We thus see that although remains of the actual buildings in which the British Christians worshipped are few in number, yet enough are left us to prove conclusively that there was a very active and zealous Christian community established in these islands during at least the period immediately preceding that in which Rome withdrew her legions from Britain in order to defend Italy against the Goths, and abandoned our island to the mercy of her foes. CHAPTER II. EARLY CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. In the early years of the Christian Church, when its members became sufficiently free from persecution to erect buildings for the purpose of worship, they were naturally anxious to avoid any of the forms peculiar to either heathen or Jewish temples. Some model, however, was necessary, and their choice being limited, they appear to have adopted the simple style of the Roman basilica, or court of justice. There was an adaptability about the general plan of such a building which rendered its selection natural and not inappropriate, while the dignified simplicity of its construction and the object for which it was primarily founded--the dispensation of justice--commended it no doubt in the first instance as a model for the primitive Christian church. These basilicæ were usually enclosures surrounded by a colonnade, sometimes roofed, but more often open to the air, and designedly built for the purpose of being accessible to all members of the community at all times of the day. They appear occasionally to have been used for the transaction of ordinary business in which they would closely resemble our exchanges. Be this as it may, this form of architecture has left its impress on many Christian buildings, and the name of basilica, for a church, is still used in many parts of Italy. The Roman basilica was usually in the form of a parallelogram, with a seat for the judges at one end, and in their adaptation of this form of building, the early Christians devoted this place to the purposes of an altar. This, by an easy and natural transition, is thought to have given rise to the formation of the semi-circular recess at one end of the building, known as the apse (from the Latin _apsis_, a bow or arch), which is still to be found in some of our older churches.