44 MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION 



took place. His enmity was not altogether on ac- 

 count of their religion, but he suspected them of 

 disloyalty to him as king. They had refused 

 to worship him as a god, and he supposed they 

 would oppose him as king. 



Again the bloody scenes were repeated. The 

 cross, the sword, the wild beast, the bath of boiling 

 oil, the shower of stones, and clubs in the public 

 street — these were the means employed to put 

 them out of the way. 



Many, of course, fled to places of safety, and 

 some renounced their religion altogether. 



Under the laws which were passed, any Christian 

 had the opportunity given him to renounce the 

 faith, and to offer sacrifice upon the heathen altars ; 

 but while some did thus escape death and suffering 

 by denying the Lord Jesus, the great majority re- 

 mained faithful to Him, preferring death to ignomi- 

 nious life. Indeed, at one time, many courted the 

 honors of martyrdom, and exposed themselves 

 in every way to its risks. The opinion was freely 

 expressed by some of their leaders that death must 

 ever be regarded as a blessed boon, since it brought 

 them home to Christ, and martyrdom was to be 

 considered both as an evidence of their love to Him 

 and of His crowning goodness to them. 



Christian writers, in after ages, were wont to 

 reckon the great persecutions, as ten in number, 

 taking the ten plagues of Egypt as the types of 



