126 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



til CUit away, and erery soul perished, except a 

 few who were saved in a small boat, and at last 

 reached Carthage with the dismal tidings of the 

 total loss of the fleet and army. Here we have 

 presented to our view, in one short struggle, the 

 entire destruction of more than two hundred thou 

 sand human beings, if we take into account the 

 number which must necessarily have fallen in 

 the Sicilian army. And, if we take into con 

 sideration the many thousands of mangled 

 wretches, whose existence, from that moment, 

 would be rendered miserable; the destruction of 

 property in the besieged city; the victims crush 

 ed to death amidst the ruins of falling houses ; 

 the cries, and shrieks, and lamentations of wo 

 men and children ; the diseases and the misery 

 induced by terror and alarm, and the loss of 

 friends; the terrific and appalling spectacle of 

 5000 ships all on a blaze, of ten thousands of 

 burning and drowning wretches, supplicating in 

 vain for mercy, and the oaths, execrations, and 

 furious yells which would be mingled with this 

 work of destruction, we shall find it difficult to 

 form an adequate conception of the miseries and 

 horrors of such a scene. And what was the 

 cause of this dreadful slaughter and devastation ? 

 That a proud and opulent city, whose inhabitants 

 were rioting in every species of luxury, might 

 gratify its ambition, by tyrannizing over neigh 

 bouring tribes, and by plundering them of that 

 wealth of which it did not stand in need. And 

 this is but one instance out of ten hundred thou 

 sand of the miseries of war, one faint shade in 

 the picture of human wo! 



One would have thought, that, after such a 

 signal loss and discomfiture, the Carthaginians 

 would have contented themselves with their own 

 territory, and refrained from aggressive war. 

 This, however, was not the case. Where bene 

 volence is banished from the mind, and revenge 

 occupies its place in the affections, it will hurry 

 unprincipled men to the most wild and atrocious 

 actions, although they should terminate in de 

 struction to themselves and to all around them. It 

 was not long after this period, when preparations 

 were again made for the invasion of Sicily. 

 Hannibal, the grandson of Hamilcar, landed on 

 the coast of Sicily, and laid sie^e to Selinus. 

 The besieged made a vigorous defence ; but at 

 Jast the city was taken by storm, and the inhabi 

 tants were treated with the utmost cruelty. All 

 were massacred by the savage conquerors, except 

 the women, who fled to the temples ; and these 

 escaped, not through the merciful dispositions 

 of the Carthaginians, but because they were 

 afraid, that, if driven to despair, they would set 

 fire to the temples, and by that means consume 

 the treasure they expected to find in those places. 

 Sixteen thousand were massacred ; the women 

 and children, about 5000 in number, were carried 

 away captive ; the temples were plundered of all 

 their treasures, and the city razed to the ground. 



Hymera was next besieged by Hannibal, and 

 razed to its foundations. He forced three thou 

 sand prisoners to undergo all kinds of ignominy 

 and punishments, and at last murdered them, on 

 the very spot where his grandfather had been kill 

 ed by Gelon s cavalry, to appease and satisfy his 

 manes, by the blood of these unhappy victims, 

 such is the humanity and the justice of those men, 

 whom we are accustomed to distinguish by the 

 names of Patriots and Heroes! Elated with 

 these partial victories, the Carthaginians medi 

 tated the reduction of the whole of Sicily. They 

 marched against the city of Agrigentum, and 

 battered its walls with dreadful fury. The be 

 sieged defended themselves with incredible reso 

 lution. In a sally, they burned all the battering 

 machines raised against their city, and repulsed 

 the enemy with immense slaughter. Again the 

 Carthaginians rallied their forces, beat down the 

 walls of the city, plundered it of an immense 

 booty, and with their usual cruelty, put all its in 

 habitants to the sword, not excepting even those 

 who had fled to the temples. The Carthaginians 

 were soon after forced to retire from Sicily. 

 Again they renewed their expeditions; again 

 they were repulsed ; and again they plunged into 

 the horrors of war ; while thousands and ten thou 

 sands were slaughtered at every onset ; men, wo 

 men, and children massacred in cold blood and 

 the pestilence produced by the unburied carcasses 

 of the slain, proved more fatal to myriads, than 

 even the sword of the warrior. 



In this manner did these infatuated mortals 

 carry on a series of sanguinary contests for seve 

 ral centuries, with the Sicilians, Greeks, and 

 other nations ; till, at length, they dared to en 

 counter the power, and the formidable forces of 

 the Romans, and commenced those dreadful and 

 long-continued conflicts, distinguished in History 

 by the name of The Punic Wars. The first 

 Punic war lasted twenty-four years ; the second, 

 seventeen years ; and the third, four years and 

 some months. In this last contest, the plough 

 share of destruction was literally driven through 

 their devoted city, by the Romans. It was de 

 livered up to be plundered by their soldiers ; its 

 gold, silver, statues, and other treasures amount 

 ing to 4,470,000 pounds weight of silver, were 

 carried off to Rome ; its towers, ramparts, 

 walls, and all the works which the Carthaginians 

 had raised in the course of many ages, were le 

 velled to the ground. Fire was set to the edifices 

 of this proud metropolis, which consumed them 

 all, not a single house escaping the fury of the 

 flames. And though the fire began in all quar 

 ters at the same time, and burned with incredible 

 violence, it continued for seventeen days before 

 all the buildings were consumed. Thus perish 

 ed Carthage a city which contained 700,000 

 inhabitants, and which had waged so many 

 ferocious wars with neighbouring nations a ter 

 rible example of the destructive effects produced 



