( o 
^ and that they had the firft hint of it from Goats and Camels ; 
‘ and for this Reafon, in token of their Gratitude, when they fill 
^ out this Liquor to thofe that buy it of them, they arc ufed to 
‘ pray in fett Forms of Oraifons for Sciadli and Adrusy which 
‘ they believe were the Names of the Prior and his Com- 
^ panion/ 
This Story carries in every Particular of it too great an Air of 
Fable to be in the leafl: depended on , and they who are acquainted 
with the Nature of Vulgar Traditions, efpecially thofe of the 
Eaftern Nations, will eafily imagine that it can receive but a very 
fmall degree of Credibility from thence, let them be never (o com- 
mon or univerfal \ which is more than can be (aid of this, fince 
no Writer, that I can find, has mentioned it, except Banejius, 
and thofe that copy’d it from him. 
Among the reft. Sir Thomas Pope Blount has vary’d fome part 
of BanefmTs Story in a very diverting manner, which I cannot 
help fetting down : ^ The Prior, fays he, believing from what 
‘ he had feen of the Goats, that this muff proceed from their 
‘ licking up the Berries that fell from thefe Trees, to fatisfy his 
‘ Curiofity further, try’d the Experiment upon another fort of 
^ Beafl, a fleepy heavy-headed Monk, whom he often ply’d with 
this fort of Liquor j and in a lliort time, as the Story goes, it 
had fuch a wonderful EflFedl upon him, that it quite alter’d his 
^ Conftitution, and he afterwards became more quick, brisk, and 
‘ airy than generally that fort of Cattle are.’ 
I cannot conceive how M. du Four, who was certainly a Man 
of good Judgment, Ihould give into fo groundlefs a Fidfion in fb 
ferious a manner. Fde not only adopts Banejius's Story without 
referve, but is at pains to introduce it by a very formal Preamble, 
as follows. 
‘ There is no room to doubt, but that when God at the be- 
^ ginning of all things commanded the Earth to bring forth 
^ Herbs and Trees, he at the fame time communicated to them 
* the Qualities he thought fit to give them. And therefore we 
‘ mufl not doubt but that Coffee, from its firft Origin, had all 
' thefe Properties for which we efleem it at this day. But it 
^ does not follow from thence, that they have been always 
* known. Many Ages pafs’d, during which Men were altoge- 
*■ ther Strangers to them, and did not fo much as know what 
‘ Coffee was. However, as God had communicated to it its 
* natural Virtues for the Good of Man, he did not fuffer them 
^ to remain for ever without its Affiftance : He was pleas’d at 
* length to refcue this Treafure from Obfcurity and Darknefs, 
1 ^ and 
