Bunyan, John, 1628-1688 -- Relations with Romanies; Romanies
{16a} It reads very candidly when it is said that “none of Bunyan’s
admirers would object to his being shown to be a Gipsy, if only
sufficient proof were adduced.” The real position is, that Bunyan’s
admissions as to what he was and was not, and his calling and
surroundings, show that he was of the Gipsy race; and “proof” should be
“adduced” to show that he was _not_ that, but of the _ordinary race_ of
Englishmen.
{16b} It would be interesting to learn from Mr. Brown, 1_st_. When, and
under what circumstances, he took up this question in regard to Bunyan;
_2d_. What regard he paid to the subject of the Gipsies in general, as
published; 3_d_. Whether he made any personal inquiries in regard to it;
4_th_. Whether he read anything, and what, in favour of Bunyan having
been of the Gipsy race; 5_th_. How he came to maintain that because the
name of Bunyan existed in England before the Gipsies arrived in it,
therefore Bunyan was not one of the race; 6_th_. Whether he knows of
Gipsies bearing native surnames, and even of one with a foreign surname;
7_th_. What reason he had for supposing that Thomas Bonyon, in 1542, had
no Gipsy blood in his veins, or that his descendants for several
generations did not pass into the Gipsy current in society, as explained;
8_th_. Where Mr. Brown resided before he settled at Bedford, and how long
he has been there. 9_th_. What traditions he found in the town and
neighbourhood bearing on Bunyan’s descent, and whether there are people
there averse to its being asserted that Bunyan was what might be called
of the _ordinary native_ English race; 10_th_. Are there none there who
object to its being said that Bunyan’s family was a broken-down branch of
the aristocracy, titled or untitled, that most probably entered England
from Normandy, under William the Conqueror? 11_th_. What are the reasons
for saying that Bunyan was _not_ of the Gipsy race? 12_th_. Might not
_any_ person be of the Gipsy race, notwithstanding it was not even
surmised, much less _proved_, by any one acquainted with the Gipsy
subject, and much more so by one apparently totally ignorant of it?
13_th_. Since Bunyan was an Englishman under any circumstances, why
should anyone claim him to have been entirely of the native or ordinary
blood, till it is proved that part of his blood belonged to the Gipsy
race, that entered Great Britain not later than 1506—no regard being
shown to what he said he “was and was not, and his calling and
surroundings”? 14_th_. Has Mr. Brown’s object, from first to last, been
exclusively that of proving Bunyan _not_ to have been of the Gipsy race?
15_th_. In that case, should he not, while occupying the pulpit of
Bunyan, look upon his “mission” as most sacred, and “laying aside every
weight and the sin which doth so easily beset him,” “give no sleep to his
eyes or slumber to his eyelids” till he was satisfied who Bunyan really
was, and acknowledge him accordingly?
{17} Dated 13th September, 1882.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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