The
Israelites have a peculiar religion, to which they are fanatically
attached; the Romas have none, as they invariably adopt, though
only in appearance, that of the people with whom they chance to
sojourn; the Israelites possess the most authentic history of any
people in the world, and are acquainted with and delight to
recapitulate all that has befallen their race, from ages the most
remote; the Romas have no history, they do not even know the name
of their original country; and the only tradition which they
possess, that of their Egyptian origin, is a false one, whether
invented by themselves or others; the Israelites are of all people
the most wealthy, the Romas the most poor - poor as a Gypsy being
proverbial amongst some nations, though both are equally greedy of
gain; and finally, though both are noted for peculiar craft and
cunning, no people are more ignorant than the Romas, whilst the
Jews have always been a learned people, being in possession of the
oldest literature in the world, and certainly the most important
and interesting.
Sad and weary must have been the path of the mixed rabble of the
Romas, when they left India's sunny land and wended their way to
the West, in comparison with the glorious exodus of the Israelites
from Egypt, whose God went before them in cloud and in fire,
working miracles and astonishing the hearts of their foes.
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