he ordered the legion to be decimated,
that is, every tenth man to be selected from the rest, and put to the
sword. This bloody order having been put in execution, those who
remained alive were still inflexible, when a second decimation took
place, and every tenth man of those living were put to death.

This second severity made no more impression than the first had done;
the soldiers preserved their fortitude and their principles, but by the
advice of their officers they drew up a loyal remonstrance to the
emperor. This, it might have been presumed, would have softened the
emperor, but it had a contrary effect: for, enraged at their
perseverance and unanimity, he commanded, that the whole legion should
be put to death, which was accordingly executed by the other troops, who
cut them to pieces with their swords, 22d Sept. 286.

Alban, from whom St. Alban's, in Hertfordshire, received its name, was
the first British martyr. Great Britain had received the gospel of
Christ from Lucius, the first christian king, but did not suffer from
the rage of persecution for many years after. He was originally a pagan,
but converted by a christian ecclesiastic, named Amphibalus, whom he
sheltered on account of his religion. The enemies of Amphibalus, having
intelligence of the place where he was secreted, came to the house of
Alban; in order to facilitate his escape, when the soldiers came, he
offered himself up as the person they were seeking for. The deceit being
detected, the governor ordered him to be scourged, and then he was
sentenced to be beheaded, June 22, A. D. 287.

The venerable Bede assures us, that, upon this occasion, the executioner
suddenly became a convert to christianity, and entreated permission to
die for Alban, or with him. Obtaining the latter request, they were
beheaded by a soldier, who voluntarily undertook the task of
executioner. This happened on the 22d of June, A. D. 287, at Verulam,
now St. Albans, in Hertfordshire, where a magnificent church was erected
to his memory about the time of Constantine the Great. This edifice,
being destroyed in the Saxon wars, was rebuilt by Offa, king of Mercia,
and a monastery erected adjoining to it, some remains of which are still
visible, and the church is a noble Gothic structure.

Faith, a christian female, of Acquitain, in France, was ordered to be
broiled upon a gridiron, and then beheaded; A. D. 287.

Quintin was a christian, and a native of Rome, but determine