The care of his education devolved on his paternal5 grandfather, who was proprietor6 of a land estate near Mugron, in the arrondissement of Saint-Sever. His aunt, Mademoiselle Justine Bastiat, acted towards him the part of a mother, and her affection was warmly reciprocated7 by Bastiat, who, to the day of his death, never ceased to regard her with filial love and reverence8.
Bastiat’s education was begun at Bayonne, continued at Saint-Sever, and finished at the College of Sorèze. Here his course of study was occasionally interrupted by indisposition; but, on his recovery, his quick parts and steady application soon enabled him to overtake and keep pace with his fellow-students. At Sorèze. Bastiat formed a boyish friendship with M. Calmètes, to whom his earliest letters are addressed. The attachment10 of the youths was so remarkable11, that the masters permitted them to prepare their exercises together, and sign them with their joint12 names. In this way they gained a prize for poetry. The prize was a gold medal, which, of course, could not be divided. “Keep it,” said Bastiat to his friend: “I am an orphan; you have both father and mother, and the medal of right falls to them.”
In 1818, Bastiat left College, and, in compliance13 with the wishes of his family, entered his uncle’s counting-house at Bayonne. His [p010] tastes, however, were for study rather than for business, and while at Bayonne he devoted14 his leisure hours by turns to French, English, and Italian literature. “I aim at nothing less,” he said, “than to become acquainted with politics, history, geography, mathematics, mechanics, natural history, botany, and four or five languages.” He was fond of music, sang agreeably, and played well on the violoncello.
In 1824, he began to study the works of the leading Economists16 of France and England—Adam Smith, Jean Baptiste Say, and Destutt de Tracy; and even at this early period he took an interest in the English free-trade measures of Mr Huskisson. From this time he may be said to have devoted his life to his favourite science.
On the death of his grandfather, in 1825, he gave up commerce as a profession, and took up his residence on his paternal estate at Mugron, in the cultivation18 of which he was at first induced to engage, but without much success, and he soon relinquished19 agriculture, as he had before abandoned trade. Business, in truth, was not his vocation20; he had no turn for details; he cared little for money; his wants were few and simple; and he had no intention, as he says in one of his letters, to undergo irksome labour for three-fourths of his life to ensure for the remainder a useless superfluity.
It was at this period, and at Mugron, that he formed his lifelong friendship with M. Felix Coudroy, to whom so much of his correspondence is addressed, and to whom, a short time before his death, he had thought of committing the task of finishing the second volume of the Harmonies. The two friends, whose tastes and pursuits were the same, were constantly together,—reading, walking, or conversing21. If Bastiat, whose ardent22 nature was impatient of plodding23 and systematic24 application, received a new book from Paris, he immediately carried it to Coudroy, who examined it, and noted26 the remarkable passages, which he read afterwards to his friend. Bastiat would often content himself with such fragments; and it was only when the book interested him deeply, that he would carry it off to read it carefully by himself. On these days, says his biographer, music was laid aside, and the violoncello was mute. It was thus, he continues, that the two friends passed their lives together, lodging27 a few paces from each other, seeing one another three times a-day, sometimes in their chambers29, sometimes in long walks, sauntering together, book in hand. Works of philosophy, history, politics, religion, poetry, travels, biography, political economy, socialist30 [p011] works of the day,—all passed under the ordeal31 of this double intelligence. It was in these conversations that the ideas of Bastiat were developed, and his thoughts matured. When anything struck him particularly, he would set to work of a morning and put it into shape without effort. In this way he wrote his Sophismes, his article on the French and English tariffs34, etc. It was this literary friendship, which lasted for more than twenty years, without being once clouded by the slightest disagreement, which prepared the mind of Bastiat for the gigantic efforts he was destined35 afterwards to make, and enabled him, during the last five years of his life, amid disease and distraction36, to give to the world that mass of original and varied38 ideas which compose the six volumes of his collected works.2
In the events to which the expulsion of the elder branch of the Bourbons gave rise in 1830, Bastiat took an active interest. Bayonne had pronounced in favour of the new order of things. The citadel39 alone held out, and continued to display the white flag; and a concentration of Spanish troops on the frontier was spoken of. Bastiat did not hesitate. Quitting Mugron, he hurried to Bayonne to take part in the movement. In conjunction with some of his friends, he prepared a proclamation, formed an association of six hundred determined40 young men, and did not despair of reducing the citadel by a coup41 de main. Happily their martial42 ardour was not put to the proof. Before the march of events all resistance gave way, and that same day the citadel opened its gates. In place of a battle, there was a feast;—punch, wine, and Béranger enlivened the evening;—and the officers, like horses just let loose from the stable, were the merriest of the party.3 Such was the beginning and the end of Bastiat’s military career.
In 1831, he became Juge de Paix of the Canton of Mugron, and, in 1832, a Member of the Council-General of the Landes. The confidence and esteem43 of his neighbourhood would have invested him with a trust still more important, by sending him as a representative to the Chamber28 of Deputies; but in this, after three fruitless attempts, his friends were defeated, and Bastiat did not succeed in becoming a legislator until after the Revolution of February 1848.
He published, in 1834, Réflexions sur les Pétitions de Bordeaux, le Havre et Lyon, concernant les douanes,—a brochure of great vigour44, and which contains the germ of the theory of Value developed fifteen years afterwards in the Harmonies. [p012]
In 1840, Bastiat visited Spain and Portugal; and after a sojourn45 of some months at Madrid, and afterwards at Lisbon, with great benefit to his health, he sailed thence for England, and spent a few weeks in London. On his return to Mugron, he wrote his pamphlet, Le Fisc et la Vigne, in which he protests against certain new duties with which the wine-trade of his native province was threatened. In this brochure4 he gives a characteristic anecdote46 of Napoleon. At the outset, the duties imposed were so moderate that the receipts would scarcely defray the cost of collection. The Minister of Finance remonstrated47, and represented that these imposts were making the Government unpopular, without any benefit to the revenue. “You are a noodle, Monsieur Maret,” said the Emperor; “since the nation grumbles48 at some light burdens, what would have been the consequence had I added heavy taxes? Accustom49 them, first of all, to the exercise; and then we can reform the tariff33.” The great captain, adds Bastiat, was also a skilful50 financier. Begin by inserting the thin end of the wedge—accustom them to the exercise—such is the history of all taxes.
In 1843, appeared another pamphlet, entitled Mémoire sur la question vinicole; and in 1844, Mémoire sur la répartition de l’imp?t foncier dans le Département des Landes,—both productions of extraordinary ability, but having reference principally to questions of local interest and importance. The great subject of Free Trade, to which he was afterwards to devote his vast powers, had then assumed in his mind rather the form of a vague dream of what might perchance be realized under favourable51 circumstances at some far distant day, than of a thing in sober reality to be expected or hoped for. It was an accidental circumstance which first directed his attention to what was then passing in England under the auspices52 of the Anti-corn-law League.
Among the circle which Bastiat frequented at Mugron there prevailed a strong prejudice, or rather an inveterate53 hatred54, against England; and Bastiat, who had cultivated English literature, and imbibed55 English ideas, had often to break a lance with his acquaintances on the subject of this unfounded dislike. One of these Anglophobes, accosting56 him one day, handed him a newspaper. “Read that,” said he with bitterness, “and see how your friends are treating us!” It was a translation of a speech of Sir Robert Peel in the House of Commons, which concluded with the words—“If we adopt this course, we shall fall, like France, to the lowest rank among nations.” His country was insulted, and Bastiat had not a word to say. On reflection, however, it did [p013] appear strange to him that the Prime Minister of England should entertain such an opinion of France, and still more so, that, entertaining it, he should express it openly and offensively in his place in Parliament. To clear up the matter, Bastiat wrote instantly to Paris, and became a subscriber58 to an English newspaper, requesting that all the numbers for the preceding month might be sent to him. In a few days the Globe and Traveller made its appearance at Mugron, containing Sir Robert Peel’s speech, when it was discovered that the words “like France,” maliciously59 introduced into the French version of it, were not there, and, in fact, had never been uttered.
Bastiat continued to read the Globe, and soon made the more important discovery that a formidable agitation60 was at that time going on in England to which the French newspapers never once alluded61. The Anti-corn-law League was shaking the basis of the old commercial legislation of England. For two years Bastiat was thus enabled to watch the progress of the movement, and at length began to entertain the idea of making known to his countrymen—and, perhaps, of inducing them to imitate—the important reform about to be accomplished62 on the other side of the channel.
It was this feeling which prompted him to send to the Journal des économistes his first contribution, Sur l’influence des tarifs Anglais et Fran?ais. This article, bearing a signature till then unknown, and coming from the remote Department of the Landes, was at once accepted, and created a profound impression. Like Lord Byron, after the publication of Childe Harold, Bastiat “awoke one morning and found himself famous.” Compliments and encouragements showered in upon him from every side. Further contributions were solicited63, and were sent. The ice was broken, and he was fairly afloat as an author. Whilst contributing various articles to the Journal—among others, the first series of the Sophismes économiques—Bastiat began to write the history of the English Anti-corn-law League; and, in order to obtain fuller information and more copious64 materials, he opened a correspondence with Mr Cobden, with whom he continued to exchange letters at frequent intervals65 during the remainder of his life.
It was in 1845 that Bastiat went to Paris to superintend the printing of this work, which he entitled Cobden et la Ligue, où l’agitation Anglaise pour la liberté des échanges. A luminous66 and spirited introduction, giving an account of the economical and political state of England prior to the Anti-corn-law agitation, and describing the origin, objects, and progress of the league, is [p014] followed by extracts from the more prominent speeches of Cobden, Bright, Fox, Thompson, and the other leaders. All this was new in France,—to the popular mind of that country it might almost be called a revelation. “I have distributed a hundred copies in Paris,” writes Bastiat to Cobden, “and they have produced the best impression. Men who, by their position and pursuits, ought to know what is going on in England have been surprised on reading it. They could not believe their eyes. . . . . . If I had combated directly their prejudices, I should not have succeeded; but, by allowing the free-traders to speak and act for themselves—in a word, by simply translating you—I hope to have given these prejudices a blow which they cannot recover—if the book be read.” In a subsequent letter, he says,—“Since my last letter an unexpected movement has manifested itself in the French press. All the Parisian, and many of the provincial67 journals, in reviewing my book, have given an account of the Anti-corn-law agitation. They do not, it is true, perceive all its bearings, but public opinion is awakened68, which is the essential point.”
To this work, and the service which it rendered to the cause of Free Trade, and of sound economic ideas, Bastiat some months afterwards owed his nomination69 as a Corresponding Member of the Institute. “I believe this nomination to be in itself of little importance,” he writes to M. Calmètes, “and I fear many mediocrities have boasted of the title; but the peculiar70 circumstances which preceded my nomination do not permit me to reject your friendly felicitations. I have published only one book, and of that book the preface alone is my work. Having returned to seclusion72, that preface has worked for me, and unknown to me; for the same letter which apprized me of my candidature announced my election. I had never in my life dreamt of this honour. The book is entitled Cobden et la Ligue. I now send it to you, which will save my saying more about it. In 1842 and 1843 I endeavoured to attract attention to the subject of which it treats. I addressed articles to the Presse, to the Mémorial Bordelais, and other journals. They were rejected. I saw that my cause was about to break down under this conspiracy73 of silence, and I had no resource but to write a book. You see, then, why I have become an author. And now, engaged in that career, I regret it extremely; for although always fond of Political Economy, I am reluctant to devote my attention exclusively to that science, and would rather wander freely over the whole field of human knowledge. Yet in this science a single question—freedom of international relations—fascinates and is about to absorb me,—for, perhaps, you may [p015] have seen that I have been assigned a place in the association which has just been formed at Bordeaux. Such is the age; you can take no part in public life without being garrotted in a speciality.”
At Paris, Bastiat had been introduced to all the leading Economists, and he was delighted with his reception. “Not one of these gentlemen,” he says to M. Coudroy, “but had read, re-read, and perfectly74 understood my three articles. I might have written a thousand years in the Chalosse, the Sentinelle, and the Mémorial, without finding a single true reader but yourself. Here one is read, studied, and understood.” By the whole circle Bastiat was welcomed and feasted. A desire was expressed that he should become conductor of the Journal des économistes, and there was a proposal to find him a chair of Political Economy.
From Paris he passed over to England, where, in July 1845, he met with Mr Cobden, Mr Bright, and the other chiefs of the Anti-corn-law League. In a letter to his friend Coudroy, he thus describes his reception in London:—“Having installed myself at the hotel (at 10s. a-day), I sat down to write six letters, to Cobden, Bright, Fox, Thompson, Wilson, and the Secretary of the League. Then I wrote six inscriptions75 on as many copies of my book, and went to bed. This morning I carried my six volumes to the apartments of the League, desiring that they might be sent to the parties for whom they were intended. I was told that Mr Cobden was in town, and was to leave London to-day for Manchester, and that I should find him in the midst of preparations for his journey. (An Englishman’s preparations consist in swallowing a beef-steak, and stuffing a couple of shirts into a carpet-bag.) I hastened to Cobden’s residence, where I met him, and had two hours’ talk. He knows French very well, speaks it a little, and, moreover, I understood his English. I explained to him the state of opinion in France, the effects I expected from my work, etc. He was sorry to leave London, and was on the point of giving up his intended journey. Then he remarked, ‘The League is free-masonry, except that everything is public. We have a house here, which we have hired to accommodate our friends during the bazaar76; it is empty at present, and we must instal you there.’ I made some difficulty about this; and he rejoined, ‘This arrangement may not be agreeable to you, but it will be of use to the cause, for Messrs Bright, Moore, and other members of the League pass their evenings there, and we must have you always in the midst of them.’ However, as I am to join him at Manchester the day after to-morrow, I thought it [p016] hardly worth while to shift my quarters for a couple of days. He took me afterwards to the Reform Club, a magnificent establishment, and left me in the library while he took a bath. He afterwards wrote letters to Bright and Moore, and I accompanied him to the railway. In the evening I called on Mr Bright. . . . . . Obliged to speak slowly, in order to make myself understood, and upon subjects which were familiar to me, and with men who had all our ideas, I found myself placed in the most favourable circumstances. He took me afterwards to the Parliament,” etc.
On his return from England, Bastiat again took refuge in his retreat at Mugron, where he had his time entirely77 at his own disposal; but he was not long suffered to enjoy his literary leisure. In February 1846, he assisted in organizing a Free-Trade Association at Bordeaux, and afterwards went to Paris with a similar object. In this he was destined to experience innumerable difficulties, not the least of which arose from his supposed attachment to English opinions. He imagined the reform of the English tariff might be the means of furthering a similar reform in France, but in this he soon found that he was greatly mistaken.
“Of all the prejudices which reign78 among us,” says M. Louis Reybaud, in his admirable notice of Bastiat in the Revue des Deux Mondes,5 “there is none more deeply rooted than distrust of England. It is enough that England leans to one side to induce us to incline to the other. Everything which England proposes is suspected by us, and we not unwillingly79 detect an ambush80 in all her measures. In matters of trade this disposition9 is especially manifested. In vain we imagine that England in her reforms has only her own interest in view,—her true object is only to mislead and ruin us by her seductions! If we give way we shall be fools or dupes. Such is the language of national opinion; and although enlightened men resist it, that opinion does not the less prevail and exhibit itself on all occasions. Better informed in regard to this bias81 of public opinion, Bastiat would have seen that the moment was not opportune82, and that in the face of the English agitation he would have done better to delay, than to hasten, any agitation in France which might seem to be inspired by the spirit or example of England.”
In fact, it was upon this rock mainly that Bastiat’s Free-trade enterprise ultimately foundered83, and he soon became convinced of the intensity84 of the prejudice against which he had to struggle. In a letter to Mr Cobden, written in December 1846, he says,—“This cry against England stifles85 us, and gives rise to formidable [p017] obstacles. If this hatred to perfidious86 Albion were only the fashion of the day, I should wait patiently until it passed away. But it has deep root in men’s hearts. It is universal, and I believe I told you that my friends dare no longer talk of me in my own village, but en famille. This blind passion, moreover, is found so convenient by protected interests and political parties, that they avail themselves of it in the most shameless manner.”
Other circumstances contributed to discourage Bastiat: “I suffer from my poverty,” he tells Mr Cobden. “If, instead of running from one to another on foot, splashed and bespattered to the back, in order to meet only one or two people a-day, and obtain evasive and dilatory87 answers, I could assemble them at my table in a rich salon88, how many difficulties would be removed! I want neither head nor heart, but I feel that this superb Babylon is not the place for me, and I must hasten back to my solitude89.” His heart was constantly reverting90 to the happy and peaceful days he had passed at Mugron. “I suffer,” he says in a letter to Coudroy, “from leaving Mugron, and my old habits, my desultory91 labours, and our nice little chats. It is a frightful92 déchirement; but can I recede71?” “Paris and I are not made for each other.” “Often I think of Mugron, its philosophic93 calm, and its fruitful leisure. Here life is wasted in doing nothing, or at least in producing nothing.”
Bastiat’s appearance in Paris at this epoch94 is thus described by one of his friends. “He had not had time to call in the assistance of a Parisian hatter and tailor,” says M. de Molinari; “and with his long hair, his tiny hat, his ample frock-coat, and his family umbrella, you would have been apt to mistake him for an honest peasant, who had come to town for the first time to see the wonders of the metropolis95. But the physiognomy of this apparent clown was arch and spiritual; his large black eye was luminous, and his square well-proportioned forehead bore the impress of thought.”
“I remember, as if it were yesterday,” says M. Louis Reybaud, “the impression which he produced. It was impossible to see a more characteristic specimen96 of a provincial scholar, simple in his manner, and plain in his attire97. But, under that homely98 garb99, and that air of bonhomie, there were flashes of intelligence, and a native dignity of deportment; and you were not long in discovering an honest heart and a generous soul. The eye, above all, was lighted up with singular brightness and fire. His emaciated100 features and livid complexion101 betrayed already the ravages102 of that disease which, in a few years, was destined to carry him off. His [p018] voice was hollow, and formed a contrast with the vivacity103 of his ideas and the briskness104 of his gestures. When the conversation was animated105, his voice became feebler, and his lungs performed their office with difficulty. Better taken care of, his constitution, feeble as it was, might have lasted a long time. But Bastiat took counsel only of his energy. He never thought of how many days he had to live, but how he might employ them well.”6
“I accept resolutely106 the hard life on which I am about to enter,” he says in one of his letters. “What gives me courage is not the non omnis moriar of Horace, but the thought that, perhaps, my life may not have been useless to mankind.”7
During the eighteen months that the Free-trade Association lasted, Bastiat’s life was one of feverish107 activity and incessant108 unremitting toil109. Before the doors of the Association could be opened to the public, a Government autorisation had to be obtained; and it was obtained at length with much difficulty and after long delay. On Bastiat, as secretary, the care of all the arrangements devolved. He had to communicate with journalists, wait upon ministers, issue manifestoes, organize committees, obtain subscriptions110, correspond with branch associations, undertake journeys to Lyons, to Marseilles, to Havre, attend meetings, make speeches, besides conducting a weekly newspaper, called the Libre-échange—the organ of the Association—and contributing numerous articles to other newspapers, and to the Journal des économistes. “If at daybreak he observed a Protectionist sophism32 appear in a newspaper of any reputation,” says M. de Molinari, “he would immediately seize his pen, demolish111 the sophism before breakfast, and our language counted one chef-d’?uvre the more.”
It is to the marvellous exertions113 of this period that we owe the Sophismes économiques,—a work which arose out of the circumstances in which Bastiat found himself placed; and which, although written from day to day, amid the distractions114 we have described, exhibits his genius in its most brilliant light. “As examples of dialectical skill in reducing an opponent to absurdity115,” says Professor Cairnes, “of simple and felicitous116 illustration, of delicate and polished raillery, attaining117 occasionally the pitch of a refined irony118, the Sophismes économiques may almost claim a place beside the Provincial Letters.” Sprightly119, lucid120, and conclusive121, full of fire and irony, playfulness and wit, these two little volumes afford the most unanswerable reply ever given to the [p019] fallacies of the Protectionist school; and, had Bastiat written nothing else, they would have conferred on him a just title to be regarded as the most distinguished122 economist17 of his day. The Sophismes have been translated into four languages, and are the best known, if not the most original, of all the works of their lamented123 author.
The success of the work was instant and complete. Bastiat at first complained that “three or four pleasantries had made the fortune of the book, while the serious parts were neglected;” but he afterwards confessed that “parables and pleasantries had more success, and effected more good, than the best treatises125.” Of these pleasantries, The Candlemakers’ Petition, in the first series of the Sophismes, is perhaps the happiest, and I cannot forbear presenting the reader with a translation of this choice morsel:—
Petition of the Manufacturers of Candles, Wax-Lights, Lamps, Candlesticks, Street Lamps, Snuffers, Extinguishers, and of the Producers of Oil, Tallow, Rosin, Alcohol, and, generally, of everything connected with Lighting126,
To Messieurs the Members of the Chamber of Deputies.
Gentlemen,—You are on the right road. You reject abstract theories, and have little consideration for cheapness and plenty. Your chief care is the interest of the producer. You desire to emancipate127 him from external competition, and reserve the national market for national industry.
We are about to offer you an admirable opportunity of applying your—what shall we call it? your theory? No; nothing is more deceptive129 than theory; your doctrine130? your system? your principle?—but you dislike doctrines131, you abhor132 systems, and as for principles, you deny that there are any in Social Economy: we shall say, then, your practice, your practice without theory and without principle.
We are suffering from the intolerable competition of a foreign rival, placed, it would seem, in a condition so far superior to ours for the production of light, that he absolutely inundates133 our national market with it at a price fabulously134 reduced. The moment he shows himself, our trade leaves us—all consumers apply to him; and a branch of native industry, having countless135 ramifications136, is all at once rendered completely stagnant137. This rival, who is no other than the Sun, wages war to the knife against us, and we suspect he has been raised up by perfidious Albion (good policy as times go); inasmuch as he displays towards that haughty138 island a circumspection139 with which he dispenses140 in our case.
What we pray for is, that it may please you to pass a law ordering the shutting up of all Windows, Sky-lights, Dormer-windows, Outside and Inside Shutters141, Curtains, Blinds, Bull’s-eyes; in a word, of all Openings, Holes, Chinks, Clefts142, and Fissures143, by or through which the light of the Sun has been allowed to enter houses, to the prejudice of the meritorious144 manufactures with which we flatter ourselves we have accommodated our country,—a country which, in gratitude145, ought not to abandon us now to a strife146 so unequal.
We trust, Gentlemen, that you will not regard this our request as a satire147, or refuse it without at least previously148 hearing the reasons which we have to urge in its support.
And, first, if you shut up as much as possible all access to natural light, and create a demand for artificial light, which of our French manufactures will not be encouraged by it?
If more tallow is consumed, then there must be more oxen and sheep; and, consequently, we shall behold149 the increase of artificial meadows, meat, wool, hides, and, above all, manure150, which is the basis and foundation of all agricultural wealth.
If more oil is consumed, then we shall have an extended cultivation of the poppy, of the olive, and of rape151. These rich and exhausting plants will come at the right [p020] time to enable us to avail ourselves of the increased fertility which the rearing of additional cattle will impart to our lands.
Our heaths will be covered with resinous152 trees. Numerous swarms153 of bees will, on the mountains, gather perfumed treasures, now wasting their fragrance154 on the desert air, like the flowers from which they are derived155. No branch of agriculture but will then exhibit a cheering development.
The same remark applies to navigation. Thousands of vessels156 will proceed to the whale fishery; and, in a short time, we shall possess a navy capable of maintaining the honour of France, and gratifying the patriotic158 aspirations159 of your petitioners160, the undersigned Candlemakers and others.
But what shall we say of the manufacture of articles de Paris? Henceforth you will behold gildings, bronzes, crystals, in candlesticks, in lamps, in lustres, in candelabra, shining forth161, in spacious162 warerooms, compared with which those of the present day can be regarded but as mere163 shops.
No poor Resinier from his heights on the sea-coast, no Coal-miner from the depth of his sable164 gallery, but will rejoice in higher wages and increased prosperity.
Only have the goodness to reflect, Gentlemen, and you will be convinced that there is, perhaps, no Frenchman, from the wealthy coal-master to the humblest vender166 of lucifer matches, whose lot will not be ameliorated by the success of this our Petition.
We foresee your objections, Gentlemen, but we know that you can oppose to us none but such as you have picked up from the effete167 works of the partisans168 of Free Trade. We defy you to utter a single word against us which will not instantly rebound169 against yourselves and your entire policy.
You will tell us that, if we gain by the protection which we seek, the country will lose by it, because the consumer must bear the loss.
We answer:
You have ceased to have any right to invoke170 the interest of the consumer; for, whenever his interest is found opposed to that of the producer, you sacrifice the former. You have done so for the purpose of encouraging labour and increasing employment. For the same reason, you should do so again.
You have yourselves obviated171 this objection. When you are told that the consumer is interested in the free importation of iron, coal, corn, textile fabrics173,—yes, you reply, but the producer is interested in their exclusion174. Well, be it so;—if consumers are interested in the free admission of natural light, the producers of artificial light are equally interested in its prohibition175.
But, again, you may say that the producer and consumer are identical. If the manufacturer gain by protection, he will make the agriculturist also a gainer; and, if agriculture prospers176, it will open a vent2 to manufactures. Very well; if you confer upon us the monopoly of furnishing light during the day,—first of all, we shall purchase quantities of tallow, coals, oils, resinous substances, wax, alcohol,—besides silver, iron, bronze, crystal—to carry on our manufactures; and then we and those who furnish us with such commodities, having become rich, will consume a great deal, and impart prosperity to all the other branches of our national industry.
If you urge that the light of the Sun is a gratuitous177 gift of nature, and that to reject such gifts is to reject wealth itself under pretence178 of encouraging the means of acquiring it, we would caution you against giving a death-blow to your own policy. Remember that hitherto you have always repelled179 foreign products, because they approximate more nearly than home products to the character of gratuitous gifts. To comply with the exactions of other monopolists, you have only half a motive180; and to repulse181 us simply because we stand on a stronger vantage ground than others, would be to adopt the equation, + × + = -; in other words, it would be to heap absurdity upon absurdity.
Nature and human labour co-operate in various proportions (depending on countries and climates) in the production of commodities. The part which nature executes is always gratuitous; it is the part executed by human labour which constitutes value, and is paid for.
If a Lisbon orange sells for half the price of a Paris orange, it is because natural, and consequently gratuitous heat, does for the one, what artificial, and therefore expensive heat, must do for the other.
When an orange comes to us from Portugal, we may conclude that it is furnished in part gratuitously182, in part for an onerous183 consideration; in other words, it comes to us at half-price as compared with those of Paris.
Now, it is precisely184 the gratuitous half (pardon the word) which we contend should be excluded. You say, how can national labour sustain competition with foreign labour, when the former has all the work to do, and the latter only does one-half,—the Sun supplying the remainder? But if this half, being gratuitous, determines [p021] you to exclude competition, how should the whole, being gratuitous, induce you to admit competition? If you were consistent, you would, while excluding as hurtful to native industry what is half gratuitous, exclude, a fortiori and with double zeal185, that which is altogether gratuitous.
Once more, when products, such as coal, iron, corn, or textile fabrics, are sent us from abroad, and we can acquire them with less labour than if we made them ourselves, the difference is a free gift conferred upon us. The gift is more or less considerable in proportion as the difference is more or less great. It amounts to a quarter, a half, or three-quarters of the value of the product, when the foreigner only asks us for three-fourths, a half, or a quarter of the price we should otherwise pay. It is as perfect and complete as it can be, when the donor186 (like the Sun in furnishing us with light) asks us for nothing. The question, and we ask it formally, is this, Do you desire for our country the benefit of gratuitous consumption, or the pretended advantages of onerous production? Make your choice, but be logical; for as long as you exclude as you do, coal, iron, corn, foreign fabrics, in proportion as their price approximates to zero, what inconsistency would it be to admit the light of the Sun, the price of which is already at zero during the entire day!
In addition to his other engrossing188 avocations189 in Paris, Bastiat, in the end of 1847 and beginning of 1848, delivered a course of lectures to young men on the principles of Political Economy and the Harmony of the Social Laws. He had no opportunity of committing these lectures to writing, as he wished, but we have doubtless the substance of them in his published works, especially in the Harmonies économiques. “Something tells me,” he says in one of his letters to M. Coudroy, “that this course addressed to the young, who have logic187 in their heads, and warmth and fervour in their hearts, will not be useless.” “My auditors,” he says elsewhere, “are not very numerous; but they attend assiduously, and take notes. The seed falls into good ground.”
It was in the midst of these harassing190 occupations and herculean exertions that the Revolution of February came to surprise Bastiat,—to put an end to the Free-trade Association,—and to bring a far more formidable set of agitators191—namely, the Socialists192 and Communists—to the surface of society. Bastiat doubted if his country was ripe for a Republic; but when it came, he gave in his adhesion to it, and was returned by his native Department of the Landes as a Deputy to the Constituent193, and afterwards to the Legislative194 Assembly. He took his seat on the left, says his accomplished friend and biographer M. de Fontenay, in an attitude of moderation and firmness; and, whilst remaining somewhat isolated195, he was surrounded with the respect of all parties. A Member of the Committee of Finance, of which he was named Vice-President eight times in succession, he exercised a very marked influence on that department, although quietly and within doors. The increasing feebleness of his lungs prevented his often ascending196 the tribune or addressing the Assembly, although it was often a hard trial for him to be thus, as it were, nailed to his seat.8 It is to this he alludes197 in the second chapter [p022] of the Harmonies:—“If, when the much-loved vessel157 of the State is beaten by the tempest, I sometimes appear to absent myself from my post in order to collect my scattered198 thoughts, it is because I feel my feeble hands unfitted for the work. Is it, besides, to betray my mission to reflect upon the causes of the tempest itself, and endeavour to act upon these causes? And then, what I find I cannot do to-day, who knows but it may be given me to accomplish to-morrow?”
In a letter to M. Coudroy, in June 1848, Bastiat thus describes his daily occupations:—“I rise at six o’clock, dress, shave, breakfast, and read the newspapers; this occupies me till seven, or half-past seven. About nine, I am obliged to go out, for at ten commences the sitting of the Committee of Finance, of which I am a member. It continues till one, and then the public sitting begins, and continues till seven. I return to dinner, and it very rarely happens that there are not after-dinner meetings of Sub-Committees charged with special questions. The only hour at my disposal is from eight to nine in the morning, and it is at that hour that I receive visitors. . . . . I am profoundly disgusted with this kind of life.”
But the grand work of Bastiat in 1848 and 1849—a work to which he devoted the best energies of his mind and genius—was the open and incessant war which he waged with the Socialist and Communist writers and agitators whom the Revolution had let loose on French society, and who were then shaking the social and political fabric172 to its centre. Bastiat, like the porcupine199, had a quill200 pointed201 against every assailant. To each error he opposed a pamphlet. With Louis Blanc and the national workshops, he did battle in the brochure entitled Propriété et Loi, in which he exposes the illusions with which the public mind had been stuffed by the Socialists. The doctrine of Concidérant he attacked in another little volume, bearing the title, Propriété et Spoliation. In another, Justice et Fraternité, he demolished202 the absurdities203 of Pierre Leroux’s democratic and social constitution. Proudhon’s doctrine he disposed of in Capital et Rente, where he refutes the foolish notions in vogue204 in 1848 on the subject of gratuitous loans—a subject which he again discussed in 1850, in the larger volume entitled Gratuité du Credit. In Protectionisme et Communisme, Bastiat demonstrated that what is called protection is nothing else than practical communism or spoliation. Paix et Liberté, ou le Budget Républicain, another brochure from his prolific205 pen, is a brilliant and vigorous onslaught on the excessive taxation206 of that day, and the overgrown military and naval207 armaments which gave [p023] rise to it. Many passages of this admirable production, full of force and practical good sense, might be read with benefit at the present day, as applicable not only to France as it was, but to France as it is, and not to France alone, but to the other nations of Europe.
In the tract37 entitled L’état, Bastiat maintains his favourite doctrine that all which a Government owes to its subjects is security; that, as it acts necessarily through the intervention208 of force, it can equitably209 enforce nothing save Justice; and that its duty consists in holding the balance equal among various interests, by guarding the liberty of all, by protecting person and property, by enforcing covenants210, and thereby211 upholding credit, but leaving Demand and Supply in all cases to perform their appropriate functions without restraint and without encouragement. He exposes the absurdity of men expecting everything from Government, and trusting to public employments rather than to individual exertion112. He shows that, since the State is only an aggregate212 of individuals, it can give nothing to the people but what it has previously taken from them. Tout213 le monde, as he says elsewhere, veut vivre aux dépens de l’état, et on oublie que l’état vit aux dépens de tout le monde.
To this tract another is appended, to which he gives the quaint15 title of Maudit Argent! in which he exposes the popular errors which arise from confounding capital with money, and money with inconvertible paper. In this little work, Bastiat of course could not treat the subject systematically214 and in detail, as M. Michel Chevalier has since done in his philosophical215 treatise124 Sur la Monnaie;9 but Bastiat’s tract contains many excellent passages. The effect of an enlargement of the volume of currency on the value of money, for instance, is thus happily illustrated:—
Ten men sat down to play a game, in which they agreed to stake 1000 francs. Each man was provided with ten counters—each counter representing ten francs. When the game was finished, each received as many times ten francs as he happened to have counters. One of the party, who was more of an arithmetician than a logician216, remarked that he always found at the end of the game that he was richer in proportion as he had a greater number of counters, and asked the others if they had observed the same thing. What holds in my case, said he, must hold in yours, for what is true of each must be true of all. He proposed, therefore, that each should have double the former number of counters. No sooner said than done. Double the number of counters were distributed; but, when the party finally rose from play they found themselves no richer than before. The stake had not been increased, and fell to be proportionally divided. Each man, no doubt, had double the number of counters, but each counter, instead of being worth ten francs, was found to be worth only five; and it was at length discovered that what is true of each is not always true of all.
The pamphlets, Baccalauréat et Socialisme, and Ce qu’on voit et ce qu’on ne voit pas, belong to the following year, 1850, the last [p024] of the author’s life. In the first of these, Bastiat complains of the monopoly of university degrees, and the too exclusive addiction217 of his countrymen to classical learning—especially Greek and Roman history—to which he attributes much of that democratic and revolutionary fervour which was ever and anon breaking out in France.
The second, Ce qu’on voit et ce qu’on ne voit pas, is a masterpiece worthy218 of the author of the Sophismes, and well deserves its second title of “Political Economy in One Lesson.” The following extract from the first chapter of this admirable little work will give the reader some idea of the argument, and of Bastiat’s lively manner of treating a subject in itself so dry and uninviting:—
Have you ever had occasion to witness the fury of the honest burgess, Jacques Bonhomme, when his scapegrace son has broken a pane of glass? If you have, you cannot fail to have observed that all the bystanders, were there thirty of them, lay their heads together to offer the unfortunate proprietor this never-failing consolation,—“There is some good in every misfortune—such accidents give a fillip to trade. Everybody must live. If no windows were broken, what would become of the glaziers?”
Now, this formula of condolence contains a theory, which it is proper to lay hold of, flagrante delicto, in this very simple case, because it is exactly the same theory which unfortunately governs the greater part of our economic institutions.
Assuming that it becomes necessary to expend220 six francs in repairing the damage, if you mean to say that the accident brings in six francs to the glazier, and to that extent encourages his trade, I grant it fairly and frankly221, and allow that you reason justly. The glazier arrives, does his work, pockets his money, rubs his hands, and blesses the scapegrace son. This is what we see.
But if, by way of deduction222, you come to conclude, as is too often done, that it is a good thing to break windows, that it makes money circulate, and that encouragement to trade in general is the result, I am obliged to cry halt! Your theory stops at what we see, and takes no account of what we don’t see.
We don’t see that, since our burgess has been obliged to spend his six francs on one thing, he can no longer spend them on another—We don’t see that, if he had not had this pane to replace, he would have replaced, for example, his shoes, which are down at the heels, or placed a new book on his shelf. In short, he would have employed his six francs in a way in which he cannot now employ them.
Let us see, then, how the account stands with trade in general.
The pane being broken, the glazier’s trade is benefited to the extent of six francs. This is what we see.
If the pane had not been broken, the shoemaker’s (or some other) trade would have been encouraged to the extent of six francs. That is what we don’t see.
And if we take into account what we don’t see, which is a negative fact, as well as what we do see, which is a positive fact, we shall discover that trade in general, or the aggregate of national industry, has no interest, one way or other, whether windows are broken or not.
Let us see, again, how the account stands with Jacques Bonhomme.
On the last hypothesis—that of the pane being broken—he spends six francs, and gets neither more nor less than he had before,—namely, the use and enjoyment223 of a pane of glass.
On the other hypothesis,—namely, that the accident had not happened, he would have expended224 six francs on shoes, and would have had the use and enjoyment both of the shoes and of the pane of glass.
Now, as the good burgess, Jacques Bonhomme constitutes a fraction of society at large, we are forced to conclude that society, taken in the aggregate, and after all accounts of labour and enjoyment have been squared, has lost the value of the pane which has been broken.
Whence, on generalizing, we arrive at this unexpected conclusion, that “Society loses the value of things uselessly destroyed;” and we arrive also at this aphorism225, which will make the hair of the prohibitionists stand on end, that “to smash, break, [p025] and dissipate is not to encourage national industry;” or, more briefly226, that “there is no profit in destruction.”
The reader will take notice that there are not two persons only, but three, in the little drama to which we have called his attention. One of them—namely, Jacques Bonhomme—represents the consumer, reduced by destruction to one enjoyment in place of two. The glazier represents the producer, whose trade is encouraged by the accident. The third is the shoemaker (or some other tradesman), whose trade is discouraged to the same extent by the same cause. It is this third personage who is always kept in the shade, and who, as representing what we don’t see, is a necessary element in the problem. It is he who enables us to discover how absurd it is to try to find profit in destruction. It is he who will soon teach us that it is not less absurd to try to discover profit in restriction227, which is, after all, only partial destruction. Go to the bottom of all the arguments which are urged in favour of restriction, and you will find only a paraphrase228 of the vulgar saying,—“If no windows were broken, what would the glaziers do?”
The distinction thus established between immediate25 effects and ultimate consequences, between surface appearances and substantial realities, between what we see and what we don’t see, the author proceeds, in the same happy vein229, to apply to taxation, the proceeds of which are said to come back to the labour-market like refreshing230 showers,—to overgrown and unnecessary armaments, and extravagant231 public works, which are defended as affording employment to the working-classes,—to industrial and commercial restrictions232, which are justified233 on the same ground,—to the questions of machinery234, of credit, of colonization235, of luxury and unproductive consumption, etc. The entire work does not extend to eighty pages, and in every one of its twelve short chapters Bastiat demolishes236 a specious237 fallacy or a pernicious error.
But Bastiat had been for some time meditating238 a greater, more elaborate, and more systematic work than any of those of which we have hitherto spoken; and it is curious to trace in his correspondence the progress of the ideas which were at length developed in the Harmonies économiques. Writing to M. Coudroy in June 1845, he says—“If my little treatise of the Sophismes économiques is successful, we may follow it up by another entitled Harmonies Sociales. It would be of the greatest utility; for it would meet the desires of an age in search of artificial harmonies and organizations, by demonstrating the beauty, order, and progressive principle of the natural and providential harmonies.” In June 1846, he writes to Mr Cobden, “I must bring out a second edition of my Sophismes, and I should wish much to write a little book to be entitled Harmonies économiques. It will be the counterpart of the other—the first pulls down, the second will build up.” In another letter, written the year after, he exclaims—“Oh, that the Divine Goodness would give me yet one year of strength, and permit me to explain to my young fellow-citizens what I regard as the true social theory, under the twelve following heads:—Wants, production, property, competition, population, liberty, [p026] equality, responsibility, solidarity239, fraternity, unity128, province of public opinion. I should then without regret, with joy, resign my life into His hands!”
On the eve of being elected a Deputy to the National Assembly in 1848, he writes from Mugron, “Here I am in my solitude. Would that I could bury myself here for ever, and work out peacefully this Economic synthesis which I have in my head, and which will never leave it! For, unless there occur some sudden change in public opinion, I am about to be sent to Paris charged with the terrible mandate240 of a Representative of the People. If I had health and strength, I should accept this mission with enthusiasm. But what can my feeble voice, my sickly and nervous organization, accomplish in the midst of revolutionary tempests? How much wiser it had been to devote my last days to working out in silence the great problem of the social destinies, for something tells me I should have arrived at a solution! Poor village, humble165 home of my fathers, I am about to bid you an eternal adieu; and I quit you with the presentiment241 that my name and my life, lost amidst storms, will not have even that modest utility for which you had prepared me!” . . . .
In his letters to M. Coudroy at this period, we discover the same idea working and fermenting242 in the mind of Bastiat, and struggling for vent and utterance243. Amid the anxieties and distractions in which his duties as a Deputy involved him, he writes—“I am still convinced that the practice of affairs excludes the possibility of producing a work truly scientific, and yet I cannot conceal244 from you that I always retain that old chimera245 of my Social Harmonies; and I cannot divest246 myself of the thought that, if I had remained with you, I should have succeeded in imparting to the world a useful idea. I long much to make my retreat.” In another letter to the same friend, after describing his feebleness, and intimating his intention to leave Paris to try what effect a change to his native air might produce, he adds—“I must renounce247 public life, and all my ambition now is to have three or four months of tranquillity248 to write my poor Harmonies économiques. They are in my head, but I fear they will never leave it.” “The crystal,” he says elsewhere, “is formed drop by drop in silence and obscurity; but retirement249, quiet, time, freedom from care—all are wanting to me.”
In April 1849, he writes again to M. Coudroy, “I have my theory to work out, and powerful encouragements have reached me opportunely250. I read those words yesterday in an English Review,—‘In Political Economy, the French school has had [p027] three phases, expressed by the three names, Quesnay, Say, Bastiat.’ They assign me this rank and this part prematurely251; but it is certain that I have in my head a new and suggestive idea, which I believe to be true. This idea I have never developed methodically. It runs accidentally through some of my articles, and as that has been enough to attract the attention of the savants, and as it has already had the honour conferred on it of being considered as forming an epoch in the science, I am certain now that, when I give that theory in its complete state to the world, it will at least be examined. Is not that all I could desire? With what ardour I am about to turn to account my retirement in order to elaborate that doctrine, certain as I am to have judges who can understand it, and who are waiting for it!”
The three months of leisure, so long and so anxiously wished for, came at last; and in the beginning of 1850 the Harmonies (or rather the portions which the author had intended should form the first volume of that work) made their appearance. The reception of the work was not at first what might have been expected; and Bastiat, again in Paris, writes to his friend M. Coudroy, “The Harmonies pass unnoticed here, unless by some dozen connoisseurs253. I expected this—it could not be otherwise. I have not even in my favour the wonted zeal of our own little circle, who accuse me of heterodoxy; but in spite of this, I am confident that the book will make its way by degrees. In Germany it has been very differently received. . . . . I pray Heaven to vouchsafe254 me a year to write the second volume; after which I shall sing, Nunc dimittis.”
To Mr Cobden, in August 1850, he writes—“I went to my native country to try to cure these unfortunate lungs, which are to me very capricious servants. I have returned a little better, but afflicted255 with a disease of the larynx, accompanied with a complete extinction256 of voice. The doctor enjoins257 absolute silence; and, in consequence, I am about to pass two months in the country, near Paris. There I shall try to write the second volume of the Harmonies économiques. The first has been nearly unnoticed by the learned world. I should not be an author if I gave in to that judgment258. I appeal to the future, for I am conscious that that book contains an important idea, une idée mère, and time will come to my assistance.”
This great work, the child of Bastiat’s anxious hopes, the subject of his dying thoughts, although at first but coldly received, is perhaps the most important and the most original contribution which the science of Political Economy has received since the days [p028] of Adam Smith. On that most abstruse259 and difficult subject, the first principles of Value, it opens up entirely new views; while on almost every other branch of the subject, it either propounds260 a new theory, or corrects and improves the nomenclature of the science. Throughout, it treats Political Economy (and it is perhaps the only work which does so, at least systematically) in connexion with final causes, and demonstrates the Wisdom and Goodness of God in the economy of civil society. On some questions we may venture to differ from Bastiat. On the question of Rent, for instance, he would seem to have followed too implicitly261 the theory of Mr Carey, the able American Economist; but Bastiat’s work, as a whole, has a freshness, a vigour, and an originality262 which all must admire. He writes like a man thoroughly263 in earnest,—a devout264 believer in the doctrines which he teaches, and he seldom fails to carry conviction to the mind of his readers. The leading idea of the work—the harmony of the social laws—is admirable, and is admirably worked out. The motto of the book, in fact, might have been the well-known lines of Dryden,—
From harmony, from heavenly harmony,
This universal frame began:
From harmony to harmony
Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The diapason ending full in Man.
Bastiat undertakes to demonstrate the harmony of the Economic laws,—that is to say, their tendency towards a common design, which is the progressive improvement of the human race. He proves convincingly that individual interests, taken in the aggregate, far from being antagonistic265, aid each other mutually; and that, so far is it from being true that the gain of one is necessarily the loss of another, each individual, each family, each country has an interest in the prosperity of all others. He shows that, between agriculturist and manufacturer, capitalist and labourer, producer and consumer, native and foreigner, there is in reality no antagonism266, but, on the contrary, a community of interest; and that, in order that the natural Economic laws should act constantly so as to produce this result, one thing alone is necessary—namely, respect for Liberty and Property. His design is best explained in his own words: “I undertake in this work,” he says, “to demonstrate the Harmony of those laws of Providence267 which govern human society. What makes these laws harmonious268 and not discordant269 is, that all principles, all motives270, all springs of action, all interests, co-operate towards a grand final result, which humanity will never reach by reason of its native imperfection, [p029] but to which it will always approximate more and more by reason of its unlimited271 capability272 of improvement. And that result is, the indefinite approximation of all classes towards a level, which is always rising; in other words, the equalization of individuals in the general amelioration.”
Bastiat was not one of those pessimists273 who persist in looking at the existing fabric of Society as if it were some ill-made, ill-going clock, requiring constantly to be wound up, and to have its springs adjusted, its wheels lubricated, and its hands altered and set right. Far from this, he regarded Society as a self-acting, self-regulating mechanism274, bearing the stamp of the Divine hand by which it was constructed, and subject to laws and checks not less wise, not less immutable275, not less trustworthy, than the laws which govern the inanimate and material world.
“God made the country, but man made the towns,” was the exclamation276 of an amiable277 but a morbid278 poet. He might as well have said—God made the blossom, but bees make the comb. Reason asks, who then made the bees? Who made man, with all his noble instincts, and admirable inventive reasoning and reflective faculties279?
A manlier280, because a juster, philosophy enabled Bastiat rather to say with Edmund Burke, “Art is man’s nature.” Looking at the existing fabric and mechanism of Society, and the beautiful harmony of the Economic laws which regulate it, he could see nothing to warrant constant legislative tampering281 with the affairs of trade. He had faith in moral and material progress under the empire of Freedom. Sweeping282 away all Socialist Utopias and artificial systems of social organization, he pointed to Society as it exists, and exclaimed, Digitus Dei est hic. Unlike the sickly poet, he believed that the same Good and Wise Being who created both town and country, upholds and sustains them both; and that the laws of Value and Exchange, left to their own free and beneficent action, are as much His ordinance283, as the laws of motion, attraction, or chemical affinity284.10
Engaged upon the second volume of the Harmonies, Bastiat found his subject growing upon him, and discovered, as he thought, when too late, that he had not in the first instance perceived all its bearings. He felt, as he said, crushed by the mass [p030] of harmonies which presented themselves to him on every side; and a posthumous285 note, found among his papers, informs us that this expansion of his subject under his hand had led him to think of recasting the entire work. “I had thought at first,” he says, “to begin with the exposition of Economic Harmonies, and, consequently, to treat only of subjects purely286 economical—Value, Property, Wealth, Competition, Wages, Population, Money, Credit, etc. Afterwards, if I had had time and strength, I should have directed the attention of the reader to the larger subject of Social Harmonies, and treated of the Human Constitution, Social Motives, Responsibility, Solidarity, etc. The work thus conceived11 had been begun, when I saw that it was better to mingle287 together than to separate these two classes of considerations. But then logic required that the study of Man should precede the Economic investigations288; and—there was no longer time.”
Alas! the hours of Bastiat were numbered. He ran a desperate steeple-chase with death, to use the expression of his biographer, and he lost the day. His mind, his genius, shone as brightly, worked as intensely, as ever; but the material frame-work was shattered and in ruins. By the advice of his physicians, after resorting to the waters of the Pyrenees without benefit, he repaired to Italy in the autumn of 1850, and took up his residence at Pisa. Scarcely had he arrived there, when he read in the newspapers a premature252 announcement of his own death, and common-place expressions of regret for the loss of the “great Economist” and “illustrious author.” He wrote immediately to a friend to contradict the report. “Thank God,” he says, “I am not dead, or even much [p031] worse. And yet if the news were true, I must just accept it and submit. I wish all my friends could acquire in this respect the philosophy I have myself acquired. I assure you I should breathe my last without pain, and almost with joy, if I were certain of leaving to the friends who love me, not poignant289 regrets, but a gentle, affectionate, somewhat melancholy290 remembrance of me.”
After lingering some time at Pisa without improvement, he went on to Rome. From Rome he writes to M. Coudroy—“Here I am in the Eternal City, but not much disposed to visit its marvels291. I am infinitely292 better that I was at Pisa, surrounded as I am with excellent friends. . . . . I should desire only one thing, to be relieved of the acute pain which the disease of the windpipe occasions. This continuity of suffering torments293 me. Every meal is a punishment. To eat, drink, speak, cough, are all painful operations. Walking fatigues294 me—carriage airings irritate the throat—I can no longer work, or even read, seriously. You see to what I am reduced. I shall soon be little better than a dead body, retaining only the faculty295 of suffering.” . . . . Even in this state of extreme debility he was thinking of his favourite but unfinished work. He adds, “If health is restored to me, and I am enabled to complete the second volume of the Harmonies, I shall dedicate it to you. If not, I shall prefix296 a short dedication297 to the second edition of the first volume. On this last hypothesis, which implies the end of my career, I can explain my plan, and bequeath to you the task of fulfilling it.”
Bastiat’s career was in reality fast drawing to a close. His end was calm and serene298. He seemed himself to regard it as an indifferent spectator, conversing with his friends on his favourite topics,—Political Economy, Philosophy, and Religion. He desired to die as a Christian299. To his cousin the Abbé Monclar, and his friend M. Paillottet, who stood by, he said—“On looking around me, I observe that the most enlightened nations of the world have been of the Christian faith, and I am very happy to find myself in communion with that portion of the human race.” “His eye,” says M. Paillottet, “sparkled with that peculiar expression which I had frequently noticed in our conversations, and which intimated the solution of a problem.” He beckoned300 his friends to come near him, as if he had something to say to them—he murmured twice the words La verité—and passed away.
His death took place at Rome, on the 24th of December 1850, in the fiftieth year of his age. His obsequies were celebrated301 in the church of Saint Louis des Fran?ais. It was in the year 1845 that he took up his residence in Paris, so that his career as an [p032] Economist had extended over little more than five years. He died a martyr302 to his favourite science, and we may well apply to him the beautiful lines of Lord Byron,—
When Science’ self destroy’d her favourite son!
Yes, she too much indulged his fond pursuit,
She sow’d the seeds, but death has reap’d the fruit.
’Twas his own genius gave the final blow,
And help’d to plant the wound that laid him low:
So the struck eagle, stretch’d upon the plain,
No more through rolling clouds to soar again,
While the same plumage that had warm’d his nest
Drank the last life-drop of his bleeding breast.
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eminent
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orphan
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paternal
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proprietor
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reciprocated
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reverence
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disposition
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attachment
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remarkable
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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13
compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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14
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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15
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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16
economists
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| n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 ) | |
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17
economist
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| n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人 | |
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18
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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19
relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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20
vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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21
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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22
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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23
plodding
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| a.proceeding in a slow or dull way | |
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24
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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25
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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26
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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27
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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28
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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29
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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30
socialist
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|
| n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的 | |
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31
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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32
sophism
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| n.诡辩 | |
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33
tariff
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| n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表 | |
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34
tariffs
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|
| 关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准 | |
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35
destined
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|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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36
distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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37
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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38
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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39
citadel
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|
| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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40
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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41
coup
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|
| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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42
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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43
esteem
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|
| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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44
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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45
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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46
anecdote
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|
| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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47
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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48
grumbles
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| 抱怨( grumble的第三人称单数 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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49
accustom
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| vt.使适应，使习惯 | |
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50
skilful
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|
| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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51
favourable
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|
| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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52
auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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53
inveterate
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|
| adj.积习已深的，根深蒂固的 | |
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54
hatred
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|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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55
imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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56
accosting
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|
| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的现在分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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57
pinion
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| v.束缚；n.小齿轮 | |
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58
subscriber
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|
| n.用户，订户；（慈善机关等的）定期捐款者；预约者；签署者 | |
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59
maliciously
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| adv.有敌意地 | |
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60
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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61
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
accomplished
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|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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63
solicited
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|
| v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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64
copious
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|
| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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65
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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66
luminous
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|
| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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67
provincial
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|
| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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68
awakened
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|
| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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69
nomination
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|
| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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70
peculiar
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|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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71
recede
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|
| vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进 | |
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72
seclusion
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|
| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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73
conspiracy
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|
| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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74
perfectly
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|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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75
inscriptions
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|
| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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76
bazaar
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|
| n.集市，商店集中区 | |
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77
entirely
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|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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78
reign
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|
| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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79
unwillingly
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|
| adv.不情愿地 | |
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80
ambush
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|
| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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81
bias
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|
| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
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82
opportune
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|
| adj.合适的，适当的 | |
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83
foundered
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|
| v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
intensity
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|
| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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85
stifles
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的第三人称单数 )； 镇压，遏制 | |
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86
perfidious
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|
| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
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87
dilatory
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|
| adj.迟缓的，不慌不忙的 | |
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88
salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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89
solitude
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|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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90
reverting
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| 恢复( revert的现在分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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91
desultory
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|
| adj.散漫的，无方法的 | |
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92
frightful
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|
| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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93
philosophic
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|
| adj.哲学的，贤明的 | |
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94
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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95
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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96
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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97
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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98
homely
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|
| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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99
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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100
emaciated
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|
| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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101
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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102
ravages
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| 劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹 | |
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103
vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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104
briskness
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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105
animated
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|
| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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106
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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107
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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108
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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109
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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110
subscriptions
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|
| n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助 | |
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111
demolish
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|
| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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112
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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113
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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114
distractions
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|
| n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱 | |
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115
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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116
felicitous
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| adj.恰当的，巧妙的；n.恰当，贴切 | |
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117
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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118
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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119
sprightly
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| adj.愉快的，活泼的 | |
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120
lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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121
conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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122
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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123
lamented
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|
| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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125
treatises
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| n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 ) | |
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126
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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127
emancipate
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| v.解放，解除 | |
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128
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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129
deceptive
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| adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的 | |
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130
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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131
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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132
abhor
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| v.憎恶；痛恨 | |
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133
inundates
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| v.淹没( inundate的第三人称单数 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付 | |
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134
fabulously
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| 难以置信地，惊人地 | |
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135
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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136
ramifications
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| n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 ) | |
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137
stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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138
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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139
circumspection
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| n.细心，慎重 | |
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140
dispenses
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| v.分配，分与；分配( dispense的第三人称单数 )；施与；配（药） | |
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141
shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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142
clefts
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| n.裂缝( cleft的名词复数 )；裂口；cleave的过去式和过去分词；进退维谷 | |
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143
fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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144
meritorious
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| adj.值得赞赏的 | |
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145
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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146
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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147
satire
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| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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148
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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149
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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150
manure
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| n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥 | |
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151
rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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152
resinous
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| adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的 | |
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153
swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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154
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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155
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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156
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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157
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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158
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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159
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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160
petitioners
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| n.请求人，请愿人( petitioner的名词复数 )；离婚案原告 | |
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161
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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162
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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163
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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164
sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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165
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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166
vender
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| n.小贩 | |
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167
effete
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| adj.无生产力的，虚弱的 | |
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168
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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169
rebound
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| v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回 | |
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170
invoke
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| v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求 | |
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171
obviated
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| v.避免，消除（贫困、不方便等）( obviate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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172
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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173
fabrics
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| 织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地 | |
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174
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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175
prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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176
prospers
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| v.成功，兴旺( prosper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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177
gratuitous
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| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
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178
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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179
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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180
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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181
repulse
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| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
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182
gratuitously
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| 平白 | |
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183
onerous
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| adj.繁重的 | |
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184
precisely
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|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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185
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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186
donor
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| n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体 | |
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187
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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188
engrossing
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|
| adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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189
avocations
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| n.业余爱好，嗜好( avocation的名词复数 )；职业 | |
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190
harassing
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| v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人） | |
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191
agitators
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|
| n.（尤指政治变革的）鼓动者( agitator的名词复数 )；煽动者；搅拌器；搅拌机 | |
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192
socialists
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| 社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 ) | |
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193
constituent
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|
| n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的 | |
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194
legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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195
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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196
ascending
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|
| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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197
alludes
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| 提及，暗指( allude的第三人称单数 ) | |
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198
scattered
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|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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199
porcupine
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| n.豪猪， 箭猪 | |
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200
quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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201
pointed
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|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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202
demolished
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|
| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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203
absurdities
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|
| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
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204
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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205
prolific
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|
| adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的 | |
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206
taxation
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|
| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
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207
naval
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|
| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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208
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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209
equitably
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| 公平地 | |
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210
covenants
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|
| n.（有法律约束的）协议( covenant的名词复数 )；盟约；公约；（向慈善事业、信托基金会等定期捐款的）契约书 | |
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211
thereby
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|
| adv.因此，从而 | |
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212
aggregate
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|
| adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合 | |
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213
tout
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| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
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214
systematically
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|
| adv.有系统地 | |
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215
philosophical
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|
| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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216
logician
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| n.逻辑学家 | |
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217
addiction
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|
| n.上瘾入迷，嗜好 | |
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218
worthy
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|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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219
pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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220
expend
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| vt.花费，消费，消耗 | |
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221
frankly
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|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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222
deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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223
enjoyment
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|
| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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224
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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225
aphorism
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|
| n.格言，警语 | |
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226
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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227
restriction
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| n.限制，约束 | |
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228
paraphrase
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|
| vt.将…释义，改写；n.释义，意义 | |
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229
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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230
refreshing
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|
| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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231
extravagant
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|
| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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232
restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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233
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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234
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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235
colonization
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| 殖民地的开拓，殖民，殖民地化； 移殖 | |
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236
demolishes
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|
| v.摧毁( demolish的第三人称单数 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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237
specious
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|
| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
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238
meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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239
solidarity
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| n.团结；休戚相关 | |
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240
mandate
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| n.托管地；命令，指示 | |
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241
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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242
fermenting
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| v.（使）发酵( ferment的现在分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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243
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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244
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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245
chimera
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| n.神话怪物；梦幻 | |
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246
divest
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| v.脱去，剥除 | |
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247
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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248
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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249
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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250
opportunely
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| adv.恰好地，适时地 | |
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251
prematurely
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| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
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252
premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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253
connoisseurs
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| n.鉴赏家，鉴定家，行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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254
vouchsafe
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| v.惠予，准许 | |
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255
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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256
extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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257
enjoins
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| v.命令( enjoin的第三人称单数 ) | |
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258
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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259
abstruse
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| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
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260
propounds
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| v.提出（问题、计划等）供考虑[讨论]，提议( propound的第三人称单数 ) | |
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261
implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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262
originality
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| n.创造力，独创性；新颖 | |
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263
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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264
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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265
antagonistic
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| adj.敌对的 | |
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266
antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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267
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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268
harmonious
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|
| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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269
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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270
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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271
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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272
capability
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| n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等 | |
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273
pessimists
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| n.悲观主义者( pessimist的名词复数 ) | |
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274
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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immutable
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| adj.不可改变的，永恒的 | |
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276
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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277
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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278
morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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279
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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280
manlier
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| manly（有男子气概的）的比较级形式 | |
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281
tampering
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| v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄 | |
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282
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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283
ordinance
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| n.法令；条令；条例 | |
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284
affinity
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| n.亲和力，密切关系 | |
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285
posthumous
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| adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的 | |
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286
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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287
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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288
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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290
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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291
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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292
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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293
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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294
fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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295
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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296
prefix
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| n.前缀；vt.加…作为前缀；置于前面 | |
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297
dedication
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| n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞 | |
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298
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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299
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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300
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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302
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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303
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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304
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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306
pangs
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| 突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛 | |
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