"Of a surety they pray?" asked Paul.
"Of a surety. And as they pray they quake terribly."
"The Romans prayed hardly," said Paul. "But they prayed to other gods."
"Wherever you stand on their land," asserted the angel, "you see a temple."
"I exceedingly fear," Paul remarked, "that another Lord has dominion over them."
The Prophets were alarmed, and they sent a company of angels over the earth and a company under the earth; and the angels came back; one company said: "We searched the swampy marges and saw neither a god nor a heaven nor any prayer," and the other company said: "We probed the lofty emptiness and we did not touch a god or a heaven or any prayer."
Paul was distressed and he reported his misgivings to God, and God upbraided the Prophets for their sloth. "Is there no one who can do this for me?" He cried. "Are all the cunning men in Hell? Shall I make all Heaven drink the dregs of my fury? Burnish your rusted armor. Depart into Hell and cry out: 'Is there one here who knows the Welsh Nonconformists?' Choose the most crafty and release him and lead him here."
Lots were cast and it fell to Moses to descend into Hell; and he stood at the well, the water of which is harder than crystal, and he cried out; and of the many that professed he chose Saint David, whom he brought up to God.
"Visit your people," said God to the Saint, "and bring me their prayers."
"Why should I be called?"