It would seem that men employ two very distinct methods in the public estimation *a of the actions of their fellowmen; at one time they judge them by those simple notions of right and wrong which are diffused1 all over the world; at another they refer their decision to a few very special notions which belong exclusively to some particular age and country. It often happens that these two rules differ; they sometimes conflict: but they are never either entirely2 identified or entirely annulled3 by one another. Honor, at the periods of its greatest power, sways the will more than the belief of men; and even whilst they yield without hesitation4 and without a murmur5 to its dictates6, they feel notwithstanding, by a dim but mighty8 instinct, the existence of a more general, more ancient, and more holy law, which they sometimes disobey although they cease not to acknowledge it. Some actions have been held to be at the same time virtuous9 and dishonorable—a refusal to fight a duel10 is a case in point.
a
[ The word "honor" is not always used in the same sense either in French or English. I. It first signifies the dignity, glory, or reverence11 which a man receives from his kind; and in this sense a man is said to acquire honor. 2. Honor signifies the aggregate12 of those rules by the assistance of which this dignity, glory, or reverence is obtained. Thus we say that a man has always strictly13 obeyed the laws of honor; or a man has violated his honor. In this chapter the word is always used in the latter sense.]
I think these peculiarities14 may be otherwise explained than by the mere16 caprices of certain individuals and nations, as has hitherto been the customary mode of reasoning on the subject. Mankind is subject to general and lasting17 wants that have engendered18 moral laws, to the neglect of which men have ever and in all places attached the notion of censure19 and shame: to infringe20 them was "to do ill"—"to do well" was to conform to them. Within the bosom21 of this vast association of the human race, lesser22 associations have been formed which are called nations; and amidst these nations further subdivisions have assumed the names of classes or castes. Each of these associations forms, as it were, a separate species of the human race; and though it has no essential difference from the mass of mankind, to a certain extent it stands apart and has certain wants peculiar15 to itself. To these special wants must be attributed the modifications23 which affect in various degrees and in different countries the mode of considering human actions, and the estimate which ought to be formed of them. It is the general and permanent interest of mankind that men should not kill each other: but it may happen to be the peculiar and temporary interest of a people or a class to justify24, or even to honor, homicide.
Honor is simply that peculiar rule, founded upon a peculiar state of society, by the application of which a people or a class allot25 praise or blame. Nothing is more unproductive to the mind than an abstract idea; I therefore hasten to call in the aid of facts and examples to illustrate26 my meaning.
I select the most extraordinary kind of honor which was ever known in the world, and that which we are best acquainted with, viz., aristocratic honor springing out of feudal27 society. I shall explain it by means of the principle already laid down, and I shall explain the principle by means of the illustration. I am not here led to inquire when and how the aristocracy of the Middle Ages came into existence, why it was so deeply severed28 from the remainder of the nation, or what founded and consolidated29 its power. I take its existence as an established fact, and I am endeavoring to account for the peculiar view which it took of the greater part of human actions. The first thing that strikes me is, that in the feudal world actions were not always praised or blamed with reference to their intrinsic worth, but that they were sometimes appreciated exclusively with reference to the person who was the actor or the object of them, which is repugnant to the general conscience of mankind. Thus some of the actions which were indifferent on the part of a man in humble30 life, dishonored a noble; others changed their whole character according as the person aggrieved31 by them belonged or did not belong to the aristocracy. When these different notions first arose, the nobility formed a distinct body amidst the people, which it commanded from the inaccessible32 heights where it was ensconced. To maintain this peculiar position, which constituted its strength, it not only required political privileges, but it required a standard of right and wrong for its own especial use. That some particular virtue33 or vice34 belonged to the nobility rather than to the humble classes—that certain actions were guiltless when they affected35 the villain36, which were criminal when they touched the noble—these were often arbitrary matters; but that honor or shame should be attached to a man's actions according to his condition, was a result of the internal constitution of an aristocratic community. This has been actually the case in all the countries which have had an aristocracy; as long as a trace of the principle remains37, these peculiarities will still exist; to debauch38 a woman of color scarcely injures the reputation of an American—to marry her dishonors him.
In some cases feudal honor enjoined39 revenge, and stigmatized40 the forgiveness of insults; in others it imperiously commanded men to conquer their own passions, and imposed forgetfulness of self. It did not make humanity or kindness its law, but it extolled41 generosity42; it set more store on liberality than on benevolence43; it allowed men to enrich themselves by gambling44 or by war, but not by labor45; it preferred great crimes to small earnings46; cupidity47 was less distasteful to it than avarice48; violence it often sanctioned, but cunning and treachery it invariably reprobated as contemptible49. These fantastical notions did not proceed exclusively from the caprices of those who entertained them. A class which has succeeded in placing itself at the head of and above all others, and which makes perpetual exertions50 to maintain this lofty position, must especially honor those virtues52 which are conspicuous53 for their dignity and splendor54, and which may be easily combined with pride and the love of power. Such men would not hesitate to invert55 the natural order of the conscience in order to give those virtues precedence before all others. It may even be conceived that some of the more bold and brilliant vices56 would readily be set above the quiet, unpretending virtues. The very existence of such a class in society renders these things unavoidable.
The nobles of the Middle Ages placed military courage foremost amongst virtues, and in lieu of many of them. This was again a peculiar opinion which arose necessarily from the peculiarity57 of the state of society. Feudal aristocracy existed by war and for war; its power had been founded by arms, and by arms that power was maintained; it therefore required nothing more than military courage, and that quality was naturally exalted58 above all others; whatever denoted it, even at the expense of reason and humanity, was therefore approved and frequently enjoined by the manners of the time. Such was the main principle; the caprice of man was only to be traced in minuter details. That a man should regard a tap on the cheek as an unbearable59 insult, and should be obliged to kill in single combat the person who struck him thus lightly, is an arbitrary rule; but that a noble could not tranquilly60 receive an insult, and was dishonored if he allowed himself to take a blow without fighting, were direct consequences of the fundamental principles and the wants of military aristocracy.
Thus it was true to a certain extent to assert that the laws of honor were capricious; but these caprices of honor were always confined within certain necessary limits. The peculiar rule, which was called honor by our forefathers61, is so far from being an arbitrary law in my eyes, that I would readily engage to ascribe its most incoherent and fantastical injunctions to a small number of fixed62 and invariable wants inherent in feudal society.
If I were to trace the notion of feudal honor into the domain63 of politics, I should not find it more difficult to explain its dictates. The state of society and the political institutions of the Middle Ages were such, that the supreme64 power of the nation never governed the community directly. That power did not exist in the eyes of the people: every man looked up to a certain individual whom he was bound to obey; by that intermediate personage he was connected with all the others. Thus in feudal society the whole system of the commonwealth65 rested upon the sentiment of fidelity66 to the person of the lord: to destroy that sentiment was to open the sluices67 of anarchy68. Fidelity to a political superior was, moreover, a sentiment of which all the members of the aristocracy had constant opportunities of estimating the importance; for every one of them was a vassal69 as well as a lord, and had to command as well as to obey. To remain faithful to the lord, to sacrifice one's self for him if called upon, to share his good or evil fortunes, to stand by him in his undertakings70 whatever they might be—such were the first injunctions of feudal honor in relation to the political institutions of those times. The treachery of a vassal was branded with extraordinary severity by public opinion, and a name of peculiar infamy71 was invented for the offence which was called "felony."
On the contrary, few traces are to be found in the Middle Ages of the passion which constituted the life of the nations of antiquity—I mean patriotism72; the word itself is not of very ancient date in the language. *b Feudal institutions concealed73 the country at large from men's sight, and rendered the love of it less necessary. The nation was forgotten in the passions which attached men to persons. Hence it was no part of the strict law of feudal honor to remain faithful to one's country. Not indeed that the love of their country did not exist in the hearts of our forefathers; but it constituted a dim and feeble instinct, which has grown more clear and strong in proportion as aristocratic classes have been abolished, and the supreme power of the nation centralized. This may be clearly seen from the contrary judgments74 which European nations have passed upon the various events of their histories, according to the generations by which such judgments have been formed. The circumstance which most dishonored the Constable76 de Bourbon in the eyes of his contemporaries was that he bore arms against his king: that which most dishonors him in our eyes, is that he made war against his country; we brand him as deeply as our forefathers did, but for different reasons.
b
[ Even the word "patrie" was not used by the French writers until the sixteenth century.]
I have chosen the honor of feudal times by way of illustration of my meaning, because its characteristics are more distinctly marked and more familiar to us than those of any other period; but I might have taken an example elsewhere, and I should have reached the same conclusion by a different road. Although we are less perfectly77 acquainted with the Romans than with our own ancestors, yet we know that certain peculiar notions of glory and disgrace obtained amongst them, which were not solely78 derived79 from the general principles of right and wrong. Many human actions were judged differently, according as they affected a Roman citizen or a stranger, a freeman or a slave; certain vices were blazoned80 abroad, certain virtues were extolled above all others. "In that age," says Plutarch in the life of Coriolanus, "martial81 prowess was more honored and prized in Rome than all the other virtues, insomuch that it was called virtus, the name of virtue itself, by applying the name of the kind to this particular species; so that virtue in Latin was as much as to say valor82." Can anyone fail to recognize the peculiar want of that singular community which was formed for the conquest of the world?
Any nation would furnish us with similar grounds of observation; for, as I have already remarked, whenever men collect together as a distinct community, the notion of honor instantly grows up amongst them; that is to say, a system of opinions peculiar to themselves as to what is blamable or commendable83; and these peculiar rules always originate in the special habits and special interests of the community. This is applicable to a certain extent to democratic communities as well as to others, as we shall now proceed to prove by the example of the Americans. *c Some loose notions of the old aristocratic honor of Europe are still to be found scattered84 amongst the opinions of the Americans; but these traditional opinions are few in number, they have but little root in the country, and but little power. They are like a religion which has still some temples left standing7, though men have ceased to believe in it. But amidst these half-obliterated85 notions of exotic honor, some new opinions have sprung up, which constitute what may be termed in our days American honor. I have shown how the Americans are constantly driven to engage in commerce and industry. Their origin, their social condition, their political institutions, and even the spot they inhabit, urge them irresistibly86 in this direction. Their present condition is then that of an almost exclusively manufacturing and commercial association, placed in the midst of a new and boundless87 country, which their principal object is to explore for purposes of profit. This is the characteristic which most peculiarly distinguishes the American people from all others at the present time. All those quiet virtues which tend to give a regular movement to the community, and to encourage business, will therefore be held in peculiar honor by that people, and to neglect those virtues will be to incur88 public contempt. All the more turbulent virtues, which often dazzle, but more frequently disturb society, will on the contrary occupy a subordinate rank in the estimation of this same people: they may be neglected without forfeiting89 the esteem90 of the community—to acquire them would perhaps be to run a risk of losing it.
c
[ I speak here of the Americans inhabiting those States where slavery does not exist; they alone can be said to present a complete picture of democratic society.]
The Americans make a no less arbitrary classification of men's vices. There are certain propensities91 which appear censurable92 to the general reason and the universal conscience of mankind, but which happen to agree with the peculiar and temporary wants of the American community: these propensities are lightly reproved, sometimes even encouraged; for instance, the love of wealth and the secondary propensities connected with it may be more particularly cited. To clear, to till, and to transform the vast uninhabited continent which is his domain, the American requires the daily support of an energetic passion; that passion can only be the love of wealth; the passion for wealth is therefore not reprobated in America, and provided it does not go beyond the bounds assigned to it for public security, it is held in honor. The American lauds93 as a noble and praiseworthy ambition what our own forefathers in the Middle Ages stigmatized as servile cupidity, just as he treats as a blind and barbarous frenzy94 that ardor95 of conquest and martial temper which bore them to battle. In the United States fortunes are lost and regained96 without difficulty; the country is boundless, and its resources inexhaustible. The people have all the wants and cravings of a growing creature; and whatever be their efforts, they are always surrounded by more than they can appropriate. It is not the ruin of a few individuals which may be soon repaired, but the inactivity and sloth97 of the community at large which would be fatal to such a people. Boldness of enterprise is the foremost cause of its rapid progress, its strength, and its greatness. Commercial business is there like a vast lottery98, by which a small number of men continually lose, but the State is always a gainer; such a people ought therefore to encourage and do honor to boldness in commercial speculations100. But any bold speculation99 risks the fortune of the speculator and of all those who put their trust in him. The Americans, who make a virtue of commercial temerity101, have no right in any case to brand with disgrace those who practise it. Hence arises the strange indulgence which is shown to bankrupts in the United States; their honor does not suffer by such an accident. In this respect the Americans differ, not only from the nations of Europe, but from all the commercial nations of our time, and accordingly they resemble none of them in their position or their wants.
In America all those vices which tend to impair102 the purity of morals, and to destroy the conjugal103 tie, are treated with a degree of severity which is unknown in the rest of the world. At first sight this seems strangely at variance104 with the tolerance105 shown there on other subjects, and one is surprised to meet with a morality so relaxed and so austere106 amongst the selfsame people. But these things are less incoherent than they seem to be. Public opinion in the United States very gently represses that love of wealth which promotes the commercial greatness and the prosperity of the nation, and it especially condemns107 that laxity of morals which diverts the human mind from the pursuit of well-being108, and disturbs the internal order of domestic life which is so necessary to success in business. To earn the esteem of their countrymen, the Americans are therefore constrained109 to adapt themselves to orderly habits—and it may be said in this sense that they make it a matter of honor to live chastely110.
On one point American honor accords with the notions of honor acknowledged in Europe; it places courage as the highest virtue, and treats it as the greatest of the moral necessities of man; but the notion of courage itself assumes a different aspect. In the United States martial valor is but little prized; the courage which is best known and most esteemed111 is that which emboldens112 men to brave the dangers of the ocean, in order to arrive earlier in port—to support the privations of the wilderness113 without complaint, and solitude114 more cruel than privations—the courage which renders them almost insensible to the loss of a fortune laboriously115 acquired, and instantly prompts to fresh exertions to make another. Courage of this kind is peculiarly necessary to the maintenance and prosperity of the American communities, and it is held by them in peculiar honor and estimation; to betray a want of it is to incur certain disgrace.
I have yet another characteristic point which may serve to place the idea of this chapter in stronger relief. In a democratic society like that of the United States, where fortunes are scanty117 and insecure, everybody works, and work opens a way to everything: this has changed the point of honor quite round, and has turned it against idleness. I have sometimes met in America with young men of wealth, personally disinclined to all laborious116 exertion51, but who had been compelled to embrace a profession. Their disposition118 and their fortune allowed them to remain without employment; public opinion forbade it, too imperiously to be disobeyed. In the European countries, on the contrary, where aristocracy is still struggling with the flood which overwhelms it, I have often seen men, constantly spurred on by their wants and desires, remain in idleness, in order not to lose the esteem of their equals; and I have known them submit to ennui119 and privations rather than to work. No one can fail to perceive that these opposite obligations are two different rules of conduct, both nevertheless originating in the notion of honor.
What our forefathers designated as honor absolutely was in reality only one of its forms; they gave a generic120 name to what was only a species. Honor therefore is to be found in democratic as well as in aristocratic ages, but it will not be difficult to show that it assumes a different aspect in the former. Not only are its injunctions different, but we shall shortly see that they are less numerous, less precise, and that its dictates are less rigorously obeyed. The position of a caste is always much more peculiar than that of a people. Nothing is so much out of the way of the world as a small community invariably composed of the same families (as was for instance the aristocracy of the Middle Ages), whose object is to concentrate and to retain, exclusively and hereditarily121, education, wealth, and power amongst its own members. But the more out of the way the position of a community happens to be, the more numerous are its special wants, and the more extensive are its notions of honor corresponding to those wants. The rules of honor will therefore always be less numerous amongst a people not divided into castes than amongst any other. If ever any nations are constituted in which it may even be difficult to find any peculiar classes of society, the notion of honor will be confined to a small number of precepts122, which will be more and more in accordance with the moral laws adopted by the mass of mankind. Thus the laws of honor will be less peculiar and less multifarious amongst a democratic people than in an aristocracy. They will also be more obscure; and this is a necessary consequence of what goes before; for as the distinguishing marks of honor are less numerous and less peculiar, it must often be difficult to distinguish them. To this, other reasons may be added. Amongst the aristocratic nations of the Middle Ages, generation succeeded generation in vain; each family was like a never-dying, ever-stationary man, and the state of opinions was hardly more changeable than that of conditions. Everyone then had always the same objects before his eyes, which he contemplated123 from the same point; his eyes gradually detected the smallest details, and his discernment could not fail to become in the end clear and accurate. Thus not only had the men of feudal times very extraordinary opinions in matters of honor, but each of those opinions was present to their minds under a clear and precise form.
This can never be the case in America, where all men are in constant motion; and where society, transformed daily by its own operations, changes its opinions together with its wants. In such a country men have glimpses of the rules of honor, but they have seldom time to fix attention upon them.
But even if society were motionless, it would still be difficult to determine the meaning which ought to be attached to the word "honor." In the Middle Ages, as each class had its own honor, the same opinion was never received at the same time by a large number of men; and this rendered it possible to give it a determined124 and accurate form, which was the more easy, as all those by whom it was received, having a perfectly identical and most peculiar position, were naturally disposed to agree upon the points of a law which was made for themselves alone. Thus the code of honor became a complete and detailed125 system, in which everything was anticipated and provided for beforehand, and a fixed and always palpable standard was applied126 to human actions. Amongst a democratic nation, like the Americans, in which ranks are identified, and the whole of society forms one single mass, composed of elements which are all analogous127 though not entirely similar, it is impossible ever to agree beforehand on what shall or shall not be allowed by the laws of honor. Amongst that people, indeed, some national wants do exist which give rise to opinions common to the whole nation on points of honor; but these opinions never occur at the same time, in the same manner, or with the same intensity128 to the minds of the whole community; the law of honor exists, but it has no organs to promulgate129 it.
The confusion is far greater still in a democratic country like France, where the different classes of which the former fabric130 of society was composed, being brought together but not yet mingled131, import day by day into each other's circles various and sometimes conflicting notions of honor—where every man, at his own will and pleasure, forsakes132 one portion of his forefathers' creed133, and retains another; so that, amidst so many arbitrary measures, no common rule can ever be established, and it is almost impossible to predict which actions will be held in honor and which will be thought disgraceful. Such times are wretched, but they are of short duration.
As honor, amongst democratic nations, is imperfectly defined, its influence is of course less powerful; for it is difficult to apply with certainty and firmness a law which is not distinctly known. Public opinion, the natural and supreme interpreter of the laws of honor, not clearly discerning to which side censure or approval ought to lean, can only pronounce a hesitating judgment75. Sometimes the opinion of the public may contradict itself; more frequently it does not act, and lets things pass.
The weakness of the sense of honor in democracies also arises from several other causes. In aristocratic countries, the same notions of honor are always entertained by only a few persons, always limited in number, often separated from the rest of their fellow-citizens. Honor is easily mingled and identified in their minds with the idea of all that distinguishes their own position; it appears to them as the chief characteristic of their own rank; they apply its different rules with all the warmth of personal interest, and they feel (if I may use the expression) a passion for complying with its dictates. This truth is extremely obvious in the old black-letter lawbooks on the subject of "trial by battel." The nobles, in their disputes, were bound to use the lance and sword; whereas the villains134 used only sticks amongst themselves, "inasmuch as," to use the words of the old books, "villains have no honor." This did not mean, as it may be imagined at the present day, that these people were contemptible; but simply that their actions were not to be judged by the same rules which were applied to the actions of the aristocracy.
It is surprising, at first sight, that when the sense of honor is most predominant, its injunctions are usually most strange; so that the further it is removed from common reason the better it is obeyed; whence it has sometimes been inferred that the laws of honor were strengthened by their own extravagance. The two things indeed originate from the same source, but the one is not derived from the other. Honor becomes fantastical in proportion to the peculiarity of the wants which it denotes, and the paucity135 of the men by whom those wants are felt; and it is because it denotes wants of this kind that its influence is great. Thus the notion of honor is not the stronger for being fantastical, but it is fantastical and strong from the selfsame cause.
Further, amongst aristocratic nations each rank is different, but all ranks are fixed; every man occupies a place in his own sphere which he cannot relinquish136, and he lives there amidst other men who are bound by the same ties. Amongst these nations no man can either hope or fear to escape being seen; no man is placed so low but that he has a stage of his own, and none can avoid censure or applause by his obscurity. In democratic States on the contrary, where all the members of the community are mingled in the same crowd and in constant agitation137, public opinion has no hold on men; they disappear at every instant, and elude138 its power. Consequently the dictates of honor will be there less imperious and less stringent139; for honor acts solely for the public eye—differing in this respect from mere virtue, which lives upon itself contented140 with its own approval.
If the reader has distinctly apprehended141 all that goes before, he will understand that there is a close and necessary relation between the inequality of social conditions and what has here been styled honor—a relation which, if I am not mistaken, had not before been clearly pointed142 out. I shall therefore make one more attempt to illustrate it satisfactorily. Suppose a nation stands apart from the rest of mankind: independently of certain general wants inherent in the human race, it will also have wants and interests peculiar to itself: certain opinions of censure or approbation143 forthwith arise in the community, which are peculiar to itself, and which are styled honor by the members of that community. Now suppose that in this same nation a caste arises, which, in its turn, stands apart from all the other classes, and contracts certain peculiar wants, which give rise in their turn to special opinions. The honor of this caste, composed of a medley144 of the peculiar notions of the nation, and the still more peculiar notions of the caste, will be as remote as it is possible to conceive from the simple and general opinions of men.
Having reached this extreme point of the argument, I now return. When ranks are commingled145 and privileges abolished, the men of whom a nation is composed being once more equal and alike, their interests and wants become identical, and all the peculiar notions which each caste styled honor successively disappear: the notion of honor no longer proceeds from any other source than the wants peculiar to the nation at large, and it denotes the individual character of that nation to the world. Lastly, if it be allowable to suppose that all the races of mankind should be commingled, and that all the peoples of earth should ultimately come to have the same interests, the same wants, undistinguished from each other by any characteristic peculiarities, no conventional value whatever would then be attached to men's actions; they would all be regarded by all in the same light; the general necessities of mankind, revealed by conscience to every man, would become the common standard. The simple and general notions of right and wrong only would then be recognized in the world, to which, by a natural and necessary tie, the idea of censure or approbation would be attached. Thus, to comprise all my meaning in a single proposition, the dissimilarities and inequalities of men gave rise to the notion of honor; that notion is weakened in proportion as these differences are obliterated, and with them it would disappear.
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diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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annulled
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| v.宣告无效( annul的过去式和过去分词 )；取消；使消失；抹去 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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dictates
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| n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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standing
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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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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aggregate
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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peculiarities
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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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mere
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lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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engendered
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censure
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infringe
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bosom
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lesser
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modifications
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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allot
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illustrate
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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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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consolidated
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| a.联合的 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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34
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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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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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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38
debauch
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| v.使堕落，放纵 | |
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39
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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stigmatized
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| v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
extolled
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| v.赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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43
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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44
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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45
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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46
earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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48
avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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49
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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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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51
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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52
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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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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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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invert
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| vt.使反转，使颠倒，使转化 | |
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56
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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peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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59
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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61
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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62
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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63
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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66
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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67
sluices
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| n.水闸( sluice的名词复数 )；（用水闸控制的）水；有闸人工水道；漂洗处v.冲洗( sluice的第三人称单数 )；（指水）喷涌而出；漂净；给…安装水闸 | |
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68
anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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vassal
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| n.附庸的；属下；adj.奴仆的 | |
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70
undertakings
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| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
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71
infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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72
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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73
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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75
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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76
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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77
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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78
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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79
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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80
blazoned
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| v.广布( blazon的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布；夸示；装饰 | |
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81
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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82
valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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83
commendable
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| adj.值得称赞的 | |
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84
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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85
obliterated
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| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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86
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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87
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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88
incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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89
forfeiting
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| （因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的现在分词 ) | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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91
propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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92
censurable
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| adj.可非难的，该责备的 | |
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93
lauds
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| v.称赞，赞美( laud的第三人称单数 ) | |
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94
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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95
ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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96
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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97
sloth
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| n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散 | |
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98
lottery
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| n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事 | |
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99
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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100
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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101
temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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102
impair
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| v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少 | |
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103
conjugal
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| adj.婚姻的，婚姻性的 | |
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104
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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105
tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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106
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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107
condemns
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| v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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108
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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109
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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110
chastely
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| adv.贞洁地，清高地，纯正地 | |
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111
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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112
emboldens
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的第三人称单数 ) | |
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113
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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114
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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115
laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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116
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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117
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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118
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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119
ennui
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| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
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120
generic
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| adj.一般的，普通的，共有的 | |
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121
hereditarily
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| 世袭地，遗传地 | |
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122
precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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123
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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124
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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125
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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126
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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127
analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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128
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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129
promulgate
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| v.宣布；传播；颁布（法令、新法律等） | |
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130
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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131
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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132
forsakes
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| 放弃( forsake的第三人称单数 )； 弃绝； 抛弃； 摒弃 | |
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133
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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134
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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135
paucity
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| n.小量，缺乏 | |
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136
relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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137
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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138
elude
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| v.躲避，困惑 | |
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139
stringent
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| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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140
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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141
apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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142
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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143
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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144
medley
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| n.混合 | |
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145
commingled
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| v.混合，掺和，合并( commingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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