We turn now from English affairs to contemplate1 the reign2 of Louis XIV. Louis XIV.—a man who filled a very large space in the history of Europe during the seventeenth century. Indeed, his reign forms an epoch3 of itself, not so much from any impulse he gave to liberty or civilization, but because, for more than half a century, he was the central mover of European politics. His reign commemorates4 the triumph in France, of despotic principles, the complete suppression of popular interests, and almost the absorption of national interests in his own personal aggrandizement5. It commemorates the ascendency of fashion, and the great refinement6 of material life. The camp and the court of Louis XIV. ingulphed all that is interesting in the history of France during the greater part of the seventeenth century. He reigned7 seventy-two years, and, in his various wars, a million of men are supposed to have fallen victims to his vain-glorious ambition. His palaces consumed the treasures which his wars spared. He was viewed as a sun of glory and power, in the light of which all other lights were dim. Philosophers, poets, prelates, generals, and statesmen, during his reign, were regarded only as his satellites. He was the central orb8 around which every other light revolved9, and to contribute to his glory all were supposed to be born. He was, most emphatically, the state. He was France. A man, therefore, who, in the eye of contemporaries, was so grand, so rich, so powerful, and so absolute, claims a special notice. It is the province of history to record great influences, whether they come from the people, from great popular ideas, from literature and science, or from a single man. The lives of individuals are comparatively insignificant10 in the history of the United States; but the lives of such men as C?sar, Cromwell, and Napoleon, furnish very great subjects for the pen of the philosophical11 historian, since great controlling influences emanated12 from them, rather than from the people whom they ruled.
Louis XIV. was not a great general, like Henry IV., nor a great statesman, like William III., nor a philosopher, like Frederic the Great, nor a universal genius, like Napoleon; but his reign filled the eyes of contemporaries, and circumstances combined to make him the absolute master of a great empire. Moreover, he had sufficient talent and ambition to make use of fortunate opportunities, and of the His Power and Resources. resources of his kingdom, for his own aggrandizement. But France, nevertheless, was sacrificed. The French Revolution was as much the effect of his vanity and egotism, as his own power was the fruit of the policy of Cardinals14 Richelieu and Mazarin. By their labors15 in the cause of absolutism, he came in possession of armies and treasures. But armies and treasures were expended16 in objects of vain ambition, for the gratification of selfish pleasures, for expensive pageants17, and for gorgeous palaces. These finally embarrassed the nation, and ground it down to the earth by the load of taxation18, and maddened it by the prospect19 of ruin, by the poverty and degradation20 of the people, and, at the same time, by the extravagance and insolence21 of an overbearing aristocracy. The aristocracy formed the glory and pride of the throne and both nobles and the throne fell, and great was the fall thereof.
Our notice of Louis XIV. begins, not with his birth, but at the time when he resolved to be his own prime minister, on the death of Cardinal13 Mazarin, (1661.)
Louis XIV. was then twenty-three years of age—frank, beautiful, imperious, and ambitious. His education had been neglected, but his pride and selfishness had been stimulated22. During his minority, he had been straitened for money by the avaricious23 cardinal; but avaricious for his youthful master, since, at his death, besides his private fortune, which amounted to two hundred millions of livres, he left fifteen millions of livres, not specified24 in his will, which, of course, the king seized, and thus became the richest monarch25 of Europe. He was married, shortly before the death of Mazarin, to the Infanta Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV., King of Spain. But, long before his marriage, he had become attached to Mary de Mancini, niece of Mazarin, who returned his love with passionate26 ardor27. She afterwards married Prince Colonna, a Roman noble, and lived a most abandoned life.
The enormous wealth left by Cardinal Mazarin was, doubtless, one motive28 which induced Louis XIV., though only a young man of twenty-three, to be his own prime minister. Henceforth, to his death, all his ministers made their regular reports to him, and none were permitted to go beyond the limits which he prescribed to them.
He accepted, at first, the ministers whom the dying cardinal had recommended. The most prominent of these were Le Tellier, De Lionne, and Fouquet. The last was intrusted with the public chest, who found the means to supply the dissipated young monarch with all the money he desired for the indulgence of his expensive tastes and ruinous pleasures.
The thoughts and time of the king, from the death of Mazarin, for six or seven years, were chiefly occupied with his Habits and Pleasures of Louis. pleasures. It was then that the court of France was so debauched, splendid, and far-famed. It was during this time that the king was ruled by La Vallière, one of the most noted30 of all his favorites, a woman of considerable beauty and taste, and not so unprincipled as royal favorites generally have been. She was created a duchess, and her children were legitimatized, and also became dukes and princes. Of these the king was very fond, and his love for them survived the love for their unfortunate mother, who, though beautiful and affectionate, was not sufficiently31 intellectual to retain the affections with which she inspired the most selfish monarch of his age. She was supplanted32 in the king's affections by Madame de Montespan, an imperious beauty, whose extravagances and follies33 shocked and astonished even the most licentious34 court in Europe; and La Vallière, broken-hearted, disconsolate35, and mortified36, sought the shelter of a Carmelite convent, in which she dragged out thirty-six melancholy37 and dreary38 years, amid the most rigorous severities of self-inflicted39 penance40, in the anxious hope of that heavenly mansion41 where her sins would be no longer remembered, and where the weary would be at rest.
It was during these years of extravagance and pleasure that Versailles attracted the admiring gaze of Christendom, the most gorgeous palace which the world has seen since the fall of Babylon. Amid its gardens and groves42, its parks and marble halls, did the modern Nebuchadnezzar revel43 in a pomp and grandeur44 unparalleled in the history of Europe, surrounded by eminent45 prelates, poets, philosophers, and statesmen, and all that rank and beauty had ennobled throughout his vast dominions46. Intoxicated48 by their united flatteries, by all the incense49 which sycophancy50, carried to a science, could burn before him, he almost fancied himself a deity51, and gave no bounds to his self-indulgence, his vanity, and his pride. Every thing was subordinate to his pleasure and his egotism—an egotism alike regardless of the tears of discarded favorites, and the groans52 of his overburdened subjects.
But Louis, at last, palled53 with pleasure, was aroused from the festivities of Versailles by dreams of His Military Ambition. military ambition. He knew nothing of war, of its dangers, its reverses, or of its ruinous expenses; but he fancied it would be a beautiful sport for a wealthy and absolute monarch to engage in the costly54 game. He cast his eyes on Holland, a state extremely weak in land forces, and resolved to add it to the great kingdom over which he ruled.
The only power capable of rendering55 effectual assistance to Holland, when menaced by Louis XIV., was England; but England was ruled by Charles II., and all he cared for were his pleasures and independence from parliamentary control. The French king easily induced him to break his alliance with the Dutch by a timely bribe56, while, at the same time, he insured the neutrality of Spain, by inflaming57 the hereditary58 prejudices of the Spanish court against the Low Countries.
War, therefore, without even a decent pretence59, and without provocation60, was declared against Holland, with a view of annexing61 the Low Countries to France.
Before the Dutch were able to prepare for resistance, Louis XIV. appeared on the banks of the Rhine with an army of one hundred and twenty thousand, marshalled by such able generals as Luxembourg, Condé, and Turenne. The king commanded in person, and with all the pomp of an ancient Persian monarch, surrounded with women and nobles. Without any adequate force to resist him, his march could not but be triumphant63. He crossed the Rhine,—an exploit much celebrated64, by his flatterers, though nothing at all extraordinary,—and, in the course of a few weeks, nearly all the United Provinces had surrendered to the royal victor. The reduction of Holland and Zealand alone was necessary to crown his enterprise with complete success. But he wasted time in vain parade at Utrecht, where he held his court, and where his splendid army revelled65 in pleasure and pomp. Amsterdam alone, amid the general despondency and consternation66 which the French inundation67 produced, was true to herself, and to the liberties of Holland; and this was chiefly by means of the gallant68 efforts of the William, Prince of Orange. Prince of Orange.
At this time, (1672,) he was twenty-two years of age, and had received an excellent education, and shown considerable military abilities. In consequence of his precocity69 of talent, his unquestioned patriotism70, and the great services which his family had rendered to the state, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces of the republic, and was encouraged to aspire73 to the office of stadtholder, the highest in the commonwealth74. And his power was much increased after the massacre75 of the De Witts—the innocent victims of popular jealousy76, who, though patriotic77 and illustrious, inclined to a different policy than what the Orange party advocated. William advised the States to reject with scorn the humiliating terms of peace which Louis XIV. offered, and to make any sacrifice in defence of their very last ditch. The heroic spirit which animated78 his bosom79 he communicated to his countrymen, on the borders of despair, and in the prospect of national ruin; and so great was the popular enthusiasm, that preparations were made for fifty thousand families to fly to the Dutch possessions in the East Indies, and establish there a new empire, in case they were overwhelmed by their triumphant enemy.
Never, in the history of war, were such energies put forth29 as by the Hollanders in the hour of their extremity80. They opened their dikes, and overflowed81 their villages and their farms. They rallied around the standard of their heroic leader, who, with twenty-two thousand men, kept the vast armies of Condé and Turenne at bay. Providence83, too, assisted men who were willing to help themselves. The fleets of their enemies were dispersed84 by storms, and their armies were driven back by the timely inundation.
The heroism85 of William called forth universal admiration86. Louis attempted to bribe him, and offered him the sovereignty of Holland, which offer he unhesitatingly rejected. He had seen the lowest point in the depression of his country, and was confident of ultimate success.
The resistance of Holland was unexpected, and Louis, wearied with the campaign, retired87 to Versailles, to be fed with the incense of his flatterers, and to publish the manifestoes of his glory and success.
The states of Europe, jealous of the encroachments of Louis, at last resolved to come to the assistance of the struggling republic of Holland. Charles II. ingloriously sided with the great despot of Europe; but the Emperor of Germany, the Elector of Brandenburg, and the King of Spain declared war against France. Moreover, the Dutch gained some signal naval88 battles. The celebrated admirals De Ruyter and Van Tromp redeemed89 the ancient glories of the Dutch flag. The French were nearly driven out of Holland; and Charles II., in spite of his secret treaties with Louis, was compelled to make peace with the little state which had hitherto defied him in the plenitude of his power.
But the ambitious King of France was determined90 not to be baffled in his scheme, since he had all the mighty91 resources of his kingdom at his entire disposal, and was burning with the passion of military aggrandizement. Second Invasion of Holland. So he recommenced preparations for the conquest of Holland on a greater scale than ever, and assembled four immense armies. Condé led one against Flanders, and fought a bloody92 but indecisive battle with the Prince of Orange, in which twelve thousand men were killed on each side. Turenne commanded another on the side of Germany, and possessed93 himself of the Palatinate, gained several brilliant successes, but disgraced them by needless cruelties. Manheim, and numerous towns and villages, were burnt, and the country laid waste and desolate94. The elector was so overcome with indignation, that he challenged the French general to single combat, which the great marshal declined.
Louis himself headed a third army, and invaded Franche Comté, which he subdued95 in six weeks. The fourth army was sent to the frontiers of Roussillon, but effected nothing of importance.
This Dutch War. great war was prosecuted96 for four years longer, in which the contending parties obtained various success. The only decisive effect of the contest was to reduce the strength of all the contending powers. Some great battles were fought, but Holland still held out with inferior forces. Louis lost the great Turenne, who was killed on the eve of a battle with the celebrated Montecuculi, who commanded the German armies; but, in a succeeding campaign, this loss was compensated98 by the surrender of Valenciennes, by the victories of Luxembourg over the Prince of Orange, and by another treaty of peace with Charles II.
At last, all the contending parties were exhausted99, and Louis was willing to make terms of peace. He had not reduced Holland, but, on account of his vast resources, he had obtained considerable advantages. The treaty of Nimeguen, in 1678, secured to him Franche Comté, which he had twice conquered, and several important cities and fortresses100 in Flanders. He considerably101 extended his dominions, in spite of a powerful confederacy, and only retreated from the field of triumph to meditate102 more gigantic enterprises.
For nine years, Europe enjoyed a respite103 from the horrors of war, during which Louis XIV. acted like a universal monarch. During these nine years, he indulged in his passion of palace building, and surrounded himself with every pleasure which could intoxicate47 a mind on which, already, had been exhausted all the arts of flattery, and all the resources of wealth.
The man to whom Louis was most indebted for the means to prosecute97 his victories and build his palaces, was Colbert, minister of finance, who succeeded Fouquet. France was indebted to this able and patriotic minister for her richest manufactures of silks, laces, tapestries104, and carpets, and for various internal improvements. He founded the Gobelin tapestries; erected105 the Royal Library, the colonnade107 of the Louvre, the Royal Observatory108, the Hotel of the Invalids109, and the palaces of the Tuileries, Vincennes, Meudon, and Versailles. He encouraged all forms of industry, and protected the Huguenots. But his great services were not fully110 appreciated by the king, and he was obnoxious111 to the nobility, who envied his eminence112, and to the people, because he desired the prosperity of France more than the gratification of their pleasures. He was succeeded by Louvois, who long retained a great ascendency by obsequious113 attention to all the king's wishes.
At this period, the reigning114 favorite at court was Madame Montespan. Madame de Montespan—the most infamous115 and unprincipled, but most witty116 and brilliant of all the king's mistresses, and the haughtiest117 woman of her age. Her tastes were expensive, and her habits extravagant118 and luxurious119. On her the sovereign showered diamonds and rubies120. He could refuse her nothing. She received so much from him, that she could afford to endow a convent—the mere121 building of which cost one million eight hundred thousand livres. Her children were legitimatized, and declared princes of the blood. Through her the royal favors flowed. Ambassadors, ministers, and even prelates, paid their court to her. On her the reproofs122 of Bossuet fell without effect. Secure in her ascendency over the mind of Louis, she triumphed over his court, and insulted the nation. But, at last, he grew weary of her, although she remained at court eighteen years, and she was dismissed from Versailles, on a pension of a sum equal to six hundred thousand dollars a year. She lived twenty-two years after her exile from court, and in great splendor123, sometimes hoping to regain124 the ascendency she had once enjoyed, and at others in those rigorous penances125 which her church inflicts126 as the expiation127 for sin. To the last, however, she was haughty128 and imperious, and kept up the vain etiquette129 of a court. Her husband, whom she had abandoned, and to whom, after her disgrace, she sought to be reconciled, never would hear her name mentioned; and the king, whom, for nearly twenty years, she had enthralled130, heard of her death with indifference131, as he was starting for a hunting excursion. "Ah, indeed," said Louis XIV., "so the marchioness is dead! I should have thought that she would have lasted longer. Are you ready, M. de la Rochefoucauld? I have no doubt that, after this last shower, the scent132 will lie well for the dogs. Let us be off at once."
As the Marchioness de Montespan lost her power over the royal egotist, Madame de Maintenon. Madame de Maintenon gained hers. She was the wife of the poet Scarron, and was first known to the king as the governess of the children of Montespan. She was an estimable woman on the whole, very intellectual, very proper, very artful, and very ambitious. No person ever had so great an influence over Louis XIV. as she; and hers was the ascendency of a strong mind over a weak one. She endeavored to make peace at court, and to dissuade133 the king from those vices71 to which he had so long been addicted134. And she partially135 reclaimed136 him, although, while her counsels were still regarded, Louis was enslaved by Madame de Fontanges—a luxurious beauty, whom he made a duchess, and on whom he squandered137 the revenues of a province. But her reign was short. Mere physical charms must soon yield to the superior power of intellect and wit, and, after her death, the reign of Madame de Maintenon was complete. As the king could not live without her, and as she refused to follow the footsteps of her predecessors138, the king made her his wife. And she was worthy139 of his choice; and her influence was, on the whole, good, although she befriended the Jesuits, and prompted the king to many acts of religious intolerance. It was chiefly through her influence, added to that of the Jesuits, that the king revoked140 the edict of Nantes, and its revocation141 was attended by great sufferings and privations among the persecuted142 Huguenots. He had, on ascending143 the throne, in 1643, confirmed the privileges of the Protestants; but, gradually, he worried them by exactions and restraints, and, finally, in 1685, by the revocation of the edict which Henry IV. had passed, he withdrew his protection, and subjected them to a more bitter persecution144 than at any preceding period. All the Protestant ministers were banished145, or sent to the galleys146, and the children of Protestants were taken from their parents, and committed to the care of their nearest Catholic relations, or such persons as judges appointed. All the terrors of military execution, all the artifices147 of priestcraft, were put forth to make converts and such as relapsed were subjected to cruel torments148. A twentieth part of them were executed, and the remainder hunted from place to place. By these cruelties, France was deprived of nearly six hundred thousand of the best people in the land—a great misfortune, since they contributed, in their dispersion and exile, to enrich, by their agriculture and manufactures, the countries to which they fled.
From this period of his reign to his death, Louis XIV. was a religious bigot, and the interests of the Roman Church, next to the triumph of absolutism, became the great desire of his life. He was punctual and rigid149 in the outward ceremonials of his religion, and professed150 to regret the follies and vices of his early life. Through the influence of his confessor, the Jesuit La Chaise, and his wife, Madame de Maintenon, he sent away Montespan from his court, and discouraged those gayeties for which it had once been distinguished151. But he was always fond of ceremony of all kinds, and the etiquette of his court was most irksome and oppressive, and wearied Madame de Maintenon herself, and caused her to exclaim, in a letter to her brother, "Save those who fill the highest stations, I know of none more unfortunate than those who envy them."
The favorite minister of the king at this time was Louvois, a very able but extremely prodigal152 man, who plunged153 Louis XIV. into innumerable expenses, and encouraged his taste both for palaces and war. It was probably through his intrigues154, in order to make himself necessary to the king, that a general war again broke out in Europe.
In 1687 was formed the famous League of Augsburg. League of Augsburg, by which the leading princes of Europe united in a great confederacy to suppress the power and encroachments of the French king. Louvois intrigued155 to secure the election of the Cardinal de Furstemberg to the archbishopric of Cologne, in opposition156 to the interests of Bavaria, the natural ally of France, conscious that, by so doing, he must provoke hostilities157. But this act was only the occasion, not the cause, of war. Louis had enraged158 the Protestant world by his persecution of the Huguenots. He had insulted even the pope himself by sending an ambassador to Rome, with guards and armed attendants equal to an army, in order to enforce some privileges which it was not for the interest or the dignity of the pope to grant; he had encouraged the invasion of Germany by the Turks; he had seized Strasburg, the capital of Alsace; he bombarded Genoa, because they sold powder to the Algerines, and compelled the doge to visit him as a suppliant159; he laid siege to some cities which belonged to Spain; and he prepared to annex62 the Low Countries to his dominions. Indeed, he treated all other powers as if he were the absolute monarch of Europe, and fear and jealousy united them against them. Germany, Spain, and Holland, and afterwards England, Denmark, Sweden, and Savoy, co?perated together to crush the common enemy of European liberties.
Louis made enormous exertions160 to resist this powerful confederacy. Four hundred thousand men were sent into the field, divided into four armies. Two of these were sent into Flanders, one into Catalonia, and one into Germany, which laid waste the Palatinate with fire and sword. Louvois gave the order, and Louis sanctioned it, which was executed with such unsparing cruelty that all Europe was filled with indignation and defiance161.
The forces of Louis were immense, but those of the allies were greater. Opposing Armies and Generals. The Spaniards, Dutch, and English, had an army of fifty thousand men in Flanders, eleven thousand of whom were commanded by the Earl of Marlborough. The Germans sent three more armies into the field; one commanded by the Elector of Bavaria, on the Upper Rhine; another by the Duke of Lorraine, on the Middle Rhine; and a third by the Elector of Brandenburg, on the Lower Rhine; and these, in the first campaign, obtained signal successes. The next year, the Duke of Savoy joined the allies, whose army was commanded by Victor Amadeus; but he was beaten by Marshal Catinat, one of the most distinguished of the French generals. Luxembourg also was successful in Flanders, and gained the great battle of Charleroi over the Germans and Dutch: The combined fleet of the English and Dutch was also defeated by the French at the battle of Beachy Head. In the next campaign, Prince Eugene and the Duke of Schomberg distinguished themselves in checking the victorious162 career of Catinat; but nothing of importance was effected. The following spring, William III. and Louis XIV., the two great heads of the contending parties, took the field themselves; and Louis, with the aid of Luxembourg, took Namur, in spite of the efforts of William to succor163 it. Some other successes were gained by the French, and Louis retired to Versailles to celebrate the victories of his generals. The next campaign witnessed another splendid victory over William and the allies, by Luxembourg, at Neerwinden, when twelve thousand men were killed; and also another, by Catinat, at Marsaglia, in Italy, over the Duke of Savoy. The military glory of Louis was now at its height; but, in the campaign of 1694-95, he met with great reverses. Luxembourg, the greatest of his generals, died. The allies retook Huy and Namur, and the French king, exhausted by the long war, was forced to make peace. The treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, secured the tranquillity164 of Europe for four years—long enough only for the contending parties to recover their energies, and prepare for a more desperate contest. Louis XIV., however, now acted on the defensive165. The allied82 powers were resolved on his complete humiliation166.
War broke out again in 1701, and in consequence of the War of the Spanish Succession. accession of Philip V., grandson of Louis XIV., to the throne of Spain. This great war of the Spanish Succession, during which Marlborough so greatly distinguished himself, claims a few explanatory remarks.
Charles II., King of Spain, and the last of the line of the Austrian princes, being without an heir, and about to die, selected as his successor Leopold of Bavaria, a boy five years of age, whose grandmother was Maria Theresa. But there were also two other claimants—the Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV., whose claim rested in being the grandson of Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV., and sister of Charles II., and the Emperor of Germany, whose mother was the daughter of Philip III. The various European states looked with extreme jealousy on the claims of the Emperor of Germany and the Duke of Anjou, because they feared that the balance of power would be seriously disturbed if either an Austrian or a Bourbon prince became King of Spain. They, therefore, generally supported the claims of the Bavarian prince, especially England and Holland.
But the Prince of Bavaria suddenly died, as it was supposed by poison, and Louis XIV. so successfully intrigued, that his grandson was nominated by the Spanish monarch as heir to his throne. This incensed167 Leopold II. of Germany, and especially William III., who was resolved that the house of Bourbon should be no further aggrandized168.
On the accession of the Duke of Anjou to the Spanish throne, in 1701, a grand alliance was formed, headed by the Emperor of Germany and the King of England, to dethrone him. Louis XIV. long hesitated between his ambition and the interests of his kingdom; but ambition triumphed. He well knew that he could only secure a crown to his grandson by a desperate contest with indignant Europe. Austria, Holland, Savoy, and England were arrayed against France. And this war of the Spanish Succession was the longest, the bloodiest169, and the most disastrous170 war in which Louis was ever engaged. It commenced the last year of the reign of William III., and lasted thirteen years.
The great hero of this war was doubtless the Duke of Marlborough. Duke of Marlborough, although Prince Eugene gained with him as imperishable glories as war can bestow171. John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, cannot be said to be one of those geniuses who have impressed their minds on nations and centuries; but he was a man who gave great lustre172 to the British name, and who attained173 to a higher pitch of military fame than any general whom England has produced since Oliver Cromwell, with the exception of Wellington.
He was born in 1650, of respectable parents, and was page of honor to the Duke of York, afterwards James II. While a mere boy, his bent174 of mind was discernible, and he solicited175 and obtained from the duke an ensign's commission, and rapidly passed through the military grades of lieutenant176, captain, major, and colonel. During the infamous alliance between Louis XIV. and Charles II., he served under Marshal Turenne, and learned from him the art of war. But he also distinguished himself as a diplomatic agent of Charles II., in his intrigues with Holland and France. Before the accession of James II., he was created a Scottish peer, by the title of Baron177 Churchill. He followed his royal patron in his various peregrinations, and, when he succeeded to the English throne, he was raised to an English peerage. But Marlborough deserted178 his patron on the landing of William III., and was made a member of his Privy179 Council, and lord of the bed-chamber. Two days before the coronation of William, he was made Earl of Marlborough; but was not intrusted with as high military command as his genius and services merited, William being apparently180 jealous of his fame. On the accession of Anne, he was sent to the Continent with the supreme181 command of the English armies in the war with Louis about the Spanish Succession. His services in the campaign of 1702 secured a dukedom, and deservedly, for he contended against great obstacles—against the obstinacy182 and stupidity of the Dutch deputies; against the timidity of the English government at home; and against the veteran armies of Louis, led on by the celebrated Villars. But neither the campaigns of 1702 or 1703 were marked by any decisive battles. In 1704 was fought the celebrated battle of Blenheim, by which the French power was crippled, and the hopes of Louis prostrated183.
The campaign of 1703 closed disastrously184 for the allies. Europe was never in greater peril185. Bavaria united with France and Spain to crush Austria. The Austrians had only twenty thousand men, while the Bavarians had forty-five thousand men in the centre of Germany, and Marshal Tallard was posted, with forty-five thousand men, on the Upper Rhine. Marshal Villeroy opposed Marlborough in the Netherlands.
But Marlborough conceived the bold project of marching his troops to the banks of the Danube, and there uniting with the Imperialists under Prince Eugene, to cut off the forces of the enemy before they could unite. So he left the Dutch to defend themselves against Villeroy, rapidly ascended186 the Rhine, before any of the enemy dreamed of his designs. From Mentz, he proceeded with forty thousand men to Heidelberg, and from Heidelberg to Donauworth, on the Danube, where his troops, which had effected a junction187 with the Austrians and Prussians, successfully engaged the Bavarians. But the Bavarians and the French also succeeded in uniting their forces; and both parties prepared for a desperate conflict. There were about eighty thousand men on each side. The French and Bavarians were strongly intrenched at the village of Battle of Blenheim. Blenheim; and Marlborough, against the advice of most of his generals, resolved to attack their fortified188 camp before it was re?nforced by a large detachment of troops which Villeroy had sent. "I know the danger," said Marlborough; "but a battle is absolutely necessary." He was victorious. Forty thousand of the enemy were killed or taken prisoners; Tallard himself was taken, and every trophy189 was secured which marks a decisive victory. By his great victory, the Emperor of Austria was relieved from his fears, the Hungarians were overawed, Bavaria fell under the sway of the emperor, and the armies of Louis were dejected and discouraged. Marlborough marched back again to Holland without interruption, was made a prince of the empire, and received pensions and lands from the English government, which made him one of the richest and greatest of the English nobility. The palace of Blenheim was built, and he received the praises and plaudits of the civilized190 world.
The French were hardly able to cope with Marlborough during the next campaign, but rallied in 1706, during which year the great battle of Ramillies was fought, and won by Marlborough. The conquest of Brabant, and the greater part of Spanish Flanders, resulted from this victory; and Louis, crippled and humiliated191, made overtures192 of peace. Though equitable193, they were rejected; the allies having resolved that no peace should be made with the house of Bourbon while a prince of that house continued to sit upon the throne of Spain. Louis appealed now, in his distress194, to the national honor, sent his plate to the mint, and resolved, in his turn, to contend, to the last extremity, with his enemies, whom success had intoxicated.
The English, not content with opposing Louis in the Netherlands and in Germany, sent their armies into Spain, also, who, united with the Austrians, overran the country, and nearly completed its conquest. One of the most gallant and memorable195 exploits of the war was the siege and capture of Barcelona by the Earl of Peterborough, the city having made one of the noblest and most desperate defences since the siege of Numantia.
The Exertions and Necessities of Louis. exertions of Louis were equal to his necessities; and, in 1707, he was able to send large armies into the field. None of his generals were able to resist the Duke of Marlborough, who gained new victories, and took important cities; but, in Spain, the English met with reverses. In 1708, Louis again offered terms of peace, which were again rejected. His country was impoverished196, his resources were exhausted, and a famine carried away his subjects. He agreed to yield the whole Spanish monarchy197 to the house of Austria, without any equivalent; to cede198 to the emperor his conquests on the Rhine, and to the Dutch the great cities which Marlborough had taken; to acknowledge the Elector of Brandenburg as King of Prussia, and Anne as Queen of England; to remove the Pretender from his dominions; to acknowledge the succession of the house of Hanover; to restore every thing required by the Duke of Savoy; and agree to the cessions made to the King of Portugal.
And yet these conditions, so honorable and advantageous199 to the allies, were rejected, chiefly through the influence of Marlborough, Eugene, and the pensionary Heinsius, who acted from entirely200 selfish motives201. Louis was not permitted to cherish the most remote hope of peace without surrendering the strongest cities of his dominions as pledges for the entire evacuation of the Spanish monarchy by his grandson. This he would not agree to. He threw himself, in his distress, upon the loyalty202 of his people. Their pride and honor were excited; and, in spite of all their misfortunes, they prepared to make new efforts. Again were the French defeated at the great battle of Malplaquet, when ninety thousand men contended on each side; and again did Louis sue for peace. Again were his overtures rejected, and again did he rally his exhausted nation. Some victories in Spain were obtained over the confederates; but the allies gradually were hemming203 him around, and the king-hunt was nearly up, when unexpected dissensions among the allies relieved him of his enemies.
These dissensions were the struggles between the Whigs and Tories in England; the former maintaining that no peace should be made; the latter, that the war had been carried far enough, and was prolonged only to gratify the ambition of Marlborough. The great general, in consequence, lost popularity; and the Tories succeeded in securing a peace, just as Louis was on the verge204 of ruin. Another campaign, had the allies been united, would probably have enabled Marlborough to penetrate205 to Paris. That was his aim; that was the aim of his party. But the nation was weary of war, and at last made peace with Louis. By the Treaty of Utrecht. treaty of Utrecht, (1713,) Philip V. resumed the throne of Spain, but was compelled to yield his rights to the crown of France in case of the death of a sickly infant, the great-grandson of Louis XIV., who was heir apparent to the throne; but, in other respects, the terms were not more favorable than what Louis had offered in 1706, and very inadequate206 to the expenses of the war. The allies should have yielded to the overtures of Louis before, or should have persevered207. But party spirit, and division in the English cabinet and parliament, prevented the consummation which the Whigs desired, and Louis was saved from further humiliation and losses.
But his power was broken. He was no longer the autocrat208 of Europe, but a miserable209 old man, who had lived to see irreparable calamities210 indicted211 on his nation, and calamities in consequence of his ambition. His latter years were melancholy. He survived his son and his grandson. He saw himself an object of reproach, of ridicule212, and of compassion213. He sought the religious consolation214 of his church, but was the victim of miserable superstition215, and a tool of the Jesuits. He was ruled by his wife, the widow of the poet Scarron, whom his children refused to honor. His last days were imbittered by disappointments and mortifications, disasters in war, and domestic afflictions. No man ever, for a while, enjoyed a prouder pre?minence. No man ever drank deeper of the bitter cup of disappointed ambition and alienated216 affections. No man ever more fully realized the vanity of this world. None of the courtiers, by whom he was surrounded, he could trust, and all his experiences led to a disbelief in human virtue218. He saw, with shame, that his palaces, his wars, and his pleasures, had consumed the resources of the nation, and had sowed the seeds of a fearful revolution. He lost his spirits; his temper became soured; mistrust and suspicion preyed219 upon his mind. His love of pomp survived all his other weaknesses, and his court, to the last, was most rigid in its wearisome formalities. But the pageantry of Versailles was a poor antidote220 to the sorrows which bowed his head to the ground, except on those great public occasions when his pride triumphed over his grief. Last Days of Louis. Every day, in his last years, something occurred to wound his vanity, and alienate217 him from all the world but Madame de Maintenon, the only being whom he fully trusted, and who did not deceive him. Indeed, the humiliated monarch was an object of pity as well as of reproach, and his death was a relief to himself, as well as to his family. He died in 1715, two years after the peace of Utrecht, not much regretted by the nation.
Louis XIV. cannot be numbered among the monsters of the human race who have worn the purple of royalty221. His Character. His chief and worst vice72 was egotism, which was born with him, which was cultivated by all the influences of his education, and by all the circumstances of his position. This absorbing egotism made him insensible to the miseries222 he inflicted, and cherished in his soul the notion that France was created for him alone. His mistresses, his friends, his wives, his children, his court, and the whole nation, were viewed only as the instruments of his pride and pleasure. All his crimes and blunders proceeded from his extraordinary selfishness. If we could look on him without this moral taint223, which corrupted224 and disgraced him, we should see an indulgent father and a generous friend. He attended zealously225 to the duties of his station, and sought not to shake off his responsibilities. He loved pleasure, but, in its pursuit, he did not forget the affairs of the realm. He rewarded literature, and appreciated merit. He honored the institutions of religion, and, in his latter days, was devoted226 to its duties, so far as he understood them. He has been foolishly panegyrized, and as foolishly censured227. Still his reign was baneful228, on the whole, especially to the interests of enlightened Christianity and to popular liberty. He was a bigoted229 Catholic, and sought to erect106, on the ruins of states and empires, an absolute and universal throne. He failed; and instead of bequeathing to his successors the power which he enjoyed, he left them vast debts, a distracted empire, and a discontented people. He bequeathed to France the revolution which hurled230 her monarch from his throne, but which was overruled for her ultimate good.
References.—Louis XIV. et son Siècle. Voltaire's and Miss Pardoe's Histories of the Reign of Louis XIV. James's Life of Louis XIV. Mémoires du Duc de St. Simon. The Abbé Millot's History. D'Anquetil's Louis XIV., sa Cour, et le Régent. Sismondi's History of France. Crowe's and Rankin's Histories of France. Lord Mahon's War of the Spanish Succession. Temple's Memoirs231. Coxe's Life of Marlborough. Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon. Madame de Sévigné's Letters. Russell's Modern Europe. The late history by Miss Pardoe is one of the most interesting ever written. It may have too much gossip for what is called the "dignity of history;" but that fault, if fault it be, has been made by Macaulay also, and has been condemned232, not unfrequently, by those most incapable233 of appreciating philosophical history.
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contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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commemorates
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| n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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aggrandizement
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| n.增大，强化，扩大 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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emanated
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| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的过去式和过去分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
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cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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cardinals
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| 红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数 | |
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labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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pageants
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| n.盛装的游行( pageant的名词复数 )；穿古代服装的游行；再现历史场景的娱乐活动；盛会 | |
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taxation
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| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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avaricious
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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specified
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| adj.特定的 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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supplanted
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| 把…排挤掉，取代( supplant的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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licentious
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| adj.放纵的，淫乱的 | |
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disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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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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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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intoxicate
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| vt.使喝醉，使陶醉，使欣喜若狂 | |
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intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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sycophancy
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| n.拍马屁，奉承，谄媚；吮痈舐痔 | |
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deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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52
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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53
palled
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| v.（因过多或过久而）生厌，感到乏味，厌烦( pall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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inflaming
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| v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的现在分词 ) | |
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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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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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annexing
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| 并吞( annex的现在分词 )； 兼并； 强占； 并吞（国家、地区等） | |
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annex
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| vt.兼并，吞并；n.附属建筑物 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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revelled
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| v.作乐( revel的过去式和过去分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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inundation
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| n.the act or fact of overflowing | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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precocity
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| n.早熟，早成 | |
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patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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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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aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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redeemed
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| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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prosecuted
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| a.被起诉的 | |
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prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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compensated
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| 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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99
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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100
fortresses
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| 堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
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101
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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102
meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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103
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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104
tapestries
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| n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 ) | |
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105
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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106
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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107
colonnade
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| n.柱廊 | |
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108
observatory
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| n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台 | |
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109
invalids
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| 病人，残疾者( invalid的名词复数 ) | |
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110
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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111
obnoxious
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| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
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112
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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113
obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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114
reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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115
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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116
witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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117
haughtiest
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| haughty（傲慢的，骄傲的）的最高级形式 | |
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118
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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119
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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120
rubies
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| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
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121
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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122
reproofs
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| n.责备，责难，指责( reproof的名词复数 ) | |
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123
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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124
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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125
penances
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| n.（赎罪的）苦行，苦修( penance的名词复数 ) | |
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126
inflicts
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的第三人称单数 ) | |
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127
expiation
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| n.赎罪，补偿 | |
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128
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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129
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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130
enthralled
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| 迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快 | |
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131
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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132
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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133
dissuade
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| v.劝阻，阻止 | |
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134
addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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135
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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136
reclaimed
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| adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救 | |
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137
squandered
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| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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138
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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139
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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140
revoked
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| adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
revocation
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| n.废止，撤回 | |
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142
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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143
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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144
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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145
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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146
galleys
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| n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房 | |
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147
artifices
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| n.灵巧( artifice的名词复数 )；诡计；巧妙办法；虚伪行为 | |
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148
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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149
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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150
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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151
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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152
prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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153
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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154
intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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155
intrigued
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| adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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156
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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157
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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158
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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159
suppliant
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| adj.哀恳的；n.恳求者，哀求者 | |
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160
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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161
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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162
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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163
succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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164
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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165
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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166
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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167
incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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168
aggrandized
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| v.扩大某人的权力( aggrandize的过去式和过去分词 )；提高某人的地位；夸大；吹捧 | |
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169
bloodiest
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| adj.血污的( bloody的最高级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的 | |
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170
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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171
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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172
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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173
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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174
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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175
solicited
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| v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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176
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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177
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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178
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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179
privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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180
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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181
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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182
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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183
prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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184
disastrously
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| ad.灾难性地 | |
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185
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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186
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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187
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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188
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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189
trophy
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| n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品 | |
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190
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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191
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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192
overtures
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| n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲 | |
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193
equitable
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| adj.公平的；公正的 | |
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194
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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195
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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196
impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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197
monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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198
cede
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| v.割让，放弃 | |
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199
advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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200
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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201
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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202
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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203
hemming
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| 卷边 | |
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204
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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205
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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206
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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207
persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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208
autocrat
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| n.独裁者；专横的人 | |
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209
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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210
calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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211
indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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212
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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213
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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214
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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215
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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216
alienated
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|
| adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等） | |
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217
alienate
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| vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等) | |
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218
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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219
preyed
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| v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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220
antidote
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| n.解毒药，解毒剂 | |
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221
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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222
miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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223
taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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224
corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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225
zealously
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| adv.热心地；热情地；积极地；狂热地 | |
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226
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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227
censured
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| v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 ) | |
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228
baneful
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| adj.有害的 | |
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229
bigoted
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| adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的 | |
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230
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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231
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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232
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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233
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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