The reign1 of Louis XV. was one of the longest on record extending from 1715 to 1774—the greater part of the eighteenth century. But he was a child, only five years of age, on the death of his great grandfather, Louis XIV.; and, even after he came to his majority, he was ruled by his ministers and his mistresses. He was not, like Louis XIV., the life and the centre of all great movements in his country. He was an automaton2, a pageant3; not because the constitution imposed checks on his power, but because he was weak and vacillating. He, therefore, performing no great part in history, is only to be alluded4 to, and attention should be mainly directed to his ministers.
During the minority of the king, the reins6 of government were held by the Duke of Orleans, as Regency of the Duke of Orleans. regent, and who, in case of the king's death, would be the next king, being grand-nephew of Louis XIV. The administration of the Duke of Orleans is nearly contemporaneous with that of Sir Robert Walpole. The most pressing subject which demanded the attention of the regent, was that of the finances. The late king had left a debt of one thousand millions of livres—an enormous sum in that age. To get rid of this burden, the Duke of St. Simon proposed a bankruptcy7. "This," said he, "would fall chiefly on the commercial and moneyed classes, who were not to be feared or pitied; and would, moreover, be not only a relief to the state, but a salutary warning to the ignoble8 classes not to lend their money." This speech illustrates9 the feelings and opinions of the aristocratic class in France, at that time. But the minister of finance would not run the risk of incurring10 the popular odium which such a measure would have produced, and he proposed calling together the States General. The regent duke, however, would not hear of that measure, and yet did not feel inclined to follow fully11 the advice of St. Simon. He therefore compromised the matter, and resolved to rob the national creditor12. He established a commission to verify the bills of the public creditors13, and, if their accounts did not prove satisfactory, to cancel them entirely14. Three hundred and fifty millions of livres—equal, probably, to three hundred millions of dollars in this age—were thus swept away. But it was resolved not only to refuse to pay just debts, but to make people repay the gains which they had made. Those who had loaned money to the state, or had farmed the revenues, were flung into prison, and threatened with confiscation15 of their goods, and even death,—treated as Jews were treated in the Dark Ages,—unless they redeemed16 themselves by purchasing a pardon. Never before did men suffer such a penalty for having befriended an embarrassed state. To this injustice18 and cruelty the magistracy winked19. But, in addition to this, the coin was debased to such an extent, that seventy-two millions of livres were thus added to the treasury20. Yet even these gains were not enough to satisfy a profligate21 government. There still continued a constant pressure. The national debt had increased even to fifteen hundred millions of livres, or almost seventy millions sterling—equivalent to what would now be equal to at least one thousand millions of dollars.
To get rid of this debt, the regent listened to the schemes of the celebrated22 John Law. John Law, a Scotch23 adventurer and financier, who had established a bank, had grown rich, and was reputed to be a wonderful political economist24.
Law proposed, in substance, to increase the paper currency of the country, and thus supersede25 the necessity for the use of the precious metals.
The regent, moreover, having great faith in Law's abilities, and in his wealth, converted his private bank into a royal one—made it, in short, the Bank of France. This bank was then allied26 with the two great commercial companies of the time—the East India and the Mississippi. Great privileges were bestowed27 on each. The latter had the exclusive monopoly of the trade with Louisiana, and all the countries on the Mississippi River, and also of the fur trade in Canada. Louisiana was then supposed to be rich in gold mines, and great delusions28 arose from the popular notion.
The capital of this gigantic corporation was fixed30 at one hundred millions and Law, who was made director-general, aimed to make the notes of the Mississippi Company. company preferable to specie, which, however could lawfully31 be demanded for the notes. So it was settled that the shares of the company could only be purchased by the paper of the bank. As extravagant32 hopes of gain were cherished respecting the company, its shares were in great demand. And, as only Law's bank bills could purchase the shares, the gold and silver of the realm flowed into Law's bank. Law and the regent had, therefore, the fabrication of both shares and bank bills to an indefinite amount.
The national creditor was also paid in the notes of the bank, and, as unbounded confidence existed, both in the genius of Law and in the profits of the Mississippi Company,—as the shares were constantly in demand, and were rising in value,—the creditor was satisfied. In a short time, one half of the national debt was transferred. Government owed the bank, and not the individuals and corporations from whom loans had been originally obtained. These individuals, instead of government scrip, had shares in the Mississippi Company.
And all would have been well, had the company's shares been valuable, or had they retained their credit, or even had but a small part of the national debt been transferred. But the people did not know the real issues of the bank, and so long as new shares could be created and sold to pay the interest, the company's credit was good. For a while the delusion29 lasted. Law was regarded as a great national benefactor34. His house was thronged35 with dukes and princes. He became controller-general of the finances—virtually prime minister. His fame extended far and wide. Honors were showered upon him from every quarter. He was elected a member of the French Academy. His schemes seemed to rain upon Paris a golden shower. He had freed the state from embarrassments37, and he had, apparently38, made every body rich, and no one poor. He was a deity39, as beneficent as he was powerful. He became himself the richest man in Europe. Every body was intoxicated40. The golden age had come. Paris was crowded with strangers from all parts of the world. Five hundred thousand strangers expended41 their fortunes, in hope of making greater ones. Twelve hundred new coaches were set up in the city. Lodgings42 could scarcely be had for money. The highest price was paid for provisions. Widow ladies, clergymen, and noblemen deserted44 London to speculate in stocks at Paris. Nothing was seen but new equipages, new houses, new apparel, new furniture. Nothing was felt but universal exhilaration. Every man seemed to have made his fortune. The stocks rose every day. The higher they rose, the more new stock was created. At last, the shares of the company rose from one hundred to twelve hundred per cent., and three hundred millions were created, which were nominally45 worth, in 1719, three thousand six hundred millions of livres—one hundred and eighty times the amount of all the gold and silver in Europe at that time.
In this public Popular Delusion. delusion, the directors were wise enough to convert their shares into silver and gold. A great part of the current coin in the kingdom was locked up in the houses or banks of a few stockjobbers and speculators.
But the scarcity46 of gold and silver was felt, people's eyes were opened, and the bubble burst, but not until half of the national debt had been paid off by this swindling transaction.
The nation was furious. A panic spread among all classes; the bank had no money with which to redeem17 its notes; the shares fell almost to nothing; and universal bankruptcy took place. Those who, a few days before, fancied themselves rich, now found themselves poor. Property of all kinds fell to less than its original value. Houses, horses, carriages, upholstery, every thing, declined in price. All were sellers, and few were purchasers.
But popular execration47 and vengeance48 pursued the financier who had deceived the nation. He was forced to fly from Paris. His whole property was confiscated49, and he was reduced to indigence50 and contempt. When his scheme was first suggested to the regent, he was worth three millions of livres. He had better remained a private banker.
The bursting of the Mississippi bubble, of course, inflamed51 the nation against the government, and the Duke of Orleans was execrated52, for his agency in the business had all the appearance of a fraud. But he was probably deluded53 with others, and hoped to free the country from its burdens. The great blunder was in the over-issue of notes when there was no money to redeem them.
Nor could any management have prevented the catastrophe54.
It was Fatal Effects of the Delusion. not possible that the shares of the company should advance so greatly, and the public not perceive that they had advanced beyond their value; it was not possible, that, while paper money so vastly increased in quantity, the numerical prices of all other things should not increase also, and that foreigners who sold their manufactures to the French should not turn their paper into gold, and carry it out of the kingdom; it was not possible that the disappearance55 of the coin should not create alarm, notwithstanding the edicts of the regent, and the reasonings of Law; it was not possible that annuitants should not discover that their old incomes were now insufficient56 and less valuable, as the medium in which they were paid was less valuable; it was not possible that the small part of society which may be called the sober and reasoning part, should not be so struck with the sudden fortunes and extravagant enthusiasm which prevailed, as not to doubt of the solidity of a system, unphilosophical in itself, and which, after all, had to depend on the profits of a commercial company, the good faith of the regent, and the skill of Law; it was impossible, on these and other accounts, but that gold and silver should be at last preferred to paper notes, of whatever description or promise. These were inevitable57 consequences. Hence the failure of the scheme of Law, and the ruin of all who embarked58 in it, owing to a change in public opinion as to the probable success of the scheme, and, secondly59, the over-issue of money.
By this great folly60, four hundred thousand families were ruined, or greatly reduced; but the government got rid of about eight hundred millions of debts. The sufferings of the people, with such a government, did not, however, create great solicitude61; the same old course of folly and extravagance was pursued by the court.
Nor was there a change for the better when Louis XV. attained62 his majority. His vices63 and follies64 exceeded all that had ever been displayed before. The support of his mistresses alone was enough to embarrass the nation. Their waste and extravagance almost exceeded belief. Who has not heard of the disgraceful and disgusting iniquities65 of Pompadour and Du Barry?
The regency of the Duke of Orleans occupied the first eight years of the reign of Louis XV. The prime minister of the regent was Dubois, at first his tutor, and afterwards Archbishop of Cambray. He was rewarded with a cardinal67's hat for the service he rendered to the Jesuits in their quarrel with the Jansenists, but was a man of unprincipled character; a fit minister to a prince who pretended to be too intellectual to worship God, and who copied Henry IV. only in his licentiousness68.
The first minister of Louis XV., after he assumed himself the reins of government, was the Duke of Bourbon, lineal heir of the house of Condé, and first prince of the blood. But he was a man of no character, and his short administration was signalized by no important event.
Cardinal Fleury succeeded the Duke of Bourbon as Administration of Cardinal Fleury. prime minister. He had been preceptor of the king, and was superior to all the intrigues69 of the court; a man of great timidity, but also a man of great probity70, gentleness, and benignity71. Fortunately, he was intrusted with power at a period of great domestic tranquillity72, and his administration was, like that of Walpole, pacific. He projected, however, no schemes of useful reform, and made no improvements in laws or finance. But he ruled despotically, and with good intentions, from 1726 to 1743.
The most considerable subject of interest connected with his peaceful administration, was the quarrel between the Jesuits and the Jansenists. Fleury took the side of the former, although he was never an active partisan73; and he was induced to support the Jesuits for the sake of securing the cardinal's hat—the highest honor, next to that of the tiara, which could be conferred on an ecclesiastic74. The Jesuits upheld the crumbling75 power of the popes, and the popes rewarded the advocates of that body of men, who were their ablest supporters.
The Jansenist controversy76 is too important to be passed over with a mere77 allusion78. It was the great event in the history of Catholic Europe during the seventeenth century. It involved principles of great theological, and even political interest.
The Jansenist controversy grew out of the long-disputed questions pertaining79 to grace and free will—questions which were agitated80 with great spirit and acrimony in the seventeenth century as they had previously81 been centuries before by Augustine and Pelagius. The Jesuits had never agreed with the great oracle82 of the Western church in his views on certain points, and it was their aim to show the absolute freedom of the human will—that it had a self-determining power, a perfect liberty to act or not to act. Molina, a Spanish Jesuit, had been a great defender83 of this ancient Pelagianism, and his views were opposed by the Dominicans, and the controversy was carried into all the universities of Europe. The Council of Trent was too wise to meddle84 with this difficult question; but angry theologians would not let it rest, and it was discussed with peculiar85 fervor86 in the Catholic University of Louvaine. Among the doctors who there distinguished87 themselves in reviving the great contest of the fifth and sixth centuries, were Cornelius Jansen. Cornelius Jansen of Holland, and Jean de Verger of Gascony. Both these doctors hated the Jesuits, and lamented88 the dangerous doctrines90 which they defended, and advocated the views of Augustine and the Calvinists. Jansen became professor of divinity in the university, and then Bishop66 of Ypres. After an uninterrupted study of twenty years, he produced his celebrated book called Augustinus, in which he set forth91 the servitude of the will, and the necessity of divine grace to break the bondage92, which, however, he maintained, like Calvin, is imparted only to a few, and in pursuance of a decree existing in the divine mind before the creation of our species. But Jansen died before the book was finished, and two years elapsed before it was published, but, when published, it was the signal for a contest which distracted Europe for seventy years.
While Jansen was preparing this work, his early companion and friend, De Verger, a man of family and rank, had become abbot of the monastery93 of St. Cyran — Arnauld — Le Maitre. St. Cyran in Paris, and had formed, in the centre of that gay city, a learned and ascetic94 hermitage. This was during the reign of Louis XIII. His reputation, as a scholar and a saint, attracted the attention of Richelieu, and his services were solicited95 by that able minister. But neither rewards, nor flatteries, nor applause had power over the mind of St. Cyran, as he was now called. The cardinal hated and feared a man whom he could not bribe96 or win, and soon found means to quarrel with him, and sent him to the gloomy fortress97 of Vincennes. But there, in his prison, he devoted98 himself, with renewed ardor99, to his studies and duties, subduing100 his appetites and passions by an asceticism101 which even his church did not require, and devoting all his thoughts and words to the service of God. Like Calvin and Augustine, he had so profound a conception of the necessity of an inward change, that he made grace precede repentance102. A man so serene103 in trial, so humble104 in spirit, so natural and childlike in ordinary life, and yet so distinguished for talents and erudition, could not help exciting admiration105, and making illustrious proselytes. Among them was Arnauld D'Antilly, the intimate friend of Richelieu and Anne of Austria; Le Maitre, the most eloquent106 lawyer and advocate in France; and Angelique Arnauld, the abbess of Port Royal. This last was one of the most distinguished ladies of her age, noble by birth, and still more noble by her beautiful qualities of mind and heart. She had been made abbess of her Cistercian convent at the age of eleven years, and at that time was gay, social, and light-hearted. The preaching of a Capuchin friar had turned her thoughts to the future world, and she closed the gates of her beautiful abbey, in the vale of Chevreuse, against all strangers, and devoted herself to the ascetic duties which her church and age accounted most meritorious107. She soon after made the acquaintance of St. Cyran, and he imbued108 her mind with the principles of the Augustinian theology. When imprisoned109 at Vincennes, he was still the spiritual father of Port Royal. Amid this famous retreat were collected the greatest scholars and the greatest saints of the seventeenth century—Antoine Le Maitre, De Lericourt, Le Maitre de Saci, Antoine Arnauld, and Pascal himself. Le Maitre de Saci gave to the world the best translation of the Bible in French; Arnauld wrote one hundred volumes of controversy, and, among them, a noted110 satire111 on the Jesuits, which did them infinite harm; while Pascal, besides his wonderful mathematical attainments112, and his various meditative113 works, is immortalized for his Provincial114 Letters, written in the purest French, and with matchless power and beauty. This work, directed against the Jesuits, is an inimitable model of elegant irony115, and the most effective sarcasm116 probably ever elaborated by man. In the vale of Port Royal also dwelt Tillemont, the great ecclesiastical historian; Fontaine and Racine, who were controlled by the spirit of Arnauld, as well as the Prince of Conti, and the Duke of Liancourt. There resided, under the name of Le Merrier, and in the humble occupation of a gardener, one of the proudest nobles of the French court; and there, too, dwelt the celebrated Duchess of Longueville, sister of the Prince of Condé, the life of the Fronde, the idol117 of the Parisian mob, and the once gay patroness of the proudest festivities.
But it is the labors118 of these saints, scholars, and nobles to repress the dangerous influence of the Jesuits for which they were most distinguished. The Jansenists of The Labors of the Port Royalists. Port Royal did not deny the authority of the pope, nor the great institutions of the papacy. They sought chiefly, in their controversy with the Jesuits, to enforce the doctrines of Augustine respecting justification119. But their efforts were not agreeable to the popes, nor to the doctors of the Sorbonne, who had no sympathy with their religious life, and detested120 their bold spirit of inquiry121. The doctors of the Sorbonne, accordingly, extracted from the book of Jansen five propositions which they deemed heretical, and urged the pope to condemn122 them. The Port Royalists admitted that these five propositions were indefensible if they were declared heretical by the sovereign pontiff, but denied that they were actually to be found in the book of Jansen. They did not quarrel with the pope on grounds of faith. They recognized his infallibility in matters of religion, but not in matters of fact. The pope, not wishing to push things to extremity123, which never was the policy of Rome, pretended to be satisfied. But the Jesuits would not let him rest, and insisted on the condemnation124 of the Jansenist opinions. The case was brought before a great council of French bishops125 and doctors, and Arnauld, the great champion of the Jansenists, was voted guilty of heresy126 for denying that the five propositions which the pope condemned127 were actually in the book of Jansen. The pope, moreover, was induced to issue a formula of an oath, to which all who wished to enjoy any office in the church were obliged to subscribe128, and which affirmed that the five condemned propositions were actually to be found in Jansen's book. This act of the pope was justly regarded by the Jansenists as intolerably despotic, and many of the most respectable of the French clergy43 sided with them in opinion. All France now became interested in the controversy, and it soon led to great commotions129. The Jansenists then contended that the pope might err33 in questions of fact, and that, therefore, they were not under an obligation to subscribe to the required oath. The Jesuits, on the other hand, maintained the pope's infallibility in matters of fact, as well as in doctrine89; and, as they had the most powerful adherents130, the Jansenists were bitterly persecuted131. But, as twenty-two bishops were found to take their side, the matter was hushed up for a while. For ten years more, the Port Royalists had peace and protection, chiefly through the great influence of the Duchess of Longueville; but, on her death, persecution132 returned. Arnauld was obliged to fly to the Netherlands, and the beautiful abbey of Port Royal was despoiled133 of its lands and privileges. Louis XIV. had ever hated its inmates134, being ruled by Madame de Maintenon, who, in turn, was a tool of the Jesuits.
But the demolition135 of the abbey, the spoliation of its lands, and the dispersion of those who sought its retreat, did not stop the controversy. Pascal continued it, and wrote his Provincial Letters, which had a wonderful effect in making the Jesuits both ridiculous and hateful. That book was the severest blow this body of ambitious and artful casuists ever received.
Nor was the Jansenist controversy merely a discussion of grace and free will. The Principles of Jansenism. principles of Jansenism, when carried out, tended to secure independence to the national church, and to free the consciences of men from the horrible power of their spiritual confessors. Jansenism was a timid protest against spiritual tyranny, a mild kind of Puritanism, which found sympathy with many people in France. The Parliament of Paris caught the spirit of freedom, and protected the Jansenists and those who sympathized with them. It so happened that a certain bishop published a charge to his clergy which was strongly imbued with the independent doctrines of the Jansenists. He was tried and condemned by a provincial council, and banished136 by the government. The Parliament of Paris, as the guardian138 of the law, took up the quarrel, and Cardinal Fleury was obliged to resort to a Bed of Justice in order to secure the registry of a decree. A Bed of Justice was the personal appearance of the sovereign in the supreme139 judicial140 tribunal of the nation, and his command to the members of it to obey his injunctions was the last resort of absolute power. The parliament, of course, obeyed, but protested the next day, and drew up resolutions which declared the temporal power to be independent of the spiritual. It then proceeded to Meudon, one of the royal palaces, to lay its remonstrance141 before the king; and Louis XV., indignant and astonished, refused to see the members. The original controversy was forgotten, and the cause of the parliament, which was the cause of liberty, became the cause of the nation. The resistance of the parliament was technically142 unsuccessful, yet, nevertheless, sowed the seeds of popular discontent, and contributed to that great insurrection which finally overturned the throne.
It may be asked how the Parliament of Paris Functions of the Parliament. became a judicial tribunal, rather than a legislative143 assembly, as in England. When the Justinian code was introduced into French jurisprudence, in the latter part of the Middle Ages, the old feudal144 and clerical judges—the barons145 and bishops—were incapable146 of expounding147 it, and a new class of men arose—the lawyers, whose exclusive business it was to study the laws. Being best acquainted with them, they entered upon the functions of judges, and the secular148 and clerical lords yielded to their opinions. The great barons, however, still continued to sit in the judicial tribunals, although ignorant of the new jurisprudence; and their decisions were directed by the opinions of the lawyers who had obtained a seat in their body, as is the case at present in the English House of Lords when it sits as a judicial body. The necessity of providing some permanent repository for the royal edicts, induced the kings of France to enroll149 them in the journals of the courts of parliament, being the highest judicial tribunal; and the members of these courts gradually availed themselves of this custom to dispute the legality of any edict which had not been thus registered. As the influence of the States General declined, the power of the parliament increased. The encroachments of the papacy first engaged its attention, and then the management of the finances by the ministers of Francis I. called forth remonstrances151. During the war of the Fronde, the parliament absolutely refused to register the royal decrees. But Louis XIV. was sufficiently152 powerful to suppress the spirit of independence, and accordingly entered the court, during the first years of his reign, with a whip in his hand, and compelled it to register his edicts. Nor did any murmur153 afterwards escape the body, until, at the close of his reign the members opposed the The Bull Unigenitus. bull Unigenitus—that which condemned the Jansenists—as an infringement154 of the liberties of the Gallican Church. And no sooner had the great monarch155 died, than, contrary to his will, they vested the regency in the hands of the Duke of Orleans. Then freedom of expostulation respecting the ruinous schemes of Law induced him to banish137 them, and they only obtained their recall by degrading concessions156. Their next opposition157 was during the administration of Fleury. The minister of finance made an attempt to inquire into the wealth of the clergy, which raised the jealousy158 of the order; and the clergy, in order to divert the attention of the court, revived the opposition of the parliament to the bull Unigenitus. It was resolved by the clergy to demand confessional notes from dying persons, and that these notes should be signed by priests adhering to the bull, before extreme unction should be given. The Archbishop of Paris, at the head of the French clergy, was opposed by the parliament, and this high judicial court imprisoned such of the clergy as refused to administer the sacraments. The king, under the guidance of Fleury, forbade the parliament to take cognizance of ecclesiastical proceedings159, and to suspend its prosecutions161. Instead of acquiescing162, the parliament presented new remonstrances, and the members refused to attend to any other functions, and resolved that they could not obey this injunction without violating their consciences. They cited the Bishop of Orleans before their tribunal, and ordered all his writings, which denied the jurisdiction163 of the court, to be publicly burnt by the executioner. By aid of the military, the parliament enforced the administration of the sacraments, and became so interested in the controversy as to neglect other official duties. The king, indignant, again banished the members, with the exception of four, whom he imprisoned. And, in order not to impede164 the administration of justice, the king established another tribunal for the prosecution160 of civil suits. But the lawyers, sympathizing with the parliament, refused to plead before the new court. This resolute165 conduct, and other evils happening at the time, induced the king to yield, in order to conciliate the people, and the parliament was recalled. This was a popular triumph, and the archbishop was banished in his turn. Shortly after, Cardinal Fleury died, and a new policy was adopted. The quarrel of the parliament and the clergy was forgotten in a still greater quarrel between the king and the Jesuits.
The policy of Fleury, like that of Walpole, was pacific; and yet, like him, he was forced into a war against his own convictions. And success attended the arms of France, in the colonial struggle with England, until Pitt took the helm of state.
Until the death of Fleury, in 1743, who administered affairs with wisdom, moderation, and incorruptible integrity, he was beloved, if he was not venerated166. But after this event, a great change took place in his character and measures, and the reign of mistresses commenced, and to an extent unparalleled in the history of Europe. Louis XIV. bestowed the revenue of the state on unworthy favorites, yet never allowed them to govern the nation; but Louis XV. intrusted the most important state matters to their direction, and the profoundest state secrets to their keeping.
Among these mistresses, Madame de Pompadour. Madame de Pompadour was the most noted; a woman of talent, but abominably167 unprincipled. Ambition was her master-passion, and her boudoir was the council chamber168 of the royal ministers. Most of the great men of France paid court to her, and to neglect her was social ruin. Even Voltaire praised her beauty, and Montesquieu flattered her intellect. And her extravagance was equal to her audacity169. She insisted on drawing bills on the treasury without specifying170 the service. The comptroller-general was in despair, and the state was involved in inextricable embarrassments.
It was through her influence that the Duke de Choiseul was made the successor of Fleury. He was not deficient171 in talent, but his administration proved unfortunate. Under his rule, Louis lost the Canadas, and France plunged172 into a contest with Frederic the Great. The Seven Years' War, which occurred during his administration, had made the age an epoch173; but as this is to be considered in the chapter on Frederic III., no notice of it will be taken in this connection.
The most memorable174 event which arose out of the policy and conduct of Choiseul was the fall of the Jesuits.
Their The Jesuits. arts and influence had obtained from the pope the bull Unigenitus, designed to suppress their enemies, the Jansenists; and the king, governed by Fleury, had taken their side.
But they were so unwise as to quarrel with the powerful mistress of Louis XV. They despised her, and defied her hatred175. Indeed, the Jesuits had climbed to so great a height that they were scornful of popular clamor, and even of regal distrust. But there is no man, and no body of men, who can venture to provoke enmity with impunity176; and destruction often comes from a source the least suspected, and apparently the least to be feared. Who could have supposed that the ruin of this powerful body, which had reigned177 so proudly in Christendom for a century; which had imposed its Briareus's arms on the necks of princes; which had its confessors in the courts of the most absolute monarchs178; which, with its hundred eyes, had penetrated179 the secrets of all the cabinets of Europe; and which had succeeded in suppressing in so many places every insurrection of human intelligence, in spite of the fears of kings, the jealousy of the other monastic orders, and the inveterate180 animosity of philosophers and statesmen,—would receive a fatal wound from the hands of a woman, who scandalized by her vices even the depraved court of an enervated181 prince? But so it was. Madame de Pompadour hated the Jesuits because they attempted to undermine her influence with the king. And she incited182 the prime minister, whom she had raised by her arts to power, to unite with Pombal in Portugal, in order to effect their ruin.
In no country was the power of the Jesuits more irresistible183 than in Portugal. There their ascendency was complete. But the prime minister of Joseph I., the Marquis of Pombal, a man of great energy, had been insulted by a lady of the highest rank, and he swore revenge. An opportunity was soon afforded. The king happened to be fired at and wounded in his palace by some unknown enemy. The blow was aimed at the objects of the minister's vengeance—the Marchioness of Tavora, her husband, her family, and her friends the Jesuits. And royal vengeance followed, not merely on an illustrious family, but on those persons whom this family befriended. The Jesuits were Exposure of the Jesuits. expelled in the most summary manner from the kingdom. The Duke de Choiseul and Madame Pompadour hailed their misfortunes with delight, and watched their opportunity for revenge. This was afforded by the failure of La Valette, the head of the Jesuits at Martinique. It must be borne in mind that the Jesuits had embarked in commercial enterprises, while they were officiating as missionaries184. La Valette aimed to monopolize185, for his order, the trade with the West Indies, which commercial ambition excited the jealousy of mercantile classes in France, and they threw difficulties in his way. And it so happened that some of his most valuable ships were taken and plundered186 by the English cruisers, which calamity187, happening at a time of embarrassment36, caused his bills to be protested, and his bankers to stop payment. They, indignant, accused the Jesuits, as a body, of peculation188 and fraud, and demanded repayment189 from the order. Had the Jesuits been wise, they would have satisfied the ruined bankers. But who is wise on the brink190 of destruction? "Quem deus vult perdere, prius dementat." The Jesuits refused to sacrifice La Valette to the interests of their order, which course would have been in accordance with their general policy. The matter was carried before the Parliament of Paris, and the whole nation was interested in its result. It was decided191 by this supreme judicial tribunal, that the Jesuits were responsible for the debts of La Valette. But the commercial injury was weak in comparison with the moral. In the course of legal proceedings, the books and rule of the Jesuits were demanded—that mysterious rule which had never been exposed to the public eye, and which had been so carefully guarded. When this rule was produced, all minor5 questions vanished; mistresses, bankruptcies192, politics, finances, wars,—all became insignificant193, compared with those questions which affected194 the position and welfare of the society. Pascal became a popular idol, and "Tartuffe grew pale before Escobar." The reports of the trial lay on every toilet table, and persons of both sexes, and of all ages and conditions, read with avidity the writings of the casuists. Nothing was talked about but "probability," "surrender of conscience," and "mental reservations." Philosophers grew jealous of the absorbing interest with which every thing pertaining to the régime of the Jesuits was read, and of the growing popularity of the Jansenists, who had exposed it. "What," said Voltaire, "will it profit us to be delivered from the foxes, if we are to be given up to the wolves?" But the philosopher had been among the first to raise the cry of alarm against the Jesuits, and it was no easy thing to allay195 the storm.
The Jesuits, in their distress196, had only one friend sufficiently powerful to protect them, and he was the king. He had been their best friend, and he still wished to come to their rescue. He had been taught to honor them, and he had learned to fear them. He stood in fear of assassination197, and dreaded198 a rupture199 with so powerful and unscrupulous a body. And his resistance to the prosecution would have been insurmountable, had it not been for the capriciousness of his temper, which more than balanced his superstitious200 fears. His minister and his mistress circumvented201 him. They represented that, as the parliament and the nation were both aroused against the Jesuits, his resistance would necessarily provoke a new Fronde. Nothing he dreaded so much as civil war. The wavering monarch, placed in the painful necessity of choosing, as he supposed, between a war and the ruin of his best friends, yielded to the solicitations of his artful advisers202. But he yielded with a moderation which did him honor. He would not consent to the Their Expulsion from France. expulsion of the Jesuits until efforts had been made to secure their reform. He accordingly caused letters to be written to Rome, demanding an immediate203 attention to the subject. Choiseul himself prepared the scheme of reformation. But the Jesuits would not hear of any retrenchment204 of their power or privileges. "Let us remain as we are, or let us exist no longer," was their reply. The parliament, the people, the minister, and the mistress renewed their clamors. The parliament decreed that the constitution of the society was an encroachment150 on the royal authority, and the king was obliged to yield. The members of the society were forbidden to wear the habit of the society, or to enjoy any clerical office or dignity. Their colleges were closed, their order was dissolved, and they were expelled from the kingdom with rigor205 and severity, in spite of the wishes of the king and many entreaties206 and tears from the zealous207 advocates of Catholicism, and even of religious education.
But the Jesuits were too powerful, even in their misfortunes, to be persecuted without the effort to annihilate208 them. Having secured their expulsion from France and Portugal, Choiseul and Pombal turned their attention to Suppression in Spain. Spain, and so successfully intrigued209, so artfully wrought210 on the jealousy and fears of Charles III., that this weak prince followed the example of Joseph I. and Louis XV. But the king and his minister D'Aranda, however, prosecuted211 their investigations212 with the utmost secrecy—did not even tell their allies of their movements. Of course, the Jesuits feared nothing from the king of Spain. But when his measures were completed, an edict was suddenly declared, decreeing the suppression of the order in the land of Inquisitions. The decree came like a thunderbolt, but was instantly executed. "On the same day, 2d April, 1767, and at the same hour, in Spain, in Africa, in Asia, in America, and in all the islands belonging to the Spanish monarchy213, the alcaldes of the towns opened their despatches from Madrid, by which they were ordered, on pain of the severest penalties, immediately to enter the establishments of the Jesuits, to seize their persons, expel them from their convents, and transport them, within twenty-four hours, to such places as were designated. Nor were the Jesuits permitted to carry away their money or their papers. Only a purse, a breviary, and some apparel were given them."
The government feared a popular insurrection from an excitement so sudden, and a persecution so dreadful, and therefore issued express prohibition214 to all the ecclesiastical authorities to prevent any allusion to the event from the pulpit. All classes were required to maintain absolute silence, and any controversy, or criticism, or remark was regarded as high treason. Such is despotism. Such is religious persecution, when fear, as well as hatred, prompts to injustice and cruelty.
The Jesuits, in their misfortunes, managed with consummate215 craft. Their policy was to appear in the light of victims of persecution. There was to them no medium between reigning216 as despots or dying as martyrs217. Mediocrity would have degraded them. Ricci, the general of the order, would not permit them to land in Italy, to which country they were sent by the king of Spain. Six thousand priests, in misery218 and poverty, were sent adrift upon the Mediterranean219, and after six months of vicissitude220, suffering, and despair, they found a miserable221 refuge on the Island of Corsica.
Soon after, the pope, their most powerful protector, died. A successor was to be appointed. But France, Spain, and Portugal, bent222 on the complete suppression of the Jesuits, resolved that no pope should be elected who would not favor their end. A Pope Clement223 XIV. cardinal was found,—Ganganelli,—who promised the ambassadors that, if elected pope, he would abolish the order. They, accordingly, intrigued to secure his election. The Jesuits, also, strained every nerve, and put forth marvellous talent and art, to secure a pope who would protect them. But the ambassadors of the allied powers overreached even the Jesuits. Ganganelli was the plainest, and, apparently, the most unambitious of men. His father had been a peasant; but, by the force of talent and learning, he had arisen, from the condition of his father, to be a Roman cardinal. Under the garb224 of a saint, he aspired225 to the tiara. There was only one condition of success; and that was, to destroy the best supporters of that fearful absolutism which had so long enslaved the world. The sacrifice was tremendous; but it was made, and he became a pope. Then commenced in his soul the awful struggle. Should he fulfil his pledge, and jeopardize226 his cause and throne, and be branded, by the zealots of his church, with eternal infamy227? or should he break his word, and array against himself, with awful enmity, the great monarchs of Europe, and perhaps lose the allegiance of their subjects to him as the supreme head of the Catholic Church? The decision was the hardest which mortal man had ever been required to make. Whatever course he pursued was full of danger and disgrace. Poor Ganganelli! he had better remained a cowherd, a simple priest, a bishop, a cardinal,—any thing,—rather than to have been made a pope! But such was his ambition, and he was obliged to reap its penalty. Long did the afflicted228 pontiff delay to fulfil his pledge; long did he practise all the arts of dissimulation229, of which he was such a master. He delayed, he flattered, he entreated230, he coaxed231. But the monarchs called peremptorily232 for the fulfilment of his pledge, and all Europe now understood the nature of the contest. It was between the Jesuits and the monarchs of Europe. Ganganelli was compelled to give his decision. His health declined, his spirits forsook233 him, his natural gayety fled. He courted solitude234, he wept, he prayed. But he must, nevertheless, decide. The Jesuits threatened assassination, and exposed, with bitter eloquence235, the ruin of his church, if he yielded her privileges to kings. And kings threatened secession from Rome, deposition—ten thousand calamities236. His agony became insupportable; but delay was no longer possible. He decided to suppress the order of the Jesuits; and sixty-nine colleges were closed, their missions were broken up, their churches were given to their rivals, and twenty-two thousand priests were left without organization, wealth, or power.
Their revenge was not an idle threat. One day, the pope, on arising from table, felt an Death of Ganganelli. internal shock, followed by great cold. Gradually he lost his voice and strength. His blood became corrupted237; and his moral system gave way with the physical. He knew that he was doomed—that he was poisoned—that he must die. The fear of hell was now added to his other torments238. "Compulsus, feci, compulsus, feci!"—"O, mercy, mercy, I have been compelled!" he cried, and died—died by that slow but sure poison, such as old Alexander VI. knew so well how to administer to his victims when he sought their wealth. Pope Clement XIV. inflicted239, it was supposed, a mortal wound upon his church and upon her best friends. He, indeed, reaped the penalty of ambition; but the cause which he represented did not perish, nor will it lose vitality240 so long as the principle of evil on earth is destined241 to contend with the principle of good. On the restoration of the Bourbons, the order of the Jesuits was restored; and their flaming sword, with its double edge, was again felt in every corner of the world.
The Jesuits, on their expulsion, found shelter in Prussia, and protection from the royal infidel who had been the friend of Voltaire. A schism242 between the crowned heads of Europe and infidel philosophers had taken place. Frederic, who had sympathized with their bitter mockery, at last perceived the tendency of their writings; that men who assailed243 obedience244 to divine laws would not long respect the institutions and governments which mankind had recognized. He perceived, too, the natural union of absolutism in the church with absolutism in the state, and came to the rescue of the great, unchanged, unchangeable, and ever-consistent advocates of despotism. The frivolous245 Choiseul, the extravagant Pompadour, and the debauched Sardanapalus of his age, did not perceive the truth which the King of Prussia recognized in his latter days. Nor would it have availed any thing, if they had been gifted with the clear insight of Frederic the Great. The stream, on whose curious banks the great and the noble of France had been amusing themselves, soon swelled246 into an overwhelming torrent248. That devastating249 torrent was the French Revolution, whose awful swell247 was first perceived during the latter years of Louis XV. He himself caught glimpses of the future; but, with the egotism of a Bourbon, he remarked "that the throne would last during his time." Soon after this heartless speech was made, Death of Louis XV. he was stricken with the small-pox, and died 1774, after a long and inglorious reign. He was deserted in his last hours, and his disgusting and loathsome250 remains251 were huddled252 into their last abode253 by the workmen of his palace.
Before the reign of Louis XVI. can be described, it is necessary to glance at the career of Frederic the Great, and the condition of the various European states, at a period contemporary with the Seven Years' War—the great war of the eighteenth century, before the breaking out of the French Revolution.
References.—For a general view of the reign of Louis XV., see the histories of Lacretelle, Voltaire, and Crowe. The scheme of Law is best explained in Smyth's Lectures, and Anderson's History of Commerce. The struggles between the king and the Parliament of Paris are tolerably described in the History of Adolphus. For a view of the Jansenist Controversy, see Du Pin's Ecclesiastical History, Ranke's History of the Popes, Pascal's Provincial Letters, and Stephens's article in the Edinburgh Review, on the Port Royalists. The fall of the Jesuits has been admirably treated by Quinet. James has written a good sketch254 of the lives of Fleury and Choiseul. For the manners of the court of Louis XV., the numerous memoirs255 and letters, which were written during the period, must be consulted; the most amusing of which, and, in a certain sense, instructive, are too infamous256 to be named.
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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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automaton
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n.自动机器,机器人 | |
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pageant
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n.壮观的游行;露天历史剧 | |
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alluded
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提及,暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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minor
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adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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6
reins
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感情,激情; 缰( rein的名词复数 ); 控制手段; 掌管; (成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的)保护带 | |
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bankruptcy
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n.破产;无偿付能力 | |
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ignoble
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adj.不光彩的,卑鄙的;可耻的 | |
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illustrates
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给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 ); 说明; 表明; (用示例、图画等)说明 | |
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10
incurring
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遭受,招致,引起( incur的现在分词 ) | |
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fully
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adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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creditor
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n.债仅人,债主,贷方 | |
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creditors
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n.债权人,债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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entirely
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ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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confiscation
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n. 没收, 充公, 征收 | |
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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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redeem
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v.买回,赎回,挽回,恢复,履行(诺言等) | |
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injustice
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n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
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winked
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v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮 | |
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treasury
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n.宝库;国库,金库;文库 | |
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profligate
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adj.行为不检的;n.放荡的人,浪子,肆意挥霍者 | |
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celebrated
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adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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scotch
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n.伤口,刻痕;苏格兰威士忌酒;v.粉碎,消灭,阻止;adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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economist
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n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人 | |
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supersede
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v.替代;充任 | |
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allied
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adj.协约国的;同盟国的 | |
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bestowed
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赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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delusions
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n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 );谬见;错觉;妄想 | |
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delusion
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n.谬见,欺骗,幻觉,迷惑 | |
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fixed
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adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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lawfully
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adv.守法地,合法地;合理地 | |
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extravagant
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adj.奢侈的;过分的;(言行等)放肆的 | |
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err
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vi.犯错误,出差错 | |
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benefactor
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n. 恩人,行善的人,捐助人 | |
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thronged
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v.成群,挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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embarrassment
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n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫 | |
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embarrassments
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n.尴尬( embarrassment的名词复数 );难堪;局促不安;令人难堪或耻辱的事 | |
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apparently
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adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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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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intoxicated
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喝醉的,极其兴奋的 | |
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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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lodgings
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n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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clergy
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n.[总称]牧师,神职人员 | |
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deserted
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adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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nominally
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在名义上,表面地; 应名儿 | |
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scarcity
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n.缺乏,不足,萧条 | |
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execration
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n.诅咒,念咒,憎恶 | |
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vengeance
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n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
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confiscated
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没收,充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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indigence
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n.贫穷 | |
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51
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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52
execrated
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v.憎恶( execrate的过去式和过去分词 );厌恶;诅咒;咒骂 | |
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deluded
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v.欺骗,哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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catastrophe
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n.大灾难,大祸 | |
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disappearance
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n.消失,消散,失踪 | |
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insufficient
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adj.(for,of)不足的,不够的 | |
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inevitable
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adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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embarked
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乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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secondly
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adv.第二,其次 | |
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folly
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n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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solicitude
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n.焦虑 | |
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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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63
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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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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iniquities
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n.邪恶( iniquity的名词复数 );极不公正 | |
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bishop
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n.主教,(国际象棋)象 | |
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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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licentiousness
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n.放肆,无法无天 | |
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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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probity
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n.刚直;廉洁,正直 | |
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71
benignity
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n.仁慈 | |
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tranquillity
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n. 平静, 安静 | |
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partisan
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adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒 | |
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ecclesiastic
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n.教士,基督教会;adj.神职者的,牧师的,教会的 | |
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crumbling
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adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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controversy
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n.争论,辩论,争吵 | |
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mere
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adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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78
allusion
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n.暗示,间接提示 | |
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79
pertaining
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与…有关系的,附属…的,为…固有的(to) | |
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80
agitated
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adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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81
previously
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adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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82
oracle
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n.神谕,神谕处,预言 | |
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83
defender
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n.保卫者,拥护者,辩护人 | |
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84
meddle
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v.干预,干涉,插手 | |
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85
peculiar
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adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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86
fervor
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n.热诚;热心;炽热 | |
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87
distinguished
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adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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88
lamented
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adj.被哀悼的,令人遗憾的v.(为…)哀悼,痛哭,悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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89
doctrine
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n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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90
doctrines
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n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 );教义;学说;(政府政策的)正式声明 | |
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91
forth
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adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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92
bondage
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n.奴役,束缚 | |
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93
monastery
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n.修道院,僧院,寺院 | |
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94
ascetic
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adj.禁欲的;严肃的 | |
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95
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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96
bribe
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n.贿赂;v.向…行贿,买通 | |
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97
fortress
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n.堡垒,防御工事 | |
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98
devoted
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adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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99
ardor
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n.热情,狂热 | |
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100
subduing
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征服( subdue的现在分词 ); 克制; 制服; 色变暗 | |
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101
asceticism
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n.禁欲主义 | |
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102
repentance
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n.懊悔 | |
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103
serene
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adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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104
humble
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adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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105
admiration
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n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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106
eloquent
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adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的 | |
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107
meritorious
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adj.值得赞赏的 | |
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108
imbued
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v.使(某人/某事)充满或激起(感情等)( imbue的过去式和过去分词 );使充满;灌输;激发(强烈感情或品质等) | |
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109
imprisoned
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下狱,监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
noted
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adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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111
satire
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n.讽刺,讽刺文学,讽刺作品 | |
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112
attainments
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成就,造诣; 获得( attainment的名词复数 ); 达到; 造诣; 成就 | |
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113
meditative
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adj.沉思的,冥想的 | |
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114
provincial
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adj.省的,地方的;n.外省人,乡下人 | |
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115
irony
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n.反语,冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事,嘲弄 | |
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116
sarcasm
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n.讥讽,讽刺,嘲弄,反话 (adj.sarcastic) | |
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117
idol
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n.偶像,红人,宠儿 | |
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118
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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119
justification
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n.正当的理由;辩解的理由 | |
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120
detested
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v.憎恶,嫌恶,痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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121
inquiry
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n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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122
condemn
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vt.谴责,指责;宣判(罪犯),判刑 | |
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123
extremity
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n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
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124
condemnation
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n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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125
bishops
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(基督教某些教派管辖大教区的)主教( bishop的名词复数 ); (国际象棋的)象 | |
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126
heresy
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n.异端邪说;异教 | |
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127
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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128
subscribe
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vi.(to)订阅,订购;同意;vt.捐助,赞助 | |
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129
commotions
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n.混乱,喧闹,骚动( commotion的名词复数 ) | |
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130
adherents
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n.支持者,拥护者( adherent的名词复数 );党羽;徒子徒孙 | |
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131
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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132
persecution
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n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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133
despoiled
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v.掠夺,抢劫( despoil的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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134
inmates
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n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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135
demolition
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n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹 | |
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136
banished
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v.放逐,驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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137
banish
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vt.放逐,驱逐;消除,排除 | |
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138
guardian
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n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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139
supreme
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adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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140
judicial
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adj.司法的,法庭的,审判的,明断的,公正的 | |
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141
remonstrance
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n抗议,抱怨 | |
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142
technically
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adv.专门地,技术上地 | |
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143
legislative
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n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的 | |
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144
feudal
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adj.封建的,封地的,领地的 | |
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145
barons
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男爵( baron的名词复数 ); 巨头; 大王; 大亨 | |
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146
incapable
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adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
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147
expounding
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论述,详细讲解( expound的现在分词 ) | |
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148
secular
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n.牧师,凡人;adj.世俗的,现世的,不朽的 | |
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149
enroll
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v.招收;登记;入学;参军;成为会员(英)enrol | |
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150
encroachment
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n.侵入,蚕食 | |
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151
remonstrances
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n.抱怨,抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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152
sufficiently
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adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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153
murmur
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n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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154
infringement
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n.违反;侵权 | |
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155
monarch
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n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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156
concessions
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n.(尤指由政府或雇主给予的)特许权( concession的名词复数 );承认;减价;(在某地的)特许经营权 | |
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157
opposition
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n.反对,敌对 | |
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158
jealousy
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n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌 | |
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159
proceedings
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n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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160
prosecution
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n.起诉,告发,检举,执行,经营 | |
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161
prosecutions
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起诉( prosecution的名词复数 ); 原告; 实施; 从事 | |
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162
acquiescing
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v.默认,默许( acquiesce的现在分词 ) | |
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163
jurisdiction
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n.司法权,审判权,管辖权,控制权 | |
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164
impede
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v.妨碍,阻碍,阻止 | |
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165
resolute
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adj.坚决的,果敢的 | |
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166
venerated
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敬重(某人或某事物),崇敬( venerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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167
abominably
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adv. 可恶地,可恨地,恶劣地 | |
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168
chamber
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n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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169
audacity
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n.大胆,卤莽,无礼 | |
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170
specifying
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v.指定( specify的现在分词 );详述;提出…的条件;使具有特性 | |
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171
deficient
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adj.不足的,不充份的,有缺陷的 | |
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172
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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173
epoch
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n.(新)时代;历元 | |
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174
memorable
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adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的 | |
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175
hatred
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n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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176
impunity
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n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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177
reigned
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vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
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178
monarchs
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君主,帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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179
penetrated
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adj. 击穿的,鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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180
inveterate
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adj.积习已深的,根深蒂固的 | |
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181
enervated
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adj.衰弱的,无力的v.使衰弱,使失去活力( enervate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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182
incited
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刺激,激励,煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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183
irresistible
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adj.非常诱人的,无法拒绝的,无法抗拒的 | |
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184
missionaries
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n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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185
monopolize
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v.垄断,独占,专营 | |
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186
plundered
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掠夺,抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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187
calamity
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n.灾害,祸患,不幸事件 | |
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188
peculation
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n.侵吞公款[公物] | |
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189
repayment
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n.偿还,偿还款;报酬 | |
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190
brink
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n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘,边沿 | |
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191
decided
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adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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192
bankruptcies
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n.破产( bankruptcy的名词复数 );倒闭;彻底失败;(名誉等的)完全丧失 | |
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193
insignificant
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adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
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194
affected
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adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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195
allay
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v.消除,减轻(恐惧、怀疑等) | |
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196
distress
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n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
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197
assassination
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n.暗杀;暗杀事件 | |
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198
dreaded
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adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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199
rupture
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n.破裂;(关系的)决裂;v.(使)破裂 | |
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200
superstitious
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adj.迷信的 | |
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201
circumvented
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v.设法克服或避免(某事物),回避( circumvent的过去式和过去分词 );绕过,绕行,绕道旅行 | |
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202
advisers
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顾问,劝告者( adviser的名词复数 ); (指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授 | |
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203
immediate
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adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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204
retrenchment
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n.节省,删除 | |
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205
rigor
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n.严酷,严格,严厉 | |
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206
entreaties
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n.恳求,乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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207
zealous
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adj.狂热的,热心的 | |
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208
annihilate
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v.使无效;毁灭;取消 | |
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209
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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210
wrought
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v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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211
prosecuted
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a.被起诉的 | |
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212
investigations
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(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究 | |
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213
monarchy
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n.君主,最高统治者;君主政体,君主国 | |
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214
prohibition
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n.禁止;禁令,禁律 | |
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215
consummate
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adj.完美的;v.成婚;使完美 [反]baffle | |
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216
reigning
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adj.统治的,起支配作用的 | |
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217
martyrs
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n.martyr的复数形式;烈士( martyr的名词复数 );殉道者;殉教者;乞怜者(向人诉苦以博取同情) | |
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218
misery
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n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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219
Mediterranean
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adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的 | |
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220
vicissitude
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n.变化,变迁,荣枯,盛衰 | |
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221
miserable
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adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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222
bent
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n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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223
clement
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adj.仁慈的;温和的 | |
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224
garb
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n.服装,装束 | |
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225
aspired
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v.渴望,追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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226
jeopardize
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vt.危及,损害 | |
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227
infamy
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n.声名狼藉,出丑,恶行 | |
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afflicted
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使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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229
dissimulation
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n.掩饰,虚伪,装糊涂 | |
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230
entreated
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恳求,乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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231
coaxed
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v.哄,用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 );巧言骗取;哄劝,劝诱 | |
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232
peremptorily
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adv.紧急地,不容分说地,专横地 | |
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233
forsook
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forsake的过去式 | |
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234
solitude
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n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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235
eloquence
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n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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236
calamities
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n.灾祸,灾难( calamity的名词复数 );不幸之事 | |
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237
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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238
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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239
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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240
vitality
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n.活力,生命力,效力 | |
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241
destined
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adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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242
schism
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n.分派,派系,分裂 | |
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243
assailed
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v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 );困扰;质问;毅然应对 | |
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244
obedience
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n.服从,顺从 | |
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245
frivolous
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adj.轻薄的;轻率的 | |
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246
swelled
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增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
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247
swell
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vi.膨胀,肿胀;增长,增强 | |
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248
torrent
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n.激流,洪流;爆发,(话语等的)连发 | |
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249
devastating
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adj.毁灭性的,令人震惊的,强有力的 | |
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250
loathsome
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adj.讨厌的,令人厌恶的 | |
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251
remains
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n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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252
huddled
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挤在一起(huddle的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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253
abode
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n.住处,住所 | |
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254
sketch
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n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述 | |
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255
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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256
infamous
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adj.声名狼藉的,臭名昭著的,邪恶的 | |
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