as a vagabond for the murder of Abel. ERO VAGUS ET PROFUGUS IN

TERRA: OMNIS IGITUR QUI INVENERIT ME, OCCIDET ME. Now, the IGITUR
stands here as the natural consequence of VAGUS ERO; as it is

evident, that whoever shall see me must kill me, because he sees me
a wanderer" target="_blank" title="n.流浪者">wanderer. And it must always be remembered, that at that time

there were no people in the world but the parents and brothers of
Cain, as St. Ambrose has remarked. Moreover, God, by the mouth of

Jeremias, menaced his people, that all should devour them whilst
they went wandering amongst the mountains. And it is a doctrine

entertained by theologians, that the mere act of wandering, without
anything else, carries with it a vehementsuspicion of capital

crime. Nature herself demonstrates it in the curious political
system of the bees, in whose well-governed republic the drones are

killed in April, when they commence working.
'The third, because they are stealers of four-footed beasts, who

are condemned to death by the laws of Spain, in the wise code of
the famous King Don Alonso; which enactment became a part of the

common law.
'The fourth, for wizards, diviners, and for practising arts which

are prohibited under pain of death by the divine law itself. And
Saul is praised for having caused this law to be put in execution

in the beginning of his reign; and the Holy Scripture attributes to
the breach of it (namely, his consulting the witch) his disastrous

death, and the transfer of the kingdom to David. The Emperor
Constantine the Great, and other emperors who founded the civil

law, condemned to death those who should practise such
facinorousness, - as the President of Tolosa has written.

'The last and most urgent cause is, that they are heretics, if what
is said be truth; and it is the practice of the law in Spain to

burn such.
'THE GITANOS ARE EXPELLED FROM THE COUNTRY BY THE LAWS OF SPAIN

'Firstly, they are comprehended as hale beggars in the law of the
wise king, Don Alonso, by which he expelled all sturdy beggars, as

being idle and useless.
'Secondly, the law expels public harlots from the city; and of this

matter I have already said something in my second chapter.
'Thirdly, as people who cause scandal, and who, as is visible at

the first glance, are prejudicial to morals and common decency.
Now, it is established by the statute law of these kingdoms, that

such people be expelled therefrom; it is said so in the well-
pondered words of the edict for the expulsion of the Moors: "And

forasmuch as the sense of good and Christian government makes it a
matter of conscience to expel from the kingdoms the things which

cause scandal, injury to honest subjects, danger to the state, and
above all, disloyalty to the Lord our God." Therefore, considering

the incorrigibility of the Gitanos, the Spanish kings made many
holy laws in order to deliver their subjects from such pernicious

people.
'Fourthly, the Catholic princes, Ferdinand and Isabella, by a law

which they made in Medina del Campo, in the year 1494, and which
the emperor our lord renewed in Toledo in 1523, and in Madrid in

1528 and 1534, and the late king our lord, in 1560, banished them
perpetually from Spain, and gave them as slaves to whomsoever

should find them, after the expiration of the term specified in the
edict - laws which are notorious even amongst strangers. The words

are:- "We declare to be vagabonds, and subject to the aforesaid
penalty, the Egyptians and foreign tinkers, who by laws and

statutes of these kingdoms are commanded to depart therefrom; and
the poor sturdy beggars, who contrary to the order given in the new

edict, beg for alms and wander about."
'THE LAWS ARE VERY JUST WHICH EXPEL THE GITANOS FROM THE STATES

All the doctors, who are of opinion that the Gitanos may be
condemned to death, would consider it as an act of mercy in your

Majesty to banish them perpetually from Spain, and at the same time
as exceedingly just. Many and learned men not only consider that

it is just to expel them, but cannot sufficiently wonder that they
are tolerated in Christian states, and even consider that such

toleration is an insult to the kingdoms.
'Whilst engaged in writing this, I have seen a very learned

memorial, in which Doctor Salazar de Mendoza makes the same
supplication to your Majesty which is made in this discourse,

holding it to be the imperious duty of every good government.
'It stands in reason that the prince is bound to watch for the

welfare of his subjects, and the wrongs which those of your Majesty
receive from the Gitanos I have already exposed in my second

chapter; it being a point worthy of great consideration that the
wrongs caused by the Moriscos moved your royal and merciful bosom

to drive them out, although they were many, and their departure
would be felt as a loss to the population, the commerce, the royal

revenues, and agriculture. Now, with respect to the Gitanos, as
they are few, and perfectlyuseless for everything, it appears more

necessary to drive them forth, the injuries which they cause being
so numerous.

'Secondly, because the Gitanos, 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 Athenaeus writes: NOS GENUS

HOC MORTALIUM EJICIMUS EX HAC URBE VELUT PURGAMINA. Now the
profession of the Gypsy is idleness.

'Fourthly, because the Gitanos 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 Gitanos, 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 Gitanos 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 Gitanos 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 GITANOS

'Every one who considers the manner of your Majesty's government as
the truly Christian pattern must entertainfervent hope that the

advice proffered in this discourse will be attended to; more
especially on reflecting that not only the good, but even the most

barbarous kings have acted up to it in their respective dominions.
'Pharaoh was bad enough, nevertheless he judged that the children