From the respect paid to property flow, as from a poisoned fountain, most of the evils and vices2 which render this world such a dreary4 scene to the contemplative mind. For it is in the most polished society that noisome5 reptiles6 and venomous serpents lurk7 under the rank herbage; and there is voluptuousness9 pampered11 by the still sultry air, which relaxes every good disposition12 before it ripens13 into virtue15.
One class presses on another; for all are aiming to procure16 respect on account of their property: and property, once gained, will procure the respect due only to talents and virtue. Men neglect the duties incumbent17 on man, yet are treated like demi-gods; religion is also separated from morality by a ceremonial veil, yet men wonder that the world is almost, literally18 speaking, a den20 of sharpers or oppressors.
There is a homely21 proverb, which speaks a shrewd truth, that whoever the devil finds idle he will employ. And what but habitual22 idleness can hereditary23 wealth and titles produce? For man is so constituted that he can only attain24 a proper use of his faculties25 by exercising them, and will not exercise them unless necessity, of some kind, first set the wheels in motion. Virtue likewise can only be acquired by the discharge of relative duties; but the importance of these sacred duties will scarcely be felt by the being who is cajoled out of his humanity by the flattery of sycophants26. There must be more equality established in society, or morality will never gain ground, and this virtuous27 equality will not rest firmly even when founded on a rock, if one half of mankind be chained to its bottom by fate, for they will be continually undermining it through ignorance or pride.
It is vain to expect virtue from women till they are, in some degree, independent of men; nay28, it is vain to expect that strength of natural affection, which would make them good wives and mothers. Whilst they are absolutely dependent on their husbands they will be cunning, mean, and selfish, and the men who can be gratified by the fawning29 fondness of spaniel-like affection, have not much delicacy30, for love is not to be bought, in any sense of the words, its silken wings are instantly shrivelled up when any thing beside a return in kind is sought. Yet whilst wealth enervates31 men; and women live, as it were, by their personal charms, how can we expect them to discharge those ennobling duties which equally require exertion32 and self-denial. Hereditary property sophisticates the mind, and the unfortunate victims to it, if I may so express myself, swathed from their birth, seldom exert the locomotive faculty34 of body or mind; and, thus viewing every thing through one medium, and that a false one, they are unable to discern in what true merit and happiness consist. False, indeed, must be the light when the drapery of situation hides the man, and makes him stalk in masquerade, dragging from one scene of dissipation to another the nerveless limbs that hang with stupid listlessness, and rolling round the vacant eye which plainly tells us that there is no mind at home.
I mean, therefore, to infer that the society is not properly organized which does not compel men and women to discharge their respective duties, by making it the only way to acquire that countenance35 from their fellow-creatures, which every human being wishes some way to attain. The respect, consequently, which is paid to wealth and mere36 personal charms, is a true north-east blast, that blights37 the tender blossoms of affection and virtue. Nature has wisely attached affections to duties, to sweeten toil38, and to give that vigour39 to the exertions40 of reason which only the heart can give. But, the affection which is put on merely because it is the appropriated insignia of a certain character, when its duties are not fulfilled, is one of the empty compliments which vice3 and folly41 are obliged to pay to virtue and the real nature of things.
To illustrate42 my opinion, I need only observe, that when a woman is admired for her beauty, and suffers herself to be so far intoxicated44 by the admiration45 she receives, as to neglect to discharge the indispensable duty of a mother, she sins against herself by neglecting to cultivate an affection that would equally tend to make her useful and happy. True happiness, I mean all the contentment, and virtuous satisfaction, that can be snatched in this imperfect state, must arise from well regulated affections; and an affection includes a duty. Men are not aware of the misery46 they cause, and the vicious weakness they cherish, by only inciting47 women to render themselves pleasing; they do not consider that they thus make natural and artificial duties clash, by sacrificing the comfort and respectability of a woman’s life to voluptuous8 notions of beauty, when in nature they all harmonize.
Cold would be the heart of a husband, were he not rendered unnatural by early debauchery, who did not feel more delight at seeing his child suckled by its mother, than the most artful wanton tricks could ever raise; yet this natural way of cementing the matrimonial tie, and twisting esteem48 with fonder recollections, wealth leads women to spurn49. To preserve their beauty, and wear the flowery crown of the day, which gives them a kind of right to reign50 for a short time over the sex, they neglect to stamp impressions on their husbands’ hearts, that would be remembered with more tenderness when the snow on the head began to chill the bosom51, than even their virgin52 charms. The maternal53 solicitude54 of a reasonable affectionate woman is very interesting, and the chastened dignity with which a mother returns the caresses55 that she and her child receive from a father who has been fulfilling the serious duties of his station, is not only a respectable, but a beautiful sight. So singular, indeed, are my feelings, and I have endeavoured not to catch factitious ones, that after having been fatigued56 with the sight of insipid57 grandeur58 and the slavish ceremonies that with cumberous pomp supplied the place of domestic affections, I have turned to some other scene to relieve my eye by resting it on the refreshing59 green every where scattered60 by nature. I have then viewed with pleasure a woman nursing her children, and discharging the duties of her station with, perhaps, merely a servant maid to take off her hands the servile part of the household business. I have seen her prepare herself and children, with only the luxury of cleanliness, to receive her husband, who returning weary home in the evening found smiling babes and a clean hearth61. My heart has loitered in the midst of the group, and has even throbbed62 with sympathetic emotion, when the scraping of the well known foot has raised a pleasing tumult63.
Whilst my benevolence64 has been gratified by contemplating65 this artless picture, I have thought that a couple of this description, equally necessary and independent of each other, because each fulfilled the respective duties of their station, possessed66 all that life could give. — Raised sufficiently67 above abject68 poverty not to be obliged to weigh the consequence of every farthing they spend, and having sufficient to prevent their attending to a frigid69 system of oeconomy, which narrows both heart and mind. I declare, so vulgar are my conceptions, that I know not what is wanted to render this the happiest as well as the most respectable situation in the world, but a taste for literature, to throw a little variety and interest into social converse70, and some superfluous71 money to give to the needy72 and to buy books. For it is not pleasant when the heart is opened by compassion73 and the head active in arranging plans of usefulness, to have a prim74 urchin75 continually twitching76 back the elbow to prevent the hand from drawing out an almost empty purse, whispering at the same time some prudential maxim77 about the priority of justice.
Destructive, however, as riches and inherited honours are to the human character, women are more debased and cramped78, if possible, by them, than men, because men may still, in some degree, unfold their faculties by becoming soldiers and statesmen.
As soldiers, I grant, they can now only gather, for the most part, vain glorious laurels79, whilst they adjust to a hair the European balance, taking especial care that no bleak80 northern nook or sound incline the beam. But the days of true heroism81 are over, when a citizen fought for his country like a Fabricius or a Washington, and then returned to his farm to let his virtuous fervour run in a more placid82, but not a less salutary, stream. No, our British heroes are oftener sent from the gaming table than from the plow83; and their passions have been rather inflamed84 by hanging with dumb suspense85 on the turn of a die, than sublimated86 by panting after the adventurous87 march of virtue in the historic page.
The statesman, it is true, might with more propriety88 quit the Faro Bank, or card-table, to guide the helm, for he has still but to shuffle89 and trick. The whole system of British politics, if system it may courteously90 be called, consisting in multiplying dependents and contriving91 taxes which grind the poor to pamper10 the rich; thus a war. or any wild goose chace, is, as the vulgar use the phrase, a lucky turn-up of patronage92 for the minister, whose chief merit is the art of keeping himself in place. It is not necessary then that he should have bowels93 for the poor, so he can secure for his family the odd trick. Or should some shew of respect, for what is termed with ignorant ostentation94 an Englishman’s birth-right, be expedient95 to bubble the gruff mastiff that he has to lead by the nose, he can make an empty shew, very safely, by giving his single voice, and suffering his light squadron to file off to the other side. And when a question of humanity is agitated96 he may dip a sop33 in the milk of human kindness, to silence Cerberus, and talk of the interest which his heart takes in an attempt to make the earth no longer cry for vengeance97 as it sucks in its children’s blood, though his cold hand may at the very moment rivet98 their chains, by sanctioning the abominable99 traffick. A minister is no longer a minister, than while he can carry a point, which he is determined100 to carry. — Yet it is not necessary that a minister should feel like a man, when a bold push might shake his seat.
But, to have done with these episodical observations, let me return to the more specious101 slavery which chains the very soul of woman, keeping her for ever under the bondage102 of ignorance.
The preposterous103 distinctions of rank, which render civilization a curse, by dividing the world between voluptuous tyrants104, and cunning envious105 dependents, corrupt106, almost equally, every class of people, because respectability is not attached to the discharge of the relative duties of life, but to the station, and when the duties are not fulfilled the affections cannot gain sufficient strength to fortify107 the virtue of which they are the natural reward. Still there are some loop-holes out of which a man may creep, and dare to think and act for himself; but for a woman it is an herculean task, because she has difficulties peculiar108 to her sex to overcome, which require almost superhuman powers.
A truly benevolent109 legislator always endeavours to make it the interest of each individual to be virtuous; and thus private virtue becoming the cement of public happiness, an orderly whole is consolidated110 by the tendency of all the parts towards a common centre. But, the private or public virtue of woman is very problematical; for Rousseau, and a numerous list of male writers, insist that she should all her life be subjected to a severe restraint, that of propriety. Why subject her to propriety — blind propriety, if she be capable of acting111 from a nobler spring, if she be an heir of immortality112? Is sugar always to be produced by vital blood? Is one half of the human species, like the poor African slaves, to be subject to prejudices that brutalize them, when principles would be a surer guard, only to sweeten the cup of man? Is not this indirectly113 to deny woman reason? for a gift is a mockery, if it be unfit for use.
Women are, in common with men, rendered weak and luxurious114 by the relaxing pleasures which wealth procures115; but added to this they are made slaves to their persons, and must render them alluring116 that man may lend them his reason to guide their tottering117 steps aright. Or should they be ambitious, they must govern their tyrants by sinister118 tricks, for without rights there cannot be any incumbent duties. The laws respecting woman, which I mean to discuss in a future part, make an absurd unit of a man and his wife; and then, by the easy transition of only considering him as responsible, she is reduced to a mere cypher.
The being who discharges the duties of its station is independent; and, speaking of women at large, their first duty is to themselves as rational creatures, and the next, in point of importance, as citizens, is that, which includes so many, of a mother. The rank in life which dispenses119 with their fulfilling this duty, necessarily degrades them by making them mere dolls. Or, should they turn to something more important than merely fitting drapery upon a smooth block, their minds are only occupied by some soft platonic120 attachment121; or, the actual management of an intrigue122 may keep their thoughts in motion; for when they neglect domestic duties, they have it not in their power to take the field and march and counter-march like soldiers, or wrangle123 in the senate to keep their faculties from rusting124.
I know that, as a proof of the inferiority of the sex, Rousseau has exultingly125 exclaimed, How can they leave the nursery for the camp! — And the camp has by some moralists been termed the school of the most heroic virtues126; though, I think, it would puzzle a keen casuist to prove the reasonableness of the greater number of wars that have dubbed127 heroes. I do not mean to consider this question critically; because, having frequently viewed these freaks of ambition as the first natural mode of civilization, when the ground must be torn up, and the woods cleared by fire and sword, I do not choose to call them pests; but surely the present system of war has little connection with virtue of any denomination128, being rather the school of finesse129 and effeminacy, than of fortitude130.
Yet, if defensive131 war, the only justifiable132 war, in the present advanced state of society, where virtue can shew its face and ripen14 amidst the rigours which purify the air on the mountain’s top, were alone to be adopted as just and glorious, the true heroism of antiquity133 might again animate134 female bosoms135. — But fair and softly, gentle reader, male or female, do not alarm thyself, for though I have compared the character of a modern soldier with that of a civilized136 woman, I am not going to advise them to turn their distaff into a musket137, though I sincerely wish to see the bayonet converted into a pruning-hook. I only recreated an imagination, fatigued by contemplating the vices and follies138 which all proceed from a feculent stream of wealth that has muddied the pure rills of natural affection, by supposing that society will some time or other be so constituted, that man must necessarily fulfil the duties of a citizen, or be despised, and that while he was employed in any of the departments of civil life, his wife, also an active citizen, should be equally intent to manage her family, educate her children, and assist her neighbours.
But, to render her really virtuous and useful, she must not, if she discharge her civil duties, want, individually, the protection of civil laws; she must not be dependent on her husband’s bounty139 for her subsistence during his life, or support after his death — for how can a being be generous who has nothing of its own? or, virtuous, who is not free? The wife, in the present state of things, who is faithful to her husband, and neither suckles nor educates her children, scarcely deserves the name of a wife, and has no right to that of a citizen. But take away natural rights, and duties become null.
Women then must be considered as only the wanton solace140 of men, when they become so weak in mind and body, that they cannot exert themselves, unless to pursue some frothy pleasure, or to invent some frivolous141 fashion. What can be a more melancholy142 sight to a thinking mind, than to look into the numerous carriages that drive helter-skelter about this metropolis143 in a morning full of pale-faced creatures who are flying from themselves. I have often wished, with Dr. Johnson, to place some of them in a little shop with half a dozen children looking up to their languid countenances144 for support. I am much mistaken, if some latent vigour would not soon give health and spirit to their eyes, and some lines drawn145 by the exercise of reason on the blank cheeks, which before were only undulated by dimples, might restore lost dignity to the character, or rather enable it to attain the true dignity of its nature. Virtue is not to be acquired even by speculation146, much less by the negative supineness that wealth naturally generates.
Besides, when poverty is more disgraceful than even vice, is not morality cut to the quick? Still to avoid misconstruction, though I consider that women in the common walks of life are called to fulfil the duties of wives and mothers, by religion and reason, I cannot help lamenting147 that women of a superiour cast have not a road open by which they can pursue more extensive plans of usefulness and independence. I may excite laughter, by dropping an hint, which I mean to pursue, some future time, for I really think that women ought to have representatives, instead of being arbitrarily governed without having any direct share allowed them in the deliberations of government.
But, as the whole system of representation is now, in this country, only a convenient handle for despotism, they need not complain, for they are as well represented as a numerous class of hard working mechanics, who pay for the support of royalty148 when they can scarcely stop their children’s mouths with bread. How are they represented whose very sweat supports the splendid stud of an heir apparent, or varnishes149 the chariot of some female favourite who looks down on shame? Taxes on the very necessaries of life, enable an endless tribe of idle princes and princesses to pass with stupid pomp before a gaping150 crowd, who almost worship the very parade which costs them so dear. This is mere gothic grandeur, something like the barbarous useless parade of having sentinels on horseback at Whitehall, which I could never view without a mixture of contempt and indignation.
How strangely must the mind be sophisticated when this sort of state impresses it! But, till these monuments of folly are levelled by virtue, similar follies will leaven151 the whole mass. For the same character, in some degree, will prevail in the aggregate152 of society: and the refinements153 of luxury, or the vicious repinings of envious poverty, will equally banish154 virtue from society, considered as the characteristic of that society, or only allow it to appear as one of the stripes of the harlequin coat, worn by the civilized man.
In the superiour ranks of life, every duty is done by deputies, as if duties could ever be waved, and the vain pleasures which consequent idleness forces the rich to pursue, appear so enticing155 to the next rank, that the numerous scramblers for wealth sacrifice every thing to tread on their heels. The most sacred trusts are then considered as sinecures156, because they were procured157 by interest, and only sought to enable a man to keep good company. Women, in particular, all want to be ladies. Which is simply to have nothing to do, but listlessly to go they scarcely care where, for they cannot tell what.
But what have women to do in society? I may be asked, but to loiter with easy grace; surely you would not condemn158 them all to suckle fools and chronicle small beer! No. Women might certainly study the art of healing, and be physicians as well as nurses. And midwifery, decency159 seems to allot160 to them, though I am afraid the word midwife, in our dictionaries, will soon give place to accoucheur, and one proof of the former delicacy of the sex be effaced161 from the language.
They might, also, study politics, and settle their benevolence on the broadest basis; for the reading of history will scarcely be more useful than the perusal162 of romances, if read as mere biography; if the character of the times, the political improvements, arts, &c. be not observed. In short, if it be not considered as the history of man; and not of particular men, who filled a niche163 in the temple of fame, and dropped into the black rolling stream of time, that silently sweeps all before it, into the shapeless void called — eternity164. — For shape, can it be called, ‘that shape hath none?’
Business of various kinds, they might likewise pursue, if they were educated in a more orderly manner, which might save many from common and legal prostitution. Women would not then marry for a support, as men accept of places under government, and neglect the implied duties; nor would an attempt to earn their own subsistence, a most laudable one! sink them almost to the level of those poor abandoned creatures who live by prostitution. For are not milliners and mantua-makers reckoned the next class? The few employments open to women, so far from being liberal, are menial; and when a superiour education enables them to take charge of the education of children as governesses, they are not treated like the tutors of sons, though even clerical tutors are not always treated in a manner calculated to render them respectable in the eyes of their pupils, to say nothing of the private comfort of the individual. But as women educated like gentlewomen, are never designed for the humiliating situation which necessity sometimes forces them to fill; these situations are considered in the light of a degradation165; and they know little of the human heart, who need to be told, that nothing so painfully sharpens sensibility as such a fall in life.
Some of these women might be restrained from marrying by a proper spirit or delicacy, and others may not have had it in their power to escape in this pitiful way from servitude; is not that government then very defective166, and very unmindful of the happiness of one half of its members, that does not provide for honest, independent women, by encouraging them to fill respectable stations? But in order to render their private virtue a public benefit, they must have a civil existence in the state, married or single; else we shall continually see some worthy167 woman, whose sensibility has been rendered painfully acute by undeserved contempt, droop168 like ‘the lily broken down by a plow-share.’
It is a melancholy truth; yet such is the blessed effect of civilization! the most respectable women are the most oppressed; and, unless they have understandings far superiour to the common run of understandings, taking in both sexes, they must, from being treated like contemptible169 beings, become contemptible. How many women thus waste life away the prey170 of discontent, who might have practised as physicians, regulated a farm, managed a shop, and stood erect171, supported by their own industry, instead of hanging their heads surcharged with the dew of sensibility, that consumes the beauty to which it at first gave lustre172; nay, I doubt whether pity and love are so near akin19 as poets feign173, for I have seldom seen much compassion excited by the helplessness of females, unless they were fair; then, perhaps, pity was the soft handmaid of love, or the harbinger of lust43.
How much more respectable is the woman who earns her own bread by fulfilling any duty, than the most accomplished174 beauty! — beauty did I say? — so sensible am I of the beauty of moral loveliness, or the harmonious175 propriety that attunes176 the passions of a well-regulated mind, that I blush at making the comparison; yet I sigh to think how few women aim at attaining177 this respectability by withdrawing from the giddy whirl of pleasure, or the indolent calm that stupifies the good sort of women it sucks in.
Proud of their weakness, however, they must always be protected, guarded from care, and all the rough toils178 that dignify179 the mind. — If this be the fiat180 of fate, if they will make themselves insignificant181 and contemptible, sweetly to waste ‘life away,’ let them not expect to be valued when their beauty fades, for it is the fate of the fairest flowers to be admired and pulled to pieces by the careless hand that plucked them. In how many ways do I wish, from the purest benevolence, to impress this truth on my sex; yet I fear that they will not listen to a truth that dear bought experience has brought home to many an agitated bosom, nor willingly resign the privileges of rank and sex for the privileges of humanity, to which those have no claim who do not discharge its duties.
Those writers are particularly useful, in my opinion, who make man feel for man, independent of the station he fills, or the drapery of factitious sentiments. I then would fain convince reasonable men of the importance of some of my remarks, and prevail on them to weigh dispassionately the whole tenor182 of my observations. — I appeal to their understandings; and, as a fellow-creature, claim, in the name of my sex, some interest in their hearts. I entreat183 them to assist to emancipate184 their companion, to make her a help meet for them!
Would men but generously snap our chains, and be content with rational fellowship instead of slavish obedience185, they would find us more observant daughters, more affectionate sisters, more faithful wives, more reasonable mothers — in a word, better citizens. We should then love them with true affection, because we should learn to respect ourselves; and the peace of mind of a worthy man would not be interrupted by the idle vanity of his wife, nor the babes sent to nestle in a strange bosom, having never found a home in their mother’s.
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1
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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noisome
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| adj.有害的，可厌的 | |
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reptiles
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| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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lurk
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| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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voluptuousness
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| n.风骚，体态丰满 | |
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pamper
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| v.纵容，过分关怀 | |
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pampered
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| adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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ripens
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的第三人称单数 ) | |
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ripen
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| vt.使成熟；vi.成熟 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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sycophants
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| n.谄媚者，拍马屁者( sycophant的名词复数 ) | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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fawning
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| adj.乞怜的，奉承的v.（尤指狗等）跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的现在分词 )；巴结；讨好 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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enervates
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| v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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sop
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| n.湿透的东西，懦夫；v.浸，泡，浸湿 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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37
blights
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| 使凋萎( blight的第三人称单数 )； 使颓丧； 损害； 妨害 | |
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38
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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39
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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40
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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41
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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42
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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43
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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44
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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45
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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46
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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47
inciting
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| 刺激的，煽动的 | |
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48
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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49
spurn
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| v.拒绝，摈弃；n.轻视的拒绝；踢开 | |
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50
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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51
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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52
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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53
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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54
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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55
caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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56
fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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57
insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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58
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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59
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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60
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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61
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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62
throbbed
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| 抽痛( throb的过去式和过去分词 )； （心脏、脉搏等）跳动 | |
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63
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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64
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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65
contemplating
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|
| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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66
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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67
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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68
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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69
frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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70
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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71
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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72
needy
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| adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的 | |
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73
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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74
prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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75
urchin
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| n.顽童；海胆 | |
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76
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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77
maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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78
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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79
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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80
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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81
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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82
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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83
plow
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| n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough | |
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84
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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86
sublimated
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| v.（使某物质）升华( sublimate的过去式和过去分词 )；使净化；纯化 | |
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87
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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88
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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89
shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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90
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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91
contriving
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| （不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的现在分词 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到 | |
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92
patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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93
bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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94
ostentation
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| n.夸耀，卖弄 | |
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95
expedient
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|
| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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96
agitated
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|
| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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97
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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98
rivet
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| n.铆钉；vt.铆接，铆牢；集中(目光或注意力) | |
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99
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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100
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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101
specious
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| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
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102
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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103
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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104
tyrants
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| 专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物 | |
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105
envious
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|
| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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106
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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107
fortify
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| v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化 | |
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108
peculiar
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|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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109
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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110
consolidated
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| a.联合的 | |
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111
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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112
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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113
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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114
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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115
procures
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的第三人称单数 )；拉皮条 | |
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116
alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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117
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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118
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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119
dispenses
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| v.分配，分与；分配( dispense的第三人称单数 )；施与；配（药） | |
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120
platonic
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| adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的 | |
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121
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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122
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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123
wrangle
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| vi.争吵 | |
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124
rusting
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| n.生锈v.（使）生锈( rust的现在分词 ) | |
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125
exultingly
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| 兴高采烈地，得意地 | |
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126
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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127
dubbed
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| v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制 | |
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128
denomination
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| n.命名，取名，(度量衡、货币等的)单位 | |
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129
finesse
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| n.精密技巧，灵巧，手腕 | |
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130
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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131
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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132
justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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133
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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134
animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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135
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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136
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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137
musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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138
follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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139
bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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140
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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141
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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142
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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143
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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144
countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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145
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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146
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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147
lamenting
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| adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 ) | |
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148
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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149
varnishes
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| 清漆的面（尤指木器或金属制品上的）( varnish的名词复数 )； 光泽面； 罩光漆 | |
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150
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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151
leaven
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| v.使发酵；n.酵母；影响 | |
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152
aggregate
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| adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合 | |
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153
refinements
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| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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154
banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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155
enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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156
sinecures
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| n.工作清闲但报酬优厚的职位，挂名的好差事( sinecure的名词复数 ) | |
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157
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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158
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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159
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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160
allot
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| v.分配；拨给；n.部分；小块菜地 | |
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161
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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162
perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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163
niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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164
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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165
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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166
defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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167
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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168
droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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169
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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170
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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171
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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172
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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173
feign
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| vt.假装，佯作 | |
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174
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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175
harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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176
attunes
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| v.使协调( attune的第三人称单数 )；调音 | |
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attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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178
toils
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| 网 | |
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179
dignify
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| vt.使有尊严；使崇高；给增光 | |
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180
fiat
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| n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布 | |
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181
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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182
tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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183
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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184
emancipate
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| v.解放，解除 | |
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185
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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