perhaps, no one ever enjoyed better opportunities; and he has,
moreover, given - not a few words culled expressly for the purpose
of supporting a theory, but one entire dialect of their language,
collected with much trouble and difficulty; and to this he humbly
calls the attention of the learned, who, by comparing it with
certain languages, may decide as to the countries in which the
Gypsies have lived or travelled.

With respect to the Gypsy rhymes in the second volume, he wishes to
make one observation which cannot be too frequently repeated, and
which he entreats the reader to bear in mind: they are GYPSY
COMPOSITIONS, and have little merit save so far as they throw light
on the manner of thinking and speaking of the Gypsy people, or
rather a portion of them, and as to what they are capable of
effecting in the way of poetry. It will, doubtless, be said that
the rhymes are TRASH; - even were it so, they are original, and on
that account, in a philosophic point of view, are more valuable
than the most brilliant compositions pretending to describe Gypsy
life, but written by persons who are not of the Gypsy sect. Such
compositions, however replete with fiery sentiments, and allusions
to freedom and independence, are certain to be tainted with
affectation. Now in the Gypsy rhymes there is no affectation, and
on that very account they are different in every respect from the
poetry of those interesting personages who figure, under the names
of Gypsies, Gitanos, Bohemians, etc., in novels and on the boards
of the theatre.

It will, perhaps, be objected to the present work, that it contains
little that is edifying in a moral or Christian point of view: to
such an objection the author would reply, that the Gypsies are not