asses, preach, and baptise; till the
king, on his conversion, gave them larger licence, to preach anywhere, and
to build and restore churches."

Now, quite apart from Luidhard's long and faithful work, we have seen that
there was in Canterbury the fabric of a Christian church remaining from
the time before the English came; and that there was in Canterbury the
fabric of another church, out of which they made their Cathedral church.

There was a church in existence at Canterbury when our bishop Mellitus was
archbishop there, between 619 and 624, dedicated to the Four Crowned
Martyrs of Diocletian's persecution, the Quattro Santi Incoronati, whose
church is one of the most interesting in Rome. But this Canterbury church
may have been built by the Italians.

Again, there is very unmistakable and interesting Roman work at St.
Pancras, in Canterbury; and this was, according to tradition, the temple
which Ethelbert had appropriated for the worship of his idols, and now
gave for Christian purposes. The tradition further says that it had once
been a Christian church, before the pagan English came; and the remains of
the Roman building still visible are believed to point in that direction.
The church of St. Pancras at Rome was built about 500. In connection with
this idea of a pagan temple being used by the Christian clergy for a
church, we may remember that the Pantheon at Rome was turned into a church
seven or eight years after this, the dedication being changed from "all
the Gods" to "St. Mary of the Martyrs," and this was the origin of the
Festival of All Saints[10]. Bede adds an important fact, that Ethelbert
gave the Italians a general licence to restore churches.

How did it come about that when the Italians came to heathen England, they
found here these remains of Christian churches, needing only repair? Who
built them? Was it an accidental colony of Christians, that had been
settled in Canterbury, or had there been what we may call a British
Church, a Christian church in Britain, long before the Saxons came, longer
still by far before the Italians? The answer to those questions is not a
short or a simple one, when we once get beyond the bare "yes" and "no."
Many other questions rise up on all sides, when we are looking for an
answer to the original questions. It is my aim to take those who care to
come with me over some parts of the field of inquiry; rather courting than
avoiding incidental illustrations and digressio