The city where he suffered is called after
him St. Alban's, and a beautiful church was afterwards built in memory
of him. These cruelties did not long continue in Britain, for the
governor, Constantius, had married a Christian British lady, named
Helena; and as soon as he ventured to interfere, he stopped the
persecution.
Diocletian became tired of reigning, and persuaded his comrade,
Maximian, to resign their thrones to Constantius and to another prince
named Galerius. Constantius forbade all persecution in the West, but
Galerius and his son-in-law, Maximin, were very violent in the East; and
Maximin is counted as the last of the ten persecuting emperors. Under
him a great many Christians were blinded, scarred with hot iron, or had
their fingers and ears cut off. Some were sent to the deserts to keep
the emperor's cattle; some were driven in chains to work in the mines.
These, who suffered bravely everything except death, were called
confessors instead of martyrs. Galerius died in great misery in 311,
of the same horrible disease as the persecutor of the Jews, Antiochus
Epiphanes; and like him, he at last owned too late the God whom he had
rejected, and sent entreaties that prayers might be offered up for him.
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