One of the last acts of the Senate which had any real meaning was to make a decree with regard to the election of this Bishop, forbidding his advance by the way of Simony.

Theodoric, an Arian, interferes only with the Church of Rome in so far as public peace demands it.

In one of his letters occurs a most remarkable dictum on the subject of toleration.

"_Religionem imperare non possumus, quia nemo cogitur ut credat invitus_--we cannot impose a religious faith, for no one can be compelled to believe against his conscience." This must, of course, have been the king's own sentiment, but Cassiodorus worded it, and doubtless with approval.
Indeed, we are at no loss to discern the mind of the secretary in these official papers.

Cassiodorus speaks as often for himself as for the king; he delights to expatiate, from an obviously personal point of view, on any subject that interests him.