I speedily perceived that the influence of this fact extends far beyond the political character and the laws of the country, and that it has no less empire over civil society than over the government; it creates opinions, engenders5 sentiments, the ordinary practices of life, and modifies whatever it does not produce.
The more I advanced in the study of American society, the more I perceived that the equality of conditions is the fundamental fact from which all others seem to be derived6, and the central point at which all my observations constantly terminated.
I then turned my thoughts to our own hemisphere, where I imagined that I discerned something analogous7 to the spectacle which the New World presented to me. I observed that the equality of conditions is daily advancing towards those extreme limits which it seems to have reached in the United States; and that the democracy which governs the American communities, appears to be rapidly rising into power in Europe.
I hence conceived the idea of the book which is now before the reader.
It is evident to all alike that a great democratic revolution is going on among us; but there are two opinions as to its nature and consequences. To some it appears to be a novel accident, which as such may still be checked; to others it seems irresistible8, because it is the most uniform, the most ancient, and the most permanent tendency which is to be found in history.
Let us recollect9 the situation of France seven hundred years ago, when the territory was divided among a small number of families, who were the owners of the soil and the rulers of the inhabitants; the right of governing descended10 with the family inheritance from generation to generation; force was the only means by which man could act on man; and landed property was the sole source of power.
Soon, however, the political power of the clergy11 was founded, and began to exert itself; the clergy opened its ranks to all classes, to the poor and the rich, the villain12 and the lord; equality penetrated13 into the government through the church, and the being who, as a serf, must have vegetated14 in perpetual bondage15, took his place as a priest in the midst of nobles, and not unfrequently above the heads of kings.
The different relations of men became more complicated and more numerous, as society gradually became more stable and more civilized16. Thence the want of civil laws was felt; and the order of legal functionaries17 soon rose from the obscurity of the tribunals and their dusty chambers18, to appear at the court of the monarch19, by the side of the feudal20 barons21 in their ermine and their mail.
While the kings were ruining themselves by their great enterprises, and the nobles exhausting their resources by private wars, the lower orders were enriching themselves by commerce. The influence of money began to be perceptible in state affairs. The transactions of business opened a new road to power, and the financier rose to a station of political influence in which he was at once flattered and despised.
Gradually the spread of mental acquirements, and the increasing taste for literature and art, opened chances of success to talent; science became the means of government, intelligence led to social power, and the man of letters took a part in the affairs of the state.
The value attached to the privileges of birth, decreased in the exact proportion in which new paths were struck out to advancement22. In the eleventh century nobility was beyond all price; in the thirteenth it might be purchased; it was conferred for the first time in 1270; and equality was thus introduced into the government by the aristocracy itself.
In the course of these seven hundred years, it sometimes happened that, in order to resist the authority of the crown, or to diminish the power of their rivals, the nobles granted a certain share of political rights to the people. Or, more frequently the king permitted the lower orders to enjoy a degree of power, with the intention of repressing the aristocracy.
In France the kings have always been the most active and the most constant of levellers. When they were strong and ambitious, they spared no pains to raise the people to the level of the nobles; when they were temperate23 or weak, they allowed the people to rise above themselves. Some assisted the democracy by their talents, others by their vices24. Louis XI. and Louis XIV. reduced every rank beneath the throne to the same subjection; Louis XV. descended, himself and all his court, into the dust.
As soon as land was held on any other than a feudal tenure25, and personal property began in its turn to confer influence and power, every improvement which was introduced in commerce or manufacture, was a fresh element of the equality of conditions. Henceforward every new discovery, every new want which it engendered26, and every new desire which craved27 satisfaction, was a step toward the universal level. The taste for luxury, the love of war, the sway of fashion, the most superficial, as well as the deepest passions of the human heart, co-operated to enrich the poor and to impoverish28 the rich.
From the time when the exercise of the intellect became the source of strength and of wealth, it is impossible not to consider every addition to science, every fresh truth, and every new idea, as a germe of power placed within the reach of the people. Poetry, eloquence29, and memory, the grace of wit, the glow of imagination, the depth of thought, and all the gifts which are bestowed30 by Providence31 with an equal hand, turned to the advantage of the democracy; and even when they were in the possession of its adversaries32, they still served its cause by throwing into relief the natural greatness of man; its conquests spread, therefore, with those of civilisation33 and knowledge; and literature became an arsenal34, where the poorest and weakest could always find weapons to their hand.
In perusing35 the pages of our history, we shall scarcely meet with a single great event, in the lapse36 of seven hundred years, which has not turned to the advantage of equality.
The crusades and the wars of the English decimated the nobles, and divided their possessions; the erection of communes introduced an element of democratic liberty into the bosom37 of feudal monarchy38; the invention of firearms equalized the villain and the noble on the field of battle; printing opened the same resources to the minds of all classes; the post was organized so as to bring the same information to the door of the poor man's cottage and to the gate of the palace; and protestantism proclaimed that all men are alike able to find the road to heaven. The discovery of America offered a thousand new paths to fortune, and placed riches and power within the reach of the adventurous39 and the obscure.
If we examine what has happened in France at intervals40 of fifty years, beginning with the eleventh century, we shall invariably perceive that a twofold revolution has taken place in the state of society. The noble has gone down on the social ladder, and the roturier has gone up; the one descends41 as the other rises. Every half-century brings them nearer to each other, and they will very shortly meet.
Nor is this phenomenon at all peculiar to France. Whithersoever we turn our eyes, we shall discover the same continual revolution throughout the whole of Christendom.
The various occurrences of national existence have everywhere turned to the advantage of democracy; all men have aided it by their exertions42; those who have intentionally43 labored45 in its cause, and those who have served it unwittingly—those who have fought for it, and those who have declared themselves its opponents—have all been driven along in the same track, have all labored to one end, some ignorantly, and some unwillingly46; all have been blind instruments in the hands of God.
The gradual development of the equality of conditions is, therefore, a providential fact, and it possesses all the characteristics of a divine decree: it is universal, it is durable47, it constantly eludes48 all human interference, and all events as well as all men contribute to its progress.
Would it, then, be wise to imagine that a social impulse which dates from so far back, can be checked by the efforts of a generation? Is it credible49 that the democracy which has annihilated50 the feudal system, and vanquished51 kings, will respect the citizen and the capitalist? Will it stop now that it has grown so strong and its adversaries so weak?
None can say which way we are going, for all terms of comparison are wanting: the equality of conditions is more complete in the Christian52, countries of the present day, than it has been at any time, or in any part of the world; so that the extent of what already exists prevents us from foreseeing what may be yet to come.
The whole book which is here offered to the public, has been written under the impression of a kind of religious dread53, produced in the author's mind by the contemplation of so irresistible a revolution, which has advanced for centuries in spite of such amazing obstacles, and which is still proceeding54 in the midst of the ruins it has made.
It is not necessary that God himself should speak in order to disclose to us the unquestionable signs of his will; we can discern them in the habitual55 course of nature, and in the invariable tendency of events; I know, without a special revelation, that the planets move in the orbits traced by the Creator's fingers.
If the men of our time were led by attentive56 observation and by sincere reflection, to acknowledge that the gradual and progressive development of social equality is at once the past and future of their history, this solitary57 truth would confer the sacred character of a divine decree upon the change. To attempt to check democracy would be in that case to resist the will of God; and the nations would then be constrained58 to make the best of the social lot awarded to them by Providence.
The Christian nations of our age seem to me to present a most alarming spectacle; the impulse which is bearing them along is so strong that it cannot be stopped, but it is not yet so rapid that it cannot be guided: their fate is in their hands; yet a little while and it may be so no longer.
The first duty which is at this time imposed upon those who direct our affairs is to educate the democracy; to warm its faith, if that be possible; to purify its morals; to direct its energies; to substitute a knowledge of business for its inexperience, and an acquaintance with its true interests for its blind propensities59; to adapt its government to time and place, and to modify it in compliance60 with the occurrences and the actors of the age.
A new science of politics is indispensable to a new world.
This, however, is what we think of least; launched in the middle of a rapid stream, we obstinately61 fix our eyes on the ruins which may still be descried62 upon the shore we have left, while the current sweeps us along, and drives us backward toward the gulf63.
In no country in Europe has the great social revolution which I have been describing, made such rapid progress as in France; but it has always been borne on by chance. The heads of the state have never had any forethought for its exigences, and its victories have been obtained without their consent or without their knowledge. The most powerful, the most intelligent, and the most moral classes of the nation have never attempted to connect themselves with it in order to guide it. The people have consequently been abandoned to its wild propensities, and it has grown up like those outcasts who receive their education in the public streets, and who are unacquainted with aught but the vices and wretchedness of society. The existence of a democracy was seemingly unknown, when, on a sudden, it took possession of the supreme64 power. Everything was then submitted to its caprices; it was worshipped as the idol65 of strength; until, when it was enfeebled by its own excesses, the legislator conceived the rash project of annihilating66 its power, instead of instructing it and correcting its vices; no attempt was made to fit it to govern, but all were bent67 on excluding it from the government.
The consequence of this has been that the democratic revolution has been effected only in the material parts of society, without that concomitant change in laws, ideas, customs, and manners, which was necessary to render such a revolution beneficial. We have gotten a democracy, but without the conditions which lessen68 its vices, and render its natural advantages more prominent; and although we already perceive the evils it brings, we are ignorant of the benefits it may confer.
While the power of the crown, supported by the aristocracy, peaceably governed the nations of Europe, society possessed69, in the midst of its wretchedness, several different advantages which can now scarcely be appreciated or conceived.
The power of a part of his subjects was an insurmountable barrier to the tyranny of the prince; and the monarch who felt the almost divine character which he enjoyed in the eyes of the multitude, derived a motive70 for the just use of his power from the respect which he inspired.
High as they were placed above the people, the nobles could not but take that calm and benevolent71 interest in its fate which the shepherd feels toward his flock; and without acknowledging the poor as their equals, they watched over the destiny of those whose welfare Providence had intrusted to their care.
The people, never having conceived the idea of a social condition different from its own, and entertaining no expectation of ever ranking with its chiefs, received benefits from them without discussing their rights. It grew attached to them when they were clement72 and just, but it submitted without resistance or servility to their exactions, as to the inevitable73 visitations of the arm of God. Custom, and the manners of the time, had moreover created a species of law in the midst of violence, and established certain limits to oppression.
As the noble never suspected that any one would attempt to deprive him of the privileges which he believed to be legitimate74, and as the serf looked upon his own inferiority as a consequence of the immutable75 order of nature, it is easy to imagine that a mutual76 exchange of good-will took place between two classes so differently gifted by fate. Inequality and wretchedness were then to be found in society; but the souls of neither rank of men were degraded.
Men are not corrupted77 by the exercise of power or debased by the habit of obedience78; but by the exercise of power which they believe to be illegal, and by obedience to a rule which they consider to be usurped79 and oppressive.
On one side were wealth, strength, and leisure, accompanied by the refinement81 of luxury, the elegance82 of taste, the pleasures of wit, and the religion of art. On the other were labor44, and a rude ignorance; but in the midst of this coarse and ignorant multitude, it was not uncommon83 to meet with energetic passions, generous sentiments, profound religious convictions, and independent virtues84.
The body of a state thus organized, might boast of its stability, its power, and above all, of its glory.
But the scene is now changed, and gradually the two ranks mingle86; the divisions which once severed87 mankind, are lowered; property is divided, power is held in common, the light of intelligence spreads, and the capacities of all classes are equally cultivated; the state becomes democratic, and the empire of democracy is slowly and peaceably introduced into the institutions and manners of the nation.
I can conceive a society in which all men would profess88 an equal attachment89 and respect for the laws of which they are the common authors; in which the authority of the state would be respected as necessary, though not as divine; and the loyalty90 of the subject to the chief magistrate91 would not be a passion, but a quiet and rational persuasion92. Every individual being in the possession of rights which he is sure to retain, a kind of manly93 reliance and reciprocal courtesy would arise between all classes, alike removed from pride and meanness.
The people, well acquainted with its true interests, would allow, that in order to profit by the advantages of society, it is necessary to satisfy its demands. In this state of things, the voluntary association of the citizens might supply the individual exertions of the nobles, and the community would be alike protected from anarchy94 and from oppression.
I admit that in a democratic state thus constituted, society will not be stationary95; but the impulses of the social body may be regulated and directed forward; if there be less splendor96 than in the halls of an aristocracy, the contrast of misery97 will be less frequent also; the pleasures of enjoyment98 may be less excessive, but those of comfort will be more general; the sciences may be less perfectly99 cultivated, but ignorance will be less common; the impetuosity of the feelings will be repressed, and the habits of the nation softened100; there will be more vices and fewer crimes.
In the absence of enthusiasm and of an ardent101 faith, great sacrifices may be obtained from the members of a commonwealth102 by an appeal to their understandings and their experience: each individual will feel the same necessity for uniting with his fellow-citizens to protect his own weakness; and as he knows that if they are to assist he must co-operate, he will readily perceive that his personal interest is identified with the interest of the community.
The nation, taken as a whole, will be less brilliant, less glorious, and perhaps less strong; but the majority of the citizens will enjoy a greater degree of prosperity, and the people will remain quiet, not because it despairs of melioration, but because it is conscious of the advantages of its condition.
If all the consequences of this state of things were not good or useful, society would at least have appropriated all such as were useful and good; and having once and for ever renounced103 the social advantages of aristocracy, mankind would enter into possession of all the benefits which democracy can afford.
But here it may be asked what we have adopted in the place of those institutions, those ideas, and those customs of our forefathers104 which we have abandoned.
The spell of royalty105 is broken, but it has not been succeeded by the majesty106 of the laws; the people have learned to despise all authority. But fear now extorts107 a larger tribute of obedience than that which was formerly108 paid by reverence109 and by love.
I perceive that we have destroyed those independent beings which were able to cope with tyranny single-handed; but it is the government that has inherited the privileges of which families, corporations, and individuals, have been deprived; the weakness of the whole community has, therefore, succeeded to that influence of a small body of citizens, which, if it was sometimes oppressive, was often conservative.
The division of property has lessened110 the distance which separated the rich from the poor; but it would seem that the nearer they draw to each other, the greater is their mutual hatred111, and the more vehement112 the envy and the dread with which they resist each other's claims to power; the notion of right is alike insensible to both classes, and force affords to both the only argument for the present, and the only guarantee for the future.
The poor man retains the prejudices of his forefathers without their faith, and their ignorance without their virtues; he has adopted the doctrine113 of self-interest as the rule of his actions, without understanding the science which controls it, and his egotism is no less blind than his devotedness114 was formerly.
If society is tranquil115, it is not because it relies upon its strength and its well-being116, but because it knows its weakness and its infirmities; a single effort may cost it its life; everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy enough to seek the cure; the desires, the regret, the sorrows, and the joys of the time, produce nothing that is visible or permanent, like the passions of old men which terminate in impotence.
We have, then, abandoned whatever advantages the old state of things afforded, without receiving any compensation from our present condition; having destroyed an aristocracy, we seem inclined to survey its ruins with complacency, and to fix our abode117 in the midst of them.
The phenomena118 which the intellectual world presents, are not less deplorable. The democracy of France, checked in its course or abandoned to its lawless passions, has overthrown119 whatever crossed its path, and has shaken all that it has not destroyed. Its control over society has not been gradually introduced, or peaceably established, but it has constantly advanced in the midst of disorder120, and the agitation121 of a conflict. In the heat of the struggle each partisan122 is hurried beyond the limits of his opinions by the opinions and the excesses of his opponents, until he loses sight of the end of his exertions, and holds a language which disguises his real sentiments or secret instincts. Hence arises the strange confusion which we are beholding123.
I cannot recall to my mind a passage in history more worthy124 of sorrow and of pity than the scenes which are happening under our eyes; it is as if the natural bond which unites the opinions of man to his tastes, and his actions to his principles, was now broken; the sympathy which has always been acknowledged between the feelings and the ideas of mankind, appears to be dissolved, and all the laws of moral analogy to be abolished.
Zealous125 Christians126 may be found among us, whose minds are nurtured127 in the love and knowledge of a future life, and who readily espouse128 the cause of human liberty, as the source of all moral greatness. Christianity, which has declared that all men are equal in the sight of God, will not refuse to acknowledge that all citizens are equal in the eye of the law. But, by a singular concourse of events, religion is entangled129 in those institutions which democracy assails130, and it is not unfrequently brought to reject the equality it loves, and to curse that cause of liberty as a foe131, which it might hallow by its alliance.
By the side of these religious men I discern others whose looks are turned to the earth more than to heaven; they are the partisans132 of liberty, not only as the source of the noblest virtues, but more especially as the root of all solid advantages; and they sincerely desire to extend its sway, and to impart its blessings133 to mankind. It is natural that they should hasten to invoke134 the assistance of religion, for they must know that liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith; but they have seen religion in the ranks of their adversaries, and they inquire no farther; some of them attack it openly, and the remainder are afraid to defend it.
In former ages slavery has been advocated by the venal135 and slavish-minded, while the independent and the warm-hearted were struggling without hope to save the liberties of mankind. But men of high and generous characters are now to be met with, whose opinions are at variance136 with their inclinations137, and who praise that servility which they have themselves never known. Others, on the contrary, speak in the name of liberty as if they were able to feel its sanctity and its majesty, and loudly claim for humanity those rights which they have always disowned.
There are virtuous138 and peaceful individuals whose pure morality, quiet habits, affluence139, and talents, fit them to be the leaders of the surrounding population; their love of their country is sincere, and they are prepared to make the greatest sacrifices to its welfare, but they confound the abuses of civilisation with its benefits, and the idea of evil is inseparable in their minds from that of novelty.
Not far from this class is another party, whose object is to materialise mankind, to hit upon what is expedient140 without heeding141 what is just; to acquire knowledge without faith, and prosperity apart from virtue85; assuming the title of the champions of modern civilisation, and placing themselves in a station which they usurp80 with insolence142, and from which they are driven by their own unworthiness.
Where are we then?
The religionists are the enemies of liberty, and the friends of liberty attack religion; the high-minded and the noble advocate subjection, and the meanest and most servile minds preach independence; honest and enlightened citizens are opposed to all progress, while men without patriotism143 and without principles, are the apostles of civilisation and of intelligence.
Has such been the fate of the centuries which have preceded our own? and has man always inhabited a world, like the present, where nothing is linked together, where virtue is without genius, and genius without honor; where the love of order is confounded with a taste for oppression, and the holy rites144 of freedom with a contempt of law; where the light thrown by conscience on human actions is dim, and where nothing seems to be any longer forbidden or allowed, honorable or shameful145, false or true?
I cannot, however, believe that the Creator made man to leave him in an endless struggle with the intellectual miseries146 which surround us: God destines a calmer and a more certain future to the communities of Europe; I am unacquainted with his designs, but I shall not cease to believe in them because I cannot fathom147 them, and I had rather mistrust my own capacity than his justice.
There is a country in the world where the great revolution which I am speaking of seems nearly to have reached its natural limits; it has been effected with ease and simplicity148, say rather that this country has attained149 the consequences of the democratic revolution which we are undergoing, without having experienced the revolution itself.
The emigrants150 who fixed151 themselves on the shores of America in the beginning of the seventeenth century, severed the democratic principle from all the principles which repressed it in the old communities of Europe, and transplanted it unalloyed to the New World. It has there been allowed to spread in perfect freedom, and to put forth152 its consequences in the laws by influencing the manners of the country.
It appears to me beyond a doubt, that sooner or later we shall arrive, like the Americans, at an almost complete equality of conditions. But I do not conclude from this, that we shall ever be necessarily led to draw the same political consequences which the Americans have derived from a similar social organization. I am far from supposing that they have chosen the only form of government which a democracy may adopt; but the identity of the efficient cause of laws and manners in the two countries is sufficient to account for the immense interest we have in becoming acquainted with its effects in each of them.
It is not, then, merely to satisfy a legitimate curiosity that I have examined America; my wish has been to find instruction by which we may ourselves profit. Whoever should imagine that I have intended to write a panegyric153 would be strangely mistaken, and on reading this book, he will perceive that such was not my design: nor has it been my object to advocate any form of government in particular, for I am of opinion that absolute excellence154 is rarely to be found in any legislation; I have not even affected155 to discuss whether the social revolution, which I believe to be irresistible, is advantageous156 or prejudicial to mankind; I have acknowledged this revolution as a fact already accomplished157 or on the eve of its accomplishment158; and I have selected the nation, from among those which have undergone it, in which its development has been the most peaceful and the most complete, in order to discern its natural consequences, and, if it be possible, to distinguish the means by which it may be rendered profitable. I confess that in America I saw more than America; I sought the image of democracy itself, with its inclinations, its character, its prejudices, and its passions, in order to learn what we have to fear or to hope from its progress.
In the first part of this work I have attempted to show the tendency given to the laws by the democracy of America, which is abandoned almost without restraint to its instinctive159 propensities; and to exhibit the course it prescribes to the government, and the influence it exercises on affairs. I have sought to discover the evils and the advantages which it produces. I have examined the precautions used by the Americans to direct it, as well as those which they have not adopted, and I have undertaken to point out the causes which enable it to govern society.
It was my intention to depict160, in a second part, the influence which the equality of conditions and the rule of democracy exercise on the civil society, the habits, the ideas, and the manners of the Americans; I begin, however, to feel less ardor161 for the accomplishment of this project, since the excellent work of my friend and travelling companion M. de Beaumont has been given to the world.{1} I do not know whether I have succeeded in making known what I saw in America, but I am certain that such has been my sincere desire, and that I have never, knowingly, moulded facts to ideas, instead of ideas to facts.
Whenever a point could be established by the aid of written documents, I have had recourse to the original text, and to the most authentic162 and approved works.{2} I have cited my authorities in the notes, and any one may refer to them. Whenever an opinion, a political custom, or a remark on the manners of the country was concerned, I endeavored to consult the most enlightened men I met with. If the point in question was important or doubtful, I was not satisfied with one testimony163, but I formed my opinion on the evidence of several witnesses. Here the reader must necessarily believe me upon my word. I could frequently have quoted names which are either known to him, or which deserve to be so, in proof of what I advance; but I have carefully abstained164 from this practice. A stranger frequently hears important truths at the fireside of his host, which the latter would perhaps conceal165 even from the ear of friendship; he consoles himself with his guest, for the silence to which he is restricted, and the shortness of the traveller's stay takes away all fear of his indiscretion. I carefully noted166 every conversation of this nature as soon as it occurred, but these notes will never leave my writing-case; I had rather injure the success of my statements than add my name to the list of those strangers who repay the generous hospitality they have received by subsequent chagrin167 and annoyance168.
I am aware that, notwithstanding my care, nothing will be easier than to criticise169 this book, if any one ever chooses to criticise it.
Those readers who may examine it closely will discover the fundamental idea which connects the several parts together. But the diversity of the subjects I have had to treat is exceedingly great, and it will not be difficult to oppose an isolated170 fact to the body of facts which I quote, or an isolated idea to the body of ideas I put forth. I hope to be read in the spirit which has guided my labors171, and that my book may be judged by the general impression it leaves, as I have formed my own judgment172 not on any single reason, but upon the mass of evidence.
It must not be forgotten that the author who wishes to be understood is obliged to push all his ideas to their utmost theoretical consequences, and often to the verge173 of what is false or impracticable; for if it be necessary sometimes to quit the rules of logic174 in active life, such is not the case in discourse175, and a man finds that almost as many difficulties spring from inconsistency of language, as usually arise from consistency176 of conduct.
I conclude by pointing out myself what many readers will consider the principal defect of the work. This book is written to favor no particular views, and in composing it I have entertained no design of serving or attacking any party: I have undertaken not to see differently, but to look farther than parties, and while they are busied for the morrow, I have turned my thoughts to the future.
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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engenders
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的第三人称单数 ) | |
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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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analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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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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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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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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vegetated
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| v.过单调呆板的生活( vegetate的过去式和过去分词 )；植物似地生长；（瘤、疣等）长大 | |
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bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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functionaries
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| n.公职人员，官员( functionary的名词复数 ) | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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22
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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23
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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25
tenure
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| n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期 | |
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engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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craved
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| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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28
impoverish
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| vt.使穷困，使贫困 | |
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29
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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30
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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32
adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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33
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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34
arsenal
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| n.兵工厂，军械库 | |
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35
perusing
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的现在分词 )；（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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36
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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37
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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38
monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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39
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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40
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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41
descends
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| v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜 | |
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42
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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43
intentionally
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| ad.故意地，有意地 | |
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44
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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45
labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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46
unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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47
durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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48
eludes
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的第三人称单数 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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49
credible
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| adj.可信任的，可靠的 | |
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50
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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51
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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52
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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53
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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54
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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55
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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56
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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57
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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58
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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59
propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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60
compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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61
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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62
descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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63
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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64
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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65
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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66
annihilating
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的现在分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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67
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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68
lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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69
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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70
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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71
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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72
clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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73
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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74
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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75
immutable
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| adj.不可改变的，永恒的 | |
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76
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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77
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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78
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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79
usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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80
usurp
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| vt.篡夺，霸占；vi.篡位 | |
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81
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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82
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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83
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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84
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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85
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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86
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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87
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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88
profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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89
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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90
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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91
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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92
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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93
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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94
anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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95
stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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96
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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97
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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98
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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99
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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100
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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101
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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102
commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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103
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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104
forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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105
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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106
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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107
extorts
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| v.敲诈( extort的第三人称单数 )；曲解 | |
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108
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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109
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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110
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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111
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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112
vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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113
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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114
devotedness
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115
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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116
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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117
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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118
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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119
overthrown
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| adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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120
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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121
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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122
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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123
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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124
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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125
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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126
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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127
nurtured
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| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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128
espouse
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| v.支持，赞成，嫁娶 | |
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129
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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130
assails
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| v.攻击( assail的第三人称单数 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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131
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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132
partisans
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| 游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙 | |
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133
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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134
invoke
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| v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求 | |
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135
venal
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| adj.唯利是图的，贪脏枉法的 | |
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136
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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137
inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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138
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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139
affluence
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| n.充裕，富足 | |
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140
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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141
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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142
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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143
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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144
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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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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150
emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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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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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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panegyric
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| n.颂词，颂扬 | |
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excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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depict
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| vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述 | |
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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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abstained
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| v.戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 )；弃权（不投票） | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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consistency
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| n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度 | |
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