114. The penitential jurisprudence was continually improved
by the canons of the councils. But as many cases were still
left to the discretion of the bishops, they occasionally
published, after the example of the Roman praetor, the rules
of discipline which they proposed to observe. Among the
canonical epistles of the fourth century, those of Basil the
Great were the most celebrated. They are inserted in the
Pandects of Beveridge (tom. ii. p. 47-151), and are
translated by Chardon, Hist. des Sacremens, tom. iv. p.
219-277.