CHAPTER I.

JOPPA.


Joppa was the very centre of all things. That was the opening clause in
the creed of every well-educated and right-thinking Joppite.
Geographically, however, it was not the centre of any thing, being
considerably off from the great lines of railway travel, but possessing
two little independent branch roads of its own, that connected it with
all the world, or rather that connected all the world with it. For though
there were larger places than Joppa even in the county in which it
condescended to find itself, and though New York, and Philadelphia, and
even Boston, were undeniably larger, as its inhabitants reluctantly
admitted when hard pressed, yet they were unanimous in agreeing,
nevertheless, that the sun rose and set wholly and entirely for the
benefit of their one little aristocratic community.

Yes; the world was created for Joppa, that the Joppites might live, move,
and have their being with as much convenience and as little trouble as
possible. Bethany, a considerable town near by, was built to be its
shopping emporium; Galilee, a little farther off, to accommodate its art
needs; Morocco, a more considerable town still farther off, to be the
birthplace of those ancestors who were so unfortunate as to come into the
world before there was any Joppa to be born in. Even New York was erected
mainly to furnish it with a place of comfortable resort once a year, when
it transplanted itself there bodily in a clan, consoling itself for its