Remanded back to his dungeon to await the second hearing of his case, and not anticipating anything but an ultimate conviction, _ready to be offered_ and convinced that _the time of his departure was at hand_ (2 Tim. iv. 6), the Apostle, though cheered by the society of Luke and Onesiphorus (2 Tim. i. 16, 17), yearned towards the friend of his earlier days, his own son Timothy. He longed to see him once more, and though he was far away in Ephesus, discharging the duties of his difficult position, he resolved to dictate an Epistle to him, bidding him come with all speed to Rome, and receive his parting injunctions. Accordingly, it was now that the “Second Epistle to Timothy” was written, in which the aged Apostle, with the utmost tenderness and solemnity exhorted his own son to diligence and stedfastness, to patience under persecution (2 Tim. i. 6–15), and a willingness to share in the sufferings of saints (2 Tim. ii. 1–16). In the event moreover of his not arriving in time to receive his last injunction, he charged him, with all the solemnity of one about to appear before the Judge of quick and dead, to be faithful in all the duties of his office (2 Tim. iv. 1–5), and cautioned him against the false teaching which now threatened the very foundation of the Faith (2 Tim. iii.). Whether Timothy did rejoin the Apostle, as he so earnestly requested, and bring _the cloak_ for which with touching simplicity he made request amid the rigours of the winter (2 Tim. iv. 13), is not recorded. Some are willing to hazard the conjecture that he did[1178]; but however it was, the Apostle’s second trial and condemnation were not long delayed. As a Roman citizen, he could not be compelled to endure the lingering tortures, which so many who shared with him the name of “Christians” had lately undergone. But beyond the city-walls, along the road to Ostia, the port of Rome, he was led forth under military escort, to the place of execution; there the sword of the headsman fell flashing down, and he obtained that Crown, which HE, whose faithful witness he was, had promised to _all them that love Him_ (2 Tim. iv. 8). NOTE. Beside the Apostle, whose glorious career was thus closed by the sword of the executioner, three and three only of the immediate followers of our Lord hold a prominent place in the Apostolic records――James _the Lord’s brother_, Peter and John[1179]. 1. The main facts in the history of James, who was surnamed _the Just_, have been already related, and we have seen how prominent was the part he took at the Council held at Jerusalem[1180], A.D. 50. He[1181] was the author of the first of the Seven so-called “Catholic or General Epistles,” which he addressed, apparently from Jerusalem, to the Jewish Christians residing in Palestine, or scattered among the Gentiles, according to some as early as A.D. 45, according to others as late as A.D. 62.