Life and After

834 IMPROVEMENT ERA.

fifteen feet above the level of the Dead Sea. A grand view it is from the Mt. of Olives, over the mountain, and a part of the Dead Sea. After a more than three hours' ride on the railroad from Jerusalem, we came to Joppa, which lies on the east coast of the Mediterranean. The surrounding plains of Joppa are the most beautiful and fruitful in the land of Judea. The city has a popu- lation of about thirty-five thousand, the majority being Mohamme- dans. We visited the place where Tabitha was raised from the dead by Peter the apostle. (Acts 9: 41.) Her tomb which is also there, we saw. We went to Simon the tanner's house, where Peter had the vision. (Acts 10: 11, 12.) The house, however, let it be known, has been rebuilt, but it had a flat roof, on which

we stood, and we also drank water from Simon's well, which water is very good. The land of Palestine has an area of eleven thou- sand square miles, over which I have had the pleasure to travel from the extreme north, to Bethlehem in the south; from the river Jordan, east, to the Mediterranean, in the west. Thus I have had a life-long desire realized, for which I am happy indeed; and I must say that the experience which I have thus gained, and the sights seen, shall always be treasured fondly in my recollec- tion, as pearls of great price gathered from the shores of the ocean of life.

LIFE AND AFTER.

What is this world? A dream within a dream—as we grow older each step is an awakening. The youth awakes as he thinks from childhood—the full-grown man despises the pursuits of youth as visionary—the man looks on manhood as a feverish dream. old The grave the sleep?— no; last the it is and last awakening. final — Sir Walter Scott.