Furniture and Materials.

THE Materials of Sallets, which together with the grosser Olera, consist of Roots, Stalks, Leaves, Buds, Flowers, &c. Fruits (belonging to another Class) would require a much ampler Volume, than would suit our Kalendar, (to which this pre­tends to be an Appendix only) should we extend the following Catalogue further than to a brief enumeration only of such Her­baceous [Page 7] Plants, Oluscula and smal­ler Esculents, as are chiefly us'd in Cold Sallets, of whose Culture we have treated there; and as we gather them from the Mother and Genial Bed, with a touch only of their Qualities, for Rea­sons hereafter given.

1. Alexanders, Hipposelinum; S. Smyrnium vulgare (much of the nature of Persly) is mode­rately hot, and of a cleansing Faculty, Deobstructing, nourish­ing, and comforting the Stomach. The gentle fresh Sprouts, Buds, and Tops are to be chosen, and the Stalks eaten in the Spring; and when Blanch'd, in Winter likewise, with Oyl, Peper, Salt, &c. by themselves, or in Compositi­on: They make also an excellent Vernal Pottage.

2. Artichaux, Cinara, (Cardu­us Sativus) hot and dry. The [Page 8] Heads being slit in quarters first eaten raw, with Oyl, a little Vinegar, Salt, and Pepper, grate­fully recommend a Glass of Wine; Dr. Muffet says, at the end of Meals.

They are likewise, whilst ten­der and small, fried in fresh Butter crisp with Persley. But then become a most delicate and excellent Restorative, when full grown, they are boil'd the com­mon way. The Bottoms are also bak'd in Pies, with Marrow, Dates, and other rich Ingredi­ents: In Italy they sometimes broil them, and as the Scaly Leaves open, baste them with fresh and sweet Oyl; but with Care extraordinary, for if a drop fall upon the Coals, all is marr'd; that hazard escap'd, they eat them with the Juice of Orange and Sugar.

The Stalk is Blanch'd in Au­tumn, and the Pith eaten raw [Page 9] or boil'd. The way of pre­serving them fresh all Winter, is by separating the Bottoms from the Leaves, and after Par­boiling, allowing to every Bot­tom, a small earthen glaz'd Pot; burying it all over in fresh melted Butter, as they do Wild-Fowl, &c. Or if more than one, in a larger Pot, in the same Bed and Covering, Layer upon Layer.

They are also preserv'd by stringing them on Pack-thread, a clean Paper being put be­tween every Bottom, to hinder them from touching one another, and so hung up in a dry place They are likewise Pickl'd.

'Tis not very long since this noble Thistle came first into Italy, Improv'd to this Magnitude by Culture; and so rare in England, that they were commonly sold for Crowns a piece: But what Carthage yearly spent in them (as Pliny computes the Sum) [Page 10] amounted to Sestertia Sena Millia, 30000 l. Sterling.

Note, That the Spanish Cardon, a wild and smaller Artichoak, with sharp-pointed Leaves, and lesser Head; the Stalks being Blanch'd and tender, are serv'd-up a la Poiverade (that is with Oyl, Pepper, &c.) as the French term is.

3. Basil, Ocimum (as Baulm) imparts a grateful Flavour, if not too strong, somewhat offensive to the Eyes; and therefore the tender Tops to be very sparingly us'd in our Sallet.

4. Baulm, Melissa, Baum, hot and dry, Cordial and exhilara­ting, sovereign for the Brain, strengthning the Memory, and powerfully chasing away Me­lancholy. The tender Leaves are us'd in Composition with other Herbs; and the Sprigs fresh ga­ther'd, [Page 11] put into Wine or other Drinks, during the heat of Sum­mer, give it a marvellous quick­ness: This noble Plant yields an incomparable Wine, made as is that of Cowslip-Flowers.

5. Beet, Beta; of which there is both Red, Black, and White: The Costa, or Rib of the White Beet (by the French call'd the Chard) being boil'd, melts, and eats like Marrow. And the Roots (especially of the Red) cut into thin slices, boil'd, when cold, is of it self a grateful Win­ter Sallet; or being mingl'd with other Oluscula, Oyl, Vinegar, Salt, &c. 'Tis of quality Cold and Moist, and naturally somewhat Laxative: But however by the Epigrammatist stil'd Foolish and Insipid, as Innocentior quam Olus (for so the Learned^* Harduin [Page 12] reads the place) 'tis by Diphilus of old, and others since, preferr'd before Cabbage as of better Nou­rishment: Martial (not unlearn'd in the Art of Sallet) commends it with Wine and Pepper: He names it indeed — Fabrorum prandia, for its being so vulgar. But eaten with Oyl and Vinegar, as usually, it is no despicable Sallet. There is a Beet growing near the Sea, which is the most delicate of all. The Roots of the Red Beet, pared into thin Slices and Circles, are by the French and Italians contriv'd into curious Figures to adorn their Sallets.

6. Blite, Blitum; English Mercury, or (as our Country House-wives call it) All-good, the gentle Turiones, and Tops may be eaten as Sparagus, or sodden in Pottage: There is both a white and red, much us'd in Spain and Italy; but besides its humidity [Page 13] and detersive Nature, 'tis Insipid enough.

7. Borrage, Borrago (Gaudia semper ago) hot and kindly moist, purifying the Blood, is an exhi­larating Cordial, of a pleasant Flavour: The tender Leaves, and Flowers especially, may be eaten in Composition; but above all, the Sprigs in Wine, like those of Baum, are of known Vertue to revive the Hypochondriac, and chear the hard Student. See Bugloss.

8. Brooklime, Anagallis aqua­tica; moderately hot and moist, prevalent in the Scorbute, and Stone.

9. Bugloss, Buglossum; in na­ture much like Borrage, yet some­thing more astringent. The Flowers of both, with the intire Plant, greatly restorative, being [Page 14] Conserv'd: And for the rest, so much commended by Averroes; that for its effects, cherishing the Spirits, justly call'd Euphrosynum: Nay, some will have it the Ne­penthes of Homer: But indeed, what we now call Bugloss, was not that of the Ancients, but ra­ther Borrage, for the like Virtue named Corrago.

Burnet, See Pimpinella.

10. Buds, Gemmae, Turiones; the first Rudiments and Tops of most Sallet-Plants, preferrable to all other less tender Parts; such as Ashen-Keys, Broom-buds, hot and dry, retaining the vertue of Capers, esteem'd to be very open­ing, and prevalent against the Spleen and Scurvy; and being Pickl'd, are sprinkl'd among the Sallets, or eaten by themselves.

[Page 15]11. Cabbage, Brassica (and its several kinds) Pompey's beloved Dish, so highly celebrated by old^* Cato, Pythagoras, and Chrysippus the Physician (as the only Panacea) is not so generally magnify'd by the rest of Doctors, as affording but a crass and melancholy Juice; yet Loosening if but mo­derately boil'd, if over-much, Astringent, according to C. Celsus; and therefore seldom eaten raw, excepting by the Dutch. The Cymae, or Sprouts rather of the Cole are very delicate, so boil'd as to retain their Verdure and green Colour. In raising this Plant great care is to be had of the Seed. The best comes from Denmark and Russia, especially the Cauly-flower, (anciently un­known) or from Aleppo. Of the French, the Pancaliere a la large [Page 16] Costé, the white, large and pon­derous are to be chosen; and so the Cauly-flower: After boiling some steep them in Milk, and seethe them again in Beef-Broth: Of old they added a little Nitre. The Broccoli from Naples, per­haps the Halm [...]rida of Pliny (or Athenaeus rather) Capitata marina & florida, our Sea-keele (the an­cient Crambe) and growing on our Coast, are very delicate, as are the Savoys, commended for being not so rank, but agreeable to most Palates, and of better Nourishment: In general, Cab­bages are thought to allay Fumes, and prevent Intoxication: But some will have them noxious to the Sight; others impute it to the Cauly-flower rather: But whilst the Learned are not agreed about it, Theophrastus affirms the con­trary, and Pliny commends the Juice raw, with a little Honey, for the moist and weeping Eye, [Page 17] not the dry or dull. But after all, Cabbage ('tis confess'd) is greatly accus'd for lying undi­gested in the Stomach, and pro­voking Eructations; which makes me wonder at the Veneration we read the Ancients had for them, calling them Divine, and Swearing, per Brassicam. 'Tis scarce an hundred Years since we first had Cabbages out of Holland▪ Sir Anth. Ashley of Wiburg St. Giles in Dorsetshire, being (as I am told) the first who planted them in England.

12. Cardon, See Artichaux.

13. Carrots, Dauci, or Pasti­naca Sativa; temperately warm and dry, Spicy; the best are yellow, very nourishing; let them be rais'd in Ground natu­rally rich, but not too heavy.

[Page 18]14. Chervile, Chaerophyllum, Myrrhis; The sweet aromatick Spanish Chervile, moderately hot and dry: The tender Cimae, and Tops, with other Herbs, are ne­ver to be wanting in our Sallets, (as long as they may be had) be­ing exceedingly wholsome and chearing the Spirits: The Roots are also boil'd and eaten Cold; much commended for Aged Per­sons: This (as likewise Spinach) is us'd in Tarts, and serves alone for divers Sauces.

• Cibbols.
• Cives.

15. Clary, Horminum, when tender not to be rejected, and in Omlets, made up with Cream, fried in sweet Butter, and eaten with Sugar, Juice of Orange, or Limon.

[Page 19]16. Clavers, Aparine; the ten­der Winders, with young Nettle-Tops, are us'd in Lenten Pottages.

17. Corn-sallet, Valerianella; loos'ning and refreshing: The Tops and Leaves are a Sallet of themselves, seasonably eaten with other Salleting, the whole Win­ter long, and early Spring: The French call them Salad de Preter, for their being generally eaten in Lent.

18. Cowslips, Paralysis: See Flowers.

19. Cresses, Nasturtium, Gar­den Cresses; to be monthly sown: But above all the Indian, mode­rately hot, and aromatick, quick­en the torpent Spirits, and purge the Brain, and are of singular effect against the Scorbute. Both the tender Leaves, Calices, Cap­puchin [Page 20] Capers, and Flowers, are laudably mixed with the colder Plants. The Buds being Candy'd, are likewise us'd in Strewings all Winter. There is the Nastur. Hybernicum commended also, and the vulgar Water-Cress, proper in the Spring, all of the same Nature, tho' of different Degrees, and best for raw and cold Sto­machs, but nourish little.

20. Cucumber, Cucumis; tho' very cold and moist, the most approved Sallet alone, or in Composition, of all the Vinaigrets, to sharpen the Appetite, and cool the Liver,^* &c. if rightly pre­par'd; that is, by rectifying the vulgar Mistake of altogether ex­tracting the Juice, in which it should rather be soak'd: Nor [Page 21] ought it to be over Oyl'd, too much abating of its grateful Acidity, and palling the Taste, from a contrariety of Particles: Let them therefore be pared, and cut in thin Slices, with a Clove or two of Onion to correct the Crudity, macerated in the Juice, often turn'd and mode­rately drain'd. Others prepare them, by shaking the Slices be­tween two Dishes, and dress them with very little Oyl, well beaten, and mingled with the Juice of Limon, Orange, or Vine­gar, Salt and Pepper. Some a­gain, (and indeed the most ap­prov'd) eat them as soon as they are cut, retaining their Liquor, which being exhausted (by the former Method) have nothing remaining in them to help the Concoction. Of old they^* boil'd [Page 22] the Cucumber, and paring off the Rind, eat them with Oyl, Vine­gar, and Honey; Sugar not be­ing so well known. Lastly, the Pulp in Broth is greatly refresh­ing, and may be mingl'd in most Sallets, without the least da­mage, contrary to the common Opinion; it not being long, since Cucumber, however dress'd, was thought fit to be thrown away, being accounted little better than Poyson. Tavernier tells us, that in the Levant, if a Child cry for something to Eat, they give it a raw Cucumber instead of Bread. The young ones may be boil'd in White-Wine. The smaller sort (known by the name of Gerckems) muriated with the Seeds of Dill, and the Mango Pickle are for the Winter.

21. Daisy, Buphthalmum, Ox-Eye, or Bellis-major: The young Roots are frequently eaten by the [Page 23] Spaniards and Italians all the Spring till June.

22. Dandelion, Dens Leonis, Condrilla: Macerated in several Waters, to extract the bitterness; tho' somewhat opening, is very wholsome, and little inferior to Succory, Endive, &c. The French Country-People eat the Roots; and 'twas with this homely Sallet, the Good-Wife Hecate entertain'd Theseus. See Sowthistle.

23. Dock, Oxylapathum, or sharp-pointed Dock: Emollient, and tho' otherwise not for our Sallet, the Roots brewed in Ale or Beer, are excellent for the Scorbute.

Earth-Nuts, Bulbo-Castanum; (found in divers places of Surry, near Kingston, and other parts) the Rind par'd off, are eaten crude by Rustics, with a little [Page 24] Pepper; but are best boil'd like other Roots, or in Pottage ra­ther, and are sweet and nourish­ing.

24. Elder, Sambucus; The Flowers infus'd in Vinegar, grate­ful both to the Stomach and Taste; attenuate thick and viscid Humours; and tho' the Leaves are somewhat rank of Smell, and so not commendable in Sallet; they are otherwise (as indeed is the intire Shrub) of the most sovereign Vertue; and the spring Buds and tender Leaves, excel­lently wholsome in Pottage at that Season of the Year. See Flowers.

25. Endive, Endivium, In­tubum Sativum; the largest, whitest, and tenderest Leaves best boil'd, and less crude. It is naturally Cold, profitable for hot Stomachs; Incisive and open­ing [Page 25] Obstructions of the Liver: The curled is more delicate, be­ing eaten alone, or in Composi­tion, with the usual Intinctus: It is also excellent being boil'd; the middle part of the Blanch'd-Stalk separated, eats firm, and the ampler Leaves by many perferr'd before Lettuce. See Succory.

Eschalot. See Onions.

26. Fennel, Foeniculum: The sweetest of Bolognia: Aromatick, hot, and dry; expels Wind, sharpens the Sight, and recreates the Brain; especially the tender Ʋmbella and Seed-Pods. The Stalks are to be peel'd when young, and then dress'd like Sel­lery. The tender Tufts and Leaves emerging, being minc'd, are eaten alone with Vinegar, or Oyl, and Pepper, and to correct the colder Materials, enter pro­perly [Page 26] into Composition. The Italians eat the blanch'd Stalk (which they call Cartucci) all Winter long. There is a very small Green-Worm, which some­times lodges in the Stemm of this Plant, which is to be taken out, as the Red one in that of Sel­lery.

27. Flowers, Flores; chiefly of the Aromatick Esculents and Plants are preferrable, as gene­rally endow'd with the Vertues of their Simples, in a more in­tense degree; and may therefore be eaten alone in their proper Vehicles, or Composition with o­ther Salleting, sprinkl'd among them; But give a more palata­ble Relish, being Infus'd in Vine­gar; Especially those of the Clove-Gillyflower, Elder, Orange, Cowslip, Rosemary, Arch-Angel, Sage, Nasturtium Indicum, &c. Some of them are Pickl'd, and [Page 27] divers of them make also very pleasant and wholsome Theas, as do likewise the Wild Time, Bug­loss, Mint, &c.

28. Garlick, Allium; dry to­wards Excess; and tho' both by Spaniards and Italians, and the more Southern People, familiar­ly eaten, with almost every thing, and esteem'd of such singular Vertue to help Concoction, and thought a Charm against all In­fection and Poyson (by which it has obtain'd the Name of the Coun­try-man's Theriacle) we yet think it more proper for our Northern Rustics, especially living in Ʋligi­nous and moist places, or such as use the Sea: Whilst we absolutely forbid it entrance into our Sallet­ing, by reason of its intolerable Rankness, and which made it so detested of old; that the eating of it was (as we read) part of the Punishment for such as had com­mitted [Page 28] the horrid'st Crimes. To be sure, 'tis not for Ladies Pa­lats, nor those who court them, farther than to permit a light touch on the Dish, with a Clove thereof, much better supply'd by the gentler Roccombo.

Note, That in Spain they some­times eat it boil'd, which taming its fierceness, turns it into Nou­rishment, or rather Medicine.

Ginny-Pepper, Capsicum. See Pepper.

29. Goats-beard, Trago-pogon: The Root is excellent even in Sallet, and very Nutritive, ex­ceeding profitable for the Breast, and may be stew'd and dress'd as Scorzonera.

30. Hops, Lupulus: Hot and moist, rather Medicinal, than fit for Sallet; the Buds and young Tendrels excepted, which may be [Page 29] eaten raw; but more conveni­ently being boil'd, and cold like Asparagus: They are Diuretic; depurate the Blood, and open Ob­structions.

31. Hyssop, Hyssopus; Thymus Capitatus Creticus; Majoran, Ma­ry-gold, &c. as all hot, spicy Aromatics, (commonly growing in Kitchin-Gardens) are of Fa­culty to Comfort, and streng­then; prevalent against Melan­choly and Phlegm: Plants, like these, going under the Names of Pot-Herbs, are much more pro­per for Broths and Decoctions, than the tender Sallet: Yet the Tops and Flowers reduc'd to Pow­der, are by some reserv'd for Strewings, upon the colder In­gredients; communicating no ungrateful Fragrancy.

32. Jack-by-the-Hedge, Allia­ria, or Sauce-alone; has many [Page 30] Medicinal Properties, and is eaten as other Sallets, especially by Coun­try People, growing wild under their Banks and Hedges.

33. Leeks, and Cibbols, Por­rum; hot, and of Vertue Pro­lifick; since Latona, the Mother of Apollo long'd after them: The Welch, who eat them much, are observ'd to be very fruitful: They are also friendly to the Lungs and Stomach, being sod in Milk; a few therefore of the slender and green Summities, a little shred, do not amiss in Com­position. See Onion.

34. Lettuce, Lactuca: Tho' by Metaphor call'd^* Mortuorum Cibi, (to say nothing of^† Adonis [Page 31] and his sad Mistriss) by reason of its Soporiferous quality, ever was, and still continues the prin­cipal Foundation of the univer­sal Tribe of Sallets; which is to Cool and Refresh, besides its o­ther Properties: And therefore in such high esteem with the Ancients; that divers of the Va­lerian Family, dignify'd and eno­bled their Name with that of Lactucinii.

It is indeed of Nature more cold and moist than any of the rest; yet less astringent, and so harmless that it may safely be eaten raw in Fevers; for it allays Heat, bridles Choler, extinguishes Thirst, excites Appetite, kindly Nourishes, and above all repres­ses Vapours, conciliates Sleep, mitigates Pain; besides the ef­fect it has upon the Morals, Tem­perance and Chastity. Galen (whose beloved Sallet it was) from its pinguid, subdulcid and agreeable [Page 32] Nature, says it breeds the most laudable Blood. No marvel then that they were by the Ancients called Sana, by way of eminen­cy, and so highly valu'd by the great^* Augustus, that attributing his Recovery of a dangerous Sickness to them, 'tis reported, he erected a Statue, and built an Altar to this noble Plant. And that the most abstemious and ex­cellent Emperor^† Tacitus (spend­ing almost nothing at his frugal Table in other Dainties) was yet so great a Friend to Lettuce, that he was us'd to say of his Prodigality, Somnum se mercari illa sumptus effusione. How it was celebrated by Galen we have heard; how he us'd it he tells himself; namely, beginning with [Page 33] Lettuce in his younger Days, and concluding with it when he grew old, and that to his great ad­vantage. In a word, we meet with nothing among all our crude Materials and Sallet store, so pro­per to mingle with any of the rest, nor so wholsome to be eaten alone, or in Composition, mo­derately, and with the usual Ox­ [...]laeum of Vinegar, Pepper, and Oyl, &c. which last does not so per­fectly agree with the Alphange, to which the Juice of Orange, or Limon and Sugar is more desi­rable: Aristoxenus is reported to have irrigated his Lettuce-Beds with an Oinomelite, or mixture of Wine and Honey: And cer­tainly 'tis not for nothing that our Garden-Lovers, and Brothers of the Sallet, have been so ex­ceedingly Industrious to cultivate this Noble Plant, and multiply its Species; for to name a few in present use: We have the Al­phange [Page 34] of Montpelier, crisp and delicate; the Arabic; Amber­velleres; Belgrade, Cabbage, Ca­puchin, Cross-Lettuce, Curl'd; the Genoa (lasting all the Winter) the Imperial, Lambs, or Agnine, and Lobbs or Lop-Lettuces. The French Minion a dwarf kind: The Oak-Leaf, Passion, Roman, Shell, and Silesian, hard and crimp (esteemed of the best and rarest) with divers more: And here let it be noted, that besides three or four sorts of this Plant, and some few of the rest, there was within our remembrance, rarely any other Salleting serv'd up to the best Tables; with unblanch'd Endive, Succory, Purselan, (and indeed little other variety) Sugar and Vinegar being the constant Vehicles (without Oyl) but now Sugar is almost wholly banish'd from all, except the more effe­minate Palates, as too much pal­ling, and taking from the grate­ful [Page 35] Acid now in use, tho' other­wise not totally to be reproved: Lettuce boil'd and Condited is sometimes spoken of.

35. Limon, Limonia, citrea ma­la; exceedingly refreshing, Cor­dial, &c. The Pulp being blend­ed with the Juice, secluding the over-sweet or bitter. See O­range.

36. Mallow, Malva; the curl'd, emollient, and friendly to the Ventricle, and so rather Medicinal; yet may the Tops, well boil'd, be admitted, and the rest (tho' out of use at pre­sent) was taken by the Poets for all Sallets in general. Pytha­goras held Malvae folium Sanctis­simum; and we find Epimenides in^* Plato at his Mallows and Asphodel; and indeed it was of [Page 36] old the first Dish at Table: The Romans had it also in deliciis, ^¶ Malvae salubres corpori, ap­proved by^* Galen and^† Di­oscorides; namely the Garden-Mallow, by others the Wild; but I think both proper rather for the Pot, than Sallet. Nonius supposes the tall Rofea, Arbore­scent Holi-hocks, that bears the broad Flower, for the best, and very^‖ Laxative; but by reason of their clamminess and Lentor, banished from our Sallet, tho' by some commended and eaten [Page 37] with Oyl and Vinegar, and some with Butter.

Mercury, Bonus Henricus, English Mercury, or Lapathum Ʋnctuosum. See Blitum.

37. Melon, Melo; to have been reckon'd rather among Fruits; and tho' an usual Ingre­dient in our Sallet; yet for its transcendent delicacy and flavor, cooling and exhilarating Nature (if sweet, dry, weighty, and well-fed) not only superior to all the Gourd-kind, but Paragon with the noblest Productions of the Garden. Jos. Scaliger and Casaubon, think our Melon un­known to the Ancients, (which others contradict) as yet under the name of Cucumers: But he who reads how artificially they were Cultivated, rais'd under Glasses, and expos'd to the hot Sun, (for Tiberius) cannot well [Page 38] doubt of their being the same with ours.

There is also a Winter-Melon, large and with black Seeds, ex­ceedingly Cooling, brought us from abroad, and the hotter Climates, where they drink Wa­ter after eating Melons; but in the colder (after all dispute) Wine is judg'd the better: That it has indeed by some been ac­cus'd as apt to corrupt in the Sto­mach (as do all things else eaten in excess) is not deny'd: But a perfect good Melon is certainly as harmless a Fruit as any whatso­ever; and may safely be mingl'd with Sallet, in Pulp or Slices, or more properly eaten by it self, with a little Salt and Pepper; for a Melon which requires Sugar to commend it, wants of Perfection. Note, That this Fruit was very rarely cultivated in England, so as to bring it to Maturity, till Sir Geo. Gardner came out of [Page 39] Spain. I my self remembring, when an ordinary Melon would have been sold for five or six Shillings. The small unripe Fruit, when the others are past, may be Pickl'd with Mango, and are very delicate.

38. Mint, Mentha; the An­gustifolia Spicata, Spear-Mint; dry and warm, very fragrant, a little press'd, is friendly to the weak Stomach, and powerful a­gainst all Nervous Crudities: The gentler Tops of the Orange-Mint, enter well into our Composition, or are grateful alone (as are also the other sorts) with the Juice of Orange, and a little Sugar.

39. Mushroms, Fungi; By the^* Orator call'd Terrae, by Porphyry Deorum filii, without Seed (as [Page 40] produc'd by the Midwifry of Autumnal Thunder-Storms, por­tending the Mischief they cause) by the French, Champignons, with all the Species of the Boletus, &c. for being, as some hold, neither Root, Herb, Flower, nor Fruit, nor to be eaten crude; should be therefore banish'd en­try into our Sallet, were I to order the Composition; how­ever so highly contended for by many, as the very principal and top of all the rest; whilst I think them tolerable only (at least in this Climate) if being fresh and skilfully chosen, they are accom­modated with the nicest Care and Circumspection; generally re­ported to have something ma­lignant and noxious in them: Nor without cause; from the many sad Examples, frequent Mischiefs, and funest Accidents they have produc'd, not only to particular Persons, but whole [Page 41] Families: Exalted indeed they were to the second, Course of the Caesarian Tables, with the noble Title [...], a Dain­ty fit for the Gods alone; to whom they sent the Emperor^* Claudius, as they have many since, to the other World. But he that reads how Seneca ^∴ deplores his lost Friend, that brave Com­mander Annaeus Serenus, and se­veral other gallant Persons with him, who all of them perish'd at the same Repast; would be apt to ask with the^† Naturalist (speak­ing of this suspicious Dainty) Quae voluptas tanta ancipitis cibi? and who indeed would hazard it? So true is that of the Poet; He that eats Mushroms, many times Nil amplius edit, eats no more perhaps [Page 42] all his Life after. What other deterring Epithets are given for our Caution, [...], heavy and choaking. (A­thenaeus reporting of the Poet Euripides's, finding a Woman and her three Children strangl'd by eating of them) one would think sufficient warning.

Among these comes in the Fungus Reticularis, to be found about London, as at Fulham and other places; whilst at no small charge we send for them into France; as we also do for Trufles, P [...]g-nuts, and other subterraneous Tubera, which in Italy they fry in Oyl, and eat with Pepper: They are commonly discovered by a Nasute Swine purposely brought up; being of a Chess­nut Colour, and heady Smell, and not seldom found in England, particularly in a Park of my Lord Cotton's, at Rushton or Rusbery in Northampton-shire, and doubtless [Page 43] in other^† places too were they sought after. How these rank and provocative Excrescences are to be^‖ treated (of themselves in­sipid enough, and only famous for their kindly taking any Pickle or Conditure) that they may do the less Mischief, we might here set down. But since there be so many ways of Dressing them, that I can incourage none to use them, for Reasons given (besides that they do not at all concern our safer and innocent Sallet Fur­niture) I forbear it; and referr those who long after this beloved Ragout, and other Voluptuaria Venena (as Seneca calls them) to what our Learned Dr. Lyster ^* says of the many Venomous Insects harbouring and corrupting in a [Page 44] new found-out Species of Mu­shroms had lately in deliciis. Those, in the mean time, which are e­steemed best, and less pernicious, (of which see the Appendix) are such as rise in rich, airy, and dry^† Pasture-Grounds; growing on the Staff or Pedicule of about an Inch thick and high; mode­rately Swelling (Target-like) round and firm, being under­neath of a pale saffronish hue, curiously radiated in parallel Lines and Edges, which becom­ing either Yellow, Orange, or Black, are to be rejected: But besides what the Harvest-Months produce, they are likewise rais'd^* Artificially; as at Naples in their Wine-Cellars, upon an heap of rank Earth, heaped upon a [Page 45] certain supposed Stone, but in truth, (as the curious and noble^* Peiresky tells us, he found to be) nothing but an heap of old Fungus's, reduc'd and compacted to a stony hardness, upon which they lay Earth, and sprinkle it with warm Water, in which Mushroms have been steeped. And in France, by making an hot Bed of Asses-Dung, and when the heat is in Temper, wa­tering it (as above) well impreg­nated with the Parings and Offals of refuse Fungus's; and such a Bed will last two or three Years, and sometimes our common Me­lon-Beds afford them, besides other Experiments.

40. Mustard, Sinapi; exceed­ing hot and mordicant, not only [Page 46] in the Seed but Leaf also; espe­cially in Seedling young Plants, like those of Radishes (newly peeping out of the Bed) is of incomparable effect to quicken and revive the Spirits; streng­thening the Memory, expelling heaviness, preventing the Verti­ginous Palsie, and is a laudable Cephalick. Besides it is an ap­prov'd Antiscorbutick; aids Con­coction, cuts and dissipates Phleg­matick Humours. In short, 'tis the most noble Embamma, and so necessary an Ingredient to all cold and raw Salleting, that it is very rarely, if at all, to be left out. In Italy in making Mustard, they mingle Limon and Orange-Peel, with the Seeds. How the best is made, see hereafter.

Nasturtium Indicum. See Cresses.

41. Nettles, Ʋrtica; Hot, dry, Diuretic, Solvent; purifies the [Page 47] Blood: The Buds, and very ten­der Cimae, a little bruised, are by some eaten raw, by others boil'd, especially in Spring-Pottage, with other Herbs.

42. Onion, Cepa, Porrum; the best are such as are brought us out of Spain, whence they of St. Omers had them, and some that have weigh'd eight Pounds. Choose therefore the large, round, white, and thin Skin'd. Being eaten crude and alone with Oyl, Vinegar, and Pepper, we own them in Sallet, not so hot as Gar­lick, nor at all so rank: Boil'd, they give a kindly relish; raise Appetite, corroborate the Sto­mach, cut Phlegm, and profit the Asthmatical: But eaten in ex­cess, are said to offend the Head and Eyes, unless Edulcorated with a gentle maceration. In the mean time, as to their being noxious to the Sight, is imputable only [Page 48] to the Vapour rising from the raw Onion, when peeled, which some commend for its purging and quickning that Sense. How they are us'd in Pottage, boil'd in Milk, stew'd, &c. concerns the Kitchin. In our cold Sallet we supply them with the Porrum Sectile, Tops of Leeks, and Escha­lots (Ascalonia) of gust more exalted, yet not to the degree of Garlick. Or (by what of later use is much preferr'd) with a Clove or two of Raccombo, of a yet milder and delicate nature, which by rubbing the Dish only, imparts its Vertue agreeably e­nough. In Italy they frequently make a Sallet of Scalions, Cives, and Chibbols only season'd with Oyl and Pepper; and an honest laborious Country-man, with good Bread, Salt, and a little Parsley, will make a contented Meal with a roasted Onion. How this noble Bulb was deified in [Page 49] ^* Egypt we are told, and that whilst they were building the Pyramids, there was spent in this Root^† Ninety Tun of Gold among the Workmen. So lushious and tempting it seems they were, that as whole Nations have subsisted on them alone; so the Israelites were ready to return to Slavery and Brick-making for the love of them. Indeed Hecamedes we find presents them to Patroclus, in Homer, as a Regalo; But cer­tainly we are either mistaken in the Species (which some will have to be Melons) or use Po­etick Licence, when we so highly magnify them.

43. Orach, Atriplex: Is cool­ing, allays the Pituit Humor: Being set over the Fire, neither [Page 50] this, nor Lettuce, needs any other Water than their own moisture to boil them in, without Expres­sion: The tender Leaves are mingl'd with other cold Salleting; but 'tis better in Pottage. See Blitum.

44. Orange, Arantiae (Malum aureum) moderately dry, cool­ing, and incisive; sharpens Ap­petite, exceedingly refreshes and resists Putrefaction: We speak of the Sub-acid; the sweet and bit­ter Orange being of no use in our Sallet. The Limon is somewhat more acute, cooling and extin­guishing Thirst; of all the [...] the best succedaneum to Vinegar. The very Spoils and Rinds of Orange and Limon be­ing shred and sprinkl'd among the other Herbs, correct the A­crimony. But they are the ten­der Seedlings from the Hot-Bed, which impart an Aromatic ex­ceedingly [Page 51] grateful to the Sto­mach. Vide Limon.

45. Parsnep, Pastinaca, Carrot; first boil'd, being cold, is of it self a Winter-Sallet, eaten with Oyl, Vinegar, &c. and having something of Spicy, is by some, thought more nourishing than the Turnep.

46. Pease, Pisum; the Pod of the Sugar-Pease, when first be­ginning to appear, with the Husk and Tendrels, affording a pretty Acid, enter into the Com­position, as do those of Hops and the Vine.

47. Peper, Piper; hot and dry in a high degree; of ap­prov'd Vertue against all flatu­lency proceeding from cold and phlegmatic Constitutions, and generally all Crudities whatsoe­ver; and therefore for being of [Page 52] universal use to correct and tem­per the cooler Herbs, and such as abound in moisture; It is a ne­ver to be omitted Ingredient of our Sallets; provided it be not too minutely beaten (as oft we find it) to an almost impalpable Dust, which is very pernicious, and frequently adheres and sticks in the folds of the Stomach, where, instead of promoting Concoction, it often causes a Cardialgium, and fires the Blood: It should therefore be grosly contus'd only.

Indian Capsicum, superlatively hot and burning, is yet by the Africans eaten with Salt and Vine­gar by it self, as an usual Con­diment; but wou'd be of dan­gerous consequence with us; be­ing so much more of an acrimo­nious and terribly biting quali­ty, Which by Art and Mixture is notwithstanding render'd not only safe, but very agreeable in our Sallet.

Take the Pods, and dry them well in a Pan; and when they are become sufficiently hard, cut them into small pieces, and stamp 'em in a Mortar to dust: To each Ounce of which add a Pound of Wheat-flour, fermented with a little Levain: Kneed and make them into Cakes or Loaves cut long-wise, in shape of Naples-Biscuit. These Re-bake a second time, till they are Stone-hard: Pound them again as before, and serce it through a fine Sieve, for a very proper Seasoning, instead of vulgar Peper. The Mordicancy thus allay'd, be sure to make the Mortar very clean, after ha­ving beaten Indian Capsicum, be­fore you stamp any thing in it else. The green Husks, or first peeping Buds of the Walnut-Tree, dry'd to Powder, serve for Pe­per in some places, and so do Myrtle-berries.

[Page 54]48. Persley, Petroselinum, or Apium hortense; being hot and dry, opens Obstructions, is very Diuretic, yet nourishing, edulco­rated in shifted warm Water (the Roots especially) but of less Vertue than Alexanders; nor so convenient in our crude Sallet, as when decocted on a Medicinal Account. Some few tops of the tender Leaves may yet be admit­ted; tho' it was of old, we read, never brought to the Table at all, as sacred to Oblivium and the Defunct. In the mean time, there being nothing more proper for Stuffing, (Farces) and other Sauces, we consign it to the Oli­tories. Note, that Persley is not so hurtful to the Eyes as is re­ported. See Sellery.

49. Pimpernel, Pimpinella; eaten by the French and Italians, is our common Burnet; of so [Page 55] chearing and exhilarating a qua­lity, and so generally commended, as (giving it admittance into all Sallets) 'tis pass'd into a Pro­verb:

But a fresh sprig in Wine, recom­mends it to us as its most genuine Element.

50. Purslain, Portulaca; espe­cially the Golden whilst tender, next the Seed-leaves, with the young Stalks, being eminently moist and cooling, quickens Ap­petite, asswages Thirst, and is very profitable for hot and Bi­lious Tempers, as well as Sanguine, and generally entertain'd in all our Sallets, mingled with the hotter Herbs: 'Tis likewise fa­miliarly eaten alone with Oyl and [Page 56] Vinegar; but with moderation, as having been sometimes found to corrupt in the Stomach, which being Pickl'd 'tis not so apt to do. Some eat it cold, after it has been boil'd, which Dr. Muffet would have in Wine, for Nou­rishment.

The Shrub Halimus, is a sort of Sea-Purslain: The newly peeping Leaves (tho' rarely us'd) afford a no unpleasant Acidulae, even during Winter, if it prove not too severe.

Purslain is accus'd for being hurtful to the Teeth, if too much eaten.

51. Radish, Raphanus. Albeit rather Medicinal, than so com­mendably accompanying our Sallets (wherein they often slice the larger Roots) are much inferior to the young Seedling Leaves and Roots; [Page 57] raised on the^* Monthly Hot-Bed, almost the whole Year round, affording a very grate­ful mordacity, and sufficiently attempers the cooler Ingredients: The bigger Roots (so much de­sir'd) should be such as being transparent, eat short and quick, without stringiness, and not too biting. These are eaten alone with Salt only, as carrying their Peper in them; and were indeed by Dioscorides and Pliny cele­brated above all Roots whatso­ever; insomuch as in the Delphic Temple, there was Raphanus ex auro dicatus, a Radish of solid Gold; and 'tis said of Moschius, that he wrote a whole Volume in their praise. Notwithstand­ing all which, I am sure, the great^† Hippocrates utterly con­demns them, as Vitiosae, innatan­tes [Page 58] ac oegre concoctiles. And the Naturalist calls it Cibus Illiberalis, fitter for Rustics than Gentlemens Tables. And indeed (besides that they decay the Teeth) ex­perience tells us, that as the Prince of Physicians writes, It is hard of Digestion, Inimicous to the Stomach, causing nauseous Eructations, and sometimes Vo­miting, tho' otherwise Diuretic, and thought to repel the Vapours of Wine, when the Wits were at their genial Club. Dioscorides and^† Galen differ about their Eating; One prescribes it be­fore Meals, the latter for after. Some macerate the young Roots in warm Milk, to render them more Nourishing.

There is a Raphanus rusticanus, the Spanish black Horse-Radish, of a hotter quality, and not so [Page 59] friendly to the Head; but a no­table Antiscorbutic, which may be eaten all the Winter, and on that account an excellent Ingre­dient in the Composition of Mu­stard; as are also the thin Sha­vings, mingled with our cold Herbs. And now before I have done with this Root, for an ex­cellent and universal Condiment. Take Horse-Radish, whilst newly drawn out of the Earth, other­wise laid to steep in Water a competent time; then grate it on a Grater which has no bot­tom, that so it may pass thro', like a Mucilage, into a Dish of Earthen Ware: This temper'd with Vinegar, in which a little Sugar has been dissolv'd, you have a Sauce supplying Mustard to the Sallet, and serving like­wise for any Dish besides.

[Page 60]52. Rampion, Rapunculus, or the Esculent Campanula: The ten­der Roots eaten in the Spring, like those of Radishes, but much more Nourishing.

53. Rocket, Eruca Spanish; hot and dry, to be qualified with Lettuce, Purcelain, and the rest, &c. See Tarragon.

Roccombo. See Onions.

54. Rosemary, Rosmarinus; Soverainly Cephalic, and for the Memory, Sight, and Nerves, in­comparable: And tho' not us'd in the Leaf with our Sallet fur­niture, yet the Flowers, a little bitter, are always welcome in Vinegar; but above all, a fresh Sprig or two in a Glass of Wine. See Flowers.

[Page 61]55. Sage, Salvia; hot and dry. The tops of the Red, well pick'd and wash'd (being often defil'd with Venomous Slime, and al­most imperceptible Insects) with the Flowers, retain all the noble Properties of the other hot Plants; more especially for the Heád, Me­mory, Eyes, and all Paralytical Affections. In short, 'tis a Plant endu'd with so many and won­derful Properties, as that the as­siduous use of it is said to render Men Immortal: We cannot there­fore but allow the tender Sum­mities of the young Leaves; but principally the Flowers in our cold Sallet; yet so as not to do­mineer.

Salsifax, Scorzonera. See Vi­pergrass.

56. Sampier, Crithmum: That growing on the Sea-Cliffs (as [Page 62] about Dover, &c.) not only Pickl'd, but crude and cold, when young and tender (and such as we may Cultivate, and have in our Kitchin-Gardens, al­most the Year round) is in my Opinion, for its Aromatic, and other excellent Vertues and Ef­fects. against the Spleen, Clean­sing the Passages, sharpning Appe­tite, &c. so far preferrable to most of our hotter Herbs, and Sallet-Ingredients, that I have long wonder'd, it has not been long since propagated in the Potagere, as it is in France; from whence I have often receiv'd the Seeds, which have prosper'd better, and more kindly with me, than what comes from our own Coasts: It does not indeed Pickle so well, as being of a more tender Stalk and Leaf: But in all other re­spects for composing Sallets, it has nothing like it.

[Page 63]57. Scalions, Ascalonia, Cepae; The French call them Appetites, which it notably quickens and stirs up: Corrects Crudities, and promotes Concoction. The Ita­lians steep them in Water, mince, and eat them cold with Oyl, Vinegar, Salt, &c.

58. Scurvy-grass, Cochlearia, of the Garden, but especially that of the Sea, is sharp, biting, and hot; of Nature like Nastur­tium, prevalent in the Scorbute. A few of the tender Leaves may be admitted in our Composition. See Nasturtium Indicum.

59. Sellery, Apium Italicum, (and of the Petroseline Family) was formerly a stranger with us (nor very long since in Italy) is an hot and more generous sort of Macedonian Persley, or Smallage. The tender Leaves of the Blancht [Page 64] Stalk do well in our Sallet, as likewise the slices of the whiten'd Stems, which being crimp and short, first peel'd and slit long wise, are eaten with Oyl, Vinegar, Salt, and Peper; and for its high and grateful Taste, is ever plac'd in the middle of the Grand Sal­let, at our Great Mens Tables, and Praetors Feasts, as the Grace of the whole Board. Caution is to be given of a small red Worm, often lurking in these Stalks, as does the green in Fennil.

Shallots. See Onion.

60. Skirrets, Sisarum; hot and moist, corroborating, and good for the Stomach, exceed­ingly nourishing, wholsome and delicate; of all the Root-kind, not subject to be Windy, and so valued by the Emperor Tiberius, that he accepted them for Tri­bute.

This excellent Root is seldom eaten raw; but being boil'd, stew'd, roasted under the Em­bers, bak'd in Pies, whole, sliced, or in pulp, is very acceptable to all Palates. 'Tis reported they were heretofore something bitter; See what Culture and Education effects!

61. Sorrel, Acetosa: of which there are divers kinds. The French Acetocella, with the round Leaf, growing plentifully in the North of England; Roman Ox­alis; the broad German, &c. but the best is of Green-Land: by nature Cold, Abstersive, Acid, sharpning Appetite, asswages Heat, cools the Liver, streng­thens the Heart; is an Antiscor­butic, resisting Putrefaction, and imparting so grateful a quickness to the rest, as supplies the want of Orange, Limon, and other Omphacia, and therefore never [Page 66] to be excluded. Vide Wood-Sorrel.

62. Sow-thistle, Sonchus; of the Intybus-kind. Galen was us'd to eat it as Lettuce; exceed­ingly welcome to the late Mo­rocco Ambassador and his Re­tinue.

63. Sparagus, Asparagus (ab Asperitate) temperately hot, and moist; Cordial, Diuretic, easie of Digestion, and next to Flesh, nothing more nourishing, as Sim. Sethius, an excellent Physi­cian holds. They are sometimes, but very seldom, eaten raw with Oyl, and Vinegar; but with more delicacy (the bitterness first ex­hausted) being so speedily boil'd, as not to lose the verdure and agreeable tenderness; which is done by letting the Water boil, before you put them in. I do not esteem the Dutch great and [Page 67] larger sort (especially rais'd by the rankness of the Beds) so sweet and agreeable, as those of a moderate size.

64. Spinach, Spinachia: of old not us'd in Sallets, and the oft­ner kept out the better; I speak of the crude: But being boil'd to a Pult, and without other Water than its own moisture, is a most excellent Condiment with Butter, Vinegar, or Limon, for almost all sorts of boil'd Flesh, and may accompany a Sick Man's Diet. 'Tis Laxative and Emollient, and therefore profitable for the Aged, and (tho' by original a Spaniard) may be had at almost any Season, and in all places.

Stone-Crop, Sedum Minus▪ See Trick-Madame.

[Page 68]65. Succory, Cichorium, an Intube; erratic and wild, with a narrow dark Leaf, different from the Sative, tho' probably by cul­ture only; and for being very bitter, a little edulcorated with Sugar and Vinegar, is by some eaten in the Summer, and more grateful to the Stomach than the Palate. See. Endive.

66. Tansy, Tanacetum; hot and cleansing; but in regard of its domineering relish, sparingly mixt with our cold Sallet, and much fitter (tho' in very small quantity) for the Pan, being qua­lified with the Juices of other fresh Herbs, Spinach, Green Corn, Violet, Primrose-Leaves, &c. at entrance of the Spring, and then fried brownish, is eaten hot with the Juice of Orange and Sugar, as one of the most agreeable of all the boil'd Herbaceous Dishes.

[Page 69]67. Tarragon, Draco Herba, of Spanish Extraction; hot and spicy: The Tops and young Shoots, like those of Rochet, ne­ver to be secluded our Composi­tion, especially where there is much Lettuce. 'Tis highly cor­dial and friendly to the Head, Heart, Liver, correcting the weak­ness of the Ventricle, &c.

68. Thistle, Carduus Mariae; our Lady's milky or dappl'd Thistle, disarm'd of its Prickles, is worth esteem: The young Stalk about May, being peel'd and soak'd in Water, to extract the bitterness, boil'd or raw, is a very wholsome Sallet, eaten with Oyl, Salt, and Peper: some eat them sodden in proper Broath, or bak'd in Pies, like the Arti­choak; but the tender Stalk boil'd or fry'd, some preferr; both Nou­rishing and Restorative.

[Page 70] [...]9. Trick-Madame, Sedum mi­ [...]us, Stone-Crop; is cooling and moist, grateful to the Stomach. The Cimata and Tops, when young and tender, dress'd as Purselane, is a frequent Ingredient in our cold Sallet.

70. Turnep, Rapum; moderately hot and moist: Napus; the long Navet is certainly the most deli­cate of them, and best Nourish­ing. Pliny speaks of no fewer than six sorts, and of several Co­lours; some of which were su­spected to be artificially tinged. But with us, the yellow is pre­ferr'd; by others the red Bohe­mian. But of whatever kind, being sown upon the Hot-bed, and no bigger than seedling Ra­dish, they do excellently in Com­position; as do also the Stalks of the common Turnep, when first beginning to Bud.

And here should not be for­gotten, that wholsome, as well as agreeable sort of Bread, we are^* taught to make; and of which we have eaten at the greatest Persons Tables, hardly to be distinguish'd from the best of Wheat.

Let the Turneps first be peel'd, and boil'd in Water till soft and tender; then strongly pressing out the Juice, mix them together, and when dry (beaten or pound­ed very fine) with their weight of Wheat-Meal, season it as you do other Bread, and knead it up; then letting the Dough re­main a little to ferment, fashion the Paste into Loaves, and bake it like common Bread.

Some roast Turneps in a Paper under the Embers, and eat them with Sugar and Butter.

[Page 72]71. Vine, Vitis, the Capreols, Tendrels, and Claspers (like those of the Hop, &c.) whilst very young, have an agreeable Acid, which may be eaten alone, or with other Sallet.

72. Viper-grass, Tragopogon, Scorzonera, Salsifex, &c. tho' Medi­cinal, and excellent against the Palpitation of the Heart, Faint­ings, Obstruction of the Bowels, &c. are besides a very sweet and plea­sant Sallet; being laid to soak out the bitterness, then peel'd, may be eaten raw, or Condited; but best of all stew'd with Mar­row, Spice, Wine, &c. as Arti­choak, Skirrets, &c. sliced or whole. They likewise may bake, fry, or boil them; a more ex­cellent Root there is hardly grow­ing.

[Page 73]73. Wood-Sorrel, Trifolium acetosum, or Alleluja, of the na­ture of other Sorrels.

To all which might we add sundry more, formerly had in deliciis, since grown obsolete or quite neglected with us: As a­mong the noblest Bulbs, that of the Tulip; a Root of which has been valued not to eat, but for the Flower (and yet eaten by mistake) at more than an hun­dred Pounds. The young fresh Bulbs are sweet and high of taste.

The Asphodil or Daffodil; a Sallet so rare in Hesiod's Days, that Lobel thinks it the Parsnep, tho' not at all like it; however it was (with the Mallow) taken anciently for any Edule-Root.

The Ornithogalons roasted, as they do Chestnuts, are eaten by the Italians, the wild yellow [Page 74] especially, with Oyl, Vinegar, and Peper. And so the small tuberous Roots of Gramen Amygdalosum, which they also roast, and make an Emulsion of, to use in Broaths as a great Restorative. The Oxy­lapathum, not us'd of old; in the time of Galen was eaten fre­quently. As also Dracontium, with the Mordicant Arum Theophrasti, which Dodonaeus teaches how to Dress. Nay, divers of the Satyrions, which some condited with Sugar, others boil'd in Milk for a great Nourisher, now discarded. But what think we of the Cicuta, which there are who reckon a­mong Sallet Herbs? But what­ever it is in any other Country, 'tis certainly Mortiferous in ours. To these add the Viola Matrona­lis, Radix Lunaria, &c. nay, the Green Popy, by most accoun­ted among the deadly Poysons: How cautious then ought our Sallet-Gatherers to be, in reading [Page 75] ancient Authors; lest they hap­pen to be impos'd on, where they treat of Plants, that are fa­miliarly eaten in other Countries, and among other Nations and People of more robust and strong Constitutions? besides the hazard of being mistaken in the Names of divers Simples, not as yet ful­ly agreed upon among the Learned in Botany.

There are besides several re­maining, which tho' Abdicated here with us, find Entertainment still in Foreign Countries: As the large Heliotrope and Sun-flower (e're it comes to expand, and shew its golden Face) which be­ing dress'd as the Artichoak, is eaten for a dainty. This I add as a new Discovery. I once made Macaroons with the ripe blanch'd Seeds, but the Turpen­tine did so domineer over all, that it did not answer expectati­on. The Radix Personata mount­ing [Page 76] with their young Heads. Lysimachia siliquosa glabra minor, when fresh and tender, begins to come into the Sallet-Tribe. The pale whiter Popy, is eaten by the Genouese. By the Spaniards, the tops of Wormwood with Oyl alone, and without so much as Bread; profitable indeed to the Stomach, but offensive to the Head: As is also Coriander and Rue, which Galen was accustom'd to eat raw, and by it self, with Oyl and Salt, as exceedingly grate­ful, as well as wholsome, and of great vertue against Infection. Pliny, I remember, reports it to be of such effect for the Preser­vation of Sight; that the Painters of his Time, us'd to devour a great quantity of it. And it is still by the Italians frequently mingled among their Sallets. The Lapatha Personata (common Bur­dock) comes now and then to the best Tables, about April, and [Page 77] when young, before the Burrs and Clots appear, being strip'd, and the bitterness soaked out, treated as the Chardoon, is eaten in Poiverade; Some also boil them. More might here be reckon'd up, but these may suf­fice; since as we find some are left off, and gone out, so others be introduc'd and come in their room, and that in much greater Plenty and Variety, than was ever known by our Ancestors. The Cucumber it self, now so u­niversally eaten, being accounted little better than Poyson, even within our Memory, as already noted.

To conclude, and after all that has been said of Plants and Salleting, formerly in great e­steem, (but since obsolete and quite rejected); What if the exalted Juice of the ancient Sil­phium should come in, and chal­lenge the Precedency? It is a [Page 78] ^* Plant formerly so highly priz'd, and rare for the richness of its Taste and other Vertues; that as it was dedicated to Apollo, and hung up in his Temple at Delphi; So we read of one single Root brought to the Emperor Nero for an extraordinary Present; and the Drug so esteem'd, that the Romans had long before amass'd a quantity of it, and kept it in the Treasury, till Julius Caesar rob'd it, and took this away, as a thing of mighty value: In a word, it was of that Account; that as a sacred Plant, those of the Cyre­naic Africa, honour'd the very Figure of it, by stamping it on the Reverse of their^† Coin; and when they would commend a [Page 79] thing for its worth to the Skies, [...], grew into a Pro­verb: Battus having been the Founder of the City Cyrene, near which it only grew. 'Tis indeed contested among the Learned Botanosophists, whether this Plant was not the same with Laserpi­tium, and the Laser it yields, the odoriferous^† Benzoin? But doubtless had we the true and genuine Silphium (for it appears to have been often sophisticated, and a spurious sort brought into Italy) it would soon recover its pristine Reputation, and that it was not celebrated so for no­thing extraordinary; since be­sides its Medicinal Vertue; it was a wonderful Corroborater of the Stomach, a Restorer of lost Ap­petite, and Masculine Vigour, &c. [Page 80] and that they made use of it al­most in every thing they eat.

But should we now really tell the World, that this precious Juice is, by many, thought to be no other than the^† Foetid Assa; our nicer Sallet-Eaters (who yet bestow as odious an Epithet on the vulgar Garlick) would cry out upon it as intolerable, and perhaps hardly believe it: But as Aristophanes has brought it in, and sufficiently describ'd it; so the Scholiast upon the place, puts it out of Controversy: And that they made use both of the Leaves, Stalk, (and Extract espe­cially) as we now do Garlick, and other Hautgouts as nauseous altogether. In the mean time, [Page 81] Garcius, Bontius, and others, as­sure us, that the Indians at this day universally sauce their Viands with it; and the Bramin's (who eat no Flesh at all) in rich their Sallets, by constantly rubbing the Dishes with it. Nor are some of our own skilful Cooks Ignorant, how to condite and use it, with the Applause of those, who, ig­norant of the Secret, have admir'd the richness of the Gust it has imparted, when it has been sub­stituted instead of all our Cipol­lati, and other seasonings of that Nature.

And thus have we done with the various Species of all such Esculents as may properly enter the Composition of our Acetaria, and cold Sallet. And if I have briefly touch'd upon their Na­tures, Degrees, and primary Qua­lities, which Intend or Remit, as to the Scale of Heat, Cold, Driness, Moisture, &c. (which is to be un­derstood [Page 82] according to the diffe­rent Texture of their component Particles) it has not been with­out what I thought necessary for the Instruction of the Gatherer, and Sallet-Dresser; how he ought to choose, sort, and mingle his Materials and Ingredients toge­ther.

What Care and Circumspecti­on should attend the choice and collection of Sallet Herbs, has been partly shew'd. I can there­fore, by no means, approve of that extravagant Fancy of some, who tell us, that a Fool is as fit to be the Gatherer of a Sallet as a Wiser Man. Because, say they, one can hardly choose amiss, pro­vided the Plants be green, young, and tender, where-ever they meet with them: But sad expe­rience shews, how many fatal Mistakes have been committed by those who took the deadly Cicutae, Hemlocks, Aconits, &c. for Gar­den [Page 83] Persley, and Parsneps; the Myrrhis Sylvestris, or Cow-Weed, for Choerophilum, (Chervil) Thap­sia for Fennel; the wild Chondrilla for Succory; Dogs-Mercury in­stead of Spinach: Papaver Corni­culatum Luteum, and horn'd Poppy for Eringo; Oenanthe aquatica for the Palustral Apium, and a world more, whose dire effects have been many times sudden Death, and the cause of Mortal Accidents to those who have eaten of them unwittingly: But supposing some of those wild and unknown Plants should not prove so deleterious and^* un­wholsome; yet may others of them annoy the Head, Brain, and Genus Nervosum, weaken the Eyes, offend the Stomach, affect the Liver, torment the Bowels, and discover their malignity in [Page 84] dangerous and dreadful Sym­ptoms. And therefore such Plants as are rather Medicinal than Nou­rishing and Refreshing, are studi­ously to be rejected. So highly necessary it is, that what we some­times find in old Books concern­ing Edules of other Countries and Climates (frequently call'd by the Names of such as are wholsome in ours, and among us) mislead not the unskilful Gather­er; to prevent which we read of divers Popes and Emperors, that had sometimes Learned Physicians for their Master-Cooks. I cannot therefore but exceedingly ap­prove of that charitable Advice of Mr. Ray ^* (Transact. Num. 238.) who thinks it the Interest of Mankind, that all Persons should be caution'd of advent'ring upon unknown Herbs and Plants to [Page 85] their Prejudice: Of such, I say, with our excellent^* Poet (a lit­tle chang'd)

The Illustrious and Learned Columna has, by observing what^† Insects did usually feed on, make Conjectures of the Nature of the Plants. But I should not so readily adventure upon it on that account, as to its wholsom­ness: For tho' indeed one may safely eat of a Peach or Abricot, after a Snail has been Taster, I question whether it might be [Page 86] so of all other Fruits and Herbs attack'd by other Insects: Nor would one conclude, the Hyoscy­amus harmless, because the Cimex feeds upon it, as the Learned Dr. Lyster has discover'd. No­tice should therefore be taken what Eggs of Insects are found adhering to the Leaves of Sallet-Herbs, and frequently cleave so firmly to them, as not easily to be wash'd off, and so not being taken notice of, passing for ac­cidental and harmless Spots only, may yet produce very ill effects.

Grillus, who according to the Doctrine of Transmigration (as Plutarch tells us) had, in his turn, been a Beast; discourses how much better he fed, and liv'd, than when he was turn'd to Man again, as knowing then, what Plants were best and most proper for him: Whilst Men, Sarcophagists (Flesh-Eaters) in all this time were yet to seek. [Page 87] And 'tis indeed very evident, that Cattel, and other [...], and herbaceous Animals which feed on Plants, are directed by their Smell, and accordingly make election of their Food: But Men (besides the Smell and Taste) have, or should have, Reason, Experience, and the Aids of Natural Philosophy to be their Guides in this Matter. We have heard of Plants, that (like the Basilisk) kill and infect by^* looking on them only; and some by the touch. The truth is, there's need of all the Senses to determine Analogically con­cerning the Vertues and Pro­perties, even of the Leaves alone of many Edule-Plants: The most [Page 88] eminent Principles of near the whole Tribe of Sallet Vegetables, inclining rather to Acid and Sowre than to any other quality, especially, Salt, Sweet, or Lu­scious. There is therefore Skill and Judgment requir'd, how to suit and mingle our Sallet-Ingre­dients, so as may best agree with the Constitution of the (vulgar­ly reputed) Humors of those who either stand in need of, or affect these Refreshments, and by so adjusting them, that as no­thing should be suffer'd to domi­neer, so should none of them lose their genuine Gust, Savour, or Vertue. To this end,

The Cooler, and moderately refreshing, should be chosen to extinguish Thirst, attemper the Blood, repress Vapours, &c.

The Hot, Dry, Aromatic, Cor­dial and friendly to the Brain, may be qualify'd by the Cold and Moist: The Bitter and Stoma­chical, [Page 89] with the Sub-acid and gentler Herbs: The Mordicant and pungent, and such as repress or discuss Flatulency (revive the Spirits, and aid Concoction;) with such as abate, and take off the keenness, mollify and recon­cile the more harsh and churlish: The mild and insipid, animated with piquant and brisk: The Astringent and Binders, with such as are Laxative and Deob­struct: The over-sluggish, raw, and unactive, with those that are Eupeptic, and promote Con­coction: There are Pectorals for the Breast and Bowels. Those of middle Nature, according as they appear to be more or less Speci­fic; and as their Characters (tho' briefly) are describ'd in our fore­going Catalogue: For notwith­standing it seem in general, that raw Sallets and Herbs have expe­rimentally been found to be the most soveraign Diet in that Ende­mial [Page 90] (and indeed with us, Epi­demical and almost universal) Contagion the Scorbute, to which we of this Nation, and most other I [...]landers are obnoxious; yet, since the Nasturtia are singly, and alone as it were, the most ef­fectual, and powerful Agents in conquering and expugning that cruel Enemy; it were enough to give the Sallet-Dresser direction how to choose, mingle, and pro­portion his Ingredients; as well as to shew what Remedies there are contain'd in our Magazine of Sallet-Plants upon all Occasions, rightly marshal'd and skilfully apply'd. So as (with our^* sweet Cowley)

We have said how necessary it is, that in the Composure of a Sallet, every Plant should come in to bear its part, without be­ing over-power'd by some Herb of a stronger Taste, so as to en­danger the native Sapor and Ver­tue of the rest; but fall into their places, like the Notes in Music, in which there should be nothing harsh or grating: And tho admitting some Discords (to distinguish and illustrate the rest) striking in the more sprightly, and sometimes gentler Notes, recon­cile all Dissonancies, and melt them into an agreeable Compo­sition. [Page 92] Thus the Comical Ma­ster-Cook, introduc'd by Damoxe­nus, when asked [...]; What Harmony there was in Meats? The very same (says he) that a Diatessaron, Di­apente, and Diapason have one to another in a Consort of Music: And that there was as great care requir'd, not to mingle^* Sapores [Page 93] minime consentientes, jarring and repugnant Tastes; looking upon him as a lamentable Ignorant, who should be no better vers'd in Democritus. The whole Scene is very diverting, as Athenaeus presents it; and to the same sense Macrobius, Saturn. lib. 1. cap. 1. In short, the main Skill of the Artist lies in this:

As our^* Paradisian Bard intro­duces Eve, dressing of a Sallet for her Angelical Guest.

Thus, by the discreet choice and mixture of the Oxo [...]on (Oyl, Vinegar, Salt, &c.) the Compo­sition is perfect; so as neither the Prodigal, Niggard, nor Insipid, should (according to the Italian Rule) prescribe in my Opinion; since One may be too profuse, the Other ⁵² over-saving, and the Third (like himself) give it no Relish at all: It may be too sharp, if it exceed a grateful Acid; too Insulse and flat, if the Pro­fusion be extream. From all which it appears, that a Wise-Man is the proper Composer of an excellent Sallet, and how ma­ny Transcendences belong to an accomplish'd Sallet-Dresser, so as to emerge an exact Critic indeed, He should be skill'd in the De­grees, Terms, and various Species [Page 95] of Tastes, according to the Scheme set us down in the Tables of the Learned^* Dr. Grew, to which I refer the Curious.

'Tis moreover to be consider'd, that Edule Plants are not in all their Tastes and Vertues alike: For as Providence has made us to consist of different Parts and Members, both Internal and Ex­ternal; so require they different Juices to nourish and supply them: Wherefore the force and activity of some Plants lie in the Root; and even the Leaves of some Bitter-Roots are sweet, and è contra. Of others, in the Stem, Leaves, Buds, Flowers, &c. Some exert their Vigour with­out Decoction; others being a lit­tle press'd or contus'd; others again Raw, and best in Consort; some alone, and per se without [Page 96] any [...], Preparation, or Mixture at all. Care therefore must be taken by the Collector, that what he gathers answer to these Qualities; and that as near as he can, they consist (I speak of the cruder Salleting) of the Oluscula, and ex foliis pubescenti­bus, or (as Martial calls them) Prototomi rudes, and very ten­derest Parts Gems, young Buds, and even first Rudiments of their several Plants; such as we some­times find in the Craws of the Wood-Culver, Stock-Dove, Par­tridge, Pheasants, and other Up­land Fowl, where we have a na­tural Sallet, pick'd, and almost dress'd to our hands.

I. Preparatory to the Dressing therefore, let your Herby Ingre­dients be exquisitely cull'd, and cleans'd of all worm-eaten, slimy, canker'd, dry, spotted, or any ways vitiated Leaves. And then that [Page 97] they be rather discreetly sprinkl'd, than over-much sob'd with Spring-Water, especially Lettuce, which Dr.^* Muffet thinks im­pairs their Vertue; but this, I suppose he means of the Cabbage-kind, whose heads are sufficient­ly protected by the outer Leaves which cover it. After washing, let them remain a while in the Cullender, to drain the superflu­ous moisture: And lastly, swing them altogether gently in a clean course Napkin; and so they will be in perfect condition to receive the Intinctus following.

II. That the Oyl, an Ingredient so indispensibly and highly ne­cessary, as to have obtain'd the name of Cibarium (and with us of Sallet-Oyl) be very clean, not high-colour'd, nor yellow; but [Page 98] with an Eye rather of a pallid Olive green, without Smell, or the least touch of rancid, or in­deed of any other sensible Taste or Scent at all; but smooth, light, and pleasant upon the Tongue; such as the genuine Omphacine, and native Luca O­lives afford, fit to allay the tart­ness of Vinegar, and other Acids, yet gently to warm and hume­ctate where it passes. Some who have an aversion to Oyl, sub­stitute fresh Butter in its stead; but 'tis so exceedingly clogging to the Stomach, as by no means to be allow'd.

III. Thirdly, That the Vinegar, and other liquid Acids, perfect­ly clear, neither sowre, Vapid or spent; be of the best Wine Vine­gar, whether Distill'd, or other­wise Aromatiz'd, and impregna­ted with the Infusion of Clove-gillyflowers, Elder, Roses, Rose­mary, [Page 99] Nasturtium, &c. inrich'd with the Vertues of the Plant.

A Verjuice not unfit for Sallet, is made by a Grape of that Name, or the green immature Clusters of most other Grapes, press'd, and put into a small Ves­sel to ferment.

IV. Fourthly, That the Salt (aliorum Condimentorum Condi­mentum, as Plutarch calls it) detersive, penetrating, quickning (and so great a resister of Pu­trefaction, and universal use, as to have sometimes merited Di­vine Epithets) be of the bright­est Bay grey-Salt; moderately dried, and contus'd, as being the least Corrosive: But of this, as of Sugar also, which some mingle with the Salt (as warming with­out heating) if perfectly refin'd, there would be no great difficul­ty; provided none, save La­dies, were of the Mess; whilst [Page 100] the perfection of Sallets, and that which gives them the name, consists in the grateful Saline A­cid-point, temper'd as is direct­ed, and which we find to be most esteem'd by judicious Palates: Some, in the mean time, have been so nice, and luxuriously cu­rious as for the heightning, and (as they affect to speak) giving the utmost poinant and Relevèe in lieu of our vulgar Salt, to re­commend and cry-up the Essen­tial-Salts and Spirits of the most Sanative Vegetables; or such of the Alcalizate and Fixt; extract­ed from the Calcination of Baulm, Rosemary, Wormwood, Scurvy-grass, &c. Affirming that without the gross Plant, we might have healing, cooling, generous, and refreshing Cordials, and all the Materia Medica out of the Salt-Cellar only: But to say no more of this Impertinence, as to Salts of Vegetables; many indeed there [Page 101] be, who reckon them not much unlike in Operation, however different in Taste, Crystals, and Figure: It being a question, whe­ther they at all retain the Ver­tues and Faculties of their Sim­ples. unless they could be made without Colcination. Franciscus Redi, gives us his Opinion of this, in a Process how they are to be prepar'd; and so does our Learned^* Doctor (whom we lately nam'd) whether Lixivial, Essential, Marine, or other facti­tious Salts of Plants, with their Qualities, and how they differ: But since 'tis thought all Fixed Salts made the common way, are little better than our common Salt, let it suffice, that our Sallet-Salt be of the best ordinary Bay-Salt, [Page 102] clean, bright, dry, and without clamminess.

Of Sugar (by some call'd In­dian-Salt) as it is rarely us'd in Sallet, it should be of the best refined, white, hard, close, yet light and sweet as the Madera's: Nourishing, preserving, cleansing, delighting the Taste, and prefer­rable to Honey for most uses. Note, That both this, Salt, and Vinegar, are to be proportion'd to the Constitution, as well as what is said of the Plants them­selves. The one for cold, the other for hot Stomachs.

V. That the Mustard (another noble Ingredient) be of the best Tewksberry; or else compos'd of the soundest and weightiest York­shire Seed, exquisitely sifted, win­now'd, and freed from the Husks, a little (not over-much) dry'd by the Fire, temper'd to the con­sistence of a Pap with Vinegar, [Page 103] in which shavings of the Horse-Radish have been steep'd: Then cutting an Onion, and putting it into a small Earthen Gally-Pot, or some thick Glass of that shape; pour the Mustard over it, and close it very well with a Cork. There be, who preserve the Flower and Dust of the bruised Seed in a well-stopp'd Glass, to temper, and have it fresh when they please. But what is yet by some esteem'd beyond all these, is compos'd of the dried Seeds of the Indian Nasturtium, reduc'd to Powder, finely bolted, and mixt with a little Levain, and so from time to time made fresh, as indeed all other Mustard should be.

Note, That the Seeds are pounded in a Mortar; or bruis'd with a polish'd Cannon-Bullet, in a large wooden Bowl-Dish, or which is most preferr'd, ground [Page 104] in a Quern contriv'd for this purpose only.

VI. Sixthly, That the Pepper (white or black) be not bruis'd to too small a Dust; which, as we caution'd, is very prejudicial. And here let me mention the Root of the Minor Pimpinella, or small Burnet Saxifrage; which being dried, is by some extoll'd beyond all other Peppers, and more wholsom.

Of other Strewings and Aro­matizers, which may likewise be admitted to inrich our Sallet, we have already spoken, where we mention Orange and Limon-peel; to which may also be ad­ded, Jamaica-Pepper, Juniper-ber­ries, &c. as of singular Vertue.

Nor here should I omit (the mentioning at least of) Saffron, which the German Housewives have a way of forming into [Page 105] Balls, by mingling it with a little Honey; which throughly dried, they reduce to Powder, and sprinkle it over their Sallets for a noble Cordial. Those of Spain and Italy, we know, generally make use of this Flower, ming­ling its golden Tincture with almost every thing they eat; But its being so apt to prevail above every thing with which 'tis blended, we little incourage its admittance into our Sallet.

VII. Seventhly, That there be the Yolks of fresh and new-laid Eggs, boil'd moderately hard, to be mingl'd and mash'd with the Mustard, Oyl, and Vinegar; and part to cut into quarters, and eat with the Herbs.

VIII. Eighthly, (according to the super-curious) that the Knife, with which the Sallet Herbs are cut (especially Oranges, Limons, &c.) [Page 106] be of Silver, and by no means of Steel, which all Acids are apt to corrode, and retain a Metalic relish of.

IX. Ninthly and Lastly, That the Saladiere, (Sallet-Dishes) be of Porcelane, or of the Holland-Delft-Ware; neither too deep nor shallow, according to the quantity of the Sallet Ingredients; Pewter, or even Silver, not at all so well agreeing with Oyl and Vinegar, which leave their seve­ral Tinctures. And note, That there ought to be one of the Dishes, in which to beat and mingle the Liquid Vehicles; and a second to receive the crude Herbs in, upon which they are to be pour'd; and then with a Fork and a Spoon kept continu­ally stirr'd, 'till all the Furni­ture be equally moisten'd: Some, who are Husbands of their Oyl, pour at first the Oyl [Page 107] alone, as more apt to commu­nicate and diffuse its Slipperi­ness, than when it is mingled and beaten with the Acids; which they pour on last of all; and 'tis incredible how small a quantity of Oyl (in this quality, like the gilding of Wyer) is sufficient, to imbue a very plentiful assembly of Sallet-Herbs.

The Sallet-Gatherer likewise should be provided with a light, and neatly made Withy-Dutch-Basket, divided into several Partitions.

Thus Instructed and knowing in the Apparatus; the Species, Proportions, and manner of Dressing, according to the se­veral Seasons you have in the following Table.

It being one of the Inquiries of the Noble^* Mr. Boyle, what Herbs were proper and fit to make Sallets with, and how best to order them? we have here (by the Assistance of Mr. London, His Majesty's Prin­cipal Gard'ner) reduc'd them to a competent Number, not exceed­ing Thirty Five; but which may be vary'd and inlarg'd, by taking-in, or leaving out, any other Sallet-Plant, menti­on'd in the foregoing List, under these three or four Heads.

But all these sorts are not to be had at the very same time, and therefore we have divided them into the Quarterly Seasons, each containing and lasting Three Months.

Note, That by Parts is to be understood a Pugil; which is no more than one does usually take up between the Thumb and the two next Fingers. By Fascicule a reasonable full Grip, or Handful.

Farther Directions concerning the proper Seasons, for the Gathering, Composing, and Dressing of a Sallet.

AND First, as to the Season, both Plants and Roots are then properly to be Gather'd, and in prime, when most they abound with Juice and in Vi­gour: Some in the Spring, or a little anticipating it before they Blossom, or are in full Flower: Some in the Autumnal Months; which later Season many preferr, the Sap of the Herb, tho' not in such exuberance, yet as being then better concocted, and so render'd fit for Salleting, 'till the Spring begins a fresh to put forth new, and tender Shoots and Leaves.

This, indeed, as to the Root, newly taken out of the Ground is true; and therefore should such have their Germination stopt the sooner: The approaching and prevailing Cold, both Matu­ring and Impregnating them; as does Heat the contrary, which now would but exhaust them: But for those other Esculents and Herbs imploy'd in our Compositi­on of Sallets, the early Spring, and ensuing Months (till they begin to mount, and prepare to Seed) is certainly the most na­tural, and kindly Season to col­lect and accommodate them for the Table. Let none then con­sult Culpeper, or the Figure-fling­ers, to inform them when the governing Planet is in its Exal­tation; but look upon the Plants themselves, and judge of their Vertues by their own Complexi­ons.

Moreover, In Gathering, Re­spect is to be had to their Pro­portions, as provided for in the Table under that Head, be the Quality whatsoever: For tho' there is indeed nothing more wholsome than Lettuce and Mu­stard for the Head and Eyes; yet either of them eaten in excess, were highly prejudicial to them both: Too much of the first extreamly debilitating and weak­ning the Ventricle, and hastning the further decay of sickly Teeth; and of the second the Optic Nerves, and Sight it self; the like may be said of all the rest. I con­ceive therefore, a Prudent Per­son, well acquainted with the Nature and Properties of Sallet-Herbs, &c. to be both the fittest Gatherer and Composer too; which yet will require no great Cun­ning, after once he is acquainted with our Table and Catalogue.

We purposely, and in transitu only, take notice here of the Pickl'd, Muriated, or otherwise prepared Herbs; excepting some such Plants, and Proportions of them, as are of hard digestion, and not fit to be eaten altoge­ther Crude, (of which in the Ap­pendix) and among which I rec­kon Ash-keys, Broom-buds and Pods, Haricos, Gurkems, Olives, Capers, the Buds and Seeds of Nasturtia, Young Wall-nuts, Pine­apples, Eringo, Cherries, Corneli­ans, Berberries, &c. together with several Stalks, Roots, and Fruits; Ordinary Pot-herbs, Anis, Cistus Hortorum, Horminum, Pulegium, Satureia, Thyme; the intire Fa­mily of Pulse and Legumena; or other Sauces, Pies, Tarts, Omlets, Tansie, Farces, &c. Condites and Preserves with Sugar by the Hand of Ladies; tho' they are all of them the genuine Production of the Garden, and mention'd in [Page 114] our Kalendar, together with their Culture; whilst we confine our selves to such Plants and Escu­lenta as we find at hand; delight our selves to gather, and are ea­sily prepar'd for an Extemporary Collation, or to Usher in, and Accompany other (more Solid, tho' haply not more Agreeable) Dishes, as the Custom is.

But there now starts up a Que­stion, Whether it were better, or more proper, to Begin with Sallets, or End and Conclude with them? Some think the har­der Meats should first be eaten for better Concoction; others, those of easiest Digestion, to make way, and prevent Obstruction; and this makes for our Sallets, Horarii, and Fugaces Fructus (as they call 'em) to be eaten first of all, as agreeable to the general Opinion of the great Hippocrates, and Galen, and of Celsus before him. And therefore the French [Page 115] do well, to begin with their Her­baceous Pottage, and for the Cru­der, a Reason is given:

And tho' this Custom came in about Domitian's time^†, [...], they anciently did quite the contrary, ‘^‖ Gratáque nobilium Lactuca ci­borum.’ But of later Times, they were constant at the Ante-coenia, eat­ing plentifully of Sallet, especi­ally of Lettuce, and more refri­gerating Herbs. Nor without [Page 116] Cause: For drinking liberally, they were found to expell, and allay the Fumes and Vapors of the genial Compotation, the spiri­tuous Liquor gently conciliating Sleep: Besides, that being of a crude nature, more dispos'd, and apt to fluctuate, corrupt, and di­sturb a surcharg'd Stomach; they thought convenient to begin with Sallets, and innovate the ancient Usage.

The Spaniards, notwithstand­ing, eat but sparingly of Herbs at Dinner, especially Lettuce, be­ginning with Fruit, even before [Page 117] the Olio and Hot-Meats come to the Table; drinking their Wine pure, and eating the best Bread in the World; so as it seems the Question still remains undecided with them,

And now since we mention'd Fruit, there rises another Scru­ple: Whether Apples, Pears, Abricots, Cherries, Plums, and o­ther Tree, and Ort-yard-Fruit, are to be reckon'd among Sal­leting; and when likewise most [Page 118] seasonably to be eaten? But as none of these do properly be­long to our Catalogue of Herbs and Plants, to which this Dis­course is confin'd (besides what we may occasionally speak of hereafter) there is a very useful^* Treatise on that Subject alrea­dy publish [...]d. We hasten then in the next place to the Dressing, and Composing of our Sallet: For by this time, our Scholar may long to see the Rules reduc'd to Pra­ctice, and Refresh himself with what he finds growing among his own Lactuceta and other Beds of the Kitchin-Garden.

DRESSING.

I Am not ambitious of being thought an excellent Cook, or of those who set up, and value themselves, for their Skill in Sauces; such as was Mithacus a Culinary Philosopher, and other Eruditae Gulae; who read Le­ctures of Hautgouts, like the Ar­chestratus in Athenaeus: Tho' after what we find the Heroes did of old, and see them chining out the slaughter'd Ox, dressing the Meat, and do the Offices of both Cook and Butcher, (for so^* Ho­mer represents Achilles himself, and the rest of those Illustrious Greeks) I say, after this, let none reproach our Sallet-Dresser, or disdain so clean, innocent, sweet, [Page 120] and Natural a Quality; com­par'd with the Shambles Filth and Nidor, Blood and Cruelty; whilst all the World were Eaters, and Composers of Sallets in its best and brightest Age.

The Ingredients therefore ga­ther'd and proportion'd, as a­bove; Let the Endive have all its out-side Leaves stripp'd off, slicing in the White: In like manner the Sellery is also to have the hollow green Stem or Stalk trimm'd and divided; slicing-in the blanched Part, and cutting the Root into four equal Parts.

Lettuce, Cresses, Radish, &c. (as was directed) must be exquisitely pick'd, cleans'd, wash'd, and put into the Strainer; swing'd, and shaken gently, and, if you please, separately, or all together; Be­cause some like not so well the Blanch'd and Bitter Herbs, if eat­en with the rest: Others mingle [Page 121] Endive, Succory, and Rampions, without distinction, and gene­rally eat Sellery by it self, as also Sweet Fennel.

From April till September (and during all the Hot Months) may Guinny-Pepper, and Horse-Radish be left out; and therefore we only mention them in the Dres­sing, which should be in this manner.

Your Herbs being handsomly parcell'd, and spread on a clean Napkin before you, are to be mingl'd together in one of the Earthen glaz'd Dishes: Then, for the Oxolcon; Take of clear, and perfectly good Oyl-Olive, three Parts; of sharpest Vinegar (^‖sweetest of all Condiments) Limon, or Juice of Orange, one [Page 122] Part; and therein let steep some Slices of Horse-Radish, with a little Salt: Some in a separate Vinegar, gently bruise a Pod of Guinny-Pepper, straining both the Vinegars apart, to make Use of Either, or One alone, or of both, as they best like; then add as much Tewkesbury, or other dry Mustard grated, as will lie upon an Half-Crown Piece: Beat, and mingle all these very well toge­ther; but pour not on the Oyl and Vinegar, 'till immediately be­fore the Sallet is ready to be eat­en: And then with the Yolk of two new-laid Eggs (boyl'd and prepar'd, as before is taught) squash, and bruise them all into mash with a Spoon; and lastly, pour it all upon the Herbs, stir­ring, and mingling them 'till they are well and throughly imbib'd; not forgetting the Sprinklings of Aromaticks, and such Flowers, as we have already mentioned, if [Page 123] you think fit, and garnishing the Dish with the thin Slices of Horse-Radish, Red Beet, Berberries, &c.

Note, That the Liquids may be made more, or less Acid, as is most agreeable to your Taste.

These Rules, and Prescriptions duly Observ'd; you have a Sallet (for a Table of Six or Eight Persons) Dress'd, and Accommodated secundum Artem: For, as the^† Pro­verb has it,

AND now after all we have advanc'd in favour of the Her­baceous Diet, there still emerges a third inquiry; namely, Whe­ther the Use of Crude Herbs and [Page 124] Plants are so wholesom as is pre­tended?

What Opinion the Prince of Physicians had of them, we shall see hereafter; as also what the Sacred Records of elder Times seem to infer, before there were any Flesh-Shambles in the World; together with the Re­ports of such as are often conver­sant among many Nations and People, who to this Day, living on Herbs and Roots, arrive to in­credible Age, in constant Health and Vigour: Which, whether at­tributable to the Air and Climate, Custom, Constitution, &c. should be inquir'd into; especially, when we compare the Antediluvians mention'd Gen. 1.29.—the whole Fifth and Ninth Chapters, ver. 3. confining them to Fruit and wholesom Sallets: I deny not that both the Air and Earth might then be less humid and clammy, and consequently Plants, [Page 125] and Herbs better fermented, con­cocted, and less Rheumatick, than since, and presently after; to say nothing of the infinite Numbers of putrid Carcasses of Dead A­nimals, perishing in the Flood, (of which I find few, if any, have taken notice) which needs must have corrupted the Air: Those who live in Marshes, and Uligi­nous Places (like the Hundreds of Essex) being more obnoxious to Fevers, Agues, Pleurisies, and generally unhealthful: The Earth also then a very Bog, compar'd with what it likely was before that destructive Cataclysm, when Men breath'd the pure Paradisian Air, sucking in a more aethereal, nourishing, and baulmy Pabulum, so soully vitiated now, thro' the Intemperance, Luxury, and softer Education and Effeminacy of the Ages since.

Custom, and Constitution come next to be examin'd, together [Page 126] with the Qualities, and Vertue of the Food; and I confess, the two first, especially that of Constitu­tion, seems to me the more likely Cause of Health, and consequent­ly of Long-life; which induc'd me to consider of what Quali­ty the usual Sallet Furniture did more eminently consist, that so it might become more safely ap­plicable to the Temper, Humour, and Disposition of our Bodies; according to which, the various Mixtures might be regulated and proportion'd: There's no doubt, but those whose Constitutions are Cold and Moist, are natu­rally affected with Things which are Hot and Dry; as on the contrary, Hot, and Dry Com­plexions, with such as cool and refrigerate; which perhaps made the Junior Gordian (and others like him) prefer the frigidae Men­sae (as of old they call'd Sallets) which, according to Cornelius [Page 127] Celsus, is the fittest Diet for Obese and Corpulent Persons, as not so Nutritive, and apt to Pamper: And consequently, that for the Cold, Lean, and Emaciated; such Herby Ingredients should be made choice of, as warm, and cherish the Natural Heat, de­pure the Blood, breed a laudable Juice, and revive the Spirits: And therefore my Lord ^* Bacon shews what are best Raw, what Boil'd, and what Parts of Plants fittest to nourish. Galen indeed seems to exclude them all, un­less well accompanied with their due Correctives, of which we have taken care: Notwithstand­ing yet, that even the most Crude and Herby, actually Cold and Weak, may potentially be Hot, [Page 128] and Strengthning, as we find in the most vigorous Animals, whose Food is only Grass. 'Tis true in­deed, Nature has providentially mingl'd, and dress'd a Sallet for them in every Field, besides what they distinguish by Smell; nor question I, but Man at first knew what Plants and Fruits were good, before the Fall, by his Natural Sagacity, and not Experience; which since by Art, and Trial, and long Observation of their Properties and Effects, they hardly recover: But in all Events, supposing with^* Cardan, that Plants nourish little, they hurt as little. Nay, Experience tells us, that they not only hurt not at all, but exceedingly be­nefit those who use them; in­du'd as they are with such admi­rable Properties as they every [Page 129] day discover: For some Plants not only nourish laudably, but induce a manifest and wholesom Change; as Onions, Garlick, Ro­chet, &c. which are both nutri­tive and warm; Lettuce, Purse­lan, the Intybs, &c. and indeed most of the Olera, refresh and cool: And as their respective Juices being converted into the Substances of our Bodies, they be­come Aliment; so in regard of their Change and Alteration, we may allow them Medicinal; espe­cially the greater Numbers, a­mong which we all this while have skill but of very few (not only in the Vegetable Kingdom, but in the whole Materia Medica) which may be justly call'd In­fallible Specifics, and upon whose Performance we may as safely depend, as we may on such as familiarly we use for a Crude Herb Sallet; discreetly chosen, mingl'd, and dress'd accordingly: [Page 130] Not but that many of them may be improv'd, and render'd bet­ter in Broths, and Decoctions, than in Oyl, Vinegar, and other Liquids and Ingredients: But as this holds not in all, nay, per­haps in few comparatively, (pro­vided, as I said, the Choice, Mix­ture, Constitution, and Season rightly be understood) we stand up in Defence and Vindication of our Sallet, against all Attacks and Opposers whoever.

We have mentione [...] Season, and with the great Hippocrates, pronounce them more proper for the Summer, than the Win­ter; and when those Parts of Plants us'd in Sallet are yet ten­der, delicate, and impregnated with the Vertue of the Spring, to cool, refresh, and allay the Heat and Drought of the Hot and Bilious, Young and over-Sanguine, Cold, Pituit, and Me­lancholy; in a word, for Per­sons [Page 131] of all Ages, Humours, and Constitutions whatsoever.

To this of the Annual Seasons, we add that of Culture also, as of very great Importance: And this is often discover'd in the Taste, and consequently, in the Goodness of such Plants and Sal­leting, as are Rais'd and brought us fresh out of the Country, com­par'd with those which the A­varice of the Gardiner, or Lu­xury rather of the Age, tempts them to force and Resuscitate of the most desirable and deli­cious Plants.

It is certain, says a^* Learned Person, that about populous Cities, where Grounds are over­forc'd for Fruit and early Sallet­ing, nothing is more unwholsom: Men in the Country look so much more healthy and fresh; [Page 132] and commonly are longer liv'd than those who dwell in the Middle and Skirts of vast and crowded Cities, inviron'd with rotten Dung, loathsome and common Lay-Stalls; whose noi­some Steams, wafted by the Wind, poison and infect the ambient Air and vital Spirits, with those pernicious Exhalations, and Materials of which they make the Hot Beds for the rai­sing those Praecoces indeed, and forward Plants and Roots for the wanton Palate; but which being corrupt in the Original, cannot but produce malignant and ill Effects to those who feed upon them. And the same was well observ'd by the Editor of our famous Roger Bacon's Trea­tise concerning the Cure of Old Age, and Preservation of Youth: There being nothing so proper for Sallet Herbs and other Edule Plants, as the Genial and Natural Mould, [Page 133] impregnate, and enrich'd with well-digested Compost (when requisite) without any Mixture of Garbage, odious Carrion, and other filthy Ordure, not half con­sum'd and ventilated and indeed reduc'd to the next Disposition of Earth it self, as it should be; and that in Sweet,^‖ Rising, Aery and moderately Perflatile Grounds; where not only Plants but Men do last, and live much longer. Nor doubt I, but that every body would prefer. Corn, and other Grain rais'd from Marle, Chalk, Lime, and other sweet Soil and Amendments, be­fore that which is produc'd from the Dunghil only. Beside, Expe­rience shews, that the Rankness of Dung is frequently the Cause of Blasts and Smuttiness; as if the Lord of the Ʋniverse, by an [Page 134] Act of visible Providence would check us, to take heed of all un­natural Sordidness and Mixtures We sensibly find this Difference in Cattle and their Pasture; but most powerfully in Fowl, from such as are nourish'd with Corn, sweet and dry Food: And as of Vegetable Meats, so of Drinks, 'tis observ'd, that the same Vine, according to the Soil, produces a Wine twice as heady as in the same, and a less forc'd Ground; and the like I believe of all o­ther Fruit, not to determine a­ny thing of the Peach said to be Poison in Persia; because 'tis a Vulgar Error.

Now, because among other things, nothing more betrays its unclean and spurious Birth than what is so impatiently longed af­ter as Early Asparagus, &c.^* Dr. Lister, (according to his commu­nicative [Page 135] and obliging Nature) has taught us how to raise such as our Gardiners cover with nasty Litter, during the Winter; by rather laying of Clean and Sweet Wheat-Straw upon the Beds, su­per-seminating and over-strowing them thick with the Powder of bruised Oyster-Shells, &c. to pro­duce that most tender and deli­cious Sallet. In the mean while, if nothing will satisfie save what is rais'd Ex tempore, and by Mi­racles of Art so long before the time; let them study (like the Adepti) as did a very ingenious Gentleman whom I knew; That having some Friends of his acci­dentally come to Dine with him, and wanting an early Sallet, Before they sate down to Table, sowed Lettuce and some other Seeds in a certain Composition of Mould he had prepared; which within the space of two Hours, being risen near two Inches high, [Page 136] presented them with a delicate and tender Sallet; and this, with­out making use of any nauseous or fulsome Mixture; but of In­gredients not altogether so cheap perhaps. Honoratus Faber (no mean Philosopher) shews us ano­ther Method by sowing the Seeds steep'd in Vinegar, casting on it a good Quantity of Bean-Shell Ash­es, irrigating them with Spirit of Wine, and keeping the Beds well cover'd under dry Matts. Such another Process for the raising early Peas and Beans, &c. we have the like^* Accounts of: But were they practicable and certain, I confess I should not be fonder of them, than of such as the ho­nest industrious Country-man's Field, and Good-Wife's Garden seasonably produce; where they are legitimately born in just [Page 137] time, and without forcing Na­ture.

But to return again to Health and Long Life, and the Whole­somness of the Herby-Diet,^* John Beverovicius, a Learn'd Physician (out of Peter Moxa, a Spaniard) treating of the extream Age, which those of America usually arrive to, asserts in behalf of Crude and Natural Herbs: Di­philus of old, as^† Athenaeus tells us, was on the other side, against all the Tribe of Olera in general; and Cardan of late (as already no­ted) no great Friend to them; Affirming Flesh-Eaters to be much wiser and more sagacious. But this his^‖ Learned Antagonist utterly denies; Whole Nations, Flesh-Devourers (such as the far­thest Northern) becoming Heavy, [Page 138] Dull, Unactive, and much more Stupid than the Southern; and such as feed much on Plants, are more Acute, Subtil, and of deeper Pene­tration: Witness the Chaldaeans, Assyrians, Aegyptians, &c. And further argues from the short Lives of most Carnivorous Ani­mals, compared with Grass Fee­ders, and the Ruminating kind; as the Hart, Camel, and the longae­vous Elephant, and other Feeders on Roots and Vegetables.

I know what is pretended of our Bodies being composed of Dissimilar Parts, and so requiring Variety of Food: Nor do I re­ject the Opinion, keeping to the same Species; of which there is infinitely more Variety in the Herby Family, than in all Nature besides: But the Danger is in the Generical Difference of Flesh, Fish, Fruit, &c. with other made Dishes and exotic Sauces; which a wanton and expensive Luxury [Page 139] has introduc'd; debauching the Stomach, and sharpening it to devour things of such difficult Concoction, with those of more easie Digestion, and of contrary Substances, more than it can well dispose of: Otherwise Food of the same kind would do us little hurt: So true is that of^* Celsus, Eduntur facilius; ad concoctionem autem materiae, genus, & modus pertineat. They are (says he) easily eaten and taken in: But regard should be had to their Di­gestion, Nature, Quantity and Quality of the Matter. As to that of Dissimilar Parts, requi­ring this contended for Variety: If we may judge by other Ani­mals (as I know not why we may not) there is (after all the late Contests about Comparative Ana­tomy,) so little Difference in the [Page 140] Structure, as to the Use of those Parts and Vessels destin'd to serve the Offices of Concoction, Nu­trition, and other Separations for Supply of Life, &c. That it does not appear why there should need any Difference at all of Food; of which the most simple has ever been esteem'd the best, and most wholsome; according to that of the^† Naturalist, Hominis cibus utilissimus simplex. And that so it is in other Animals, we find by their being so seldom afflicted with Mens Distempers, deriv'd from the Causes above-mention­ed: And if the many Diseases of Horses seem to^‖ contradict it, I am apt to think it much imputa­ble to the Rack and Manger, the dry and wither'd Stable Com­mons, [Page 141] which they must eat or starve, however qualified; be­ing restrained from their Natural and Spontaneous Choice, which Nature and Instinct directs them to: To these add the Closeness of the Air, standing in an almost continu'd Posture; besides the fulsome Drenches, unseasonable Watrings, and other Practices of ignorant Horse-Quacks and surly Grooms: The Tyranny and cruel Usage of their Masters in tiring Journeys, hard, labouring and un­merciful Treatment, Heats, Colds, &c. which wear out and destroy so many of those useful and ge­nerous Creatures before the time: Such as have been better us'd, and some, whom their more gentle and good-natur'd Patrons have in recompence of their long and faithful Service, dismiss'd, and sent to Pasture for the rest of their Lives (as the Grand-Seignior does his Meccha-Camel) [Page 142] have been known to live forty, fifty, nay (says^* Aristotle, no fewer than sixty five Years. When once Old Par came to change his simple, homely Diet, to that of the Court and Arundel-House, he quickly sunk and dropt away: For, as we have shew'd, the Stomack easily concocts plain, and familiar Food; but finds it an hard and difficult Task, to vanquish and overcome Meats of^‖ different Substances: Whence we so often see temperate and abstemicus Persons, of a Colle­giate Diet, very healthy; Hus­bandmen and laborious People, more robust, and longer liv'd than others of an uncertain ex­travagant Diet.

was Osellus's Memorandum in the Poet.

Not that Variety (which God has certainly ordain'd to delight and assist our Appetite) is unne­cessary, nor any thing more grateful, refreshing and proper for those especially who lead se­dentary and studious Lives; Men of deep Thought, and such as are otherwise disturb'd with Se­cular Cares and Businesses, which [Page 144] hinders the Function of the Sto­mach and other Organs: whilst those who have their Minds free, use much Exercise, and are more active, create themselves a natu­ral Appetite, which needs little or no Variety to quicken and con­tent it.

And here might we attest the Patriarchal World, nay, and many Persons since; who living very temperately came not much short of the Post-Diluvians them­selves, counting from Abraham to this Day; and some exceeding them, who liv'd in pure Air, a constant, tho' course and simple Diet; wholsome and uncom­pounded Drink; that never ta­sted Brandy or Exotic Spirits; but us'd moderate Exercise, and observ'd good Hours: For such a one a curious Missionary tells us of in Persia; who had attain'd the Age of four hundred Yea [...]s, (a full Century beyond the [Page 145] famous Johannes de Temporibus) and was living Anno 1636, and so may be still for ought we know. But, to our Sallet.

Certain it is, Almighty God ordaining^* Herbs and Fruit for the Food of Men, speaks not a Word concerning Flesh for two thousand Years. And when af­ter, by the Mosaic Constitution, there were Distinctions and Pro­hibitions about the legal Un­cleanness of Animals; Plants, of what kind soever, were left free and indifferent for every one to choose what best he lik'd. And what if it was held undecent and unbecoming the Excellency of Man's Nature, before Sin en­tred, and grew enormously wic­ked, that any Creature should be put to Death and Pain for him who had such infinite [Page 146] store of the most delicious and nourishing Fruit to delight, and the Tree of Life to sustain him? Doubtless there was no need of it. Infants sought the Mother's Nip­ple as soon as born; and when grown, and able to feed them­selves, run naturally to Fruit, and still will choose to eat it ra­ther than Flesh and certainly might so persist to do, did not Custom prevail, even against the very Dictates of Nature: Nor, question I, but that what the Heathen^† Poets recount of the Happiness of the Golden Age, sprung from some Tradition they had received of the Paradi­sian Fare, their innocent and healthful Lives in that delight­ful Garden. Let it suffice, that Adam, and his yet innocent Spouse, fed on Vegetables and other Hor­tulan [Page 147] Productions before the fa­tal Lapse; which, by the way, many Learned Men will hardly allow to have fallen out so soon as those imagine who scarcely grant them a single Day; nay, nor half a one, for their Conti­nuance in the State of Original Perfection; whilst the sending him into the Garden; Instructi­ons how he should keep and cul­tivate it; Edict, and Prohibition concerning the Sacramental Trees; the Imposition of^* Names, so apposite to the Nature of such an Infinity of Living Creatures (requiring deep Inspection) the Formation of Eve, a meet Com­panion to relieve his Solitude; the Solemnity of their Marriage; the Dialogues and Success of the crafty Tempter, whom we cannot reasonably think made but one [Page 148] Assault: And that they should so quickly forget the Injunction of their Maker and Benefactor; break their Faith and Fast, and all o­ther their Obligations in so few Moments. I say, all these Par­ticulars consider'd; Can it be supposed they were so soon trans­acted as those do fancy, who take their Measure from the Sum­mary Moses gives us, who did not write to gratifie Mens Curio­sity, but to transmit what was necessary and sufficient for us to know.

This then premis'd (as I see no Reason why it should not) and that during all this Space they liv'd on Fruits and Sallets; 'tis little probable, that after their Transgression, and that they had forfeited their Dominion over the Creature (and were sen­tenc'd and exil'd to a Life of Sweat and Labour on a cursed and ungrateful Soil) the offend­ed [Page 149] God should, regale them with Pampering Flesh, or so much as suffer them to slay the more innocent Animal: Or, that if at any time they had Permission, it was for any thing save Skins to cloath them, or in way of Adoration, or Holocaust for Expiation, of which nothing of the Flesh was to be eaten. Nor did the Brutes themselves subsist by Prey (tho' pleas'd per­haps with Hunting, without de­stroying their Fellow Creatures) as may be presum'd from their long Seclusion of the most Carnivo­rous among them in the Ark.

Thus then for two thousand Years, the Universal Food was Herbs and Plants; which abun­dantly recompens'd the Want of Flesh and other luxurious Meats, which shortened their Lives so many hundred Years; the^* [...] of the Patriarchs, which [Page 150] was an Emblem of Eternity as it were (after the new Concessi­on) beginning to dwindle to a little Span, a Nothing in Com­parison.

On the other side, examine we the present Usages of several o­ther Heathen Nations; particu­larly (besides the Aegyptian Priests of old) the Indian Bramins, Relicts of the ancient Gymnosophists to this Day, observing the Instituti­ons of their Founder. Flesh, we know was banish'd the Plato­nic Tables, as well as from those of Pythagoras; (See^† Porphyry and their Disciples) tho' on different Accounts. Among others of the Philosophers, from Xenocrates, Polemon, &c. we hear of many. The like we find in^* Clement A­lexand. ^† Eusebius names more. Zeno, Archinomus, Phraartes, Chi­ron, [Page 151] and others, whom Laertius reckons up. In short, so very many, especially of the Christian Profession, that some, even of the ancient^* Fathers themselves, have almost thought that the Permission of eating Flesh to Noah and his Sons, was granted them no otherwise than Repudia­tion of Wives was to the Jews, namely, for the Hardness of their Hearts, and to sati [...]fie a murmuring Generation that a little after loathed Manna it self, and Bread from Heaven. So dif­ficult a thing it is to subdue an unruly Appetite; which not­withstanding^‖ Seneca thinks not so hard a Task; where speaking of the Philosopher Sextius, and Socion's (abhorring Cruelty and Intemperance) he celebrates the [Page 152] Advantages of the Herby and Sallet Diet, as Physical, and Na­tural Advancers of Health and o­ther Blessings; whilst Abstinence from Flesh deprives Men of no­thing but what Lions, Vultures, Beasts and birds of Prey, blood and gorge themselves withal. The whole Epistle deserves the Reading, for the excellent Ad­vice he gives on this and other Subjects; and how from many troublesome and slavish Imperti­nencies, grown into Habit and Custom (old as he was) he had Emancipated and freed himself: Be this apply'd to our present ex­cessive Drinkers of Foreign and Exotic Liquors. And now

I am sufficiently sensible how far, and to how little purpose I am gone on this Topic: The Ply is long since taken, and our raw Sallet deckt in its best Trim, is never like to invite Men who once have tasted Flesh to [Page 153] quit and abdicate a Custom which has now so long obtain'd. Nor truly do I think Conscience at all concern'd in the Matter, upon any Account of Distinction of Pure and Impure; tho' seri­ously consider'd (as Sextius held) rationi magis congrua, as it re­gards the cruel Butcheries of so many harmless Creatures; some of which we put to merciless and needless Torment, to accommo­date them for exquisite and un­common Epicurism. There lies else no positive Prohibition; Discrimination of Meats being^* condemn'd as the Doctrine of Devils: Nor do Meats commend us to God. One eats quid vult (of every thing:) another Olera, and of Sallets only: But this is not my Business, further than to [Page 154] shew how possible it is by so many Instances and Examples, to live on wholsome Vegetables, both long and happily: For so

As to the other part of the Controversie, which concerns us, [...], and Occidental Blood-Eaters; some Grave and Learn'd Men of late seem to scruple the present Usage, whilst they [Page 156] see the Prohibition appearing, and to carry such a Face of An­tiquity, ^* Scripture, ^† Councils, ^‖ Canons, ^⸪ Fathers; Imperial Constitutions, and Ʋniversal Pra­ctice, unless it be among us of these Tracts of Europe, whither, with other Barbarities, that of eating the Blood and Animal Life of Creatures first was brought; and by our Mixtures with the Goths, Vandals, and other Spawn of Pagan Scy­thians; grown a Custom, and since which I am persuaded more Blood has been shed between Christians than there ever was before the Water of the Flood covered this Corner of the World: Not that I impute it only to our eat­ing Blood; but sometimes won­der how it hapned that so strict, [Page 157] so solemn and famous a Sanction not upon, a Ceremonial Account; but (as some affirm) a Moral and Perpetual from Noah, to whom the Concession of eating Flesh was granted, and that of Blood forbidden (nor to this Day once revok'd) and whilst there also seems to lie fairer Proofs than for most other Controversies agita­ted among Christians, should be so generally forgotten, and give place to so many other imperti­nent Disputes and Cavels about other superstitious Fopperies, which frequently end in Blood and cutting of Throats.

As to the Reason of this Pro­hibition, its savouring of Cruel­ty excepted, (and that by Galen, and other experienc'd Physicians, the eating Blood is condemn'd as unwholsome, causing Indigesti­on and Obstructions) if a positive Command of Almighty God were not enough, it seems sufficiently [Page 158] intimated; because Blood was the Vehicle of the Life and Ani­mal Soul of the Creature: For what other mysterious Cause, as haply its being always dedica­ted to Expiatory Sacrifices, &c. it is not for us to enquire. 'Tis said, that Justin Martyr being asked, why the Christians of his time were permitted the eating Flesh and not the Blood? readily answer'd, That God might di­stinguish them from Beasts, which eat them both together. 'Tis likewise urg'd, that by the Apo­stolical Synod (when the rest of the Jewish Ceremonies and Types were abolish'd) this Prohibition was mention'd as a thing^* neces­sary, and rank 'd with Idolatry, which was not to be local or temporary; but universally in­joyn'd to converted Strangers^† [Page 159] and Proselytes, as well as Jews: Nor could the Scandal of negle­cting to observe it, concern them alone, after so many Ages as it was and still is in continual Use; and those who transgress'd, so severely punish'd, as by an Imperial Law to be scourg'd to Blood and Bone: Indeed, so ter­rible was the Interdiction, that Idolatry excepted (which was al­so Moral and perpetual) nothing in Scripture seems to be more express. In the mean time, to relieve all other Scruples, it does not, they say, extend to that [...] of those few diluted Drops of Ex­travasated Blood, which might happen to tinge the Juice and Gravy of the Flesh (which were indeed to strain at a Gnat) but to those who devour the Venal and Arterial Blood separately, and in Quantity, as a choice Ingredient of their luxurious Preparations and Apician Tables.

But this, and all the rest will, I fear, seem but Oleribus verba fa­cere, and (as the Proverb goes) be Labour-in-vain to think of preaching down Hogs-Puddings, and usurp the Chair of Rabby-Busy: And therefore what is advanc'd in Countenance of the Antediluvian Diet, we leave to be ventilated by the Learned, and such as Curcellaeus, who has borrow'd of all the Ancient Fathers, from Tertullian, Hierom, S. Chrysostom, &c. to the later Doctors and Divines, Lyra, To­status, Dionysius Carthusianus, Pe­rerius, amongst the Pontificians; of Peter Martyr, Zanchy, Areti­us, Jac. Capellus, Hiddiger, Coc­ceius, Bochartus, &c. amongst the Protestants; and instar omnium, by Salmasius, Grotius, Vossius, Blundel: In a Word, by the Learn'd of both Persuasions, favourable enough to these Opi­nions, Cajetan and Calvin only ex­cepted, [Page 161] who hold, that as to Ab­stinence from Flesh, there was no positive Command or Imposition concerning it; but that the Use of Herbs and Fruit was recom­mended rather for Temperance sake, and the Prolongation of Life: Upon which score I am inclin'd to believe that the anci­ent [...], and other devout and contemplative Sects, distin­guish'd themselves; whose Course of Life we have at large describ'd in^* Philo (who liv'd and taught much in Gardens) with others of the Abstemious Christians; a­mong whom, Clemens brings in St. Mark the Evangelist himself, James our Lord's Brother, St. John, &c. and with several of the devout Sex, the famous Diaconesse Olympias, mention'd by Palladius (not to name the [Page 162] rest) who abstaining from Flesh, betook themselves to Herbs and Sallets upon the Account of Tem­perance, and the Vertues accompa­nying it; and concerning which the incomparable Grotius de­clares ingenuously his Opinion to be far from censuring, not only those who forbear the eating Flesh and Blood, Experimenti Causâ, and for Discipline sake; but such as forbear ex Opinione, and (because it has been the an­cient Custom) provided they blam'd none who freely us'd their Liberty; and I think he's in the right.

But leaving this Controversie (nè nimium extra oleas) it has often been objected, that Fruit, and Plants, and all other things, may since the Beginning, and as the World grows older, have univer­sally become Effoete, impair'd and divested of those Nutritious and transcendent Vertues they were [Page 163] at first endow'd withal: But as this is begging the Question, and to which we have already spo­ken; so all are not agreed that there is any, the least^* Decay in Nature, where equal Industry and Skill's apply'd. 'Tis true indeed, that the Ordo Foliatorum, Feuillantines (a late Order of Ascetic Nuns) amongst other Mortifications, made Trial upon the Leaves of Plants alone, to which they would needs con­fine themselves; but were not able to go through that thin and meagre Diet: But then it would be enquir'd whether they had not first, and from their very Childhood, been fed and brought up with Flesh, and bet­ter Sustenance till they enter'd the Cloyster; and what the Ve­getables and the Preparation of [Page 164] them were allow'd by their In­stitution? Wherefore this is no­thing to our Modern Use of Sal­lets, or its Disparagement. In the mean time, that we still think it not only possible, but likely, and with no great Art or Charge (taking Roots and Fruit into the Basket) substantially to maintain Mens Lives in Health and Vigour: For to this, and less than this, we have the Suf­frage of the great^‖ Hippocrates himself; who thinks, ab initio e­tiam hominum (as well as other A­nimals) tali victu usum esse, and needed no other Food. Nor is it an [...]nconsiderable Speculation, That since all Flesh is Grass (not in a Figurative, but Natural and Real Sense) Man himself, who lives on Flesh, and I think upon no [...] Earthly Animal whatsoever, [Page 165] but such as feed on Grass, is nou­rish'd with them still; and so be­coming an Incarnate Herb, and Innocent Canibal, may truly be said to devour himself.

We have said nothing of the Lotophagi, and such as (like St. John the Baptist, and other religi­ous Ascetics) were Feeders on the Summities and Tops of Plants: But as divers of those, and o­thers we have mention'd, were much in times of Streights, Per­secutions, and other Circumstan­ces, which did not in the least make it a Pretence, exempting them from Labour, and other Humane Offices, by ensnaring Ob­ligations and Vows (never to be useful to the Publick, in whatever Exigency) so I cannot but take Notice of what a Learned^‖ Critic speaking of Mens neglecting plain and Essential Duties, under Colour of exercising themselves [Page 166] in a more sublime Course of Pie­ty, and being Righteous above what is commanded (as those who seclude themselves in Mona­steries) that they manifest­ly discover excessive Pride, Ha­tred of their Neighbour, Impa­tience of Injuries; to which add, Melancholy Plots and Machinati­ons; and that he must be either stupid, or infected with the same Vice himself, who admires this [...], or thinks they were for that Cause the more pleasing to God. This being so, what may we then think of such Armies of Hermits, Monks and Fryars, who pretending to justifie a mistaken Zeal and meritorious Abstinence; not only by a pecu­liar Diet and Distinction of Meats (which God without Distinction has made the moderate Use of common and^* indifferent a­mongst Christians) but by other sordid Usages, and unnecessary [Page 167] Hardships, wilfully prejudice their Health and Constitution? and through a singular manner of living, dark and Saturnine; whilst they would seem to abdi­cate and forsake the World (in Imitation, as they pretend, of the Ancient Eremites) take care to settle, and build their warm and stately Nests in the most Populous Cities, and Places of Resort; ambitious doubtless of the Peo­ples Veneration and Opinion of an extraordinary Sanctity; and therefore flying the Desarts, where there is indeed no use of them; and flocking to the Towns and Cities where there is less, indeed none at all; and therefore no Marvel that the Emperour Valen­tinian banished them the Cities, and Constantine Copronymus find­ing them seditious, oblig'd them to marry, to leave their Cells, and live as did others. For of these, some there are who seldom [Page 168] speak, and therefore edifie none; sleep little, and lie hard, are clad nastily, and eat meanly (and oftentimes that which is unwhol­som) and therefore benefit none: Not because they might not, both for their own, and the Good of others, and the Publick; but be­cause they will not; Custom, and a prodigious^† Sloth accompany­ing it; which renders it so far from Penance, and the Mortifi­cation pretended, that they know not how to live, or spend their Time otherwise. This, as I have often consider'd, so was I glad to find it justly perstring'd, and taken notice of by a^* Learned Person, amongst others of his use­ful Remarks abroad.

‘These, says he, willingly re­nouncing the innocent Com­forts of Life, plainly shew it [Page 169] to proceed more from a chagrin and morose Humour, than from any true and serious Principle of sound Religion; which teaches Men to be useful in their Gene­rations, sociable and commu­nicative, unaffected, and by no means singular and fantastic in Garb and Habit, as are these (forsooth) Fathers (as they af­fect to be call'd)’ spending their Days in idle and fruitless Forms, and tedious Repetitions; and thereby thinking to merit the Reward of those Ancient, and truly pious Solitaries, who, God knows, were driven from their Countries and Repose, by the Incursions of barbarous Nations (whilst these have no such Cause) and compell'd to Austerities, not of their own chusing and making, but the publick Calami­ty; and to labour with their Hands for their own, and others necessary Support, as well as [Page 170] with their Prayers and holy Lives, Examples to all the World: And some of these in­deed (besides the Solitaries of the Thebaid, who wrought for abundance of poor Christians, sick, and in Captivity) I might bring in, as such who deserv'd to have their Names preserv'd; not for their rigorous Fare, and un­couth Disguises; but for teach­ing that the Grace of Tempe­rance and other Vertues, consist­ed in a cheerful, innocent, and profitable Conversation.

And now to recapitulate what other Prerogatives the Hortulan Provision has been ce­lebrated for, besides its Anti­quity, Health and Longaevity of the Antediluvians; that Tem­perance, Frugality, Leisure, Ease, and innumerable other Vertues and Advantages, which accompany it, are no less at­tributable to it. Let us hear [Page 171] our excellent Botanist ^* Mr. Ray.

‘The Use of Plants (says he) is all our Life long of that uni­versal Importance and Concern, that we can neither live nor sub­sist in any Plenty with Decency, or Conveniency or be said to live indeed at all without them: what­soever Food is necessary to sustain us, whatsoever contributes to delight and refresh us, are sup­ply'd and brought forth out of that plentiful and abundant store: and ah, how much more innocent, sweet and healthful, is a Table cover'd with these, than with all the reeking Flesh of butcher'd [Page 172] and slaughter'd Animals! Cer­tainly Man by Nature was ne­ver made to be a Carnivorous Creature; nor is he arm'd at all for Prey and Rapin, with gag'd and pointed Teeth and crooked Claws, sharpned to rend and tear: But with gentle Hands to gather Fruit and Ve­getables, and with Teeth to chew and eat them: Nor do we so much as read the Use of Flesh for Food, was at all permitted him, till after the Universal De­luge, &c.’

To this might we add that transporting Consideration, be­coming both our Veneration and [Page 173] Admiration of the infinitely wise and glorious Author of Nature, who has given to Plants such astonishing Properties; such fiery Heat in some to warm and cherish, such Coolness in others to temper and refresh, such pin­guid Juice to nourish and feed the Body, such quickening Acids to compel the Appetite, and grateful Vehicles to court the Obedience of the Palate, such Vigour to renew and support our natural Strength, such ravishing Flavour and Perfumes to recre­ate and delight us: In short, such spirituous and active Force to a­nimate and revive every Facul­ty and Part, to all the kinds of Human, and, I had almost said Heavenly Capacity too. What shall we add more? Our Gar­dens present us with them all; and whilst the Shambles are co­ver'd with Gore and Stench, our Sallets scape the Insults of the [Page 174] Summer Fly, purifies and warms the Blood against Winter Rage: Nor wants there Variety in more abundance, than any of the former Ages could shew.

Survey we their Bills of Fare, and Numbers of Courses serv'd up by Athenaeus, drest with all the Garnish of Nicander and o­ther Grecian Wits: What has the Roman Grand Sallet worth the naming? Parat Convivium, The Guests are nam'd indeed, and we are told,

Lettuce, Leeks, Mint, Rocket, Colewort-Tops, with Oyl and Eggs, and such an Hotch-Pot following (as the Cook in Plautus would deservedly laugh at) But how infinitely out-done in this Age of ours, by the Variety of so many rare Edules unknown to the Ancients, that there's no room for the Comparison. And, for Magnificence, let the Sallet drest by the Lady for an Enter­tainment made by Jacobus Catsi­us (describ'd by the Poet^* Bar­loeus) shew; not at all yet out-doing what we every Day almost find at our Lord Mayor's Table, and other great Persons, Lovers of the Gardens; that sort of ele­gant Cookery being capable of such wonderful Variety, tho' not altogether wanting of old, if that be true which is related to [Page 176] us of^‖ Nicomedes a certain King of Bithynia, whose Cook made him a Pilchard (a Fish he exceed­ingly long'd for) of a well dis­sembl'd Turnip, carv'd in its Shape, and drest with Oyl, Salt, and Pepper, that so deceiv'd, and yet pleased the Prince, that he commended it for the best Fish he had ever eaten. Nor does all this exceed what every industrious Gardiner may inno­cently enjoy, as well as the greatest Potentate on Earth.

So the Sweet^† Poet, whom I can never part with for his Love to this delicious Toil, and the Ho­nour he has done me.

Verily, the infinite Plenty and Abundance, with which the be­nign and bountiful Author of Nature has stor'd the whole Ter­restrial World, more with Plants and Vegetables than with any o­ther [Page 178] Provision whatsoever; and the Variety not only equal, but by far exceeding the Pleasure and Delight of Taste (above all the Art of the Kitchen, than ever^* Apicius knew) seems loudly to call, and kindly invite all her living Inhabitants (none except­ed) who are of gentle Nature, and most useful, to the same Hospitable and Common-Board, which first she furnish'd with Plants and Fruit, as to their na­tural and genuine Pasture; nay, and of the most wild, and sa­vage too ab origine: As in Pa­radise, where, as the Evangeli­cal ^† Prophet adumbrating the [Page 179] future Glory of the Catholick Church, (of which that happy Garden was the Antitype) the Wolf and the Lamb, the angry and furious Lion, should eat Grass and Herbs together with the Ox. But after all, latet anguis in her­ba, there's a Snake in the Grass; Luxury, and Excess in our most innocent Fruitions. There was a time indeed when the Garden furnish'd Entertainments for the most Renown'd Heroes, virtuous and excellent Persons; till the Blood-thirsty and Ambitious, o­ver-running the Nations, and by Murders and Rapine rifl'd the World, to transplant its Luxury to its new Mistriss, Rome. Those whom heretofore^* two Acres [Page 180] of Land would have satisfied, and plentifully maintain'd; had afterwards their very Kitchens almost as large as their first Ter­ritories: Nor was that enough: Entire^* Forests and Parks, War­rens and Fish-Ponds, and ample Lakes to furnish their Tables, so as Men could not live by one another without Oppression: Nay, and to shew how the best, and most innocent things may be perverted; they chang'd those frugal and inemptas Dapes of their Ancestors, to that Height and Profusion; that we read of^† E­dicts and Sumptuary Laws, enact­ed to restrain even the Pride and Excess of Sallets. But so it was not when the Pease-Field spread [Page 181] a Table for the Conquerors of the World, and their Grounds were cultivated Vomere laureato, & triumphali aratore: The great­est Princes took the Spade and the Plough-Staff in the same Hand they held the Sceptre; and the Noblest^† Families thought it no Dishonour, to derive their Names from Plants and Sallet-Herbs: They arriv'd, I say to that Pitch of ingrossing all that was but green, and could be vary'd by the Cook (Heu quam prodiga ventris!) that, as Pliny tells us (non sine pudore, not without blushing) a poor Man could hardly find a Thistle to dress for his Supper; or what [Page 182] his hungry^* Ass would not touch, for fear of pricking his Lips.

Verily the Luxury of the East ruin'd the greatest Monarchies; first, the Persian, then the Greci­an, and afterwards Rome her self: By what Steps, see elegant­ly describ'd in Old^‖ Gratius the Faliscian, deploring his own Age compar'd with the former:

But as these were the Sensual and Voluptuous, who abus'd their Plenty, spent their Fortunes and shortned their Lives by their Debauches; so never did they taste the Delicaces, and true Satisfaction of a sober Repast, and the infinite Conveniences of what well-stor'd Garden affords; so elegantly describ'd by the [Page 184] ^* Naturalist, as costing neither Fuel nor Fire to boil, Pains or time to gather and prepare, Res expedita & parata semper: All was so near at hand, readily drest, and of so easie Digestion; as nei­ther to offend the Brain, or dull the Senses; and in the greatest Dearth of Corn, a little Bread suf­fic'd. In all Events,

They could then make an ho­nest Meal, and dine upon a Sallet, without so much as a Grain of Exotic Spice; And the Potagere was in such Reputation, that she who neglected her Kitchen-Gar­den (for that was still the Good-Woman's Province) was never re­puted a tolerable Huswife: Si vespertinus subitò te oppresserit hos­pes, she was never surpriz'd, had all (as we said) at hand, and could in a Trice set forth an handsome Sallet: And if this was Happiness, Convictus facilis sine arte mensa (as the Poet rec­kons) it was here in Perfection. In a Word, so universal was the Sallet, that the^* Un-bloody Shambles (as Pliny calls them) yielded the^† Roman State a more considerable Custom (when there [Page 186] was little more than honest Cab­bage and Worts) than almost any thing besides brought to Market.

They spent not then so much precious time as afterwards they did, gorging themselves with Flesh and Fish, so as hardly able to rise, without reeking and reel­ing from Table.

Drowsie and unapt for Business, and other nobler Parts of Life.

Time was before Men in those golden Days: Their Spirits were brisk and lively.

And Men had their Wits about them; their Appetites were na­tural, their Sleep molli sub arbore, sound, sweet and kindly: That excellent Emperour Tacitus being us'd to say of Lettuce, that he did somnum se mercari when he eat of them, and call'd it a sump­tuous Feast, with a Sallet and a single Pullet, which was usually all the Flesh-Meat that sober [Page 188] Prince eat of; whilst Maximinus (a profess'd Enemy to Sallet) is reported to have scarce been sa­tisfied, with sixty Pounds of Flesh, and Drink proportionable.

There was then also far less ex­pensive Grandure, but far more true State; when Consuls, great Statesmen (and such as atchiev'd the most renown'd Actions) sup'd in their Gardens; not under costly, gilded, and inlaid Roofs, but the spreading Platan; and drank of the Chrystal Brook, and by Temperance, and healthy Fruga­lity, maintain'd the Glory of Sallets, Ah, quanto innocentiore victu! with what Content and Satisfaction! Nor, as we said, wanted there Variety; for so in the most blissful Place, and inno­cent State of Nature, See how the first Empress of the World Regal's her Celestial Guest:

Then for the Board.

Thus, the Hortulan Provision of the^† Golden Age fitted all Places, Times and Persons; and when Man is restor'd to that State a­gain, it will be as it was in the Beginning.

But now after all (and for Close of all) Let none yet ima­gine, that whilst we justifie our present Subject through all the Topics of Panegyric, we would in Favour of the Sallet, drest with all its Pomp and Advantage turn Man­kind to Grass again; which were ungratefully to neglect the Boun­ty of Heaven, as well as his Health and Comfort: But by these Noble Instances and Examples, to reproach the Luxury of the present Age; and by shewing the infi­nite [Page 191] Blessing and Effects of Tem­perance, and the Vertues accom­panying it; with how little Na­ture, and a^* Civil Appetite may be happy, contented with mode­rate things, and within a little Compass, reserving the rest, to the nobler Parts of Life. And thus of old, ‘Hoc erat in votis, modus agri non ita magnus, &c.’ He that was possess'd of a lit­tle Spot of Ground, and well-cultivated Garden, with other moderate Circumstances, had^‖ Hae­redium. All that a modest Man could well desire. Then,