Chap. 19.] THE PLEASTJEES OF THE GABDEK. 153 



more grievous than the market-dues, an impost that aroused 

 the indignation of the populace, who repeatedly appealed with 

 loud clamours to all the chief men of the state to be relieved from 

 it. At last they were relieved from this heavy tax upon their 

 wares ; and then it was found that there was no tax more 

 lucrative, more readily collected, or less obnoxious to the ca- 

 prices of chance, than the impost that was levied in exchange 

 for it, in the shape of a property-tax, extended to the poorest 

 classes : for now the very soil itself is their surety that paid 

 the tax will be, their means are patent to the light of day, and 

 the superficial extent of their possessions, whatever the weather 

 may chance to be, always remains the same. 



Cato, 37 we find, speaks in high praise of garden cabbages : 

 indeed, it was according to their respective methods of garden 

 cultivation that the agriculturists of early times were appreci- 

 ated, and it was immediately concluded that it was a sign of a 

 woman being a bad and careless manager of her family, when 

 the kitchen-garden for this was looked upon as the woman's 

 department more particularly was negligently cultivated ; as 

 in such case her only resource was, of course, the shambles or 

 the herb-market. But cabbages were not held in such high 

 esteem in those days as now : indeed, all dishes were held in 

 disrepute which required something else to help them down, 

 the great object being to economize oil as much as possible ; 

 and as to the flesh-market, so much as a wish even to taste its 

 wares was visited with censure and reproach. The chief thing 

 that made them so fond of the garden was the fact that its 

 produce needs no fire and ensures economy in fuel, and that it 

 offers resources which are always ready and at hand. These 

 articles of food, which from their peculiar nature we caljL 

 " vinegar- diets/' 38 were found to be easy of digestion, by no 

 means apt to blunt and overload the senses, and to create but little 

 craving for bread as an accompaniment. A portion of them which 

 is still used by us for seasonings, attests that our forefathers used 



of the land. His proposed emendations of the text are as follows : *' mox 



enim certe aequabit eos pecunia quos pecunia separaverit. Itaque ac 



rainore fortunse jure, quam cuin hereditate datur pensio ea pauperum ; his 

 in solo sponsor est," &c. 



37 De Re Rust. cc. 156, 157. He speaks of it as being eaten either 

 boiled or raw, but in the latter case with vinegar. Fe thinks that even 

 then it would make a very acrid and indigestible diet. 



38 "Acetaria." Salads. 



