THE LAST PUNIC WAR. A FRAGMENT: Never before Published. Whilft the Romans and Cartha ginians thus waged this bloody and defolating war, the former impelled by the defire of univerfal dominion, and the latter impreffed with a conviction that he fought for existence, the island of Iberus which had been for more than fix hundred years an appendage to the crown of Carthage, Jaboured under the most poignant caJamities. Its foil being extremely fertile, its harbours naturally calculated for the protection of fhipping, its rivers navigable, and its population an hardy and courageous race, it invited at an early period the longings of Carthage; who by the combined ftratagems of open warfare, and the creation of internal divifions amongst its inhabitants, effected what she called a conqueft, but which the natives would never acknowledge as fuch, declaring that the bad acquired her dominion by treachery, and perpetuated it by force. It being known to Carthage that the people of Iberus entertained fentiments of fo hostile a nature to her intereft and her power, the fought by the most unwarrantable means to de Venus to infult and opprefs the vataries of Minerva, the latter goddess being the ancient deity of the ifland. The followers of Venus, believing that they were promoting the pure adoration of that goddess, by injuring their countrymen, committed all forts of cruelty on them; fuch as firing their houfes at midnight, killing of them with fpears and javelins, or fhooting them with arrows. Such treatment provoked retaliation, and, after a continuance of mutual exceffes for many years, it terminated in a moft barbarous civil war, which nearly exhausted the population of the ifland, and fo embittered the difpofitions of the two fects that they ufed when they met, to treat each other as the most ferocious beaits of the foreft do in combat." This fanguinary conflict begat fo mortal and deadly a hatred amongst the iflanders, and fo diminished their phyfical ftrength, that Carthage availed herself of the proftrate condition to which that conteft had reduced them, and demanded a furrender of their fenate; they then discovered, when too late, that it was not to encreafe the worshippers of Venus, or to extirpate thofe of Minerva, that fhe had fet them by the ears, but to deprive them of their independence, when the found them fufficiently en feebled, and alienated from each other by civil ftrife. They would refift-but dare not! The State officers of Carthage impe prive her of the bleffings, which muft confequently flow from the pre-emiriously diffolved their Senate, having nent natural advantages the poffeffed, in virtue of her foil, and geographical pofition as fne was better fituated for external commerce than any other ifland on the globe, the means adopted by Carthage for the depreffion of this ifland were the following: Knowing well that religious hatred is the most relentlefs and permanent, fhe encouraged the worshippers of first declared that they were juftified in fo doing, as they had the fanction of a majority thereof. But the method they took to obtain that majo tity was by beftowing on each of thofe corrupt Senators a certain number of the gold rings, taken by Hannibal at the battle of Canna. Thus was Iberus deprived of her independence by two acts of treachery, foul and atrocious as Dublin. Iberus, continued the war against To Mr. Cox, inditer of the Magazine, Rome with various fuccefs; one time taking a galley or battering ram, at another having whole armies fwept away by peftilence or famine; but in all her plans fomething of error was fo visible, that it was generally fupposed Scipio had corrupted all her governors and generals, by fending them quantities of gold duft, as he always had in his camp an abundance of that precious article. The manufactures of Carthage being excluded all the ports under the dominion of Rome, which were then that of all Europe, he had no mart to vend them in but Iberus. Being alfo prohibited trading with the allies of Rome for provifions, and not having fufficient refources within her own territories, to fupply the feamen of her gallies, and provide her armies, fhe was obliged to refort to Iberus. Her population having confiderably decreafed by a struggle of fuch length as the last Punic War proved to be, she had no other means on earth of manning her gallies and recruiting her armies, but by applying to the inhabitants of Iberus. The islanders forgetful of the wrongs, they had fuftained from Carthage, and only confidering her wants and diftreffes purchased her manufactures, tranf ported their cattle and corn to her, and enlifted in her armies to the amount of many thousands, to fup. In the honour of God, and may God profper you, and bless you and fave you, yourfelf, and your family, and beftow your charity on a poor creature, by publishing for memy fad complaint to the world. I am a poor defolate woman at prefent: my father was árefpectable dealer in tithes : he was reduced-not thro' extravagance, for of all men living, he was neverfeen to take a glafs of liquor, nor any of his childer after him :"twasn't kind for us at either fides to be given that way; but for all that he was reduced, and the people faid that there is never any luck attending proctors' money. Fhad a brother a clergyman, who died fome years ago, and when they began to talk here of the Veto, many and many a falt tear I cried, thinking of him; for as every body faid, it he was alive at the time, he was fuch a capital fcholar, and so thick with all the gentlemen, he never would allow a word to be faid to poor Doctor Lanigan as it was—but he was too good to live, and God took him to himself. I hope he'll be of fervice to the Catholics by his prayers in heaven. He kept me up like a lady white he lived; but when he was gone, I was obliged to turn to earn my bread by that fpecies of mendicancy, called fortune-telling, card, card-cutting, cup-tosfing, and fuch in- bun.ble fervant Date at my bevel, near' Fatrick's Peund, Patrick freet. Kilkenny. Auguft 20, 1810. We give infertion to this unhappy female's lamentation. All the advice we can give her (being fo far remo ved from the fcene where the charac ters of her ftory refide) is that the fhould continue the card-cutting till the houfe of industry be finished.The grand jury will not confine any one there till that time. Id our Channel-row affylum here in Dublin, there is fuch a thing as a house keep er; and from the defcription the gives of her having been once ladyLike, furely fhe might anfwer that fituation in the Kilkenny work-house, According to her report, no prieft, not even the priest of the parish itfelf," could be chaplain before her brother (were he alive): we think then we may bid her hope, that his great friends will honour his much revered memory, by granting support to his fifter, fuppofe it was out of the taxes of their poor country. She feems to have really loved this brother: we are affured their love was mutual.— We fympathize with her for his lofs, and regret that the univerfal plunderer did not pitch upom fome other time to deprive the Anti Veto party, and their venerable Bishop of fuch a powerful affiftant. For her fatisfac tion however, and to fhew her the foundation of her hopes, that "he'll be of fervice to the Catholics by his prayers in heaven," we hereby inform her that Walter Cox has ellablifhed a correfpondence in the region of fpirits, particularly with the gholts of thofe nien who have lately died in the new county jail of Kilkenny, and that thofe ghofts have promifed him that the fortune teller can now and then hear from her brother; that in the next month's Irish Magazine they will tell what fervice he has been do ing the Catholics by his prayers. fince fhe began cup-tolling, and particularly fince the time there was firft talk of the Veto. 2 To the Editor of the Irish Magazine. SIR, From the spirit of reform always manifested in your highly appreciated Magazine, I am induced to lay the following lines before you, which, if they meet your approbation, you will please to insert in your next No. by which you will oblige A CONSTANT READER. Dublin, Aug. 10, 1810. Prejudices contracted by time, by time only can be removed! but if there are no efforts made for their removal more than a simple narration of their existence, it is to be feared that by this they will rather acquire strength than be, weakened. The great difficulty which every thing that has a claim to antiquity opposes to innovation, long deterred me from laying before my countrymen my opinion with regard to the mode of education used in their schools, and which, to the lettered world, seems to labour under innumerable inconveniences, whilst it precludes as many advantages; I mean that of delivering lectures in a dead language, and what is still more preposterous, bewildered in the labyrinth of scholastic philosophy, which being anathematized and persecuted on the enlightened Continent for its former ravages, seems to have found an asylum in our isle, and adepts so enchanted by it, as not to listen to any thing which might tend to its disad. vantage. The true history of scholastic philosophy, at the same time that it would insruct, could not cease to contribute to the end which I here propose, namely, the exposing its absurdities, for there is no better mode of so doing, than by pointing out the time, place, and people by whom they were introduced, but as this, in the present review of two points only, can not have a place, I FOR SEPT. 1810. 3 F shall only say that they were the Arabs, and next the posterity of the followers of Attila, who, by their ignorance, having corrupted the remains of Aristotle's philosophy, raised the monstrous Colossus of scholasticity upon the ruins of that philosopher's well constructed edifice. Many have been the attempts to reform the scholastic system, nor have they been unsuccessful; in physics we have a complete reformation, experience has taken the place of imagination, corrupt reason and abstractions have yielded to demonstration and sensible proofs, but in logics, metaphysics, and the other sciences, where their application holds still a place, our countrymen, imitating the proud and pertinacious Spaniard, from whom he boasts his descent, thinks an entire reformation in literary matters as dangerous as that of the 16th century has been to the Church of Rome. It was about this now mentioned period, that there appeared in every direction heroes of literature, who opposed and bore down, in a great measure the scholastic system, with the other prevailing errors; Copernicus braving the terrors of the Inquisition, reconciled Reason with Revelation, and both with Experience, in his system of the Universe; a Gregory appeared who reformed the calendar, and forced it upon a proud, stubborn nation, which bigotry and religious animosity would deprive of such an advantage; a Des Cartes having a Jesuit college, studied nature in private, and would vie with Newton if he had not his understanding corrupted by Distinguios; Lord Verulam, Newton, and Locke, graced England; Leibnitz, Galileus, Patricius, Malebranch, with innumerable others, the Continent, whilst our political situation shut out every person who could or would instruct us. The enumeration enumeration of the names of those gard to the precision of which, their illustrious friends of wisdom, might intellect is more occupied than with seem unconnected with my subject, the matter of debate, will it not be but they are not, for although with necessary for each party to examine abilities as much inferior to theirs as the syllogism of his opponent to means, my principal object is the know whether in it is cloaked a treasame, my pretensions are the same, cherous sophism? why not follow but on a narrower scale; they re- nature and reason in debate? why formed the then state of literature all not reflect on the animosities, schisms, over Europe, and I would be happy heresies, political revolutions, lax to do it in a single seminary of Ire- morals, with innumerable other evils, land. It is true, that in the works all which originated in syllogisms, of those reformers there are found all and distinctions? why not look at those forms used in schools, but it the schools of Europe which have could not be expected that they could cast them away? if we exempt them undo a work of centuries, they knew of Spain, whose members respect those forms were not necessary, them as they do the catalogue of but were persuaded that without their ancestors, and who with them them their books would not be read, are left to moulder in ignorance; zad consequently could not obtain Feijoo, that truly great Spaniard, the proposed end; their successors, I had his labours frustrated, and are mean those men of the same esprit, Irish literati to imitate the altercat have not descended to the use of ing doctors of Salamanca, or the them, because they are not necessary, learned of all Europe? but it may and now truth makes a deeper im- be said, if we do not attend to forms pression from the tongue of a simple of argument every thing is vague, peasant, than it did then from that parties may fall away from the point of a man grown old in the profes- under consideration, there will be no sional Cathedra; I do not pretend mark nor bounds to the question, that forms of argument should not we cannot confound those who attack be learned, they were invented by our religion, nor prostrate an innophilosophers to be opposed to so- vator unless by a syllogism; our mophistry, and whilst the poison of so- ral proofs will have no force withphistry infects learning, an antidote out it; these are objections a thoufrom the dialectick should be pre- sand times proposed and as often anserved, however Pliny's rule with swered, it is true, that people acregard to them should ever be re- customed to the dialectick forms, it membered, non ut in iis aliquid bori- they discuss a matter with that coolaisse putes sed ut nihil boni continerent ness, ease and simplicity, which they agnorcas. The syllogism which is use in familiar conversation, may that part of the dialect most in use think they have done nothing, but presents a general proposition, from let them be assured that they have which a particular one is deduced probably in half an hour, weighed which must be true, because con- and considered the inconveniencies tained in the general one already supor difficulties on both sides of any posed to be true; this is all right, question, better than they could posand sometimes necessary, when talk- sibly do in a day with syllogisms; ing to a fool or knave; but when this could be shewn by an example both parties know that the investiga- to those who have not been fortu tion of truth is the object of argu-nate enough to hear matter discussed ment, why recur to forms, with re- and not forms. Let me suppose A. i. that |