er of a charming book on the Gipsies, who was so fascinated by one of
their number that he married her; but the wild, restless spirit was
untameable, and the divorce court proved that the supposed precept of
fidelity, which is said to guide the conduct of Gipsy wives, is not
without its exceptions. The Gipsies have nothing in common with our
conventional ways and habits, and whether it is possible ever to remove
the barrier that separates them from civilisation is a question which
only experiment can satisfactorily answer. Mr. Smith's scheme is not the
first, by many, that has been made to improve the conditions of Gipsy
life. Nearly half a century ago the Rev. Mr. Crabb, of Southampton,
formed a society with the object of amalgamating the Gipsies with the
general population, but the scheme was comparatively futile. Still, past
failure is no reason why a new attempt should not be made. Mr. Smith
says there cannot be less than 4,000 Gipsy men and women, and from 15,000
to 20,000 Gipsy children moving about the country, outside the
educational laws and the pale of civilisation, and not five per cent. of
them can either read or write. Their mode of life is such as 'would
shock the modesty of South African savages,' for men, women, and grown-up
sons and daughters lie huddled together, and in many cases they 'live
like pigs and die like dogs.' There is certainly room enough here for
education, and education is the only thing that is likely to have any
practical results.

"It is proposed that the principles of the Canal Boats Act shall be
applied to all movable habitations; that is, that all tents, shows,
caravans, auctioneers' vans, and like places used as dwellings, shall be
registered and numbered, and put under proper sanitary supervision. Mr.
Smith points out that when once a tent or van had been registered and
numbered, it could be furnished with a book similar to a half-time book,
in which the names of the children having first been entered, the
attendances at school could be endorsed by the schoolmaster--for which
extra trouble he should be compensated--as the children travelled about
from place to place. By this means something tangible would be done to
prevent the roadside waifs from growing up in the ignorance which is the
parent of idleness. Why should these ten or fifteen thousand little
nomads be allowed to remain in the neglected condition which has
characterised their strange race for centuries? It i