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Such is the state of what has been done, and attempted, for the improvement of the Gipseys; whereas, so soon as it was discovered that they were strangers, who thought of nothing less than of returning into their own country, if any plan had been acted upon for their reformation, and only half the wise regulations left behind by the Empress Theresa in her states for the management of these people been adopted, and duly enforced, they would long ago have been divested of the rude nature of their ancestors, and have ceased to be the uncultivated branches of a wild stock. On the contrary, having always been either left to themselves or persecuted, it could not be otherwise, but that they must remain for ever, and in all places, the same.

Perhaps it is reserved for our age, in which so much has been attempted for the benefit of mankind, to humanise a people who, for centuries, have wandered in error and neglect: and it may be hoped, that while we are endeavouring to ameliorate the condition of our African brethren, the civilisation of the Gipseys, who form so large a portion of humanity, will not be overlooked. It cannot be denied, that, considering the multitude of them, their reform must be an object of very serious consideration to many states. Suppose, according to a rough estimate, that the Gipseys in Hungary and Transylvania, including the Banat, amount to upwards of one hundred thousand; what a difference would it not make, in those countries, if one hundred thousand inhabitants, mostly loungers, beggars, cheats, and thieves, who now reap where they have not sown, consuming the fruits of others’ labour, were to become industrious useful subjects! Their reformation would be a difficult task, as the attempts made by the Empress Theresa evinced:—a boy (for you must begin with children, and not meddle with the old stock, on whom no efforts will have effect) would frequently seem in the most promising train to civilisation; on a sudden his wild nature would appear, a relapse follow, and he became a perfect Gipsey again. But the measure is not, therefore, impossible: Was not the case precisely the same with the Saxons, whom Charles the Great converted to Christianity? Let the state resolving to appropriate the Gipsey tribe only persevere in its endeavours; some effect will be gained on the second generation, and with the third or fourth, the end will certainly be accomplished.