the religion of the Empire. Only two churches of the Roman period in
England can now be traced with certainty. Mr. St. John Hope and his
fellow-explorers a few years ago unearthed one at Silchester, and the
foundations of another may be seen in the churchyard of Lyminge in
Kent.

And this is really all we can say about the Church in London during
the Roman occupation. The story of King Lucius and that of the
church of St. Peter in Cornhill are pure myths, without any sort of
historical foundation, and so may be dismissed without more words.

The Romans went away in the beginning of the fifth century, and by the
end of the same century the English conquest had been almost entirely
accomplished. For awhile the new comers remained heathens; then came
Augustine and his brother monks, and began the conversion of the
English people to Christ. The king of Kent was baptized in 596, and
Canterbury became the mother church. Pope Gregory the Great sent
Augustine a reinforcement of monks in 601. Two of these, Laurentius
and Mellitus, were consecrated by Augustine as missionary bishops to
convert West Kent and the East Saxon Kingdom to the faith. The chief
town of the former district was Rochester, and of the latter London.
This city had much grown in importance, having established a busy
trade with the neighbouring states both by land and sea. The king of
the East Saxons was Sebert, nephew of Ethelbert of Kent, and subject
to him. He, therefore, received Mellitus with cordiality, and as soon
as he established his work in the city, King Ethelbert built him a
church wherein to hold his episcopal see, and, so it is said, endowed
it with the manor of Tillingham, which is still the property of the
Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. There is no portion of that old church
remaining. It was in all probability built mostly of wood, and it