72 



CARTES CARTHAGE. 



support to the administration by his forcible and elo- 

 quent oratory in parliament. In 1723 he accompani- 

 ed the king to Hanover, and on his return was ap- 

 pointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland, which kingdom 

 was at that time in a state of great discontent, not a 

 little increased by the famous Drapier's letters of 

 Swift. The dean, who esteemed lord Carteret for 

 his manners and learning, expostulated with him for 

 his prosecution of the printer of those letters. The 

 lord-lieutenant ingeniously replied by a quotation 

 from Virgil : Regni novitas me talia cogit moliri. 

 After an administration which, upon the whole, was 

 not unpopular, he returned to England in 1726; 

 and, on the accession of George II., in 1727, was 

 again appointed to the vice-royalty of Ireland, where 

 be conducted affairs, until 1730, with great success, 

 conciliating parties, and producing much apparent 

 harmony, oy his abilities and social talents, in 

 which he was much aided by the countenance and 

 humour of Swift. On his return to England, how- 

 ever, he became a violent opponent to Sir Robert 

 , \Valpole, and, in 1741, made the famous mo- 

 tion for an address to remove him from the king's 

 presence and councils, exerting all his great elo- 

 quence on the occasion. In 1742, when that dis- 

 missal was effected, he became secretary of state, 

 and in that capacity supported measures very similar 

 to those which he had censured in Walpole. In 

 1744, on the death of his mother, he succeeded to 

 the titles of viscount Carteret and earl of Granville, 

 and in a few weeks resigned his seals as secretary of 

 state, unable to resist the patriotic party and the 

 Pelhams, whom he lad previously forsaken. It is 

 unnecessary to follow him in the subsequent changes 

 in a life of straggling and vacillating statesmanship. 

 It is sufficient to remark, tliat, although obliged to 

 yield occasionally to stronger interests, he never lost 

 the favour of the house of Hanover ; and at last died 

 president of the council, in 1763, in the seventy-third 

 year of -his age. The natural talents and acquire- 

 ments of this nobleman appear to have been emi- 

 nently calculated for the sphere in which he moved. 

 His genius was lofty and fertile, and his self-confi- 

 dence equal to it ; it having been said of him that 

 he "never doubted." He was ambitious and fond 

 of sway, but neither mercenary nor vindictive ; and 

 his own great literary attainments made him an en- 

 courager of learning in others. He was in particu- 

 lar the patron of doctor Taylor, so celebrated for his 

 acquirements in the Greek language, as also of the 

 still more famous doctor Bentley. In social life he 

 was pleasant, good-humoured, and frank. It will 

 not add to this nobleman's character to state tliat he 

 was a decided enemy to the diffusion of education, 

 and that he deemed ignorance the best foundation of 

 obedience. 



CARTES, DBS. See Descartes. 



CARTHAGE ; the most famous city of Africa in 

 antiquity, capital of a rich and powerful commercial 

 republic. Dido (q. v.), fleeing from Tyre, came to 

 this country, where the inhabitants, according to 

 tradition, agreed to give her as much land as could 

 be compassed by an ox-hide. Dido cut the hide into 

 small thongs, with which she enclosed a large piece 

 of land. Here she built the castle of Carthage, and 

 gave the newly-founded state excellent institutions. 

 The first period of the history of Carthage extends 

 to the beginning of the war with Syracuse, from 

 B. C. 878 to 480. Carthage extended its conquests 

 in Africa and Sardinia, carried on a commercial war 

 with the people of Marseilles and the Etruscans, and 

 concluded a commercial treaty with Rome, B. C. 

 509, the original document of which, on stone, is still 

 extant. The Carthaginians then directed their chief 

 attention to the conquest of Sicily, with which com- 



mences their second and most splendid period, ex 

 lending to the beginning of their war with the 

 Romans, B. C. 265. When Xerxes undertook his 

 campaign into Greece, the Carthaginians made a 

 league with him against Gelon, king of Syracuse, 

 but were defeated at Himera, B. C. 480, and obliged 

 to sue for peace, and abstain from the practice of 

 offering human sacrifices. (See Gelon.) In the war 

 with Hiero, the next king, the Carthaginians con- 

 quered the cities Selinus, Himera, and Agri-eiitinn. 

 Dionysius the elder obtained a temporary peace. 

 But, after Timoleon had delivered Syracuse anil 

 Sicily from the yoke of tyranny, the Cartliajjinians 

 were peculiarly unfortunate. Contagious di 

 anil frequent mutinies reduced the strength of the 

 city. When Sicily suffered under the tyranny of 

 Agathocles, Carthage engaged in a war with him, 

 and was soon attacked and severely pressed by tin- 

 usurper. After the death of Agathocles, Carthage 

 once more took part in the commerce of Sicily, when 

 difficulties broke out there with their auxiliaries, the 

 Mamertines. The Romans took advantage of these 

 troubles to expel the Carthaginians from Sicily, 

 although they had previously received assistance 

 from them (in 275) in a war against Pyrrhus of Epi- 

 rus, in Sicily and Lower Italy. Here begins the 

 third period of Carthaginian history, embracing the 

 thrice-repeated struggle for dominion between Koine 

 and Cartilage, in the interval between 2(34 and 1 Hi 

 B. C. The first Punic war (see Punic) continued 

 twenty-three years. The fleets and armies of Car- 

 thage were vanquished. By the peace (B. C. 241), 

 the "Carthaginians lost all their possessions in Sicily. 

 Upon this, the mercenary forces, whose wages could 

 not be paid by the exhausted treasury of the city, 

 took up arms. Hamilcar Barcas conquered them, 

 and restored the Carthaginian power in Africa. 

 Notwithstanding the peace with Carthage, the Ro- 

 mans took possession of Sardinia in 228, where the 

 mercenary troops of Carthage had revolted. Hamil- 

 car, who was at the head of the democratic party, 

 now undertook the conquest of Spain, whose rich 

 mines tempted the Carthaginians. For the success 

 of this enterprise, within seventeen years, Carthage 

 was indebted to the family of Barcas, which could 

 boast of the glorious names of Hamilcar, Asdrubal, 

 and Hannibal. To secure the possession of this ac- 

 quisition, Asdrubal founded New Carthage (now Cur- 

 thagena), the most powerful of all the Carthaginian 

 colonies. The second Punic war (218201 B. C.), 

 notwithstanding the abilities of the general, ended 

 with the subjugation of Carthage. Hannibal, ne- 

 glected by his countrymen, and weakened by a vic- 

 tory that cost him much blood, was obliged to leave 

 Italy, in order to hasten to the assistance of Car- 

 thage, which was threatened by the Romans. The 

 batue at Zama, in the neighbourhood of Carthage, 

 resulted in favour of the Romans. Scipio granted 

 the city peace under the severest conditions. Carthage 

 ceded Spain, delivered up all her ships of war except 

 ten, paid 10,000 talents (about 2,250,000), and pro- 

 mised to engage hi no war without the consent of the 

 Romans. Besides this, Masinissa, the ally of Rome, 

 and implacable enemy of Cartilage, was placed on 

 the Numidian throne. This king, under the protection 

 of Rome, deprived the Carthaginians of the best part 

 of their possessions, and destroyed their trade in thf 

 interior of Africa. The third war with the Romans 

 was a desperate contest. The disarmed Carthaginians 

 were obliged to demolish their own walls. Then, 

 taking up arms anew, they fought for death or life. 

 After three years the younger Scipio ended this war 

 by the destruction of the city, B. C. 146. Augustus 

 peopled it anew, and it regained some degree of re- 

 nown. From A. D. 429 to 534, it was the residence 



