Page:History of the First Council of Nice.djvu/86

76 accurately examined. Let us, therefore, embrace that doctrine which the Almighty has presented to us.'

"Constantine wrote another letter, addressed to the bishops and the people, in which he says: 'If any treatise composed by Arius should be discovered, let it be consigned to the flames, in order that not only his depraved doctrine may be suppressed, but, also, that no memorial of him may be, by any means, left. This, therefore, I decree, that, if any one shall be detected in concealing a book compiled by Arius, and shall not instantly bring it forward and burn it, the penalty for this offence shall be death. May God preserve you.' "

"The bishops, who were convened at the Council of Nice," continues Socrates, "after settling the Arian question, drew up and enrolled certain other ecclesiastical regulations, which they are accustomed to term canons, and then departed to their respective cities."

An abstract of these canons will be given in a subsequent chapter.