From the 1866 “Almanac for the German Reformed Church”
Once upon a time, in Berks County, a jury sat on a trial, where the jurors were required to be kept from all communications with others, till they should have rendered their verdict. The tipstaff took them to their dinner by themselves and stood guard. As soon as they were seated at the table, knives and forks began to rattle, and all were making preparations to begin the meal, except the foreman, a pious and venerable white-haired patriarch from Oley, who sat at the head of the table. He arrested the indecent hurry of the rest by rapping on the table, and saying “Let us ask God’s blessing first.”
They all stopped and listened. When his prayer was ended, one of the company, intending to joke at his expense and make light of the old gentleman’s blessing, said to him: “I suppose down in Oley, where you come from, every thing prays before eating.”
“O, no,” meekly replied the old man. “The pigs do not.”
