The mortality of animal life, and the dissolution of that of the vegetable, has been particularly considered in chapter three, section four, treating on physical evils. We now proceed to make an application of those arguments, in the case of our reputed first parents, whose mortality is represented by Moses to have taken place in consequence of their eating of the forbidden fruit.
Moses in his description of the garden of Eden acquaints us with two chimerical4 kinds of fruit trees, which, among others, he tells us were planted by God in the place appointed for the residence of the new made couple; the one he calls by the name of “the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” and the other by the name of “the tree of life.” And previous to his account of the apostacy, he informs us, that God expressly commanded the man and woman, saying, “be fruitful and multiply and replenish5 the earth and subdue6 it, and have dominion7 over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl8 of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth; and God said, behold9 I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon, the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat.” Again, “and the Lord commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” “And the Lord said, it is not good for man to be alone, I will make him an help meet for him; and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took out one of his ribs11, and closed up the flesh instead thereof, and the rib10 which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman.”
Thus it appears from Moses’s representation of the state of man’s innocency12, that he was commanded by God to labor13, and to replenish the earth; and that to him was given the dominion over the creatures, and that at two several times he was licensed14 by God himself to eat of every of the fruit of the trees, and of the herbage, except of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; and because it was not good that the man should be alone, but that he might multiply and replenish the earth, our amorous16 mother Eve, it seems, was formed, who I dare say well compensated17 father Adam for the loss of his rib.
This short description of man’s state and condition in innocency, agrees with the state and circumstances of human nature at present. Innocent man was required to labor and subdue the earth, out of which he was to be subsisted19; had a license15 to eat of the fruit of the trees, or herbage of the garden, which pre-supposeth that his nature needed refreshment20 the same as ours does; for otherwise it would have been impertinent to have granted him a privilege incompatible21 with his nature, as it would have been no privilege at all, but an outright22 mockery, except we admit, that innocent human nature was liable to decay, needed nutrition by food, and had the quality of digestion23 and perspiration24; or in fine, had the same sort of nature as we have; for otherwise he could eat but one belly-full, which without digestion would remain the same, and is too romantic to have been the original end and design of eating. And though there is nothing mentioned by Moses concerning his drinking, yet it is altogether probable, that he had wit enough to drink when he was thirsty. That he consisted of animal nature is manifest, not only from his being subjected to subdue the earth, out of which he was to be subsisted, and from his eating and drinking, or his susceptibility of nutrition by food, but also from his propensity25 to propagate his kind; for which purpose a helpmate was made for him.
Nothing could more fully26 evince, that Moses’s innocent progenitors27 of mankind, in that state, were of a similar nature to ours, than their susceptibility of propagating the species; and as they required nutrition, their nature must have had the quality or aptitude28 of digestion and perspiration, and every property that at present we ascribe to an animal nature; from hence we infer, that death, or mortality, must have been the necessary consequence. What would have prevented them from having been crushed to death by a fall from a precipice29, or from suffering death by any other casualty, to which human nature is at present liable? will any suppose that the bodies of those premised innocent progenitors of the human race were invulnerable; were they not flesh and blood? surely they were, for otherwise they could not have been male and female; as it was written, “male and female created he them:” and inasmuch as animal life has, from its original, consisted of the same sort of nature, and been propagated and supported in the same manner, and obnoxious31 to the same fate, it would undoubtedly32, in the premised day of Adam, required the same order in the external system of nature, which it does at present, to answer the purposes of animal life.
Was it possible that the laws of nature, which merely respect gravitation, could be and were suspended, so as not to be influential34 on matter, our world would be immediately disjointed and out of order, and confusion would succeed its present regularity35; in the convulsions whereof animal life could not subsist18. So that not only the laws which immediately respect animal nature in particular, but the laws which respect our solar system, must have been the same in man’s innocency, as in his whimsically supposed state of apostacy; and consequently, his mortality the same. From hence we infer, that the curses, which Moses informs us of in chapter three: as being by God pronounced upon man, saying, “dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return,” could not have been any punishment, inflicted36 as a penalty for eating the forbidden fruit; for turn to dust he must have done, whether he eat of it or not; for that death and dissolution was the inevitable37 and irreversible condition of the law of nature, which wholly precludes38 the curse, of which Moses informs us, from having any effect on mankind.
The story of the “tree of life” is unnatural39. And there being but one of the kind, it may be called an only tree, the world not having produced another of the sort; the fruit of which, according to Moses, had such an efficacious quality, that had Adam and Eve but eaten thereof, they would have lived forever. “And now lest he put forth40 his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” To prevent which, they are said to be driven out of the garden, that the eating thereof might not have reversed the sentence of God, which he had previously41 pronounced against them, denouncing their mortality. “So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, cherubims, and a flaming sword, which turneth every way to keep the way of the tree of life.” A bite of this fruit it seems would have reinstated mankind, and spoiled priestcraft. Yet it is observable, that there are no travellers or historians, who have given any accounts of such a tree, or of the cherubims or flaming sword, which renders its existence disputable, and the reality of it doubtful and improbable; the more so, as that part of the country, in which it is said to have been planted, has for a long secession of ages been populously42 inhabited.
Yet it may be objected, that the tree may have rotted down and consumed by time. But such conjectures43 derogate44 from the character of the quality of the tree. It seems, that so marvellous a tree, the fruit of which would have preserved animal life eternally, would have laughed at time, and bid defiance45 to decay and dissolution, and eternally have remained in its pristine46 state under the protection of the flaming sword, as a perpetual evidence of the divine legation of Moses, and the reality of man’s apostacy for ever. But alas47! it is no where to be found, it is perished from off the face of the earth, and such a marvellous fruit is no more, and consequently no remedy against mortality remains48.
Section ii. Pointing Out the Natural Impossibility of All and Every of the Diverse Species of Biped Animals, Commonly Termed Man, to have Lineally Descended49 from Adam and Eve, or from the Same Original Progenitors.
It is altogether improbable and manifestly contradictory50 to suppose, that the various and diverse nations and tribes of the earth, who walk upon two legs, and are included under the term man, have or possibly could have descended by ordinary generation, from the same parents, be they supposed to be who they will.
Those adventurers,-who have sailed or travelled to the several parts of the globe, inform us, in their respective histories, that they find the habitable part of it more or less populated by one kind or other of rational animals, and that considered as tribes or nations, there is evidently a gradation of intellectual capacity among them, some more exalted51 and others lower in the scale of being; and that they are specially52 diverse from each other with respect to their several animal natures, though in most respects they appear to have one sort of nature with us, viz: more like us that like the brute53 creation; as they walk erect54, speak with man’s voice, and make use of language of one sort or other, though many of them are more or less inarticulate in their manner of speaking: and in many other particulars bear a general likeness55 to us. They are nevertheless considered as distinct tribes or nations, are of different sizes, and as to complexion56, they vary from the two extremes of white and black, in a variety of tawny57 mediums.
The learned nations can trace their genealogies58, (though somewhat incorrect) for a considerable time, but are certain to be sooner or later lost in the retrospect59 thereon, and those that are of an inferior kind, or destitute60 of learning or science have no other knowledge of their genealogies, than they retain by their respective traditions, which are very inconsiderable. They are likewise diverse from each other in their features and in the shape of their bodies and limbs, and some are distinguished61 from others by their rank smell and the difference in their hair, eyes and visage, but to point out the distinctions would exceed my design.
The Ethiopians, though of a shining black complexion, have regular and beautiful features, and long black hair (one of those female beauties captivated the affections of Moses) they differ very materially from the negro blacks, so that it appears impossible that they should have descended in a lineal succession from the same ancestors. They are uniformly in their respective generations essentially62 diverse from each other, so that an issue from a male and female of the two nations would be a mongrel, partaking partly of the kind of both nations. So also concerning the difference which subsists63 between us and the negroes; their black skin is but one of the particulars in which they are different from us; their many and very essential differences fully evince, that the white nations, and they, could not according to the law of their respective generations, have had one and the same lineal original, but that they have had their diverse kind of original progenitors.
It is true that the several nations and tribes of the earth, comprehended under the general term man, notwithstanding their diversity to each other in bodily shape and mental powers, bear a nearer resemblance to one another than the brute kind, for which reason they are known by one common appellation64: though it is manifest that they could never have lineally descended from the same first parents, whether their names were Adam and Eve, or what not.
But inasmuch as our genealogies are wholly insufficient65 for the purpose of explaining our respective originals or any or either of them, or to give us or any of us, considered as individuals or nations, who fall under the denomination66 of the term man, any manner of insight or knowledge from whom we are lineally descended, or who were our respective original ancestors, or what their names were: we must therefore reason on this subject from the facts and causes now existing, which abundantly evince, that we are of different kinds, and consequently are not of the same lineage.
The acquaintance, which we have had with the negro nation in particular, fully evinces the absurdity67 of supposing them to be of the same blood and kindred with ourselves. But that there are some original intrinsic and hereditary68 diversity or essential difference between us and them, which cannot be ascribed to time, climate, or to mere33 contingence.
For that we and they are in nature inherently and uniformly diverse from each other in our respective constitutions and generations, and have been so time immemorial. So that the negroes are of a different species of rational beings from us, and consequently must have had their distinct lineal original; was it not so, there could be no such thing as a mongrel or a mulatto, who is occasioned by a copulation between the males and the females of the respective diverse species, the issue partaking of both natures.
Had all the nations and tribes of the world, who are denominated rational, been lineally descended from the same progenitors, mongrelism could never have taken place among them, as in this case they would have been all of the same kind: from hence we infer, that they have had their respective original progenitors. The Dutch colony at the Cape69 of Good Hope have enacted70 laws to punish with death such of their Dutch subjects as may be convicted of copulating with the Hottentots: for that their nature is adjusted to be of an inferior species to theirs, so that mixing their nature with them would essentially degenerate71 and debase their own.
Section iii. Of the Origin of the Devil or of Moral Evil and of the Devil’s Talking with Eve; with a Remark that the Doctrine72 of Apostacy is the Foundation of Christianity
Inasmuch as the devil is represented to have had so great and undue73 an influence in bringing about the apostacy of Adam, and still to continue his temptations to mankind, it may be worth our while to examine into the nature and manner of his being and the mode of his exhibiting his temptations.
John’s gospel, verse 1 and 3, the Christian’s God is the creator of the devil and consequently the original cause of evil in heaven — and among men he planted the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and knew at the time he planted it of the awful consequences that would follow.
But if it be admitted, that the creature called the devil (who must be supposed to be under the divine government, as much as any other creature) could become inflexible75, and perpetually rebellious76 and wicked, incapable77 of a restoration, and consequently subjected to eternal punishment (which to me appears to be inconsistent with the wisdom and goodness of the divine government, and the nature, end and design of a probationary78 agent) yet it would by no means follow from hence, that so stubbornly wicked and incorrigible79 a creature would have been permitted, by the providence80 of God, to tempt74, ensnare or seduce81 mankind, by plying82 his temptations to their weak side. One thing we are certain of, viz. that the devil does not visit our world in a bodily or organized shape, and there is not in nature a second way, in which it is possible for him to make known himself to us, or that he could have done it to our progenitors, nor could he ever have communicated to them or to us, any temptations or ideas whatever, any otherwise than by making a proper application to our external senses, so that we could understand him, or receive the ideas of his temptations in a natural way. For supernatural intercourse83 with the world of spirits or invisible beings has been shown to be contradictory and impossible in the arguments contained in the sixth chapter, to which the reader is referred. Those arguments will hold equally good as applied84 to either good or evil spirits, and are demonstrative of the utter impossibility of mankind’s holding any manner of intercourse or intelligence with them.
But should we premise30, that, according to the history of Moses, it was in the power of the devil to assume a bodily shape, and that he did in very deed transform himself into the figure, likeness and organization of a snake, yet by and with that organ he could not have spoken or uttered the following articulate words, which Moses charged him with, to wit, “And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die, for God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, that your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil.”
Who speaks the truth in the above passages, the devil, for neither the man nor the woman died for many years after they are said to have eaten of the forbidden fruit, for death is the annihilation of life, and they did not die on the day they eat.
As the serpent is by nature incapable of speech, it must have put the devil into the same predicament; admitting that he transformed himself into the same figure or likeness, and consequently for want of the proper and adequate organs of speech, he must necessarily have been incapable of any other language than that of rattling85 his tail, and therefore could never have spoken those recited words unto Eve, or communicated any of his temptations unto her by language, while in that similitude. However, admitting that the first parents of mankind were beguiled86 by the wiles87 of the devil to transgress88 the divine law, yet of all transgressions89 it would have been the most trivial (considered under all the particular circumstances of it) that the mind of man can conceive of.
Who in the exercise of reason can believe, that Adam and Eve by eating of such a spontaneous fruit could have incurred90 the eternal displeasure of God, as individuals? Or that the divine vindictive91 justice should extend to their unoffending offspring then unborn? And sentence the human progeny92 to the latest posterity93 to everlasting94 destruction? As chimerical as Moses’s representation of the apostacy of man manifestly appears to be, yet it is the very basis, on which Christianity is founded, and is announced in the New Testament95 to be the very cause why Jesus Christ came into this world, “that he might destroy the works of the devil,” and redeem96 fallen man, alias97, the elect, from the condemnation98 of the apostacy; which leads me to the consideration of the doctrine of imputation99.
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1 speculations | |
n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 );思考;投机活动;推断 | |
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2 prohibition | |
n.禁止;禁令,禁律 | |
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3 interspersed | |
adj.[医]散开的;点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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4 chimerical | |
adj.荒诞不经的,梦幻的 | |
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5 replenish | |
vt.补充;(把…)装满;(再)填满 | |
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6 subdue | |
vt.制服,使顺从,征服;抑制,克制 | |
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7 dominion | |
n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 | |
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8 fowl | |
n.家禽,鸡,禽肉 | |
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9 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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10 rib | |
n.肋骨,肋状物 | |
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11 ribs | |
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹 | |
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12 innocency | |
无罪,洁白 | |
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13 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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14 licensed | |
adj.得到许可的v.许可,颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词) | |
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15 license | |
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许 | |
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16 amorous | |
adj.多情的;有关爱情的 | |
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17 compensated | |
补偿,报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 ); 给(某人)赔偿(或赔款) | |
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18 subsist | |
vi.生存,存在,供养 | |
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19 subsisted | |
v.(靠很少的钱或食物)维持生活,生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20 refreshment | |
n.恢复,精神爽快,提神之事物;(复数)refreshments:点心,茶点 | |
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21 incompatible | |
adj.不相容的,不协调的,不相配的 | |
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22 outright | |
adv.坦率地;彻底地;立即;adj.无疑的;彻底的 | |
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23 digestion | |
n.消化,吸收 | |
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24 perspiration | |
n.汗水;出汗 | |
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25 propensity | |
n.倾向;习性 | |
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26 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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27 progenitors | |
n.祖先( progenitor的名词复数 );先驱;前辈;原本 | |
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28 aptitude | |
n.(学习方面的)才能,资质,天资 | |
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29 precipice | |
n.悬崖,危急的处境 | |
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30 premise | |
n.前提;v.提论,预述 | |
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31 obnoxious | |
adj.极恼人的,讨人厌的,可憎的 | |
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32 undoubtedly | |
adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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33 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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34 influential | |
adj.有影响的,有权势的 | |
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35 regularity | |
n.规律性,规则性;匀称,整齐 | |
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36 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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38 precludes | |
v.阻止( preclude的第三人称单数 );排除;妨碍;使…行不通 | |
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39 unnatural | |
adj.不自然的;反常的 | |
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40 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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41 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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42 populously | |
人口众多的; 人口稠密的 | |
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43 conjectures | |
推测,猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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44 derogate | |
v.贬低,诽谤 | |
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45 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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46 pristine | |
adj.原来的,古时的,原始的,纯净的,无垢的 | |
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47 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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48 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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49 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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50 contradictory | |
adj.反驳的,反对的,抗辩的;n.正反对,矛盾对立 | |
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51 exalted | |
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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52 specially | |
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地 | |
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53 brute | |
n.野兽,兽性 | |
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54 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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55 likeness | |
n.相像,相似(之处) | |
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56 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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57 tawny | |
adj.茶色的,黄褐色的;n.黄褐色 | |
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58 genealogies | |
n.系谱,家系,宗谱( genealogy的名词复数 ) | |
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59 retrospect | |
n.回顾,追溯;v.回顾,回想,追溯 | |
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60 destitute | |
adj.缺乏的;穷困的 | |
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61 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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62 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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63 subsists | |
v.(靠很少的钱或食物)维持生活,生存下去( subsist的第三人称单数 ) | |
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64 appellation | |
n.名称,称呼 | |
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65 insufficient | |
adj.(for,of)不足的,不够的 | |
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66 denomination | |
n.命名,取名,(度量衡、货币等的)单位 | |
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67 absurdity | |
n.荒谬,愚蠢;谬论 | |
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68 hereditary | |
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的 | |
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69 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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70 enacted | |
制定(法律),通过(法案)( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71 degenerate | |
v.退步,堕落;adj.退步的,堕落的;n.堕落者 | |
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72 doctrine | |
n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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73 undue | |
adj.过分的;不适当的;未到期的 | |
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74 tempt | |
vt.引诱,勾引,吸引,引起…的兴趣 | |
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75 inflexible | |
adj.不可改变的,不受影响的,不屈服的 | |
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76 rebellious | |
adj.造反的,反抗的,难控制的 | |
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77 incapable | |
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
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78 probationary | |
试用的,缓刑的 | |
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79 incorrigible | |
adj.难以纠正的,屡教不改的 | |
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80 providence | |
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
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81 seduce | |
vt.勾引,诱奸,诱惑,引诱 | |
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82 plying | |
v.使用(工具)( ply的现在分词 );经常供应(食物、饮料);固定往来;经营生意 | |
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83 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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84 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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85 rattling | |
adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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86 beguiled | |
v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 );使陶醉;使高兴;消磨(时间等) | |
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87 wiles | |
n.(旨在欺骗或吸引人的)诡计,花招;欺骗,欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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88 transgress | |
vt.违反,逾越 | |
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89 transgressions | |
n.违反,违法,罪过( transgression的名词复数 ) | |
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90 incurred | |
[医]招致的,遭受的; incur的过去式 | |
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91 vindictive | |
adj.有报仇心的,怀恨的,惩罚的 | |
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92 progeny | |
n.后代,子孙;结果 | |
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93 posterity | |
n.后裔,子孙,后代 | |
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94 everlasting | |
adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的 | |
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95 testament | |
n.遗嘱;证明 | |
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96 redeem | |
v.买回,赎回,挽回,恢复,履行(诺言等) | |
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97 alias | |
n.化名;别名;adv.又名 | |
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98 condemnation | |
n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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99 imputation | |
n.归罪,责难 | |
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