{221a} was more justified in saying:

"Mr. Borrow, no doubt, knows the Gypsies well, and could describe them
perfectly. But his love of effect leads him away. In his wish to
impress his reader with a certain mysterious notion of himself, he
colours his Gypsy pictures (the _form_ of which is quite accurate) in a
fantastic style, which robs them altogether of the value they would have
as studies from life."

For Groome wrote simply as a Gypsy student. He collected data which can
be verified, but do not often give an impression of life, except the life
of a young Cambridge man who is devoted to Gypsies. The "Athenaeum"
reviewer {221b} begs the question by calling the Gypsy dialogues of
Hindes Groome, photographic; and is plainly inaccurate in saying that if
they are compared with those in "Lavengro" "the illusion in Borrow's
narrative is disturbed by the uncolloquial vocabulary of the speakers."
For Borrow's dialogues do produce an effect of some kind of life; those
of Hindes Groome instruct us or pique our curiosity, but unless we know
Gypsies, they produce no life-like effect.

Who else but Borrow could make the old viper-catcher thus describe the
King of the Vipers?--

"It may be about seven years ago that I happened to be far down yonder to
the west, on the other side of England, nearly two hundred miles from
here, following my business. It was a very sultry day, I remember, and I
had been out several hours catching creatures. It might be about three
o'clock in the afternoon, when I found myself on some heathy land near
the sea, on the ridge of a hill, the side of which, nearly as far down as
the sea, was heath; but on the top there was arable ground, which had
been planted, and from which the harvest had been gathered--oats or
barley, I know not which--but I remember that the ground was covered with
stubble. Well, about three o'clock, as I told you before, what with the
heat of the day and from having walked about for hours in a lazy way, I
felt very tired; so I determined to have a sleep, and I laid myself down,
my head just on the ridge of the hill, towards the field, and my body
over the side down amongst the heath; my bag, which was nearly filled
with creatures, lay at a little distance from my face; the creatures were
struggling in it, I remember, and I thought to myself, how much more
comfortably off I was than they; I was taking my ease on the nice open
hill, cooled with the breezes, whilst they were