There have been occasions, when much excitement on the subject of religion has prevailed, and when strange disorders11 of the nervous system have developed themselves among the people, which have been interpreted as immediate12 visitings of the Holy Spirit. The interpretation13 was delusive14, the belief in it superstition15. The effects displayed were neither more nor less than phenomena16 of trance, the physiological17 consequences of the prevailing18 excitement. The reader who has attentively19 perused20 the preceding letters will have no difficulty in identifying forms of this affection in the varieties of religious seizures, which, without further comment, I proceed to exemplify.
Every one will have met with allusions21 to some extraordinary scenes which took place in the Cevennes, at the close of the seventeenth century.
It was towards the end of the year 1688 that a report137 was first heard of a gift of prophecy which had shown itself among the persecuted22 followers23 of the Reformation, who, in the south of France, had betaken themselves to the mountains. The first instance was said to have occurred in the family of a glass-dealer of the name of Du Serre, well known as the most zealous24 Calvinist of the neighbourhood, which was a solitary25 spot in Dauphiné, near Mount Peyra. In the enlarging circle of enthusiasts26, Gabriel Astier and Isabella Vincent made themselves first conspicuous28. Isabella, a girl of sixteen years of age, from Dauphiné, who was in the service of a peasant, and tended sheep, began in her sleep to preach and prophesy29, and the Reformers came from far and near to hear her. An advocate of the name of Gerlan describes the following scene, which he had witnessed. At his request, she had admitted him and a good many others, after nightfall, to a meeting at a chateau30 in the neighbourhood. She there disposed herself upon a bed, shut her eyes, and went to sleep. In her sleep she chanted, in a low tone, the Commandments and a psalm31. After a short respite32 she began to preach, in a louder voice—not in her own dialect, but in good French, which hitherto she had not used. The theme was an exhortation33 to obey God rather than man. Sometimes she spoke34 so quickly as to be hardly intelligible35. At certain of her pauses she stopped to collect herself. She accompanied her words with gesticulations. Gerlan found her pulse quiet, her arm not rigid36, but relaxed, as natural. After an interval37, her countenance38 put on a mocking expression, and she began anew her exhortation, which was now mixed with ironical39 reflections upon the Church of Rome. She then suddenly stopped, continuing asleep. It was in vain they stirred her. When her arms were lifted and let go,138 they dropped unconsciously. As several now went away, whom her silence rendered impatient, she said in a low tone, but just as if she was awake,—"Why do you go away?—why do not you wait till I am ready?” And then she delivered another ironical discourse40 against the Catholic Church. She closed the scene with prayer.
When Bouchier, the intendant of the district, heard of the performances of Isabella Vincent, he had her brought before him. She replied to his interrogatories, that people had often told her that she preached in her sleep, but that she did not herself believe a word of it. As the slightness of her person made her appear younger than she really was, the intendant merely sent her to an hospital at Grenoble; where, notwithstanding that she was visited by persons of the Reformed persuasion41, there was an end of her preaching—she became a Catholic!
Gabriel Astier, who had been a young labourer, likewise from Dauphiné, went, in the capacity of a preacher and prophet, into the valley of Bressac, in the Vivarais. He had infected his family: his father, mother, elder brother, and sweetheart, followed his example, and took to prophesying42. Gabriel, before he preached, used to fall into a kind of stupor43 in which he lay rigid. After delivering his sermon, he would dismiss his auditors44 with a kiss, and the words—“My brother, or my sister, I impart to you the Holy Ghost.” Many believed that they had thus received the Holy Ghost from Astier, being taken with the same seizure2. During the period of the discourse, first one, then another, would fall down: some described themselves afterwards as having felt first a weakness and trembling through the whole frame, and an impulse to yawn and stretch their arms; then they fell, convulsed and foaming45 at the mouth. Others carried the139 contagion46 home with them, and first experienced its effects, days, weeks, or months afterwards. They believed—nor is it wonderful they did so—that they had received the Holy Ghost.
Not less curious were the seizures of the Convulsionnaires at the grave of the Abbé Paris, in the year 1727. These Jansenist visionaries used to collect in the churchyard of St. Médard, round the grave of the deposed47 and deceased deacon; and before long, the reputation of the place for working miracles getting about, they fell in troops into convulsions. They required, to gratify an internal impulse or feeling, that the most violent blows should be inflicted48 upon them at the pit of the stomach. Carré de Montgeron mentions that, being himself an enthusiast27 in the matter, he had inflicted the blows required with an iron instrument, weighing from twenty to thirty pounds, with a round head. And as a convulsionary lady complained that he struck too lightly to relieve the feeling of depression at her stomach, he gave her sixty blows with all his force. It would not do, and she begged to have the instrument used by a tall, strong man, who stood by in the crowd. The spasmodic tension of her muscles must have been enormous; for she received one hundred blows, delivered with such force that the wall shook behind her. She thanked the man for his benevolent49 aid, and contemptuously censured51 De Montgeron for his weakness, or want of faith, and timidity. It was, indeed, time for issuing the mandate52, which, as wit read it, ran—
“De par4 le roi—Défense à Dieu,
De faire miracle en ce lieu.”
In the revivals of modern times, scenes parallel to the above have been renewed.
“I have seen,” says Mr. Le Roi Sunderland, himself a140 preacher, (Zion’s Watchman, New York, Oct. 2, 1842,) “persons often ‘lose their strength,’ as it is called, at camp-meetings and other places of great religious excitement; and not pious53 people alone, but those, also, who were not professors of religion. In the spring of 1824, while performing pastoral labour in Dennis, Massachusetts, I saw more than twenty affected54 in this way. Two young men, of the name of Crowell, came one day to a prayer-meeting. They were quite indifferent. I conversed55 with them freely, but they showed no signs of penitence57. From the meeting they went to their shop, (they were shoemakers,) to finish some work before going to the meeting in the evening. On seating themselves, they were both struck perfectly59 stiff. I was immediately sent for, and found them sitting paralyzed” (he means taken with the initiatory60 form of trance-sleep, and possibly cataleptic) “on their benches, with their work in their hands, unable to get up, or to move at all. I have seen scores of persons affected the same way. I have seen persons lie in this state forty-eight hours. At such times they are unable to converse56, and are sometimes unconscious of what is passing round them. At the same time, they say they are in a happy state of mind.”
The following extract from the same journal portrays61 another kind of nervous seizure, as it was manifested at the great revival5 some forty years ago, at Kentucky and Tennessee.
“The convulsions were commonly called ‘the jerks.’ A writer, (M’Neman) quoted by Mr. Power, (Essay on the Influence of the Imagination over the Nervous System,) gives this account of their course and progress:
“?At first appearance these meetings exhibited nothing to the spectator but a scene of confusion that could scarcely141 be put into language. They were generally opened with a sermon, near the close of which there would be an unusual outcry, some bursting out into loud ejaculations of prayer, &c.
“?The rolling exercise consisted in being cast down in a violent manner, doubled with the head and feet together, or stretched in a prostrate62 manner, turning swiftly over like a dog. Nothing in nature could better represent the jerks, than for one to goad63 another alternately on every side with a piece of red-hot iron. The exercise commonly began in the head, which would fly backwards64 and forwards, and from side to side, with a quick jolt65, which the person would naturally labour to suppress, but in vain. He must necessarily go on as he was stimulated66, whether with a violent dash on the ground, and bounce from place to place, like a foot-ball; or hopping67 round, with head, limbs, and trunk twitching68 and jolting69 in every direction, as if they must inevitably70 fly asunder,’” &c.
The following sketch71 is from Dow’s journal. In the year 1805 he preached at Knoxville, Tennessee, before the governor, when some hundred and fifty persons, among whom were a number of Quakers, had the jerks. “I have seen,” says the writer, “all denominations72 of religion exercised by the jerks—gentleman and lady, black and white, young and old, without exception. I passed a meeting-house, where I observed the undergrowth had been cut down for camp-meetings, and from fifty to a hundred saplings were left for the people who were jerked to hold by. I observed where they had held on they had kicked up the earth, as a horse stamping flies.”
A widely different picture to the above is given in a letter from the Earl of Shrewsbury to A.?M. Phillips,142 Esq., published in 1841, and describing the state of two religieuses, (the Ecstatica of Caldaro, and the Addolorata of Capriana,) who were visited by members of their own communion, in the belief that they lay in a sort of heavenly beatitude. To this idea their stillness, the devotional attitude of their hands and expression of their countenances73, together with their manifestation74 of miraculous75 intuition, contributed. But I am afraid that, to the eye of a physician, their condition would have been simple trance. However, while the absence of reasonable enlightenment in the display is to be regretted, one agreeably recognises the influence of the humanity of modern times. Had these young women lived two centuries ago, they would have been the subjects of other discipline, and their history, had I possessed76 it to quote, must have been transferred to the darker section which I have next to enter on.
The belief in possession by devils, which existed in the middle ages and subsequently, embraced several dissimilar cases. The first of them which I will exemplify would have included individuals in the state of the religieuses described by Lord Shrewsbury. Behaviour and powers which the people could not understand, even if exhibited by good and virtuous77 persons, and only expressive78 of or used for right purposes, were construed79 into the operation of unholy influences. The times were the reign80 of terror in religion. I give the following instance:—Marie Bucaille, a native of Normandy, became, towards the year 1700, the subject of fits, which ordinarily lasted three or four hours. It appears, by the depositions81 of persons of character on her trial, that Marie had effected many cures seemingly by her prayers; that she comprehended and executed directions given to her mentally;143 that she read the thoughts of others. When in the fit, the Curé of Golleville placed in the hands of Marie a folded note. Without opening the note, she replied to the questions which it contained; and, without knowing the writer, she accurately82 described her person. Although Marie only employed her powers to cure the sick and in the service of religion, she was not the less condemned83 to death by the parliament of Valogne. The parliament of Rouen mitigated84 her punishment to whipping and public ignominy.
A second class, who came nearer to the exact idea of being possessed by devils, were persons who were deranged85, and entertained something of that impression themselves, and avowed86 it. I am not speaking of single instances, but of an extensive popular delusion1, or frenzy88 rather, which prevailed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in parts of Europe as an epidemic89 seizure. It was called the wolf-sickness. Those affected betook themselves to the forests as wild beasts. One of these, who was brought before De Lancre, at Bordeaux, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, was a young man of Besan?on. He avowed himself to be huntsman of the forest lord, his invisible master. He believed that, through the power of his master, he had been transformed into a wolf; that he hunted in the forest as such; and that he was often accompanied by a bigger wolf, whom he suspected to be the master he served; with more details of the same kind. The persons thus affected were called Wehrwolves. Their common fate was the alternative of recovering from their derangement90, under the influence of exorcism and its accessories, or of being executed.
The third and proper type of possession by devils pre144sented more complicated features. The patient’s state was not uniform. Often, or for the most part, his appearance and behaviour were natural; then paroxysms would supervene, in which he appeared fierce, malignant91, demoniacal, in which he believed himself to be possessed, and acted up to the character, and in which powers, seemingly superhuman, such as reading the thoughts of others, were manifested by the possessed. The explanation of these features is happily given by Dr. Fischer of Basle, author of an excellent work on Somnambulism. He resolves them, with evident justice, into recurrent fits of trance—the patient, when entranced, being at the same time deranged; and he exemplifies his hypothesis by the case of a German lady who had fits of trance, in which she fancied herself a French emigrée: it would have been as easy for her, had it been the mode, to have fancied herself, and to have played the part of being, possessed by the fiend. The case is this:
Gmelin, in the first volume of his Contributions to Anthropology92, narrates93 that, in the year 1789, a German lady, under his observation, had daily paroxysms, in which she believed herself to be, and acted the part of, a French Emigrant94. She had been in distress95 of mind through the absence of a person she was attached to, and he was somehow implicated96 in the scenes of the French Revolution. After an attack of fever and delirium97, the complaint regulated itself, and took the form of a daily fit of trance-waking. When the time for the fit approached, she stopped in her conversation, and ceased to answer when spoken to; she then remained a few minutes sitting perfectly still, her eyes fixed98 on the carpet before her. Then, in evident uneasiness, she began to move her head backwards and forwards, to sigh and145 to pass her fingers across her eyebrows99. This lasted a minute; then she raised her eyes, looked once or twice round with timidity and embarrassment100, then began to talk in French, when she would describe all the particulars of her escape from France, and, assuming the manner of a French woman, talk purer and better accented French than she had been known to be capable of talking before, correct her friends when they spoke incorrectly, but delicately, and with a comment on the German rudeness of laughing at the bad pronunciation of strangers: and if led herself to speak or read German, she used a French accent, and spoke it ill; and the like.
We have by this time had intercourse102 enough with spirits and demons103 to prepare us for the final subject of witchcraft.
The superstition of witchcraft stretches back into remote antiquity104, and has many roots. In Europe it is partly of Druidical origin. The Druidesses were part priestesses, part shrewd old ladies, who dealt in magic and medicine. They were called allrune, all-knowing. There was some touch of classical superstition mingled105 in the stream which was flowing down to us; so an edict of a Council of Trêves, in the year 1310, has this injunction:—“Nulla mulierum se nocturnis horis equitare cum Diana profiteatur; h?c enim d?moniaca est illusio.” But the main source from which we derived106 this superstition is the East, and traditions and facts incorporated in our religion. There were only wanted the ferment107 of thought of the fifteenth century, the energy, ignorance, enthusiasm, and faith of those days, and the papal denunciation of witchcraft by the Bull of Innocent the Eighth, in 1459, to give fury to the delusion. And from this time, for three centuries, the flames at which more than a146 hundred thousand victims perished cast a lurid108 light over Europe.
But the fires are out—the superstition is extinct—and its history is trite109, and has lost all interest; so I will hasten to the one point in it which deserves, which indeed requires, explanation.
I do not advert110 to the late duration of the belief in witchcraft—so late, that it is but a century this very month of January since the last witch, a lady and a sub-prioress, whose confession111 I will afterwards give, was executed in Germany; while, at the same period, a strong effort was made in Scotland, by good and conscientious112, and otherwise sensible persons, to reanimate the embers of the delusion, as is shown by the following evidence. In February, 1743, the Associate Presbytery, meaning the Presbytery of the Secession or Seceders, (from the Scottish Established Church,) passed, and soon thereafter published, an act for renewing the National Covenant113, in which there is a solemn acknowledgment of sins, and vow87 to renounce114 them; among which sins is specified115 “the repeal116 of the penal117 statutes118 against witchcraft, contrary to the express laws of God, and for which a holy God may be provoked, in a way of righteous judgment119, to leave those who are already ensnared to be hardened more and more, and to permit Satan to tempt50 and seduce121 others to the same wicked and dangerous snare120."—(Note, Edinburgh Review, January, 1847.)
Nor is the marvel10 in the absolute belief of the people in witchcraft only two centuries ago: what could they do but believe, when the witches and sorcerers themselves, before their execution, often avowed their guilt122 and told how they had laid themselves out to league with the evil spirit; how they had gone through a regular process of147 initiation123 in the black art; how they had been rebaptized with the support of regular witch-sponsors; how they had abjured124 Christ, and had entered, to the best of their belief, into a compact with the Devil, and had commenced accordingly a suitable course of bad works, poisoning and bewitching men and cattle, and the like?
Nor is the wonder in the unfairness with which those accused of witchcraft were treated. So at Lindheim, Horst reports on one occasion six women were implicated in a charge of having disinterred the body of a child to make a witchbroth. As they happened to be innocent of the deed, they underwent the most cruel tortures before they would confess it. At length they saw their cheapest bargain was to admit the crime, and be simply burned alive, and have it over. They did so. But the husband of one of them procured125 an official examination of the grave, when the child’s body was found in its coffin126 safe and sound. What said the Inquisitor? “This is indeed a proper piece of devil’s work: no, no, I am not to be taken in by such a gross and obvious imposture127. Luckily the women have already confessed the crime, and burned they must and shall be, in honour of the Holy Trinity, which has commanded the extirpation128 of sorcerers and witches.” The six women were burned alive accordingly; for the people had fits of frenzied129 terror, which required to be allayed130 by the sacrifice of a victim or two, and Justice became confused: to be sure, in those days her head was never very clear, and threw by mistake the odium of the crime into the accusing scale; the other flew up significantly of the full extent to which mercy could interfere131 to temper the law. A curious instance of an epidemic attack of the belief in witchcraft occurred at Salzburg between the years 1627 and 1629, originating148 in a sickness among the cattle in the neighbourhood. The sickness was unluckily attributed to witchcraft, and an active inquiry132 was set on foot to detect the participators in the crime. It was very successful; for we find in the list of persons burned alive on this occasion, besides children of 14, 12, 11, 10, 9 years of age, fourteen canons, four gentlemen of the choir133, two young men of rank, a fat old lady of rank, the wife of a burgomaster, a counsellor, the fattest burgess of Würtzburg, together with his wife, the handsomest woman in the city, and a midwife of the name of Shiekelte, with whom (according to a N.?B. in the original report) the whole of the mischief134 originated.
The marvel in witchcraft is the belief entertained by the sorcerers and witches themselves of its reality. That many of these persons, shrewd and unprincipled, should have pretended an implicit135 belief in their art, till they were brought to justice, is only what is still occasionally done in modern times. But that they should, as it is proved by some of their confessions136 previous to execution, have been their own dupes, and have entertained no doubt whatsoever137 of the reality of their intercourse with the devil, is surprising enough to deserve explanation. A single crucial instance will bring us upon the trail of the solution.
A little maid, twelve years of age, used to fall into fits of sleep; and afterwards she told her parents and the judge how an old woman and her daughter, riding on a broomstick, had come and taken her out with them. The daughter sat foremost, the old woman behind, the little maid between. They went away through the roof of the house, over the adjoining houses and the towngate, to a village some way off. Upon arriving there, the party went down the chimney of a cottage into a room, where149 sat a black man and twelve women. They eat and drank. The black man filled their glasses from a can, and gave each of the women a handful of gold. She herself had received none, but she had eaten and drunk with them.
See how much this example displays. I mean not that the superstition was imbibed138 in childhood, though that would do much to establish the belief in it, but that it had power to disturb the mind sufficiently139 to produce trance-sleep; for such were evidently the fits of sleep this child described; and trance-sleep, with its special character of visions, of dreams vivid, coherent, continuous, realizing the ideas which had driven the mind into trance. Elder persons, it is to be presumed, were occasionally similarly wrought140 upon. And the witches seemed to have known and availed themselves of the confidence in their art that could be thus promoted; and by witchbroths, of which narcotics141 formed an ingredient, they would induce in themselves and in their pupils a heavy stupor, which so far resembles trance that vivid and connected dreams occur in it. Here was the seeming reality necessary for absolute belief. It lay in not understood trance-phenomena. Other evidence from the same source came in to support the first. Some of the witch-pupils in their trances would show a strange knowledge; some of the victims, on whose fears or persons they had wrought, would become possessed—proving their art to be not less real than they believed thus the elementary part to be of their personal communication with the fiend. These remarks explain collaterally142 why witches and sorceresses were more numerous than sorcerers and magicians. Insufficient143 occupation and other causes helped probably to dispose women to seek a resource in the intense excitement of this crime; but besides, trance stood at their service, which men seldomer experience.
150
I will conclude with two pictures. One, the confession—interesting, however, from its relation to the child’s early vision—of vulgar and ordinary witches; the other, the substance of the confession of a lady-witch, which, in itself, tells the whole curious tale of this disease.
At Mora, in Sweden, in 1669, of many who were put to the torture and executed, seventy-two women agreed in the following avowal144: That they were in the habit of meeting at a place called Blocula. That on their calling out “Come forth,” the Devil used to appear to them in a gray coat, red breeches, gray stockings, with a red beard, and a peaked hat with parti-coloured feathers on his head. He then enforced upon them, not without blows, that they must bring him, at nights, their own and other people’s children, stolen for the purpose. They travel through the air to Blocula either on beasts, or on spits, or broomsticks. When they have many children with them, they rig on an additional spar to lengthen145 the back of the goat or their broomstick, that the children may have room to sit. At Blocula they sign their name in blood, and are baptized. The Devil is a humorous, pleasant gentleman; but his table is coarse enough, which makes the children often sick on their way home, the product being the so-called witch-butter found in the fields. When the Devil is larky146, he solicits147 the witches to dance round him on their brooms, which he suddenly pulls from under them, and uses to beat them with, till they are black and blue. He laughs at this joke till his sides shake again. Sometimes he is in a more gracious mood, and plays to them lovely airs upon the harp148; and occasionally sons and daughters are born to the Devil, which take up their residence at Blocula.
The following is the history of the lady-witch. She151 was, at the time of her death, seventy years of age, and had been many years sub-prioress of the convent of Unterzell, near Würtzburg.
Maria Renata took the veil at nineteen years of age, against her inclination149, having previously150 been initiated151 in the mysteries of witchcraft, which she continued to practise for fifty years, under the cloak of punctual attendance to discipline and pretended piety152. She was long in the station of sub-prioress, and would, for her capacity, have been promoted to the rank of prioress, had she not betrayed a certain discontent with the ecclesiastical life, a certain contrariety to her superiors, something half expressed only of inward dissatisfaction. Renata had not ventured to let any one about the convent into her confidence, and she remained free from suspicion, notwithstanding that, from time to time, some of the nuns153, either from the herbs she mixed with their food, or through sympathy, had strange seizures, of which some died. Renata became at length extravagant154 and unguarded in her witch-propensities, partly from long security, partly from desire of stronger excitement—made noises in the dormitory, and uttered shrieks155 in the garden; went at nights into the cells of the nuns to pinch and torment156 them, to assist her in which she kept a considerable supply of cats. The removal of the keys of the cells counteracted157 this annoyance158; but a still more efficient means was a determined159 blow, on the part of a nun101, struck at the aggressor with the penitential scourge160 one night, on the morning following which Renata was observed to have a black eye and cut face. This event awakened161 suspicion against Renata. Then one of the nuns, who was much esteemed162, declared, believing herself upon her death-bed, that,152 “as she shortly expected to stand before her Maker58, Renata was uncanny; that she had often at nights been visibly tormented163 by her, and that she warned her to desist from this course.” General alarm arose, and apprehension164 of Renata’s arts; and one of the nuns, who previously had had fits, now became possessed, and, in the paroxysms, told the wildest tales against Renata. It is only wonderful how the sub-prioress contrived165 to keep her ground so many years against these suspicions and incriminations. She adroitly166 put aside the insinuations of the nun as imaginary, or of calumnious167 intention, and treated witchcraft and possession of the Devil as things which enlightened people no longer believed in. As, however, five more of the nuns, either taking the infection from the first, or influenced by the arts of Renata, became possessed of devils, and unanimously attacked Renata, the superiors could no longer avoid making a serious investigation168 of the charges. Renata was confined to a cell alone, whereupon the six devils screeched169 in chorus at being deprived of their friend. She had begged to be allowed to take her papers with her; but this being refused, and thinking herself detected, she at once avowed to her confessor and the superiors that she was a witch, had learned witchcraft out of the convent, and had bewitched the six nuns. They determined to keep the matter secret, and to attempt the conversion170 of Renata. And, as the nuns still continued possessed, they despatched her to a remote convent. Here, under a show of outward piety, she still went on with her attempts to realize witchcraft, and the nuns remained possessed. It was decided171 at length to give Renata over to the civil power. She was accordingly condemned to be burned alive; but in mitigation of punishment, her head was first struck off. Four of the possessed nuns gradually recovered, with153 clerical assistance—the other two remained deranged. Renata was executed on the 21st January, 1749.
Renata stated, in her voluntary confession, that she had often, at night, been carried bodily to witch-sabbaths, in one of which she was first presented to the Prince of Darkness, when she abjured God and the Virgin172 at the same time. Her name, with the alteration173 of Maria into Emma, was written in a black book, and she herself was stamped on the back as the Devil’s property; in return for which she received the promise of seventy years of life, and of all she might wish for. She stated that she had often at night gone into the cellar of the chateau and drank the best wine; in the shape of a sow had walked on the convent walls; on the bridge had milked the cows as they passed over; and several times had mingled with the actors in the theatre in London.
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delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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seizure
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| n.没收；占有；抵押 | |
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seizures
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| n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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revivals
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| n.复活( revival的名词复数 )；再生；复兴；（老戏多年后）重新上演 | |
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imputed
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| v.把（错误等）归咎于( impute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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disorders
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| n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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physiological
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| adj.生理学的，生理学上的 | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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19
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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perused
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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21
allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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22
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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23
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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24
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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25
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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26
enthusiasts
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| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
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27
enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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28
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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29
prophesy
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| v.预言；预示 | |
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30
chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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31
psalm
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| n.赞美诗，圣诗 | |
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32
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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33
exhortation
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| n.劝告，规劝 | |
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34
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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35
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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36
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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37
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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38
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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39
ironical
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| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
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40
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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41
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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42
prophesying
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的现在分词 ) | |
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43
stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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44
auditors
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| n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生 | |
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45
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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46
contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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47
deposed
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| v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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48
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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49
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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50
tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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51
censured
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| v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 ) | |
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52
mandate
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| n.托管地；命令，指示 | |
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53
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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54
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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55
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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56
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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57
penitence
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| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
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58
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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59
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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60
initiatory
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| adj.开始的；创始的；入会的；入社的 | |
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61
portrays
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| v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
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62
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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63
goad
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| n.刺棒，刺痛物；激励；vt.激励，刺激 | |
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64
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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65
jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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66
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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67
hopping
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| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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68
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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69
jolting
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| adj.令人震惊的 | |
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70
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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71
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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72
denominations
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| n.宗派( denomination的名词复数 )；教派；面额；名称 | |
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73
countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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74
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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75
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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76
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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77
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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78
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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79
construed
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| v.解释（陈述、行为等）( construe的过去式和过去分词 )；翻译，作句法分析 | |
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80
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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81
depositions
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| 沉积（物）( deposition的名词复数 )； （在法庭上的）宣誓作证； 处置； 罢免 | |
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82
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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83
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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84
mitigated
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| v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85
deranged
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| adj.疯狂的 | |
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86
avowed
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| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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87
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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88
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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89
epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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90
derangement
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| n.精神错乱 | |
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91
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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92
anthropology
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| n.人类学 | |
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93
narrates
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| v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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94
emigrant
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| adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民 | |
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95
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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96
implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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97
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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98
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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99
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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100
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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101
nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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102
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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103
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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104
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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105
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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106
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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107
ferment
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| vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱 | |
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108
lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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109
trite
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| adj.陈腐的 | |
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110
advert
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| vi.注意，留意，言及；n.广告 | |
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111
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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112
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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113
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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114
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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115
specified
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| adj.特定的 | |
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116
repeal
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| n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消 | |
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117
penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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118
statutes
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| 成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程 | |
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119
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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120
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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121
seduce
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| vt.勾引，诱奸，诱惑，引诱 | |
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122
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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123
initiation
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| n.开始 | |
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124
abjured
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| v.发誓放弃( abjure的过去式和过去分词 )；郑重放弃（意见）；宣布撤回（声明等）；避免 | |
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125
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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126
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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127
imposture
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| n.冒名顶替，欺骗 | |
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128
extirpation
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| n.消灭，根除，毁灭；摘除 | |
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129
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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130
allayed
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| v.减轻，缓和( allay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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131
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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132
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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133
choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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134
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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135
implicit
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| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
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136
confessions
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| n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔 | |
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137
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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138
imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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139
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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140
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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141
narcotics
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| n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒 | |
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142
collaterally
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| 担保物； 旁系亲属 | |
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143
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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144
avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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145
lengthen
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| vt.使伸长，延长 | |
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146
larky
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| adj.爱闹玩的 | |
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147
solicits
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| 恳请 | |
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148
harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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149
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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150
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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151
initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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152
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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153
nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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154
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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155
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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156
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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157
counteracted
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| 对抗，抵消( counteract的过去式 ) | |
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158
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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159
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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160
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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161
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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163
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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164
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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166
adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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167
calumnious
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| adj.毁谤的，中伤的 | |
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168
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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169
screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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170
conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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171
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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172
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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173
alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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