How far this belief is founded in
justice we shall now endeavour to show, with the premise that
whatever we advance is derived, not from the assertions or opinions
of others, but from our own observation; the point in question
being one which no person is capable of solving, save him who has
mixed with Gitanos and thieves, - not with the former merely or the
latter, but with both.
We have already stated what is the Rommany or language of the
Gypsies. We have proved that when properly spoken it is to all
intents and purposes entitled to the appellation of a language, and
that wherever it exists it is virtually the same; that its origin
is illustrious, it being a daughter of the Sanscrit, and in
consequence in close connection with some of the most celebrated
languages of the East, although it at present is only used by the
most unfortunate and degraded of beings, wanderers without home and
almost without country, as wherever they are found they are
considered in the light of foreigners and interlopers. We shall
now state what the language of thieves is, as it is generally
spoken in Europe; after which we shall proceed to analyse it
according to the various countries in which it is used.
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