a school of heroes, it suppressed all softer emotions, and set up an ideal unattainable by any except the most exalted minds, A change was coming over society, and the want was felt of a more tender and attractive philosophy, and a longing for some deeper truth than the cold comfort given by a "creed outworn" like paganism. Hence a reaction set in against the casuistry and scepticism of the later Stoics in favour of the more spiritual side of humanity. Allegory, Mysticism, Inspiration, and Ecstasy, were the characteristics of this new philosophy; a critical spirit and the strict inductions of reason were discouraged; to elicit divine ideas, and to subdue the senses, was held to be the end of life. And, like other creeds, this dawned in the East.
Alexandria was the meeting-point of Eastern and Western civilisation. In its vast gardens and libraries might be found a medley of all nations, creeds, and languages; for the policy of the first three Ptolemys—known as Sotēr, Philadelphus, and Euergetes ("Saviour," "Loving-brother," and "Benefactor")—was a liberal and universal toleration. Accordingly, a temple of Isis might be found side by side with a Jewish synagogue, or a shrine dedicated to Venus; and freethinkers like Stilpo or Theodorus (banished from their own states in Greece for their impiety) were received with the same welcome at court as the translators of the Septuagint or the high priest from Eleusis. Everything, indeed, combined to make Alexandria the centre of attraction for philosophers and men of letters. Besides the natural
