the zincali-第63章

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vocabulary。　　The　relics　of　this　tongue；　singularly　curious　in　



themselves；　must　be　ever　particularly　interesting　to　the　



philological　antiquarian；　inasmuch　as　they　enable　him　to　arrive　at　



a　satisfactory　conclusion　respecting　the　origin　of　the　Gypsy　race。　　



During　the　later　part　of　the　last　century；　the　curiosity　of　some　



learned　individuals；　particularly　Grellmann；　Richardson；　and　



Marsden；　induced　them　to　collect　many　words　of　the　Romanian　



language；　as　spoken　in　Germany；　Hungary；　and　England；　which；　upon　



analysing；　they　discovered　to　be　in　general　either　pure　Sanscrit　or　



Hindustani　words；　or　modifications　thereof；　these　investigations　



have　been　continued　to　the　present　time　by　men　of　equal　curiosity　



and　no　less　erudition；　the　result　of　which　has　been　the　



establishment　of　the　fact；　that　the　Gypsies　of　those　countries　are　



the　descendants　of　a　tribe　of　Hindus　who　for　some　particular　reason　



had　abandoned　their　native　country。　　In　England；　of　late；　the　



Gypsies　have　excited　particular　attention；　but　a　desire　far　more　



noble　and　laudable　than　mere　antiquarian　curiosity　has　given　rise　



to　it；　namely；　the　desire　of　propagating　the　glory　of　Christ　



amongst　those　who　know　Him　not；　and　of　saving　souls　from　the　jaws　



of　the　infernal　wolf。　　It　is；　however；　with　the　Gypsies　of　Spain；　



and　not　with　those　of　England　and　other　countries；　that　we　are　now　



occupied；　and　we　shall　merely　mention　the　latter　so　far　as　they　may　



serve　to　elucidate　the　case　of　the　Gitanos；　their　brethren　by　blood　



and　language。　　Spain　for　many　centuries　has　been　the　country　of　



error；　she　has　mistaken　stern　and　savage　tyranny　for　rational　



government；　base；　low；　and　grovelling　superstition　for　clear；　



bright；　and　soul…ennobling　religion；　sordid　cheating　she　has　



considered　as　the　path　to　riches；　vexatious　persecution　as　the　path　



to　power；　and　the　consequence　has　been；　that　she　is　now　poor　and　



powerless；　a　pagan　amongst　the　pagans；　with　a　dozen　kings；　and　with　



none。　　Can　we　be　surprised；　therefore；　that；　mistaken　in　policy；　



religion；　and　moral　conduct；　she　should　have　fallen　into　error　on　



points　so　naturally　dark　and　mysterious　as　the　history　and　origin　



of　those　remarkable　people　whom　for　the　last　four　hundred　years　she　



has　supported　under　the　name　of　Gitanos？　　The　idea　entertained　at　



the　present　day　in　Spain　respecting　this　race　is；　that　they　are　the　



descendants　of　the　Moriscos　who　remained　in　Spain；　wandering　about　



amongst　the　mountains　and　wildernesses；　after　the　expulsion　of　the　



great　body　of　the　nation　from　the　country　in　the　time　of　Philip　the　



Third；　and　that　they　form　a　distinct　body；　entirely　unconnected　



with　the　wandering　tribes　known　in　other　countries　by　the　names　of　



Bohemians；　Gypsies；　etc。　　This；　like　all　unfounded　opinions；　of　



course　originated　in　ignorance；　which　is　always　ready　to　have　



recourse　to　conjecture　and　guesswork；　in　preference　to　travelling　



through　the　long；　mountainous；　and　stony　road　of　patient　



investigation；　it　is；　however；　an　error　far　more　absurd　and　more　



destitute　of　tenable　grounds　than　the　ancient　belief　that　the　



Gitanos　were　Egyptians；　which　they　themselves　have　always　professed　



to　be；　and　which　the　original　written　documents　which　they　brought　



with　them　on　their　first　arrival　in　Western　Europe；　and　which　bore　



the　signature　of　the　king　of　Bohemia；　expressly　stated　them　to　be。　　



The　only　clue　to　arrive　at　any　certainty　respecting　their　origin；　



is　the　language　which　they　still　speak　amongst　themselves；　but　



before　we　can　avail　ourselves　of　the　evidence　of　this　language；　it　



will　be　necessary　to　make　a　few　remarks　respecting　the　principal　



languages　and　dialects　of　that　immense　tract　of　country；　peopled　by　



at　least　eighty　millions　of　human　beings；　generally　known　by　the　



name　of　Hindustan；　two　Persian　words　tantamount　to　the　land　of　Ind；　



or；　the　land　watered　by　the　river　Indus。







The　most　celebrated　of　these　languages　is　the　Sanskrida；　or；　as　it　



is　known　in　Europe；　the　Sanscrit；　which　is　the　language　of　religion　



of　all　those　nations　amongst　whom　the　faith　of　Brahma　has　been　



adopted；　but　though　the　language　of　religion；　by　which　we　mean　the　



tongue　in　which　the　religious　books　of　the　Brahmanic　sect　were　



originally　written　and　are　still　preserved；　it　has　long　since　



ceased　to　be　a　spoken　language；　indeed；　history　is　silent　as　to　any　



period　when　it　was　a　language　in　common　use　amongst　any　of　the　



various　tribes　of　the　Hindus；　its　knowledge；　as　far　as　reading　and　



writing　it　went；　having　been　entirely　confined　to　the　priests　of　



Brahma；　or　Brahmans；　until　within　the　last　half…century；　when　the　



British；　having　subjugated　the　whole　of　Hindustan；　caused　it　to　be　



openly　taught　in　the　colleges　which　they　established　for　the　



instruction　of　their　youth　in　the　languages　of　the　country。　　Though　



sufficiently　difficult　to　acquire；　principally　on　account　of　its　



prodigious　richness　in　synonyms；　it　is　no　longer　a　sealed　language；　



…　its　laws；　structure；　and　vocabulary　being　sufficiently　well　known　



by　means　of　numerous　elementary　works；　adapted　to　facilitate　its　



study。　　It　has　been　considered　by　famous　philologists　as　the　mother　



not　only　of　all　the　languages　of　Asia；　but　of　all　others　in　the　



world。　　So　wild　and　preposterous　an　idea；　however；　only　serves　to　



prove　that　a　devotion　to　philology；　whose　principal　object　should　



be　the　expansion　of　the　mind　by　the　various　treasures　of　learning　



and　wisdom　which　it　can　unlock；　sometimes　only　tends　to　its　



bewilderment；　by　causing　it　to　embrace　shadows　for　reality。　　The　



most　that　can　be　allowed；　in　reason；　to　the　Sanscrit　is　that　it　is　



the　mother　of　a　certain　class　or　family　of　languages；　for　example；　



those　spoken　in　Hindustan；　with　which　most　of　the　European；　whether　



of　the　Sclavonian；　Gothic；　or　Celtic　stock；　have　some　connection。　　



True　it　is　that　in　this　case　we　know　not　how　to　dispose　of　the　



ancient　Zend；　the　mother　of　the　modern　Persian；　the　language　in　



which　were　written　those　writings　generally　attributed　to　



Zerduscht；　or　Zoroaster；　whose　affinity　to　the　said　tongues　is　as　



easily　established　as　that　of　the　Sanscrit；　and　which；　in　respect　



to　antiquity；　may　well　dispute　the　palm　with　its　Indian　rival。　　



Avoiding；　however；　the　discussion　of　this　point；　we　shall　content　



ourselves　with　observing；　that　closely　connected　with　the　Sanscrit；　



if　not　derived　from　it；　are　the　Bengali；　the　high　Hindustani；　or　



grand　popular　language　of　Hindustan；　generally　used　by　the　learned　



in　their　intercourse　and　writings；　the　languages　of　Multan；　



Guzerat；　and　other　provinces；　without　mentioning　the　mixed　dialect　



called　Mongolian　Hindustani；　a　corrupt　jargon　of　Persian；　Turkish；　



Arabic；　and　Hindu　words；　first　used　by　the　Mongols；　after　the　



conquest；　in　their　intercourse　with　the　natives。　　Many　of　the　



principal　languages　of　Asia　are　totally　unconnected　with　the　



Sanscrit；　both　in　words　and　grammatical　structure；　these　are　mostly　



of　the　great　Tartar　family；　at　the　head　of　which　there　is　good　



reason　for　placing　the　Chinese　and　Tibetian。







Bearing　the　same　analogy　to　the　Sanscrit　tongue　as　the　Indian　



dialects　specified　above；　we　find　the　Rommany；　or　speech　of　the　



Roma；　or　Zincali；　as　they　style　themselves；　known　in　England　and　



Spain　as　Gypsies　and　Gitanos。　　This　speech；　wherever　it　is　spoken；　



is；　in　all　principal　points；　one　and　the　same；　though　more　or　less　



corrupted　by　foreign　words；　picked　up　in　the　various　countries　to　



which　those　who　use　it　have　penetrated。　　One　remarkable　feature　



must　not　be　passed　over　without　notice；　namely；　the　very　



considerable　number　of　Sclavonic　words；　which　are　to　be　found　



embedded　within　it；　whether　it　be　spoken　in　Spain　or　Germany；　in　



England　or　Italy；