The Gipsies' Advocate: Or, Observations on the Origin, Character, Manners, and Habits of the English GipsiesCrabb, James
Religion
The Gipsies' Advocate: Or, Observations on the Origin, Character, Manners, and Habits of the English Gipsies
Crabb, James
Romanies -- England
and then ended with prayer. They solicited him to return on the sabbath
morning; he did so, and, as he hopes, under the influence of the Holy
Spirit. The master gratefully accepted of a bible; for though the
Gipsies could not read, a little boy was among them, who was not a Gipsy,
that could read remarkably well, having been taught at a Sunday school at
Hastings, in Sussex. They all joyfully anticipated the pleasure of going
to the Rev. J. Carter's Chapel, of Braintree, in the afternoon, but met
with a disappointment, arising from an unexpected decampment. About one
month after, in the latter end of November, two Gipsy women called on the
narrator, earnestly entreating him to go and preach to them, which they
called conversation. Asking the reason, why they entreated this favour?
their answer was, 'We have heard much about your conversation, sir, and
we should like to hear it. Come, do come, and we will be all ready to
receive you.' Asking who they were that told them of the conversation
just mentioned, they said, 'some of our people, Sir, that you were with
about a month since. They told us a great deal about your conversation,
and we should so much like to hear it. Oh! sir, do come to us poor
creatures, for we have an invitation for you, if you would condescend to
take it, to meet with the Gipsies on Christmas day.' That night, the
narrator walked a few miles to their camp, and in their smoky tent
preached Jesus Christ the only way of salvation, to these poor, despised,
neglected creatures. After being with them two hours and a half, he bade
them farewell, and going behind a hedge, anxious to know what effect the
new unheard of doctrines would produce on their minds, he listened for a
short time. In the midst of conversation with each other, one of them
said, 'Well, I know this, if I could get a house near where that
gentleman lives, and could live by my business, I would send all my
children to that school there, and hear him as long as ever I could
live.' While they were conversing about Adam and Eve, and the evil
effects of sinning against God; one of the women said, 'However, you see,
all the punishment that us women get, is sorrow and pains in
child-bearing.' 'Stop, stop,' says one of the men, 'that won't do, Ann,
that won't do. If sorrow and pains in child-bearing be all the
punishment that women are to have, what punishment must those women have
that do not bear children? You are quite wrong, Ann; you women are as
bad as _us_.' This led on to a further discovery, and the conversation
among themselves was truly interesting.
"One of the children telling a lie, the mother touched it on the head,
saying, 'What are you telling lies about? Have you forgotten what the
gentleman said to night? You will go to hell, if you tell any more lies.
Let me never hear you tell another, you bad lad, for God will not take
you to heaven.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account