“ But the Christians thronged to the tribunals of their judges, freely declaring their opinions and religion, despising the barbarity of their enemies, and receiving their last sentences with a smile. Yet as some pressed too forwards to death and torments, so others leaped from the tops of houses to avoid the malice of their enemies. ”

“ Few men in our day know of the extreme persecution the ancient saints endured for the sake of the gospel of the Lord Jesus. Paul, who also suffered death for the testimony which he bore, has given us to understand that those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, and the author of the epistle to the Hebrews has mentioned the fact, that those who lived before him, were under the necessity of excluding themselves from society, and wander in dens and caves of the earth. ”

“ Having fortified Rome, he visited Gaul, and, to strengthen his interest gave his youngest daughter Fausta in marriage to Constantine. Galerius came against them, as Maximian had foreseen; but his soldiers, disliking this unnatural war, as they approached Rome, began to desert, and to convince him of his danger. He was, therefore, compelled to retreat; and Maxentius, who had before manifested some signs of compassion for the Christians, upon this success became insolent both to them and his other subjects, which soon increased to an Intolerable tyranny. ”

“ The persecution still continued in the East, where Maximin issued new edicts in every province, ordering the idol temples to be repaired, compelling all persons to do sacrifice, and forcing them to eat part of the flesh which was offered. It was likewise directed, that all provisions exposed for sale in the markets should be defiled with things which had been sacrificed: and by these means the miseries of the Christians became so prodigious, that many of the Pagans, themselves condemned the emperor's barbarities, and the cruelties of his officers. ”

“ The constancy of the martyrs, however, was unshaken; and the sentence of one only had the effect of the advance of others to confess themselves Christians at the tribunal. He was at length cast into prison; but how long he remained there, or by what means he was delivered is no where related. Even Rome was not exempt from persecution, though the western parts were generally peaceable. The tyrant Maxentius not only oppressed the Christians, but condemned Marcellus, bishop of that city, to keep beasts in a stable, and then banished him. ”

“ Add to these the torments which the persecuted Christians endured in Egypt, where "infinite numbers of men, women, and children, suffered various kinds of deaths; some of whom, after their flesh had been torn off with torturing irons, after they had been racked, and most cruelly scourged, and sustained the most horrible torments, were committed to the fire, and others drowned in the sea. Other some cheerfully offered their necks to the executioners; some died under their tortures, others perished with hunger. ”

“ His first public act, after being joyfully received as emperor of the West, was to give the free liberty of religion to the Christians. Maximian, who had been forced to abdicate the government under Dioclesian, to avoid a civil war, availed himself of the usurpation of Maxentius, at Rome, who had caused himself to be declared emperor, in apposition to Constantine; an act, which was not less hostile to the disposition of Galerius. He soon reduced Maxentius, but still had reason to dread Galerius, especially if he should +++++ with Maximin. ”

“ Eusebius has given a particular account of the intolerable cruelties practiced in Palestine by Firlnilian, the successor of Urbanus, and of the martyrdom of two virgins and many others; for which the stones and senseless matter miraculously wept, to reprove the barbarous disposition of men. ”

“ Maximian, also, willingly joined with Dioclesian and Galerius in these cruelties; and these three wild beasts exercised their barbarities on all the provinces from east to west, Gaul alone escaping, where the mild Constantius governed, being one of the Caesars, whose mother Claudia was niece to the renowned emperor Claudius II. who signalized himself in the wars against the Goths.—To satisfy his superiors, he made a shew of pulling down some of the Christian churches, without farther damage ”