After all who wished to speak on the subject had given their opinions, they proceeded to details; each gave a statement of the number of men enrolled in his section, with a few words as to the disposition of each.  Almost without an exception each of these men was animated with a sense of private wrong.  Some had lost near relatives, executed for some trifling offence by the tribunals, some had been ruined by the extortion of the tax gatherers.  All were stated to be ready to give their lives for vengeance.

“These agents of ours, you see, Malchus, are not for the most part animated by any feeling of pure patriotism, it is their own wrongs and not the injuries of Carthage which they would avenge.  But we must take them as we find them; one cannot expect any deep feeling of patriotism on the part of the masses, who, it must be owned, have no very great reason to feel any lively interest in the glories of the republic.  So that they eat and drink sufficiently, and can earn their living, it matters not very greatly to them whether Carthage is great and glorious, or humbled and defeated.  But this will not always be so.  When we have succeeded in ridding Carthage of her tyrants we must next do all we can so to raise the condition of the common people that they may feel that they too have a common interest in the fate of our country.  I should not, of course, propose giving to them a vote; to bestow the suffrage upon the ignorant, who would simply follow the demagogues who would use them as tools, would be the height of madness.  The affairs of state, the government of the country, the making of the laws, must be solely in the hands of those fitted for the task —­ of the men who, by education, by birth, by position, by study and by leisure have prepared their minds for such a charge.  But the people should share in the advantages of a good government; they should not be taxed more than they could reasonably pay, and any tax gatherers who should extort a penny beyond the legal amount should be disgraced and punished.

“The courts should be open to all, the judges should be impartial and incorruptible; every man should have his rights and his privileges, then each man, feeling an interest in the stability of the state, would be ready to bear arms in its defence, and Carthage, instead of being dependent entirely upon her tributaries and mercenaries, would be able to place a great army in the field by her own unaided exertions.

“The barbarian tribes would cease to revolt, knowing that success would be hopeless.  And as we should be strong at home we should be respected abroad, and might view without apprehension the rising power of Rome.  There is plenty of room for both of us.  For us, Africa and Spain; for her all the rest of Europe and as much of Asia as she cares to take.  We could look without jealousy at each other’s greatness, each secure in his own strength and power.  Yes, there may be a grand future before Carthage yet.”