She rapidly grew weaker and worse. Her tender husband hastened her to Bristol Hotwells, whither he followed her upon his first possible vacation; and where, in a short time, he had the extasy to believe that he saw her recover, and to bring her back to her fond little family.
But though hope was brightened, expectation was deceived! stability of strength was restored no more; and, in the ensuing autumn, she was seized with an inflammatory disorder2 with which her delicate and shaken frame had not force to combat. No means were left unessayed to stop the progress of danger; but all were fruitless! and, after less than a week of pain the most terrific, the deadly ease of mortification3 suddenly, awfully4 succeeded to the most excruciating torture.
[Pg 138]
Twelve stated hours of morbid6 bodily repose7 became, from that tremendous moment of baleful relief, the counted boundary of her earthly existence.
The wretchedness of her idolizing husband at the development of such a predestined termination to her sufferings, when pronounced by the celebrated9 Dr. Hunter, was only not distraction10. But she herself, though completely aware that her hours now were told, met the irrevocable doom11 with open, religious, and even cheerful composure—sustained, no doubt, by the blessed aspirations12 of mediatory13 salvation14; and calmly declaring that she quitted the world with perfect tranquillity15, save for leaving her tender husband and helpless children. And, in the arms of that nearly frantic16 husband, who, till that fatal epoch17, had literally18 believed her existence and his own, in this mortal journey, to be indispensably one—she expired.
When the fatal scene was finally closed, the disconsolate19 survivor20 immured21 himself almost from light and life, through inability to speak or act, or yet to bear witnesses to his misery22.
He was soon, however, direfully called from this concentrated anguish24, by the last awful summons
[Pg 139]
to the last awful rites25 to human memory, the funeral; which he attended in a frame of mind that nothing, probably, could have rescued from unrestrained despair, save a pious26 invocation to submission27 that had been ejaculated by his Esther, when she perceived his rising agony, in an impressive “Oh, Charles!”—almost at the very moment she was expiring: an appeal that could not but still vibrate in his penetrated28 ears, and control his tragic29 passions.
The character, and its rare, resplendent worth, of this inestimable person, is best committed to the pen of him to whom it best was known; as will appear by the subsequent letter, copied from his own hand-writing. It was found amongst his posthumous31 papers, so ill-written and so blotted32 by his tears, that he must have felt himself obliged to re-write it for the post.
It may be proper to again mention, that though Esther was maternally33 of French extraction, and though her revered35 mother was a Roman Catholic, she herself was a confirmed Protestant. But that angelic mother had brought her up with a love and a practice of genuine piety36 which undeviatingly intermingled in every action, and, probably, in
[Pg 140]
every thought of her virtuous37 life, so religiously, so deeply, that neither pain nor calamity38 could make her impatient of existence; nor yet could felicity the most perfect make her reluctant to die.
To paint the despairing grief produced by this deadly blow must be cast, like the portrait of its object, upon the sufferer; and the inartificial pathos39, the ingenuous40 humility41, with which both are marked in the affecting detail of her death, written in answer to a letter of sympathizing condolence from the tenderest friend of the deceased, Miss Dorothy Young, so strongly speak a language of virtue42 as well as of sorrow, that, unconsciously, they exhibit his own fair unsophisticated character in delineating that of his lost love. A more touching43 description of happiness in conjugal44 life, or of wretchedness in its dissolution, is rarely, perhaps, with equal simplicity45 of truth, to be found upon record.
“To Miss Dorothy Young.
“I had not thought it possible that any thing could urge me to write in the present deplorable disposition46 of my mind; but my dear Miss Young’s letter haunts me! Neither did I think it possible for any thing to add to my affliction, borne down and broken-hearted as I am. But the current of your woes48 and sympathetic sorrows meeting mine, has overpowered all bounds which
[Pg 141]
religion, philosophy, reason, or even despair, may have been likely to set to my grief. Oh Miss Young! you knew her worth—you were one of the few people capable of seeing and feeling it. Good God! that she should be snatched from me at a time when I thought her health re-establishing, and fixing for a long old age! when our plans began to succeed, and we flattered ourselves with enjoying each other’s society ere long, in a peaceable and quiet retirement49 from the bustling50 frivolousness51 of a capital, to which our niggard stars had compelled us to fly for the prospect52 of establishing our children.
“Amongst the numberless losses I sustain, there are none that unman me so much as the total deprivation53 of domestic comfort and converse54—that converse from which I tore myself with such difficulty in a morning, and to which I flew back with such celerity at night! She was the source of all I could ever project or perform that was praise-worthy55—all that I could do that was laudable had an eye to her approbation56. There was a rectitude in her mind and judgment57, that rendered her approbation so animating59, so rational, so satisfactory! I have lost the spur, the stimulus60 to all exertions61, all warrantable pursuits,—except those of another world. From an ambitious, active, enterprising Being, I am become a torpid63 drone, a listless, desponding wretch8!—I know you will bear with my weakness, nay64, in part, participate in it; but this is a kind of dotage65 unfit for common eyes, or even for common friends, to be entrusted66 with.
“You kindly67, and truly, my dear Miss Young, styled her one of the greatest ornaments68 of society; but, apart from the ornamental69, in which she shone in a superior degree, think, oh think, of her high merit as a daughter, mother, wife, sister, friend! I always, from the first moment I saw her to the last, had an ardent70 passion for her person, to which time had added
[Pg 142]
true friendship and rational regard. Perhaps it is honouring myself too much to say, few people were more suited to each other; but, at least, I always endeavoured to render myself more worthy of her than nature, perhaps, had formed me. But she could mould me to what she pleased! A distant hint—a remote wish from her was enough to inspire me with courage for any undertaking71. But all is lost and gone in losing her—the whole world is a desert to me! nor does its whole circumference72 afford the least hope of succour—not a single ray of that fortitude73 She so fully5 possessed74!
“You, and all who knew her, respected and admired her understanding while she was living. Judge, then, with what awe75 and veneration76 I must be struck to hear her counsel when dying!—to see her meet that tremendous spectre, death, with that calmness, resignation, and true religious fortitude, that no stoic77 philosopher, nor scarcely christian78, could surpass; for it was all in privacy and simplicity. Socrates and Seneca called their friends around them to give them that courage that perhaps solitude79 might have robbed them of, and to spread abroad their fame to posterity80; but she, dear pattern of humility! had no such vain view; no parade, no grimace81! When she was aware that all was over—when she had herself pronounced the dread82 sentence, that she felt she should not outlive the coming night, she composedly gave herself up to religion, and begged that she might not be interrupted in her prayers and meditations83.
“Afterwards she called me to her, and then tranquilly84 talked about our family and affairs, in a manner quite oracular.
“Sometime later she desired to see Hetty,[21] who, till that day, had spent the miserable85 week almost constantly at her bed-side,
[Pg 143]
or at the foot of the bed. Fanny, Susan, and Charley, had been sent, some days before, to the kind care of Mrs. Sheeles in Queen-Square, to be out of the way; and little Charlotte was taken to the house of her nurse.
“To poor Hetty she then discoursed86 in so kind, so feeling, so tender a manner, that I am sure her words will never be forgotten. And, this over, she talked of her own death—her funeral—her place of burial,—with as much composure as if talking of a journey to Lynn! Think of this, my dear Miss Young, and see the impossibility of supporting such a loss—such an adieu, with calmness! I hovered87 over her till she sighed, not groaned88, her last—placidly sighed it—just after midnight.
“Her disorder was an inflammation of the stomach, with which she was seized on the 19th of September, after being on that day, and for some days previously89, remarkably90 in health and spirits. She suffered the most excruciating torments91 for eight days, with a patience, a resignation, nearly quite silent. Her malady92 baffled all medical skill from the beginning. I called in Dr. Hunter.
“On the 28th, the last day! she suffered, I suppose, less, perhaps nothing! as mortification must have taken place, which must have afforded that sort of ease, that those who have escaped such previous agony shudder93 to think of! On that ever memorable94, that dreadful day, she talked more than she had done throughout her whole illness. She forgot nothing, nor threw one word away! always hoping we should meet and know each other hereafter!—She told poor Hetty how sweet it would be if she could see her constantly from whence she was going, and begged she would invariably suppose that that would be the case. What a lesson to leave to a daughter!—She exhorted95 her to remember how much her example might influence the poor younger ones;
[Pg 144]
and bid her write little letters, and fancies, to her in the other world, to say how they all went on; adding, that she felt as if she should surely know something of them.
“Afterwards, feeling probably her end fast approaching, she serenely96 said, with one hand on the head of Hetty, and the other grasped in mine: “Now this is dying pleasantly! in the arms of one’s friends!” I burst into an unrestrained agony of grief, when, with a superiority of wisdom, resignation, and true religion,—though awaiting, consciously, from instant to instant awaiting the shaft97 of death,—she mildly uttered, in a faint, faint voice, but penetratingly tender, “Oh Charles!—”
“I checked myself instantaneously, over-awed and stilled as by a voice from one above. I felt she meant to beg me not to agitate98 her last moments!—I entreated99 her forgiveness, and told her it was but human nature. “And so it is!” said she, gently; and presently added, “Nay, it is worse for the living than the dying,—though a moment sets us even!—life is but a paltry100 business—yet
“‘Who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey101
This pleasing—anxious being e’er resign’d?
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing102, lingering look behind?’”
“She had still muscular strength left to softly press both our hands as she pronounced these affecting lines.
“Other fine passages, also, both from holy writ30, and from what is most religious in our best poets, she from time to time recited, with fervent104 prayers; in which most devoutly106 we joined.
“These, my dear Miss Young, are the outlines of her sublime107 and edifying108 exit—— —— —What a situation was mine! but for my poor helpless children, how gladly, how most gladly
[Pg 145]
should I have wished to accompany her hence on the very instant, to that other world to which she so divinely passed!—for what in this remains109 for me?”
Part of a letter, also, to Mrs. Stephen Allen, the friend to whom, next to Miss Dorothy Young, the departed had been most attached, seems to belong to this place. Its style, as it was written at a later period, is more composed; but it evinces in the wretched mourner the same devotion to his Esther’s excellences110, and the same hopelessness of earthly happiness.
“To Mrs. Stephen Allen.
* * * * *
“Even prosperity is insipid111 without participation112 with those we love; for me, therefore, heaven knows, all is at an end—all is accumulated wretchedness! I have lost a soul congenial with my own;—a companion, who in outward appurtenances and internal conceptions, condescended113 to assimilate her ideas and manners with mine. Yet believe not that all my feelings are for myself; my poor girls have sustained a loss far more extensive than they, poor innocents! are at present sensible of. Unprovided as I should have left them with respect to fortune, had it been my fate to resign her and life first, I should have been under no great apprehension114 for the welfare of my children, in leaving them to a mother who had such inexhaustible resources in her mind and intellects. It would have grieved me, indeed, to have quitted her oppressed by such a load of care; but I could have
[Pg 146]
had no doubt of her supporting it with fortitude and abilities, as long as life and health had been allowed her. Fortitude and abilities she possessed, indeed, to a degree that, without hyperbole, no human being can conceive but myself, who have seen her under such severe trials as alone can manifest, unquestionably, true parts and greatness of mind. I am thoroughly115 convinced she was fitted for any situation, either exalted116 or humble117, which this life can furnish. And with all her nice discernment, quickness of perception, and delicacy118, she could submit, if occasion seemed to require it, to such drudgery119 and toil120 as are suited to the meanest domestic; and that, with a liveliness and alacrity121 that, in general, are to be found in those only who have never known a better state. Yet with a strength of reason the most solid, and a capacity for literature the most intelligent, she never for a moment relinquished122 the female and amiable123 softness of her sex with which, above every other attribute, men are most charmed and captivated.”
Such, in their early effervescence, was the vent105 which this man of affliction found to his sorrows, in the sympathy of his affectionate friends.
At other times, they were beguiled124 from their deadly heaviness by the expansion of fond description in melancholy125 verse. To this he was less led by poetical126 enthusiasm—for all of fire, fancy, and imagery, that light up the poet’s flame, was now extinct, or smothered—than by a gentle request of his Esther, uttered in her last days, that he would
[Pg 147]
address to her some poetry; a request intended, there can be no doubt, as a stimulus to some endearing occupation that might tear him from his first despondence, by an idea that he had still a wish of hers to execute.
Not as poetry, in an era fastidious as the present in metrical criticism, does the editor presume to offer the verses now about to be selected and copied from a vast mass of elegiac laments127 found amongst the posthumous papers of Dr. Burney: it is biographically alone, like those that have preceded them, that they are brought forward. They are testimonies128 of the purity of his love, as well as of the acuteness of his bereavement129; and, as such, they certainly belong to his memoirs130. The reader, therefore, is again entreated to remember that they were not designed for the press, though they were committed, unshackled, to the discretion131 of the editor. If that be in fault, the motive132 will probably prove a palliative that will make the heart, not the head, of the reader, the seat of his judgment.
“She’s gone!—the all-pervading soul is fled
T’ explore the unknown mansions133 of the dead,
Where, free from earthly clay, the immortal134 mind
Casts many a pitying glance on those behind;
[Pg 148]
Sees us deplore135 the wife—the mother—friend—
Sees fell despair our wretched bosoms137 rend58!
Oh death!—thy dire23 inexorable dart138
Of every blessing139 has bereft140 my heart!
Better to have died like her, in hope of rest,
Than live forlorn, and life and light detest141.—
In hope of rest? ah no! her fervent pray’r
Was that her soul, when once dissolv’d in air
Might, conscious of its pre-existent state,
On those she lov’d alive, benignly142 wait,—
Our genius, and our guardian143 angel be
Till fate unite us in eternity144!
But—the bless’d shade to me no hope bequeaths
Till death his faulchion in my bosom136 sheaths!
Sorrowing, I close my eyes in restless sleep;
Sorrowing, I wake the live-long day to weep.
No future comfort can this world bestow145,
’Tis blank and cold, as overwhelm’d with snow.
When dying in my arms, she softly said:
“Write me some verses!”—and shall be obey’d.
The sacred mandate146 vibrates in my ears,
And fills my eyes with reverential tears.
For ever on her virtues147 let me dwell,
A Patriarch’s life too short her worth to tell.
Such manly148 sense to female softness join’d,
Her person grac’d, and dignified149 her mind,
That she in beauty, while she trod life’s stage,
A Venus seem’d—in intellect, a sage103.
[Pg 149]
Before I her beheld150, the untutor’d mind
Still vacant lay, to mental beauty blind:
But when her angel form my sight had bless’d
The flame of passion instant fill’d my breast;
Through every vein151 the fire electric stole,
And took dominion152 of my inmost soul.
By her ... possess’d of every pow’r to please,
Each toilsome task was exercis’d with ease.
For me, comprising every charm of life,
Friend—Mistress—Counsellor—Companion—Wife—
Wife!—wife!—oh honour’d name! for ever dear,
Alike enchanting153 to the eye and ear!
Let the corrupt154, licentious155, and profane156
Rail, scoff157, and murmur158 at the sacred chain:
It suits not them. Few but the wise and good
Its blessings159 e’er have priz’d or understood.
Matur’d in virtue first the heart must glow,
Ere happiness can vegetate160 and grow.
From her I learnt to feel the holy flame,
And found that she and virtue were the same.
From dissipation, though I might receive—
Ere yet I knew I had a heart to give—
An evanescent joy, untouch’d the mind
Still torpid lay, to mental beauty blind;
Till by example more than precept161 taught
From her, to act aright, the flame I caught.
How chang’d the face of nature now is grown!
[Pg 150]
Illusive162 hope no more her charms displays;
Her flattering schemes no more my spirits raise;
Each airy vision which her pencil drew
Inexorable death has banish’d from my view.
Each gentle solace163 is withheld164 by fate
Till death conduct me through his awful gate.
Come then, Oh Death! let kindred souls be join’d!
Oh thou, so often cruel—once be kind!”
A total chasm165 ensues of all account of events belonging to the period of this irreparable earthly blast. Not a personal memorandum166 of the unhappy survivor is left; not a single document in his hand-writing, except of verses to her idea, or to her memory; or of imitations, adapted to his loss, and to her excellences, from some selected sonnets167 of Petrarch, whom he considered to have loved, entombed, and bewailed another Esther in his Laura.
When this similitude, which soothed168 his spirit and flattered his feelings, had been studied and paralleled in every possible line of comparison, he had recourse to the works of Dante, which, ere long, beguiled from him some attention; because, through the difficulty of idiom, he had not, as of nearly all other favourite authors, lost all zest169 of the beauties of Dante in solitude, from having
[Pg 151]
tasted the sweetness of his numbers with a pleasure exalted by participation: for, during the last two years that his Esther was spared to him, her increased maternal34 claims from a new baby;[22] and augmented170 domestic cares from a new residence, had checked the daily mutuality171 of their progress in the pursuit of improvement; and to Esther this great poet was scarcely known.
To Dante, therefore, he first delivered over what he could yet summon from his grief-worn faculties172; and to initiate173 himself into the works, and nearly obsolete174 style, of that hardest, but most sublime of Italian poets, became the occupation to which, with the least repugnance175, he was capable of recurring176.
A sedulous177, yet energetic, though prose translation of the Inferno178, remains amongst his posthumous relics179, to demonstrate the sincere struggles with which, even amidst this overwhelming calamity, he strove to combat that most dangerously consuming of all canker-worms upon life and virtue, utter inertness180.
Of his children, James,[23]
[Pg 152]
his eldest181 son, had already, at ten years of age, been sent to sea, a nominal182 midshipman, in the ship of Admiral Montagu.
The second son, Charles,[24] who was placed, several years later, in the Charterhouse, by Mr. Burney’s first and constant patron, the Earl of Holdernesse, was then but a child.
The eldest daughter was still a little girl; and the last born of her three sisters could scarcely walk alone. But all, save the seaman183, who was then aboard his ship, were now called back to the paternal184 roof of the unhappy father.
None of them, however, were of an age to be companionable; his fondness for them, therefore, full of care and trouble, procured185 no mitigation to his grief by the pleasure of society: and the heavy march of time, where no solace is accepted from abroad, or attainable186 at home, gave a species of stagnation187 to his existence, that made him take, in the words of Young,
“No note of time,
Save by its loss!”
His tenderness, however, as a father; his situation
[Pg 153]
as a man; and his duties as a Christian, drew, tore him, at length, from this retreat of lonely woe47; and, in the manuscript already quoted from, which was written many years after the period of which it speaks, he says: “I was forced, ere long, to plunge188 into business; and then found, that having my time occupied by my affairs was a useful dissipation of my sorrows, as it compelled me to a temporary inattention to myself, and to the irreparable loss I had sustained.”
Still, however, all mitigation to his grief that was not imposed upon him by necessity, he avoided even with aversion; and even the sight of those who most had loved and esteemed189 the departed, was the sight most painful to him in sharpening his regrets, “which, therefore, no meeting whatsoever,” he says, “could blunt; since to love and admire her, had been universally the consequence of seeing and knowing her.”
From this mournful monotony of life, he was especially, however, called, by reflecting that his eldest daughter was fast advancing to that age when education is most requisite190 to improvement; and that, at such a period, the loss of her mother and instructress might be permanently191 hurtful to her, if
[Pg 154]
no measure should be taken to avert192 the possible consequences of neglect.
Yet the idea of a governess, who, to him, unless his children were wholly confined to the nursery, must indispensably be a species of companion, was not, in his present desolate193 state of mind, even tolerable. Nevertheless masters without superintendence, and lessons without practice, he well knew to be nugatory194. Projects how to remedy this evil, as fruitless as they were numberless, crossed his mind; till a plan occurred to him, that, by combining economy with novelty, and change of scene for himself, with various modes of advantage to his daughters, ripened195 into an exertion62 that brought him, about a month after its formation, to the gates of Paris.
The design of Mr. Burney was to place two of his daughters in some convent, or boarding-house, where their education might be forwarded by his own directions.
Sundry196 reasons decided197 him to make his third daughter, Susanna, take place, in this expedition, of his second, Frances; but, amongst them, the principal and most serious motive, was a fearful tendency to a consumptive habit in that most delicate of his young plants, that seemed to require the
[Pg 155]
balsamic qualities of a warmer and clearer atmosphere.
Another reason, which he acknowledged, in after-times, to have had great weight with him for this arrangement, was the tender veneration with which Frances was impressed for her maternal grandmother; whose angelic piety, and captivating softness, had won her young heart with such reverential affection, that he apprehended198 there might be danger of her being led to follow, even enthusiastically, the religion of so pure a votary199, if she should fall so early, within the influence of any zealot in the work of conversion200. He determined201, therefore, as he could part with two of them only at a time, that Fanny and Charlotte should follow their sisters in succession, at a later period.
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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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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mediatory
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| 斡旋的，调解的 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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survivor
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| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
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immured
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| v.禁闭，监禁( immure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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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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blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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maternally
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34
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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35
revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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37
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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38
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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39
pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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40
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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41
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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42
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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43
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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44
conjugal
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| adj.婚姻的，婚姻性的 | |
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45
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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46
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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47
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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48
woes
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| 困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉 | |
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49
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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50
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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51
frivolousness
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| n.不重要，不必要 | |
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52
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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53
deprivation
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| n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困 | |
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54
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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55
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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56
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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57
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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58
rend
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| vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取 | |
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59
animating
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| v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命 | |
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60
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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61
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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62
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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63
torpid
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| adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的 | |
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64
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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65
dotage
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| n.年老体衰；年老昏聩 | |
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66
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
kindly
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|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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68
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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69
ornamental
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|
| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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70
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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71
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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72
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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73
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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74
possessed
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|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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75
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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76
veneration
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|
| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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77
stoic
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|
| n.坚忍克己之人，禁欲主义者 | |
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78
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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79
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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80
posterity
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|
| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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81
grimace
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|
| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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82
dread
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|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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83
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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84
tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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85
miserable
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|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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86
discoursed
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| 演说（discourse的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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87
hovered
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|
| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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88
groaned
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|
| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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89
previously
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|
| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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90
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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91
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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92
malady
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|
| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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93
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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94
memorable
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|
| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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95
exhorted
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|
| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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96
serenely
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|
| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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97
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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98
agitate
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|
| vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动 | |
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99
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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101
prey
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|
| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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102
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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103
sage
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|
| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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104
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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105
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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106
devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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107
sublime
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|
| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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108
edifying
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|
| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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109
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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110
excellences
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|
| n.卓越( excellence的名词复数 )；（只用于所修饰的名词后）杰出的；卓越的；出类拔萃的 | |
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111
insipid
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|
| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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112
participation
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| n.参与，参加，分享 | |
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113
condescended
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|
| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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114
apprehension
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|
| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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115
thoroughly
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|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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116
exalted
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|
| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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117
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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118
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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119
drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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120
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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121
alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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122
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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123
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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124
beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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125
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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126
poetical
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|
| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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127
laments
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| n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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128
testimonies
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| （法庭上证人的）证词( testimony的名词复数 )； 证明，证据 | |
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129
bereavement
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| n.亲人丧亡，丧失亲人，丧亲之痛 | |
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130
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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131
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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132
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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133
mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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134
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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135
deplore
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| vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾 | |
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136
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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137
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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138
dart
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|
| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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139
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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140
bereft
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|
| adj.被剥夺的 | |
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141
detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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142
benignly
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|
| adv.仁慈地，亲切地 | |
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143
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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144
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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145
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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146
mandate
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| n.托管地；命令，指示 | |
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147
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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148
manly
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|
| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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149
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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150
beheld
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|
| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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151
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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152
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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153
enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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154
corrupt
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|
| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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155
licentious
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| adj.放纵的，淫乱的 | |
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156
profane
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|
| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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157
scoff
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|
| n.嘲笑，笑柄，愚弄；v.嘲笑，嘲弄，愚弄，狼吞虎咽 | |
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158
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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159
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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160
vegetate
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| v.无所事事地过活 | |
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161
precept
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| n.戒律；格言 | |
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162
illusive
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| adj.迷惑人的，错觉的 | |
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163
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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164
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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memorandum
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| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
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167
sonnets
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| n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 ) | |
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168
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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169
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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mutuality
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| n.相互关系，相互依存 | |
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172
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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173
initiate
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| vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入 | |
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174
obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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175
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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176
recurring
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| adj.往复的，再次发生的 | |
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177
sedulous
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| adj.勤勉的，努力的 | |
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178
inferno
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| n.火海；地狱般的场所 | |
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179
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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180
inertness
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| n.不活泼，没有生气；惰性；惯量 | |
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181
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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182
nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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183
seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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184
paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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185
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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186
attainable
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| a.可达到的，可获得的 | |
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187
stagnation
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| n. 停滞 | |
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188
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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191
permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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194
nugatory
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| adj.琐碎的，无价值的 | |
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195
ripened
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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196
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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votary
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| n.崇拜者；爱好者；adj.誓约的，立誓任圣职的 | |
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conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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