The Sun. — 1861-02-05 (London, England)

THE WRECK OP ANCIENT GLORIES.  Tho greatness and glory of Carthago have passed away ; her majestic edifices have perished; the din of mirth and of joy have long since ceased within her ruined walls, and the very enemies who sought her destruction have disappeared. The grave and laay Arabs stroll over the remains of her once sumptuous buildings, which have become the abode of the hyaena and the jackal. The solemn silence which pervaded her shattered ruins, hitherto only interrupted by the howling of wild beasts, the shrill blast of the wind, or by the rude and unmelodious songs of the Bedouin ploughman and shepherd, are now changed for the sound of excavating tools Entombed relics of great Carthage are disinterred, vestiges of a once mighty empire are brought to light, and nations which have been brought into existence during the long interval—during the lapse of ages, which have become mighty and powerful, and succeeded to the position which the Phconichan Republic once occupied—have now an opportunity of learning a profitable lesson which the fate of that once powerful State presents to them. To avoid that destiny they must seek to avoid her errors and failings, otherwise their fall and their ruin will not only be doubly merited, but they will lank that sympathy which, for want of having an example before her, is so readily extended to the empire of Dido. The excavations attracted the attention not only of the literary world, but of the speculative also. Means for turning the ruins of Carthage to account were not wanting, and a very prominent feature for successful speculation presented itself in the famous aqueduct. . . . . At the time we took our sketches of the aqueduct, French labourers were busily engaged in blasting, and pulling down portions of the masonry on the banks of the Mitzana, preparatory to building a bridge across the river.. A few days after our visit to the spot the noble pillar to the right in our sketch, and on the right bank of the Mitzana, was to submit to the same destiny. Tho destruction of such a work borders upon sacrilege, particularly so as the object assigned is to obtain stones for the bridge; whereas, within a hundred yards of the river there aro materials in abundance for the purpose, from the fallen portions of the aqueduct. But the Government take no interest in this magnificent relic of antiquity ; and the contractor, who studies economy and looks after his profits, is permitted to act according to his owls pleasure. The Son of Baba Ali, the Moslem antiquarian, was with us at the very time we visited this spot, and, though by no means very bright, made on this occasion the following remark:—" You Nagarines surprise me. When you see us Moslems destroying any of the works of the yehala (pagans), you are as angry with us as if you saw us commit murder; but here you come deliberately to break down this oltanaya (aqueduct), which is so beautiful that I doubt whether, with all your wisdom and knowledge, you could build it up again. If injuring the work of ages gone by is wrong in us, why is it not also wrong in you ?" This was, of course, addressed to me as representing the whole of Christendom; and for the honour of Christendom I told Sadek that we considered such an act even more barbarous in Europeans than in Moslems ; that, unfortunately, Christians, like Moslems, were often induced, from a love of gain, to commit acts which, under other circumstances, they would deprecate ; that the intelligent portion of Christians would highly disapprove of such Vandalism, whereas among Moslems it was almost universally sanctioned.