THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 333 



nobody ever took it into their heads to tax either Greek or 

 Armenian with a repetition of baptifm. 



Monsieur de Tournefort*, in his travels through the 

 Levant, gives you a figure of the Greek prieft, who bleffes 

 the water in a peculiar habit, with a pafloral flail in his 

 hand. 



But, befides this, various falfehoods have likewife been 

 propagated about the manner of baptifm pracflifed in Abyf- 

 finia, all in order to impugn the validity of it, and to ex- 

 cufe the rafh conduct of the Jefuits for re-baptifmg all the~ 

 Abyffmians, as if they had been a Jewifh and Pagan people 

 that never had been baptifed at all, The violation of this 

 article of the creed, or confeffion of Nice, was a caufe of 

 great offence to the Abyffinians, and of the misfortunes 

 that happened afterwards. The whole of the Abyffinian 

 fervice of baptifm is in their liturgy. The Jefuits had plenty 

 of copies in their hands, and could have pointed out the 

 part of the fervice that was heretical, if they had pleafed ; 

 they did not pretend, however, to do this, and their filence 

 condemns them.. 



As for the idle ftories that are told of the words pronoun- 

 ced, fuch as, — " I baptize you in the name of the Holy Tri- 

 nity," — " In the name of Peter and Paul," — " 1 baptize you 

 in the water of Jordan," — " May God baptife you," — " May 

 God wafh you," and many others, they are all invented by 

 the Jefuits, to excufe the repetition of baptilm in Abyffinia, 



which 



Toumef, torn, i. p.m. 



