‘Secondly, because the Gitános, as I have already said, are Spaniards; and as others profess the sacred orders of religion, even so do these fellows profess gypsying, which is robbery and all the other vices enumerated in chapter the second. And whereas it is just to banish from the kingdom those who have committed any heavy delinquency, it is still more so to banish those who profess to be injurious to all. ‘Thirdly, because all the kings and rulers have always endeavoured to eject from their kingdoms the idle and useless. And it is very remarkable, that the law invariably commands them to be expelled, and the republics of Athens and Corinth were accustomed to do so—casting them forth like dung, even as Athenæus writes: _Nos genus hoc mortalium ejicimus ex hac urbe velut purgamina_. Now the profession of the Gypsy is idleness. ‘Fourthly, because the Gitános are diviners, enchanters, and mischievous wretches, and the law commands us to expel such from the state. ‘In the fifth place, because your Majesty, in the Cortes at present assembled, has obliged your royal conscience to fulfil all the articles voted for the public service, and the forty-ninth says: “One of the things at present most necessary to be done in these kingdoms, is to afford a remedy for the robberies, plundering and murders committed by the Gitános, who go wandering about the country, stealing the cattle of the poor, and committing a thousand outrages, living without any fear of God, and being Christians only in name. It is therefore deemed expedient, that your Majesty command them to quit these kingdoms within six months, to be reckoned from the day of the ratification of these presents, and that they do not return to the same under pain of death.” ‘Against this, two things may possibly be urged:— ‘The first, that the laws of Spain give unto the Gitános the alternative of residing in large towns, which, it appears, would be better than expelling them. But experience, recognised by grave and respectable men, has shown that it is not well to harbour these people; for their houses are dens of thieves, from whence they prowl abroad to rob the land. ‘The second, that it appears a pity to banish the women and children. But to this can be opposed that holy act of your Majesty which expelled the Moriscos, and the children of the Moriscos, for the reason given in the royal edict. _Whenever any detestable crime is committed by any university_, _it is well to punish all_. And the most detestable crimes of all are those which the Gitános commit, since it is notorious that they subsist on what they steal; and as to the children, there is no law which obliges us to bring up wolf-whelps, to cause here-after certain damage to the flock. ‘IT HAS EVER BEEN THE PRACTICE OF PRINCES TO EXPEL THE GITÁNOS