such a touch of
humanity in them, such a feeling of latter-day civilization and almost
of Christianity, that we are apt to condemn what remains in them of
paganism, as though they were uttered yesterday. When we come to the
coarseness of his attacks, his descriptions of Piso by-and-by, his abuse
of Gabinius, and his invectives against Antony; when we read his altered
opinions, as shown in the period of Caesar's dominion, his flattery of
Caesar when in power, and his exultations when Caesar has been killed;
when we find that he could be coarse in his language and a bully, and
servile--for it has all to be admitted--we have to reflect under what
circumstances, under what surroundings, and for what object were used
the words which displease us. Speaking before the full court at this
trial, he dared to say he knew how to live as a man and to carry himself
as a gentleman. As men and gentlemen were then, he was justified.

The description of Verres's rapacity in regard to the corn tax is long
and complex, and need hardly be followed at length, unless by those who
desire to know how the iniquity of such a one could make the most of an
imposition which was in itself very bad, and pile up the burden till the
poor province was unable to bear it. There were three kinds of
imposition as to corn. The first, called the "decumanum," was simply a
tithe.

The producers through the island had to furnish Rome with a tenth of
their produce, and it was the Praetor's duty, or rather that of the
Quaestor under the Praetor, to see that the tithe was collected. How
Verres saw to this himself, and how he treated the Sicilian husbandmen
in regard to the tithe, is so told that we are obliged to give the man
credit for an infinite fertility of resources. Then there is the
"emptum," or corn bought for the use of Rome, of which there were two
kinds. A second tithe had to be furnished at a price fixed by the Roman
Senate, which price was considered to be below that of its real value,
and then 800,000 bushels were purchased, or nominally purchased, at a
price which was also fixed by the Senate, but which was nearer to the
real value. Three sesterces a bushel for the first and four for the
last, were the prices fixed at this time. For making these payments vast
sums of money were remitted to Verres, of which the accounts were so
kept that it was hard to say whether any found its way into the hands of
the farmers who undoubtedly furnished the corn. The