The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-09
IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD
A CONQUERER IN CHAINS

The International Sunday Scnooi Les
SON for November IA is Paul a
Prisoner i'm Rome Acts %: 1871.
BY William T. Ellis
There is always a way out. No hu-
man soul is ever utterly hemmed IN
by troubles. Deliverance is Gods pro-
for his ~distraught friends He
is pledged to make a way OF escape.
Sometimes the way to Rome-Or any
other goals devious and beset by
difficulties. 1t may lead through Jeru-
salem mobs, corrupt Caesarea courts,
shipwrecks on the Mediterranean and
three months on Malta. The journey
may be personally conducted by the
military power OF imperial Rome; ana
a chain may link the traveller to a
soldier Of the legion. But the arrival
at Rome is certain. The goal is sure:
A terrific NOrtheaSter had landed
Pau n the other two hundred and
seventy-five m Of the SHIPS
on Malta's shores. What a
storm that was! How helpless was the
arm Of all-conquering Rome when
Jehovah opened his fist and let loose
his Winds! It must have seemed to
the sailors as if all the other winds
of heaven had gone out Of business
for themselves, and had been merged
into the deadly Northeaster. Their
personal experience had made them
pessimiSts, even as some people think
that the whole world is encircled only
by the Northeast winds Of trouble.
But the gentle South winds arose in
due season, to bear the snipWrecked
sailors away from the island where
they had spent three months. There is
always a South wind. While the
Northeast winds are bowling most
fSo~oo1 - i yua11 fn rnrn nr0 hnr n q +
Gods good South wind is OF the way.
There's a guide time coming" Here
was the optimistic PauI's interpreta-
ton of his experiences, as he wrote
to his friends in Philippi. Nov I
would have know, brethren, hat
the things which happened unto me
nave fallen out rather unto the prog
ress of the Gospel" That is another
way of expressing this lessons deepest
life-message: "All things work to-
gether for good to them that love
God"
Over Storied Waters.
Let US stand at the prov of the
Twin Brothers," above the images
of Castor and Pollux, and perhaps
with the little missionary, whose
slight frame makes us think he is all
soul, standing beside us, sheltered
from the Mediterranean winds by a
cloak given him by a grateful Maltese,
we shall see much to stir our imagin-
alton. Ove sapphire seas, sparkling
in the sunlight. with the salt air blow
ing in our faces, we come to Syracuse.
Here we have three days to ~raverse
the historic city, with it's memories
Of Demosthenes, in whom our orator
companion Paul is especially inter
ested.
A short journey away, reached,
however, only after good seamanship,
we come to the city Of Rhegium, at
- a.:
where Scylla and C~harybdis lie in
wait for the unwary ship. Paul had his
own thoughts of the famous events
connected with this region; he could
not know that twenty centuries later
a Standardization unsupported by
him would be ~anguished by the over
flow by earthquake of this same
Rhegium, afterward to be called Reg
gio, n Of the city of Messina. across
the narrow neck of water. A day in
Rhegium, and then we attempt the
hazardous journey through the strait.
AS we pass successfully, we see in
imagination many famous wrecks
along the rocks.
Toward the beautiful blue of the
Bay Of Naples (although Paul knew it
as the Bay Of Puteoli) the Twin
Brothers" drew a steady course. Vesu-
vius waved his sulphurous plume
above the horizon beautiful but
ominous. Here we see Pompeii. in all
its Roman l-uxuriousness, idling away
in voluptuous wickedness the beauti-
full days, unwarned of the disaster
which was to overtake it within ten
years.. burying beneath the ashes of
Vesuvius a record Of it's life that
should lie hidden for seventeen GEN.
turtles. Even Luke's statement Of the
presence Of Christians in the vicinity
is confirmed by inscriptions dug up
here. Seven days of sweet fellowship
with the disciples at Puteoli were
spent by Paul before proceeding to
Rome by land.
h Legion Without Uniforms.
The ~present-day traveller along the
Appian Way will have his magma
ton tremendously stirred. Everywhere
are relics of a glorious past. Centuries
long DEAD rise up to whisper in his