CARTHAGINIAN WARS. 



125 



the existence of intelligent beings, in such a 

 state, becomes a curse to themselves, and to all 

 around them. Had not this been the case in the 

 primeval world, we cannot suppose that the Deity 

 would have exerted his Omnipotence in shatter 

 ing the crust of the terraqueous globe, and bury 

 ing its inhabitants under the waters of a deluge. 



After the deluge had subsided, and the race of 

 Noah had begun to multiply on the earth, it was 

 not long before the depravity of man began to 

 show itself by its malignant effects ; though hu 

 man wickedness has never arrived to such a pitch 

 as in the times before the flood ; for this reason, 

 among others, that the life of man has been re 

 duced to a narrow span, which prevents him from 

 carrying his malevolent schemes to such an ex 

 tent as did the inhabitants of the world before 

 the flood, whose lives were prolonged to the pe 

 riod of nearly a thousand years. The lust of 

 ambition soon began to exert its baleful influence 

 over the mind ; and an inordinate desire after 

 wealth, distinctions, and aggrandizement, paved 

 the way for the establishment of despotism, and 

 for encroachments on the rights and the enjoy 

 ments of mankind. Among the heroes and des 

 pots of antiquity, Wimrod, the founder of the 

 Babylonish empire, holds a distinguished place. 

 He was, the grandson of Ham, the son ot Noah, 

 and is the first one mentioned in Scripture wh&amp;gt;&amp;gt; 

 appears to have made invasions on the territories 

 of his neighbours. Having distinguished him 

 self, by driving from his country the beasts of 

 prey, and by engaging in other valorous exploits, 

 he appears to have aspired after regal dignity and 

 power, and to have assumed the reins of abso 

 lute government. He was the first that subvert 

 ed (he patriarchal government ; and is supposed 

 to have introduced, among his subjects, the Za- 

 bian idolatry, or the worship of the heavenly host. 

 &quot; The beginning of his kingdom,&quot; we are told, 

 &quot; was Babylon, and Erech, and Accad, and 

 Calneh, in the land of Shinar.&quot; In the footsteps 

 of this proud and ambitious despot, has followed 

 a train of Alexanders, Caesars, Hannibals, Jeng- 

 hiz-Kans, Attilas, Alaric, Tamerlanes, Marl- 

 boroughs, Fredericks, and Bonapartes, who 

 have driven the plough-share of devastation 

 through the world, erected thrones over the graves 

 of slaughtered nations, decorated their palaces 

 with trophies dyed in blood, and made the earth 

 to resound with the groans and shrieks of dying 

 victims, and the voice of mourning, lamentation, 

 and wo. 



To delineate all the scenes of desolation and 

 horror which have been produced by such des 

 peradoes, and the atrocious crimes and immo 

 ralities which have followed in their train, would 

 be to transcribe the whole records of ancient and 

 modern history, which contain little else than a 

 register of human folly, avarice, ambition, and 

 cruelty ; and of the daring villanies with which 

 they have been accompanied. Even then, we 



should acquire but a very limited conception of 

 the extent of moral evil, and of the immense 

 variety of shapes which it has assumed , for the 

 one tenth of the crimes of mankind has never 

 been recorded ; and it is to the public transac 

 tions of only a small portion of the world that 

 the page of the historian directs our attention. I 

 shall, therefore, content myself with stating a 

 few insulated facts, as specimens of the train of 

 actions which have generally prevailed in the 

 world. 



WARLIKE DISPOSITIONS OF MANKIND. 



War, as already noticed, has been the delight 

 and the employment of man in every age ; and, 

 under this term may be included every thing that 

 is base and execrable in moral conduct, every 

 thing that is subversive of the principle of benevo 

 lence, every thing that is destructive of human 

 enjoyment, every thing that rouses the passions 

 into diabolical fury, every thing that adds to 

 the sum of human wretchedness, every thing that 

 is oppressive, cruel, and unjust, and every thing 

 that is dreadful and appalling to mankind. As 

 an exemplification of the destructive effects of 

 war, I shall, in the first place, state a few facts 

 in relation to the Carthaginians. 



Carthage was originally a small colony of 

 Phenicians, who, about 800 years before the 

 Christian era, settled on the northern coast of 

 Africa, on a small peninsula, adjacent to the bay 

 of Tunis. Having increased in wealth and 

 power, by means of their extensive commerce, 

 like most other nations, they attempted to make 

 inroads on the territories of neighbouring tribes, 

 and to plunder them of their treasures. By de 

 grees they extended their power over all the islands 

 in the Mediterranean, Sicily only excepted. For 

 the entire conquest of this island, about 480 

 years before Christ, they made vast preparations, 

 which lasted for three years. Their army con 

 sisted of 300,000 men ; their fleet was composed 

 of upwards of 2000 men of war, and 3000 trans 

 ports. With such an immense armament, they 

 made no doubt of conquering the whole island in a 

 single campaign. But they found themselves 

 miserably deceived. Hamilcar, the most expe 

 rienced captain of the age, sailed from Carthage 

 with this formidable army, and invested the city 

 of Hymera. The besieged were much straiten 

 ed and dismayed by the operations of this power 

 ful armament ; but Gelon, the tyrant of Syracuse, 

 flew immediately to their relief, with 50,000 foot 

 and 5000 horse. A dreadful slaughter ensued : 

 an hundred and fifty thousand of the Carthagi 

 nians were killed in the battle and pursuit, and 

 all the rest taken prisoners ; so that not a singie 

 person escaped of this mighty army. Of the 

 2000 ships of war, and the 3000 transports of 

 which the fleet consisted, eight ships only, which 

 then happened to be out at sea, made their escape: 

 these immediately set sail for Carthage, but were 



