All these opinions are merely conjecture; it would therefore be useless to proceed with the list of them: but it may be proper to cite a few which seem to have a greater appearance of probability. Let us begin with Wagenseil. He considers the Gipseys to be German Jews; who about the middle of the fourteenth century, to escape the dreadful persecution which raged against them all over Europe, especially in Germany, secreted themselves in forests, {141} deserts, and subterraneous caverns. In these hiding-places they remained above half a century, not making their appearance again till the period of the Hussites: as the Hussish heresy then engrossed the public attention, with regard to the Jews all was safe. But not daring to declare themselves, they fell on the device of saying, that their respect for the Mosaic law would not permit them to become Christians, at the same time styling themselves, in general terms, Egyptian pilgrims. Those who did not yet know what they were, nor whence they came, from their wandering about (_einherzichen_) called them Gipseys (_Zigeuner_). To establish this supposition respecting the origin of the Gipseys, he refers to their language, which he says is a mixture of German and Hebrew, quoting, in proof of his assertion, near fifty words, which are evidently Hebrew. He then asks, Whence should the Gipseys have gotten so many Hebrew words into their language, if they were not Jews; at a time too when Hebrew was unknown to all other nations?—This opinion bears infinitely more the appearance of truth, than any one of those before cited. It must also have been deemed incontrovertible by the learned author, as he mentions it, in the introduction to his treatise, with great confidence, and as much self-congratulation as if he had discovered the philosopher’s-stone. Notwithstanding all this, the confutation is so short and easy, that very few words are sufficient to overturn the whole system; which rests entirely on the language:—the words quoted are taken from a gibberish vocabulary; but gibberish is not the Gipsey language. . . . What relates to the Jewish persecution is very just; but all the rest are mere, and frequently inconsistent, conjectures, founded on it by the learned writer.