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JOPPA.

JOPPA is a place mentioned in the New Testament. It is a seaport town, situated at no very great distance from Jerusalem. The modern name of the place is Jaffa. It is a port near the south-eastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea. It was in this place that St. Peter lived for some time. He dwelt with one Simon, a tanner, whose house was situated near the sea-side. Modern travellers, in speaking of the place, say the spot is still shown where this house stood. St. Peter, at Joppa, raised to life a very good woman who had died, and restored her to her friends. Power was given him to do this and other miracles, that the people might believe that he was directed by God to teach them the things which related to Jesus Christ. But Peter was a Jew, and, like others of his countrymen who believed 'n Jesus, he thought, at the first, that the gos

pel of Christ was only intended for the Jewish nation; in the same manner as the law of Moses had been framed for the benefit of the Jews alone; so that he and the other disciples thought none but Jews were worthy to hear the words of eternal life. Other nations they called heathen, and considered them as common and unclean. But Jesus Christ came into the world to save all men, and the gospel was to be preached to all. At that time there was a very good man lived at Cesarea, a place near Joppa, whose name was Cornelius; he was not a Jew, but he was very good and kind to men, and he was in the habit of praying to God. While he was praying, he was told to send to Joppa, to find Simon Peter, who would tell him words whereby he might be saved. To prepare Peter for this message, he also had a vision, or revelation, from God. He went up on the house-top to pray, at the ninth hour of the day, the hour appointed for prayer. The houses at that time, and in the countries of the East, were not built like ours, but had flat roofs, which were comfortable to walk or sit upon. While Peter was praying, he had a vision. He felt as if he were hungry, and at the same moment he saw a large vessel coming down from

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heaven, filled with all sorts of animals, and heard a voice saying, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." Now, by the law of Moses, there were many kinds of animals that were considered as unclean, and which it was unlawful for a Jew to eat; so that Peter answered, in his dream, that he could not do this, because he had never eaten any thing which was common or unclean. This vision was repeated three times; and when Peter awoke, he found there was a message arrived for him to go to Cesarea, and preach about Jesus Christ to Cornelius. He understood, from his dream about the animals, that nothing which God had cleansed should be called common, and therefore he thought that he ought to obey this summons, although it was to visit a heathen, whom, before, he would have thought common or unclean. So he went to Cornelius, and found him and his family and friends assembled. To them he preached about Jesus Christ; and his preaching, with the help of God's Spirit, moved them so much that they believed him, and were all baptized and became Christians: and Peter remained with them some time.

Near the south of this place, which is now called Jaffa, Bonaparte committed some great

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acts of cruelty, when he was trying to extend his power over those countries of the East. He caused to be murdered four thousand prisoners who had given themselves up to him, on his promise of treating them kindly. They were natives of Algiers, Tunis, and other towns of the Barbary coast, who had been sent to the assistance of some of those with whom he was fighting. His cruelty did not stop here. But it is said, he gave orders that a large number of his own army, who were sick and unable to go on, should be poisoned, because he could not carry them with him, and did not wish to leave troops behind him to take care of them. The recollection of these dreadful acts of cruelty must have filled the mind of Bonaparte, when, after having been conquered by his enemies, and banished to the solitary island of St. Helena, he had time given him to think over the evil deeds of his past life. It is to be hoped that he heartily repented of these, and every thing else wicked, which he had done in the course of his life.

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No animal does more for the comfort and service of man than the horse. He is brave, and willing to share any danger with his master. He is very strong, and capable of longcontinued exertion.

Horses, in their wild state, are not now found in any part of Europe; and those which now inhabit some parts of America, are supposed to have come from what were originally tame horses, as this animal was not known in Amer ica when it was first discovered. Nothing surprised the inhabitants of Mexico and Peru

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