So Paul the dauntless pioneer set his brave face westwards, following
the long trail across the Roman Empire--the hero-scout of Christ.
Nothing could stop him--not scourgings nor stonings, prison nor
robbers, blizzards nor sand-storms. He went on and on till at last, as
a prisoner in Rome, he laid his head on the block of the executioner
and was slain. These are the brave words that we hear from him as he
came near to the end:

+-----------------------------+
| I HAVE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT; |
| I HAVE RUN MY COURSE; |
| I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH. |
+-----------------------------+

Long years afterward, men who were Christians in Rome carried the
story of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ across Europe to some savages in
the North Sea Islands--called Britons. Paul handed the torch from
the Near East to the people in Rome. They passed the torch on to the
people of Britain--and from Britain many years later men sailed to
build up the new great nation in America. So the torch has run from
East to West, from that day to this, and from those people of long ago
to us. But we owe this most of all to Paul, the first missionary,
who gave his life to bring the Good News from the lands of Syria and
Judæa, where our Lord Jesus Christ lived and died and rose again.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 2: The dates are, of course, conjectural; but those given
are accepted by high authorities. Paul was about forty-four at the
time of this adventure.]