Nor has he ever done them injustice by attributing to
them licentious habits, from which they are, perhaps, more free
than any race in the creation.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
I CANNOT permit the second edition of this work to go to press
without premising it with a few words.
When some two years ago I first gave THE ZINCALI to the world, it
was, as I stated at the time, with considerable hesitation and
diffidence: the composition of it and the collecting of Gypsy
words had served as a kind of relaxation to me whilst engaged in
the circulation of the Gospel in Spain. After the completion of
the work, I had not the slightest idea that it possessed any
peculiar merit, or was calculated to make the slightest impression
upon the reading world. Nevertheless, as every one who writes
feels a kind of affection, greater or less, for the productions of
his pen, I was averse, since the book was written, to suffer it to
perish of damp in a lumber closet, or by friction in my travelling
wallet. I committed it therefore to the press, with a friendly
'Farewell, little book; I have done for you all I can, and much
more than you deserve.
Pages:
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26