[606] _Ibid._ iii. 4. Compare this expression of the ancient Greek and Roman moral consciousness with that of the modern Japanese (see p. 86). [607] _Ibid._ ii. 12. [608] _De Clem._ ii. 6. The trouble with this philosophy, as has been said, is that if one does not feel pity for the sufferings of others he will not be likely to help them. [609] Cicero, however, denied the right of self-destruction, and Vergil mildly censured the act. See _Æneid_, vi. 434. [610] _Discourses_, i. 9. [611] _Meditations_, v. 29. [612] _Ep._ lxx; quoted by Lecky, _History of European Morals_, 3d ed., vol. i, p. 218. [613] _De Prov._ i. 2. [614] Zeno, the founder of the school, and Cato, its exemplifier in active life, both committed suicide. [615] Compare the views on this subject of the ancient classical peoples with those of the modern Japanese (see p. 85 and p. 86 n. 1.). [616] Glover, _The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire_, 3d ed. (1909), p. 67. [617] _History of European Morals_, 3d ed., vol. i, p. 324. [618] Paulsen, _A System of Ethics_, tr. Thilly (1906), pp. 111 f. [619] The cult of Isis when introduced into the Western lands favored illicit love, but by the second century of our era it had, in its new environment, become so far transformed as to be a true moral force in society. “Sacrament and mystery lent their aid to fortify the worshiper [of Isis] in the face of death, but, to derive their full virtue, he must exercise himself in temperance, abjure the pleasures of the senses, and purify himself for the vision of God” (Dill, _Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius_ (1904), p. 583). [620] On this subject see Franz Cumont, _Les Mystères de Mithra_ (1892); English ed., _The Mysteries of Mithra_, tr. McCormack. [621] “It [Mithraism] is perhaps the highest and most striking example of the last efforts of paganism to reconcile itself to the great moral and spiritual movement which was settling steadily, and with growing momentum, toward purer conceptions of God, of man’s relations to Him, and of the life to come.”--DILL, _Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius_, p. 585. [622] “On peut dire que, si le christianisme eût été arrêté dans sa croissance par quelque maladie mortelle, le monde eût été Mithriaste.”--RENAN, _Marc-Aurèle_, 5^{me} ed., p. 579. [623] “Isis and Serapis and Mithra were preparing the Western world for the religion which was to approve the long travail of humanity by a more perfect vision of the divine.”--DILL, _Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius_ (1904), p. 574. [624] Acts xvii. 29. [625] New to the multitude. Some of the Stoic philosophers, as we have seen, held and taught this doctrine.