O'ertop the lofty wood that skirts the wild. 

 A vagabond and useless tribe there eat 

 Their miserable meal. A kettle, slung 

 Between two poles upon a stick tranverse, 

 Receives the morsel * 



Hard-faring race ! 



They pick their fuel out of every hedge, 

 Which, kindled with dry leaves, just saves unquench'd 

 The spark of life. The sportive wind blows wide, 

 Their flutt'ring rags, and shows a tawny skin, 

 The vellum of the pedigree they claim. 

 Great skill have they in palmistry, and more 

 To conjure clean away the gold they touch, 

 Conveying worthless dross into its place; 

 Loud, when they beg, dumb only when they steal." 



COWPER'S TASK. 



MARY. 



MAMMA, there's a gipsy at the door; may I have my fortune 

 told? 



