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They drove her before them, and though she walked somewhat lame, she nevertheless managed to reach the camp; and immediately after their arrival she was killed and consumed for their supper."

"If there were not good proof of it, one could scarcely believe that any one could act in this way."

"I allow, that one could not. Bruce's narrative was, for some time, generally discredited. There were few persons but regarded it as his own invention, to see how far he could impose on the credulity of his countrymen. Now it is as generally believed. Sir W. Jones, writing from India, says, There is an Abyssinian here, who knew Mr. Bruce at Gondar; I have examined him, and he confirms Bruce's account.

"*

"But, surely, there is no account of any * Works, vol. ii. p. 33.

one mentioned in Scripture acting in this way?"

“I fear there is, Harry. Turn to 1 Sam. xiv. 32; read that and the two or three following verses;

"And the people flew upon the spoil."

"That is, after they had defeated the Philistines, and were very hungry and faint. Well, go on.

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"And took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground; and the people did eat them with the blood.""

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That, you know, was forbidden expressly in the covenant which God made with Noah. And this seems, to say the least, very much like the Abyssinian plan. But finish the account."

"Then they told Saul, saying, Behold the people sin against the Lord, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed; roll a great stone unto me this day.'"

"He meant, on which they might properly slaughter the cattle."

"And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the Lord in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with them, and slew them there.' This does look like it, father; but not quite like it, for it is said that the people slew' the cattle."

"I am not sure that they really did so. I rather think that they maimed them, after the manner of the Abyssinians; especially as the remark of Bruce is a just one, that a very few years after this, the Abyssinians came from Palestine, and carried with them this and many other Jewish customs, which have continued among them to this day.""

NAPKINS.

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ONE day, when Harry had seen his father washing himself, and wiping his face very particularly, as he was accustomed to do, with a napkin, he said, Father, there is an odd account in an old book on your study table, of an emperor of Morocco who never used napkins to wipe himself with."

“What then did he use, Harry ?”

"A boy's head."

"What, Harry? A boy's head! That would be a strange kind of napkin.

"Shall I fetch the book?”

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Do, and let us hear it."

Harry reads.

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"When Diego de Torres, the Spanish Ambassador, in 1547, first dined with the Emperor of Morocco at his court, he was

amused by the customs of the table. Neither knives, forks, nor spoons were provided; but each person helped himself with his fingers, and cleaned his hands with his tongue, except the Emperor, who wiped the hand he took his meat up with, on the head of a black boy, ten years old, who stood by his side. The Ambassador smiled; and the Emperor, observing it, asked what Christian kings wiped their hands with at meals? Fine napkins,' was the reply. What are such things worth?' inquired the monarch. A clean one at every meal would cost five shillings, or more,' said the Ambassador. 'Don't you think this napkin much better,' rejoined the Emperor, wiping his hand again on the black boy's head, which is worth seventy or eighty crowns ?"

“A fine napkin, truly. This is indeed a singular account, Harry. I don't wonder that

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