Under the reign of Decius there was a dreadful persecution of the Christians, which was commenced in Alexandria. We can infer its character from the following incidents. A young Christian, named Matran, was first scourged with terrible severity; his eyes were then burned out with red-hot irons; he was then stoned to death. A Christian young lady, by the name of Quinta, had a long rope tied about her feet; then the brutal mob, seizing the rope, dragged her upon the run, with yells of derision and rage, over the rough pavement, till life was extinct, and the poor mangled body had lost all semblance of humanity. But we cannot proceed with this recital. It would be inflicting too much pain upon the sensibilities of our readers to have faithfully pictured to them the sufferings of the maiden Apollonia, of Sempion, and of many others, whose martyrdom history has minutely recorded. Decius published a bloody edict against the Christians, and sent it to the governors of all the provinces. They were ordered vigilantly to search out Christians, and to punish them with the utmost severity,――by scourging, by burning at the stake, by beheading, by tossing them to wild beasts, by the dungeon, by seating them in iron chairs heated red-hot, by tearing out the eyes with burning irons, by tearing the flesh from the bones with steel pincers. Demoniac ingenuity was devised to lure them to sin, or to force them to renounce their Saviour. In Smyrna, two eminent Christians, Pionius and Metrodore, underwent a rigorous examination. We have a record of the questions and the answers. Every effort was made by promises and by threats to induce them to recant; but they remained firm in their Christian integrity. They were then nailed to crosses, cruel spikes being driven through their hands and their feet. The crosses were planted in the ground, and heaps of combustibles were piled around for the funeral pyre. Before the torch was applied, they were again entreated to deny Christ. “If you will do so,” said the proconsul, “the spikes shall immediately be drawn out, and your lives shall be preserved.” Their only reply was a prayer to the Lord Jesus to receive their spirits. The flames crackled and roared around them, enveloping them as in a fiery furnace. In the chariot of fire, their united spirits ascended to the martyr’s crown. Page after page might be filled with similar recitals; but enough has already been said to give an idea of the frantic yet unavailing efforts which wicked men have made to obliterate Christianity from the world. These scenes remind one of the revelation written by the “beloved apostle” to the “angel,” or pastor, of the church in Smyrna:――