Definition of History.
History is the recital2 of facts represented as true. Fable4, on the contrary, is the recital of facts represented as fiction. There is the history of human opinions, which is scarcely anything more than the history of human errors.
The history of the arts may be made the most useful of all, when to a knowledge of their invention and progress it adds a description of their mechanical means and processes.
Natural history, improperly5 designated “history,” is an essential part of natural philosophy. The history of events has been divided into sacred and profane6. Sacred history is a series of divine and miraculous7 operations, by which it has pleased God formerly8 to direct and govern the Jewish nation, and, in the present day, to try our faith. “To learn Hebrew, the sciences, and history,” says La Fontaine, “is to drink up the sea.”
Si j’apprenois l’Hébreu, les sciences, l’histoire,
Tout9 cela, c’est la mer à boire.
— La Fontaine, book viii, fable 25.
The Foundations of History.
The foundations of all history are the recitals10 of events, made by fathers to their children, and afterwards transmitted from one generation to another. They are, at most, only probable in their origin when they do not shock common sense, and they lose a degree of probability at every successive transmission. With time the fabulous11 increases and the true disappears; hence it arises that the original traditions and records of all nations are absurd. Thus the Egyptians had been governed for many ages by the gods. They had next been under the government of demi-gods; and, finally, they had kings for eleven thousand three hundred and forty years, and during that period the sun had changed four times from east and west.
The Ph?nicians, in the time of Alexander, pretended that they had been settled in their own country for thirty thousand years; and those thirty thousand years were as full of prodigies12 as the Egyptian chronology. I admit it to be perfectly13 consistent with physical possibility that Ph?nicia may have existed, not merely for thirty thousand years, but thirty thousand millions of ages, and that it may have endured, as well as the other portions of the globe, thirty millions of revolutions. But of all this we possess no knowledge.
The ridiculous miracles which abound15 in the ancient history of Greece are universally known.
The Romans, although a serious and grave people, have, nevertheless, equally involved in fables16 the early periods of their history. That nation, so recent in comparison with those of Asia, was five hundred years without historians. It is impossible, therefore, to be surprised on finding that Romulus was the son of Mars; that a she-wolf was his nurse; that he marched with a thousand men from his own village, Rome, against twenty thousand warriors17 belonging to the city of the Sabines; that he afterwards became a god; that the elder Tarquin cut through a stone with a razor, and that a vestal drew a ship to land with her girdle, etc.
The first annals of modern nations are no less fabulous; things prodigious18 and improbable ought sometimes, undoubtedly19, to be related, but only as proofs of human credulity. They constitute part of the history of human opinion and absurdities20; but the field is too immense.
Of Monuments or Memorials.
The only proper method of endeavoring to acquire some knowledge of ancient history is to ascertain21 whether there remain any incontestable public monuments. We possess only three such, in the way of writing or inscription22. The first is the collection of astronomical23 observations made during nineteen hundred successive years at Babylon, and transferred by Alexander to Greece. This series of observations, which goes back two thousand two hundred and thirty-four years beyond our vulgar era, decidedly proves that the Babylonians existed as an associated and incorporated people many ages before; for the arts are struck out and elaborated only in the slow course of time, and the indolence natural to mankind permits thousands of years to roll away without their acquiring any other knowledge or talents than what are required for food, clothing, shelter, and mutual25 destruction. Let the truth of these remarks be judged of from the state of the Germans and the English in the time of C?sar, from that of the Tartars at the present day, from that of two-thirds of Africa, and from that of all the various nations found in the vast continent of America, excepting, in some respects, the kingdoms of Peru and Mexico, and the republic of Tlascala. Let it be recollected26 that in the whole of the new world not a single individual could write or read.
The second monument is the central eclipse of the sun, calculated in China two thousand one hundred and fifty-five years before our vulgar era, and admitted by all our astronomers27 to have actually occurred. We must apply the same remark to the Chinese as to the people of Babylon. They had undoubtedly, long before this period, constituted a vast empire and social polity. But what places the Chinese above all the other nations of the world is that neither their laws, nor manners, nor the language exclusively spoken by their men of learning, have experienced any change in the course of about four thousand years. Yet this nation and that of India, the most ancient of all that are now subsisting28, those which possess the largest and most fertile tracts29 of territory, those which had invented nearly all the arts almost before we were in possession even of any of them, have been always omitted, down to our time, in our pretended universal histories. And whenever a Spaniard or a Frenchman enumerated30 the various nations of the globe, neither of them failed to represent his own country as the first monarchy32 on earth, and his king as the greatest sovereign, under the flattering hope, no doubt, that that greatest of sovereigns, after having read his book, would confer upon him a pension.
The third monument, but very inferior to the two others, is the Arundel Marbles. The chronicle of Athens was inscribed34 on these marbles two hundred and sixty-three years before our era, but it goes no further back than the time of Cecrops, thirteen hundred and nineteen years beyond the time of its inscription. In the history of all antiquity35 these are the only incontestable epochs that we possess.
Let us attend a little particularly to these marbles, which were brought from Greece by Lord Arundel. The chronicle contained in them commences fifteen hundred and seventy-seven years before our era. This, at the present time, makes an antiquity of 3,348 years, and in the course of that period you do not find a single miraculous or prodigious event on record. It is the same with the Olympiads. It must not be in reference to these that the expression can be applied36 of “Gr?cia mendax” (lying Greece). The Greeks well knew how to distinguish history from fable, and real facts from the tales of Herodotus; just as in relation to important public affairs, their orators37 borrowed nothing from the discourses39 of the sophists or the imagery of the poets.
The date of the taking of Troy is specified40 in these marbles, but there is no mention made of Apollo’s arrows, or the sacrifice of Iphigenia, or the ridiculous battles of the gods. The date of the inventions of Triptolemus and Ceres is given; but Ceres is not called goddess. Notice is taken of a poem upon the rape41 of Proserpine; but it is not said that she is the daughter of Jupiter and a goddess, and the wife of the god of hell.
Hercules is initiated42 in the Eleusinian mysteries, but not a single word is mentioned of the twelve labors43, nor of his passage to Africa in his cup, nor of his divinity, nor of the great fish by which he was swallowed, and which, according to Lycophron, kept him in its belly44 three days and three nights.
Among us, on the contrary, a standard is brought by an angel from heaven to the monks45 of St. Denis; a pigeon brings a bottle of oil to the church of Rheims; two armies of serpents engage in pitched battle in Germany; an archbishop of Mentz is besieged46 and devoured47 by rats; and to complete and crown the whole, the year in which these adventures occurred, is given with the most particular precision. The abbé Langlet, also condescending48 to compile, compiles these contemptible49 fooleries, while the almanacs, for the hundredth time, repeat them. In this manner are our youth instructed and enlightened; and all these trumpery50 fables are put in requisition even for the education of princes!
All history is comparatively recent. It is by no means astonishing to find that we have, in fact, no profane history that goes back beyond about four thousand years. The cause of this is to be found in the revolutions of the globe, and the long and universal ignorance of the art which transmits events by writing. There are still many nations totally unacquainted with the practice of this art. It existed only in a small number of civilized51 states, and even in them was confined to comparatively few hands. Nothing was more rare among the French and Germans than knowing how to write; down to the fourteenth century of our era, scarcely any public acts were attested53 by witnesses. It was not till the reign33 of Charles VII. in France, in 1454, that an attempt was made to reduce to writing some of the customs of France. The art was still more uncommon54 among the Spaniards, and hence it arises that their history is so dry and doubtful till the time of Ferdinand and Isabella. We perceive, from what has been said, with what facility the very small number of persons who possessed55 the art of writing might impose by means of it, and how easy it has been to produce a belief in the most enormous absurdities.
There have been nations who have subjugated56 a considerable part of the world, and who yet have not been acquainted with the use of characters. We know that Genghis Khan conquered a part of Asia in the beginning of the thirteenth century; but it is not from him, nor from the Tartars, that we have derived57 that knowledge. Their history, written by the Chinese, and translated by Father Gaubil, states that these Tartars were at that time unacquainted with the art of writing.
This art was, unquestionably, not likely to be less unknown to the Scythian Ogus-kan, called by the Persians and Greeks Madies, who conquered a part of Europe and Asia long before the reign of Cyrus. It is almost a certainty that at that time, out of a hundred nations, there were only two or three that employed characters. It is undoubtedly possible, that in an ancient world destroyed, mankind were acquainted with the art of writing and the other arts, but in our world they are all of recent date.
There remain monuments of another kind, which serve to prove merely the remote antiquity of certain nations, an antiquity preceding all known epochs, and all books; these are the prodigies of architecture, such as the pyramids and palaces of Egypt, which have resisted and wearied the power of time. Herodotus, who lived two thousand two hundred years ago, and who had seen them, was unable to learn from the Egyptian priests at what periods these structures were raised.
It is difficult to ascribe to the oldest of the pyramids an antiquity of less than four thousand years, and, it is necessary to consider, that those ostentatious piles, erected59 by monarchs60, could not have been commenced till long after the establishment of cities. But, in order to build cities in a country every year inundated61, it must always be recollected that it would have been previously62 necessary in this land of slime and mud, to lay the foundation upon piles, that they might thus be inaccessible63 to the inundation64; it would have been necessary, even before taking this indispensable measure of precaution, and before the inhabitants could be in a state to engage in such important and even dangerous labors, that the people should have contrived65 retreats, during the swelling66 of the Nile, between the two chains of rocks which exist on the right and left banks of the river. It would have been necessary that these collected multitudes should have instruments of tillage, and of architecture, a knowledge of architecture and surveying, regular laws, and an active police. All these things require a space of time absolutely prodigious. We see, every day, by the long details which relate even to those of our undertakings67, which are most necessary and most diminutive69, how difficult it is to execute works of magnitude, and that they not only require unwearied perseverance70, but many generations animated71 by the same spirit.
However, whether we admit that one or two of those immense masses were erected by Menes, or Thaut, or Cheops, or Rameses, we shall not, in consequence, have the slightest further insight into the ancient history of Egypt. The language of that people is lost; and all we know in reference to the subject is that before the most ancient historians existed, there existed materials for writing ancient history.
§ II.
As we already possess, I had almost said, twenty thousand works, the greater number of them extending to many volumes, on the subject, exclusively, of the history of France; and as, even a studious man, were he to live a hundred years, would find it impossible to read them, I think it a good thing to know where to stop. We are obliged to connect with the knowledge of our own country the history of our neighbors. We are still less permitted to remain ignorant of the Greeks and Romans, and their laws which are become ours; but, if to this laborious72 study we should resolve to add that of more remote antiquity, we should resemble the man who deserted73 Tacitus and Livy to study seriously the “Thousand and One Nights.” All the origins of nations are evidently fables. The reason is that men must have lived long in society, and have learned to make bread and clothing (which would be matters of some difficulty) before they acquired the art of transmitting all their thoughts to posterity74 (a matter of greater difficulty still). The art of writing is certainly not more than six thousand years old, even among the Chinese; and, whatever may be the boast of the Chald?ans and Egyptians, it appears not at all likely that they were able to read and write earlier.
The history, therefore, of preceding periods, could be transmitted by memory alone; and we well know how the memory of past events changes from one generation to another. The first histories were written only from the imagination. Not only did every people invent its own origin, but it invented also the origin of the whole world.
If we may believe Sanchoniathon, the origin of things was a thick air, which was rarified by the wind; hence sprang desire and love, and from the union of desire and love were formed animals. The stars were later productions, and intended merely to adorn75 the heavens, and to rejoice the sight of the animals upon earth.
The Knef of the Egyptians, their Oshiret and Ishet, which we call Osiris and Isis, are neither less ingenious nor ridiculous. The Greeks embellished76 all these fictions. Ovid collected them and ornamented77 them with the charms of the most beautiful poetry. What he says of a god who develops or disembroils chaos78, and of the formation of man, is sublime79.
Sanctius his animal, mentisque capacius alt?
Deerat adhuc, et quod dominari in c?tera posset.
Natus homo est . . . .
— Ovid, Metam., i, v. 76.
A creature of a more exalted80 kind
Was wanting yet, and then was man designed;
Conscious of thought, of more capacious breast,
For empire formed, and fit to rule the rest.
— Dryden.
Pronaque cum spectent animalia c?tera terram;
Os homini sublime dedit c?lumque tueri
Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus.
Metam., i, v. 84.
Thus, while the mute creation downward bend
Their sight, and to their earthly mother tend,
Man looks aloft, and with erected eyes
Beholds81 his own hereditary82 skies.
— Dryden.
Hesiod, and other writers who lived so long before, would have been very far from expressing themselves with this elegant sublimity83. But, from the interesting moment of man’s formation down to the era of the Olympiads, everything is plunged84 in profound obscurity.
Herodotus is present at the Olympic games, and, like an old woman to children, recites his narratives85, or rather tales, to the assembled Greeks. He begins by saying that the Ph?nicians sailed from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean86; which, if true, must necessarily imply that they had doubled the Cape87 of Good Hope, and made the circuit of Africa.
Then comes the rape of Io; then the fable of Gyges and Candaules; then the wondrous88 stories of banditti, and that of the daughter of Cheops, king of Egypt, having required a hewn stone from each of her many lovers, and obtained, in consequence, a number large enough to build one of the pyramids.
To this, add the oracles89, prodigies, and frauds of priests, and you have the history of the human race.
The first periods of the Roman history appear to have been written by Herodotus; our conquerors90 and legislators knew no other way of counting their years as they passed away, than by driving nails into a wall by the hand of the sacred pontiff.
The great Romulus, the king of a village, is the son of the god Mars, and a recluse91, who was proceeding92 to a well to draw water in a pitcher93. He has a god for his father, a woman of loose manners for his mother, and a she-wolf for his nurse. A buckler falls from heaven expressly for Numa. The invaluable94 books of the Sibyls are found by accident. An augur95, by divine permission, divides a large flintstone with a razor. A vestal, with her mere14 girdle, draws into the water a large vessel96 that has been stranded97. Castor and Pollux come down to fight for the Romans, and the marks of their horses’ feet are imprinted98 on the stones. The transalpine Gauls advanced to pillage99 Rome; some relate that they were driven away by geese, others that they carried away with them much gold and silver; but it is probable that, at that time in Italy, geese were far more abundant than silver. We have imitated the first Roman historians, at least in their taste for fables. We have our oriflamme, our great standard, brought from heaven by an angel, and the holy phial by a pigeon; and, when to these we add the mantle100 of St. Martin, we feel not a little formidable.
What would constitute useful history? That which should teach us our duties and our rights, without appearing to teach them.
It is often asked whether the fable of the sacrifice of Iphigenia is taken from the history of Jephthah; whether the deluge101 of Deucalion is invented in imitation of that of Noah; whether the adventure of Philemon and Baucis is copied from that of Lot and his wife. The Jews admit that they had no communication with strangers, that their books were unknown to the Greeks till the translation made by the order of Ptolemy. The Jews were, long before that period, money-brokers and usurers among the Greeks at Alexandria; but the Greeks never went to sell old clothes at Jerusalem. It is evident that no people imitated the Jews, and also that the Jews imitated or adopted many things from the Babylonians, the Egyptians, and the Greeks.
All Jewish antiquities103 are sacred in our estimation, notwithstanding the hatred104 and contempt in which we hold that people. We cannot, indeed, believe them by reason, but we bring ourselves under subjection to the Jews by faith. There are about fourscore systems in existence on the subject of their chronology, and a far greater number of ways of explaining the events recorded in their histories; we know not which is the true one, but we reserve our faith for it in store against the time when that true one shall be discovered.
We have so many things to believe in this sensible and magnanimous people, that all our faith is exhausted105 by them, and we have none left for the prodigies with which the other nations abound. Rollin may go on repeating to us the oracles of Apollo, and the miraculous achievements of Semiramis; he may continue to transcribe106 all that has been narrated107 of the justice of those ancient Scythians who so frequently pillaged108 Africa, and occasionally ate men for their breakfast; yet sensible and well-educated people will still feel and express some degree of incredulity.
What I most admire in our modern compilers is the judgment109 and zeal110 with which they prove to us that whatever happened in former ages, in the most extensive and powerful empires of the world, took place solely111 for the instruction of the inhabitants of Palestine. If the kings of Babylon, in the course of their conquests, overrun the territories of the Hebrew people, it is only to correct that people for their sins. If the monarch31, who has been commonly named Cyrus, becomes master of Babylon, it is that he may grant permission to some captive Jews to return home. If Alexander conquers Darius, it is for the settlement of some Jew old-clothesmen at Alexandria. When the Romans join Syria to their vast dominions112, and round their empire with the little district of Jud?a, this is still with a view to teach a moral lesson to the Jews. The Arabs and the Turks appear upon the stage of the world solely for the correction of this amiable113 people. We must acknowledge that they have had an excellent education; never had any pupil so many preceptors. Such is the utility of history.
But what is still more instructive is the exact justice which the clergy115 have dealt out to all those sovereigns with whom they were dissatisfied. Observe with what impartial116 candor117 St. Gregory of Nazianzen judges the emperor Julian, the philosopher. He declares that that prince, who did not believe in the existence of the devil, held secret communication with that personage, and that, on a particular occasion, when the demons118 appeared to him under the most hideous119 forms, and in the midst of the most raging flames, he drove them away by making inadvertently the sign of the cross.
He denominates him madman and wretch120; he asserts that Julian immolated121 young men and women every night in caves. Such is the description he gives of the most candid122 and clement123 of men, and who never exercised the slightest revenge against this same Gregory, notwithstanding the abuse and invectives with which he pursued him throughout his reign.
To apologize for the guilty is a happy way of justifying125 calumny126 against the innocent. Compensation is thus effected; and such compensation was amply afforded by St. Gregory. The emperor Constantius, Julian’s uncle and predecessor127, upon his accession to the throne, had massacred Julius, his mother’s brother, and his two sons, all three of whom had been declared august; this was a system which he had adopted from his father. He afterwards procured128 the assassination129 of Gallus, Julian’s brother. The cruelty which he thus displayed to his own family, he extended to the empire at large; but he was a man of prayer, and, even at the decisive battle with Maxentius, he was praying to God in a neighboring church during the whole time in which the armies were engaged. Such was the man who was eulogized by Gregory; and, if such is the way in which the saints make us acquainted with the truth, what may we not expect from the profane, particularly when they are ignorant, superstitious130, and irritable131?
At the present day the study of history is occasionally applied to a purpose somewhat whimsical and absurd. Certain charters of the time of Dagobert are discovered and brought forward, the greater part of them of a somewhat suspicious character in point of genuineness, and ill-understood; and from these it is inferred, that customs, rights, and prerogatives132, which subsisted133 then, should be revived now. I would recommend it to those who adopt this method of study and reasoning, to say to the ocean, “You formerly extended to Aigues-Mortes, Fréjus, Ravenna, and Ferrara. Return to them immediately.”
§ III.
Of the Certainty of History.
All certainty which does not consist in mathematical demonstration134 is nothing more than the highest probability; there is no other historical certainty.
When Marco Polo described the greatness and population of China, being the first, and for a time the only writer who had described them, he could not obtain credit. The Portuguese135, who for ages afterwards had communication and commerce with that vast empire, began to render the description probable. It is now a matter of absolute certainty; of that certainty which arises from the unanimous deposition136 of a thousand witnesses or different nations, unopposed by the testimony137 of a single individual.
If merely two or three historians had described the adventure of King Charles XII. when he persisted in remaining in the territories of his benefactor138, the sultan, in opposition139 to the orders of that monarch, and absolutely fought, with the few domestics that attended his person, against an army of janissaries and Tartars, I should have suspended my judgment about its truth; but, having spoken to many who actually witnessed the fact, and having never heard it called in question, I cannot possibly do otherwise than believe it; because, after all, although such conduct is neither wise nor common, there is nothing in it contradictory140 to the laws of nature, or the character of the hero.
That which is in opposition to the ordinary course of nature ought not to be believed, unless it is attested by persons evidently inspired by the divine mind, and whose inspiration, indeed, it is impossible to doubt. Hence we are justified141 in considering as a paradox142 the assertion made under the article on “Certainty,” in the great “Encyclop?dia,” that we are as much bound to believe in the resuscitation143 of a dead man, if all Paris were to affirm it, as to believe all Paris when it states that we gained the battle of Fontenoy. It is clear that the evidence of all Paris to a thing improbable can never be equal to that evidence in favor of a probable one. These are the first principles of genuine logic144. Such a dictionary as the one in question should be consecrated145 only to truth.
Uncertainty147 of History.
Periods of time are distinguished148 as fabulous and historical. But even in the historical times themselves it is necessary to distinguish truths from fables. I am not here speaking of fables, now universally admitted to be such. There is no question, for example, respecting the prodigies with which Livy has embellished, or rather defaced, his history. But with respect to events generally admitted, how many reasons exist for doubt!
Let it be recollected that the Roman republic was five hundred years without historians; that Livy himself deplores149 the loss of various public monuments or records, as almost all, he says, were destroyed in the burning of Rome: “Pleraque interiere.” Let it be considered that, in the first three hundred years, the art of writing was very uncommon: “Rar? per eadem tempora liter?.” Reason will be then seen for entertaining doubt on all those events which do not correspond with the usual order of human affairs.
Can it be considered very likely that Romulus, the grandson of the king of the Sabines, was compelled to carry off the Sabine women in order to obtain for his people wives? Is the history of Lucretia highly probable; can we easily believe, on the credit of Livy, that the king Porsenna betook himself to flight, full of admiration150 for the Romans, because a fanatic151 had pledged himself to assassinate152 him? Should we not rather be inclined to rely upon Polybius, who was two hundred years earlier than Livy? Polybius informs us that Porsenna subjugated the Romans. This is far more probable than the adventure of Sc?vola’s burning off his hand for failing in the attempt to assassinate him. I would have defied Poltrot to do as much.
Does the adventure of Regulus, inclosed within a hogshead or tub stuck round with iron spikes153, deserve belief? Would not Polybius, a contemporary, have recorded it had it been true? He says not a single word upon the subject. Is not this a striking presumption154 that the story was trumped155 up long afterwards to gratify the popular hatred against the Carthaginians?
Open “Moréri’s Dictionary,” at the article on “Regulus.” He informs you that the torments156 inflicted157 on that Roman are recorded in Livy. The particular decade, however, in which Livy would have recorded it, if at all, is lost; and in lieu of it, we have only the supplement of Freinsheim; and thus it appears that Dictionary has merely cited a German writer of the seventeenth century, under the idea of citing a Roman of the Augustan age. Volumes might be composed out of all the celebrated158 events which have been generally admitted, but which may be more fairly doubted. But the limits allowed for this article will not permit us to enlarge.
Whether Temples, Festivals, Annual Ceremonies, and even Medals, are Historic Proofs.
We might be naturally led to imagine that a monument raised by any nation in celebration of a particular event, would attest52 the certainty of that event; if, however, these monuments were not erected by contemporaries, or if they celebrate events that carry with them but little probability, they may often be regarded as proving nothing more than a wish to consecrate146 a popular opinion.
The rostral column, erected in Rome by the contemporaries of Duilius, is undoubtedly a proof of the naval159 victory obtained by Duilius; but does the statue of the augur N?vius, who is said to have divided a large flint with a razor, prove that N?vius in reality performed that prodigy160? Were the statues of Ceres and Triptolemus, at Athens, decisive evidences that Ceres came down from I know not what particular planet, to instruct the Athenians in agriculture? Or does the famous Laocoon, which exists perfect to the present day, furnish incontestable evidence of the truth of the story of the Trojan horse?
Ceremonies and annual festivals observed universally throughout any nation, are, in like manner, no better proofs of the reality of the events to which they are attributed. The festival of Orion, carried on the back of a dolphin, was celebrated among the Romans as well as the Greeks. That of Faunus was in celebration of his adventure with Hercules and Omphale, when that god, being enamored of Omphale, mistook the bed of Hercules for that of his mistress.
The famous feast of the Lupercals was instituted in honor of the she-wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus.
What was the origin of the feast of Orion, which was observed on the fifth of the ides of May? It was neither more nor less than the following adventure: Hyreus once entertained at his house the gods Jupiter, Neptune161, and Mercury, and when his high and mighty162 guests were about to depart, the worthy163 host, who had no wife, and was very desirous of having a son, lamented164 his unfortunate fate, and expressed his anxious desire to the three divinities. We dare not exactly detail what they did to the hide of an ox which Hyreus had killed for their entertainment; however, they afterwards covered the well-soaked hide with a little earth; and thence, at the end of nine months, was born Orion.
Almost all the Roman, Syrian, Grecian, and Egyptian festivals, were founded on similar legends, as well as the temples and statues of ancient heroes. They were monuments consecrated by credulity to error.
One of our most ancient monuments is the statue of St. Denis carrying his head in his arms.
Even a medal, and a contemporary medal, is sometimes no proof. How many medals has flattery struck in celebration of battles very indecisive in themselves, but thus exalted into victories; and of enterprises, in fact, baffled and abortive165, and completed only in the inscription on the medal? Finally, during the war in 1740, between the Spaniards and the English, was there not a medal struck, attesting166 the capture of Carthagena by Admiral Vernon, although that admiral was obliged to raise the siege?
Medals are then unexceptionable testimonies167 only when the event they celebrate is attested by contemporary authors; these evidences thus corroborating168 each other, verify the event described.
Should an Historian ascribe Fictitious169 Speeches to his Characters, and sketch170 Portraits of them?
If on any particular occasion the commander of an army, or a public minister, has spoken in a powerful and impressive manner, characteristic of his genius and his age, his discourse38 should unquestionably be given with the most literal exactness. Speeches of this description are perhaps the most valuable part of history. But for what purpose represent a man as saying what he never did say? It would be just as correct to attribute to him acts which he never performed. It is a fiction imitated from Homer; but that which is fiction in a poem, in strict language, is a lie in the historian. Many of the ancients adopted the method in question, which merely proves that many of the ancients were fond of parading their eloquence171 at the expense of truth.
Of Historical Portraiture172.
Portraits, also, frequently manifest a stronger desire for display, than to communicate information. Contemporaries are justifiable173 in drawing the portraits of statesmen with whom they have negotiated, or of generals under whom they have fought. But how much is it to be apprehended174 that the pencil will in many cases be guided by the feelings? The portraits given by Lord Clarendon appear to be drawn175 with more impartiality176, gravity, and judgment, than those which we peruse177 with so much delight in Cardinal178 de Retz.
But to attempt to paint the ancients; to elaborate in this way the development of their minds; to regard events as characters in which we may accurately179 read the most sacred feelings and intents of their hearts — this is an undertaking68 of no ordinary difficulty and discrimination, although as frequently conducted, both childish and trifling180.
Of Cicero’s Maxim181 Concerning History, that an Historian should never dare to relate a Falsehood or to Conceal182 a Truth.
The first part of this precept114 is incontestable; we must stop for a moment to examine the other. If a particular truth may be of any service to the state, your silence is censurable183. But I will suppose you to write the history of a prince who had reposed184 in you a secret — ought you to reveal that secret? Ought you to say to all posterity what you would be criminal in disclosing to a single individual? Should the duty of an historian prevail over the higher and more imperative185 duty of a man?
I will suppose again, that you have witnessed a failing or weakness which has not had the slightest influence on public affairs — ought you to publish such weakness? In such a case history becomes satire186.
It must be allowed, indeed, that the greater part of anecdote187 writers are more indiscreet than they are useful. But what opinion must we entertain of those impudent188 compilers who appear to glory in scattering189 about them calumny and slander190, and print and sell scandals as Voisin sold poisons?
Of Satirical History.
If Plutarch censured191 Herodotus for not having sufficiently192 extolled193 the fame of some of the Grecian cities, and for omitting many known facts worthy of being recorded, how much more censurable are certain of our modern writers, who, without any of the merits of Herodotus, impute194 both to princes and to nations acts of the most odious195 character, without the slightest proof or evidence? The history of the war in 1741 has been written in England; and it relates, “that at the battle of Fontenoy the French fired at the English balls and pieces of glass which had been prepared with poison; and that the duke of Cumberland sent to the king of France a box full of those alleged196 poisonous articles, which had been found in the bodies of the wounded English.” The same author adds, that the French having lost in that battle forty thousand men, the parliament issued an order to prevent people from talking on the subject, under pain of corporal punishment.
The fraudulent memoirs197 published not long since under the name of Madame de Maintenon, abound with similar absurdities. We are told in them, that at the siege of Lille the allies threw placards into the city, containing these words: “Frenchmen, be comforted — Maintenon shall never be your queen.”
Almost every page is polluted by false statements and abuse of the royal family and other leading families in the kingdom, without the author’s making out the smallest probability to give a color to his calumnies198. This is not writing history; it is writing slanders199 which deserve the pillory200.
A vast number of works have been printed in Holland, under the name of history, of which the style is as vulgar and coarse as the abuse, and the facts as false as they are ill-narrated. This, it has been observed, is a bad fruit of the noble tree of liberty. But if the contemptible authors of this trash have the liberty thus to deceive their readers, it becomes us here to take the liberty to undeceive them.
A thirst for despicable gain, and the insolence201 of vulgar and grovelling202 manners, were the only motives203 which led that Protestant refugee from Languedoc, of the name of Langlevieux, but commonly called La Beaumelle, to attempt the most infamous204 trick that ever disgraced literature. He sold to Eslinger, the bookseller of Frankfort, in 1751, for seventeen louis d’or, the “History of the Age of Louis XIV.,” which is not his; and, either to make it believed that he was the proprietor205, or to earn his money, he loaded it with abusive and abominable206 notes against Louis XIV., his son, and his grandson, the duke of Burgundy, whom he abuses in the most unmeasured terms, and calls a traitor207 to his grandfather and his country. He pours upon the duke of Orleans, the regent, calumnies at once the most horrible and the most absurd; no person of consequence is spared, and yet no person of consequence did he ever know. He retails208 against the marshals Villars and Villeroi, against ministers, and even against ladies, all the petty, dirty, and scandalous tales that could be collected from the lowest taverns209 and wine-houses; and he speaks of the greatest princes as if they were amenable210 to himself, and under his own personal jurisdiction211. He expresses himself, indeed, as if he were a formal and authorized212 judge of kings: “Give me,” says he, “a Stuart, and I will make him king of England.”
This most ridiculous and abominable conduct, proceeding from an author obscure and unknown, has incurred213 no prosecution214; it would have been severely215 punished in a man whose words would have carried any weight. But we must here observe, that these works of darkness frequently circulate through all Europe; they are sold at the fairs of Frankfort and Leipsic, and the whole of the North is overrun with them. Foreigners, who are not well informed, derive58 from books of this description their knowledge of modern history. German authors are not always sufficiently on their guard against memoirs of this character, but employ them as materials; which has been the case with the memoirs of Pontis, Montbrun, Rochefort, and Pordac; with all the pretended political testaments216 of ministers of state, which have proceeded from the pen of forgery217; with the “Royal Tenth” of Boisguillebert, impudently218 published under the name of Marshal Vauban; and with innumerable compilations219 of anas and anecdotes220.
History is sometimes even still more shamefully221 abused in England. As there are always two parties in furious hostility223 against each other, until some common danger for a season unites them, the writers of one faction224 condemn225 everything that the others approve. The same individual is represented as a Cato and a Catiline. How is truth to be extricated226 from this adulation and satire? Perhaps there is only one rule to be depended upon, which is, to believe all the good which the historian of a party ventures to allow to the leaders of the opposite faction; and all the ills which he ventures to impute to the chiefs of his own — a rule, of which neither party can severely complain.
With regard to memoirs actually written by agents in the events recorded, as those of Clarendon, Ludlow, and Burnet, in England, and de la Rochefoucauld and de Retz in France, if they agree, they are true; if they contradict each other, doubt them.
With respect to anas and anecdotes, there may perhaps be one in a hundred of them that contain some shadow of truth.
§ IV.
Of the Method or Manner of Writing History, and of Style.
We have said so much upon this subject, that we must here say very little. It is sufficiently known and fully222 admitted, that the method and style of Livy — his gravity, and instructive eloquence, are suitable to the majesty227 of the Roman republic; that Tacitus is more calculated to portray228 tyrants229, Polybius to give lessons on war, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus to investigate antiquities.
But, while he forms himself on the general model of these great masters, a weighty responsibility is attached to the modern historian from which they were exempt230. He is required to give more minute details, facts more completely authenticated231, correct dates, precise authorities, more attention to customs, laws, manners, commerce, finance, agriculture, and population. It is with history, as it is with mathematics and natural philosophy; the field of it is immensely enlarged. The more easy it is to compile newspapers, the more difficult it is at the present day to write history.
Daniel thought himself a historian, because he transcribed232 dates and narratives of battles, of which I can understand nothing. He should have informed me of the rights of the nation, the rights of the chief corporate24 establishments in it; its laws, usages, manners, with the alterations233 by which they have been affected234 in the progress of time. This nation might not improperly address him in some such language as the following:— I want from you my own history rather than that of Louis le Gros and Louis Hutin; you tell me, copying from some old, unauthenticated, and carelessly-written chronicle, that when Louis VIII. was attacked by a mortal disease, and lay languishing235 and powerless, the physicians ordered the more than half-dead monarch to take to his bed a blooming damsel, who might cherish the few sparks of remaining life; and that the pious236 king rejected the unholy advice with indignation. Alas237! Daniel, you are unacquainted, it seems, with the Italian proverb —“Donna ignuda manda l’uomo sotto la terra.” You ought to possess a little stronger tincture of political and natural history.
The history of a foreign country should be formed on a different model to that of our own.
If we compose a history of France, we are under no necessity to describe the course of the Seine and the Loire; but if we publish a history of the conquests of the Portuguese in Asia, a topographical description of the recently explored country is required. It is desirable that we should, as it were, conduct the reader by the hand round Africa, and along the coasts of Persia and India; and it is expected that we should treat with information and judgment, of manners, laws, and customs so new to Europe.
We have a great variety of histories of the establishment of the Portuguese in India, written by our countrymen, but not one of them has made us acquainted with the different governments of that country, with its religious antiquities, Brahmins, disciples238 of St. John, Guebers, and Banians. Some letters of Xavier and his successors have, it is true, been preserved to us. We have had histories of the Indies composed at Paris, from the accounts of those missionaries239 who were unacquainted with the language of the Brahmins. We have it repeated, in a hundred works, that the Indians worship the devil. The chaplains of a company of merchants quit our country under these impressions, and, as soon as they perceive on the coast some symbolical240 figures, they fail not to write home that they are the portraits and likenesses of the devil, that they are in the devil’s empire, and that they are going to engage in battle with him. They do not reflect that we are the real worshippers of the devil Mammon, and that we travel six thousand leagues from our native land to offer our vows241 at his shrine242, and to obtain the grant of some portion of his treasures.
As to those who hire themselves out at Paris to some bookseller in the Rue3 de St. Jacques, and at so much per job, and who are ordered to write a history of Japan, Canada, or the Canaries, as the case requires and opportunity suggests, from the memoirs of a few Capuchin friars — to such I have nothing to say.
It is sufficient, if it be clearly understood, that the method which would be proper in writing a history of our own country is not suitable in describing the discoveries of the new world; that we should not write on a small city as on a great empire; and that the private history of a prince should be composed in a very different manner from the history of France and England.
If you have nothing to tell us, but that on the banks of the Oxus and the Jaxartes, one barbarian243 has been succeeded by another barbarian, in what respect do you benefit the public?
These rules are well known; but the art of writing history well will always be very uncommon. It obviously requires a style grave, pure, varied244, and smooth. But we may say with respect to rules for writing history, as in reference to those for all the intellectual arts — there are many precepts245, but few masters.
§ V.
History of the Jewish Kings, and of the “Paralipomena.”
Every nation, as soon as it was able to write, has written its own history, and the Jews have accordingly written theirs. Before they had kings, they lived under a theocracy246; it was their destiny to be governed by God himself.
When the Jews were desirous of having a king, like the adjoining nations, the prophet Samuel, who was exceedingly interested in preventing it, declared to them, on the part of God, that they were rejecting God himself. Thus the Jewish theocracy ceased when the monarchy commenced.
We may therefore remark, without the imputation247 of blasphemy248, that the history of the Jewish kings was written like that of other nations, and that God did not take the pains Himself to dictate249 the history of a people whom He no longer governed.
We advance this opinion with the greatest diffidence. What may perhaps be considered as confirming it, is, that the “Paralipomena” very frequently contradict the Book of Kings, both with respect to chronology and facts, just as profane historians sometimes contradict one another. Moreover, if God always wrote the history of the Jews, it seems only consistent and natural to think that He writes it still; for the Jews are always His cherished people. They are on some future day to be converted, and it seems that whenever that event happens, they will have as complete a right to consider the history of their dispersion as sacred, as they have now to say, that God wrote the history of their kings.
We may be allowed here to make one reflection; which is, that as God was for a very long period their king, and afterwards became their historian, we are bound to entertain for all Jews the most profound respect. There is not a single Jew broker102, or slop-man, who is not infinitely250 superior to C?sar and Alexander. How can we avoid bending in prostration251 before an old-clothes man, who proves to us that his history has been written by God Himself, while the histories of Greece and Rome have been transmitted to us merely by the profane hand of man?
If the style of the history of the kings, and of the “Paralipomena,” is divine, it may nevertheless be true that the acts recorded in these histories are not divine. David murders Uriah; Ishbosheth and Mephibosheth are murdered; Absalom murders Ammon; Joab murders Absalom; Solomon murders his brother Adonijah; Baasha murders Nadab; Zimri murders Ela; Omri murders Zimri; Ahab murders Naboth; Jehu murders Ahab and Joram; the inhabitants of Jerusalem murder Amaziah, son of Joash; Shallum, son of Jabesh, murders Zachariah, son of Jeroboam; Menahhem murders Shallum, son of Jabesh; Pekah, son of Remaliah, murders Pekahiah, son of Manehem; and Hoshea, son of Elah, murders Pekah, son of Remaliah. We pass over, in silence, many other minor252 murders. It must be acknowledged, that, if the Holy Spirit did write this history, He did not choose a subject particularly edifying253.
§ VI.
Of bad Actions which have been consecrated or excused in History.
It is but too common for historians to praise very depraved and abandoned characters, who have done service either to a dominant254 sect, or to their nation at large. The praises thus bestowed255, come perhaps from a loyal and zealous256 citizen; but zeal of this description is injurious to the great society of mankind. Romulus murders his brother, and he is made a god. Constantine cuts the throat of his son, strangles his wife, and murders almost all his family: he has been eulogized in general councils, but history should ever hold up such barbarities to detestation. It is undoubtedly fortunate for us that Clovis was a Catholic. It is fortunate for the Anglican church that Henry VIII. abolished monks, but we must at the same time admit that Clovis and Henry VIII. were monsters of cruelty.
When first the Jesuit Berruyer, who although a Jesuit, was a fool, undertook to paraphrase257 the Old and New Testaments in the style of the lowest populace, with no other intention than that of having them read; he scattered258 some flowers of rhetoric259 over the two-edged knife which the Jew Ehud thrust up to the hilt in the stomach of the king Eglon; and over the sabre with which Judith cut off the head of Holofernes after having prostituted herself to his pleasures; and also over many other acts recorded, of a similar description. The parliament, respecting the Bible which narrates260 these histories, nevertheless condemned261 the Jesuit who extolled them, and ordered the Old and New Testaments to be burned:— I mean merely those of the Jesuit.
But as the judgments262 of mankind are ever different in similar cases, the same thing happened to Bayle in circumstances totally different. He was condemned for not praising all the actions of David, king of the province of Jud?a. A man of the name of Jurieu, a refugee preacher in Holland, associated with some other refugee preachers, were desirous of obliging him to recant. But how could he recant with reference to facts delivered in the scripture263? Had not Bayle some reason to conclude that all the facts recorded in the Jewish books are not the actions of saints; that David, like other men, had committed some criminal acts; and that if he is called a man after God’s own heart, he is called so in consequence of his penitence264, and not of his crimes?
Let us disregard names and confine our consideration to things only. Let us suppose, that during the reign of Henry IV. a clergyman of the League party secretly poured out a phial of oil on the head of a shepherd of Brie; that the shepherd comes to court; that the clergyman presents him to Henry IV. as an excellent violin player who can completely drive away all care and melancholy265; that the king makes him his equerry, and bestows266 on him one of his daughters in marriage; that afterwards, the king having quarrelled with the shepherd, the latter takes refuge with one of the princes of Germany, his father-in-law’s enemy; that he enlists267 and arms six hundred banditti overwhelmed by debt and debauchery; that with this regiment268 of brigands269 he rushes to the field, slays270 friends as well as enemies, exterminating271 all, even to women with children at the breast, in order to prevent a single individual’s remaining to give intelligence of the horrid272 butchery. I farther suppose this same shepherd of Brie to become king of France after the death of Henry IV.; that he procures273 the murder of that king’s grandson, after having invited him to sit at meat at his own table, and delivers over to death seven other younger children of his king and benefactor. Who is the man that will not conceive the shepherd of Brie to act rather harshly?
Commentators274 are agreed that the adultery of David, and his murder of Uriah, are faults which God pardoned. We may therefore conclude that the massacres275 above mentioned are faults which God also pardoned.
However, Bayle had no quarter given him; but at length some preachers at London having compared George II. to David, one of that monarch’s servants prints and publishes a small book, in which he censures276 the comparison. He examines the whole conduct of David; he goes infinitely farther than Bayle, and treats David with more severity than Tacitus applies to Domitian. This book did not raise in England the slightest murmur277; every reader felt that bad actions are always bad; that God may pardon them when repentance278 is proportioned to guilt124, but that certainly no man can ever approve of them.
There was more reason, therefore, prevailing279 in England than there was in Holland in the time of Bayle. We now perceive clearly and without difficulty, that we ought not to hold up as a model of sanctity what, in fact, deserves the severest punishment; and we see with equal clearness that, as we ought not to consecrate guilt, so we ought not to believe absurdity280.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
sect
|
|
| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
recital
|
|
| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
rue
|
|
| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
fable
|
|
| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
improperly
|
|
| 不正确地，不适当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
profane
|
|
| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
miraculous
|
|
| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
formerly
|
|
| adv.从前，以前 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
tout
|
|
| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
recitals
|
|
| n.独唱会( recital的名词复数 )；独奏会；小型音乐会、舞蹈表演会等；一系列事件等的详述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
fabulous
|
|
| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
prodigies
|
|
| n.奇才，天才（尤指神童）( prodigy的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
abound
|
|
| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
fables
|
|
| n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
warriors
|
|
| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
prodigious
|
|
| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
undoubtedly
|
|
| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
absurdities
|
|
| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
ascertain
|
|
| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
inscription
|
|
| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
astronomical
|
|
| adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
corporate
|
|
| adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
mutual
|
|
| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
recollected
|
|
| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
astronomers
|
|
| n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
subsisting
|
|
| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
tracts
|
|
| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
enumerated
|
|
| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
monarch
|
|
| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
monarchy
|
|
| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
reign
|
|
| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
inscribed
|
|
| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
antiquity
|
|
| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
applied
|
|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
orators
|
|
| n.演说者，演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
discourse
|
|
| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
discourses
|
|
| 论文( discourse的名词复数 )； 演说； 讲道； 话语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
specified
|
|
| adj.特定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
rape
|
|
| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
initiated
|
|
| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
labors
|
|
| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
belly
|
|
| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
monks
|
|
| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
besieged
|
|
| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
devoured
|
|
| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
condescending
|
|
| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
contemptible
|
|
| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
trumpery
|
|
| n.无价值的杂物；adj.（物品）中看不中用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
civilized
|
|
| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
attest
|
|
| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
attested
|
|
| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
uncommon
|
|
| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
subjugated
|
|
| v.征服，降伏( subjugate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
derived
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
derive
|
|
| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
ERECTED
|
|
| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
monarchs
|
|
| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
inundated
|
|
| v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
previously
|
|
| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
inaccessible
|
|
| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
inundation
|
|
| n.the act or fact of overflowing | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
contrived
|
|
| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
swelling
|
|
| n.肿胀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
undertakings
|
|
| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
undertaking
|
|
| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
diminutive
|
|
| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
perseverance
|
|
| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
animated
|
|
| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
laborious
|
|
| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
posterity
|
|
| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
adorn
|
|
| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
embellished
|
|
| v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
ornamented
|
|
| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
chaos
|
|
| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
sublime
|
|
| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
exalted
|
|
| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
beholds
|
|
| v.看，注视( behold的第三人称单数 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
hereditary
|
|
| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
sublimity
|
|
| 崇高，庄严，气质高尚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
plunged
|
|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
narratives
|
|
| 记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
Mediterranean
|
|
| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
cape
|
|
| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
wondrous
|
|
| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
oracles
|
|
| 神示所( oracle的名词复数 )； 神谕； 圣贤； 哲人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
conquerors
|
|
| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
recluse
|
|
| n.隐居者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
proceeding
|
|
| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
pitcher
|
|
| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
invaluable
|
|
| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
augur
|
|
| n.占卦师；v.占卦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
stranded
|
|
| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
imprinted
|
|
| v.盖印（imprint的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
pillage
|
|
| v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
mantle
|
|
| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
deluge
|
|
| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
broker
|
|
| n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
antiquities
|
|
| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
exhausted
|
|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
transcribe
|
|
| v.抄写，誉写；改编(乐曲)；复制，转录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
narrated
|
|
| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
pillaged
|
|
| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
zeal
|
|
| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
solely
|
|
| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
dominions
|
|
| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
precept
|
|
| n.戒律；格言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
clergy
|
|
| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
impartial
|
|
| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
candor
|
|
| n.坦白，率真 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
demons
|
|
| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
hideous
|
|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
wretch
|
|
| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
immolated
|
|
| v.宰杀…作祭品( immolate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
candid
|
|
| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
clement
|
|
| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
guilt
|
|
| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
justifying
|
|
| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
calumny
|
|
| n.诽谤，污蔑，中伤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
predecessor
|
|
| n.前辈，前任 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
procured
|
|
| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
assassination
|
|
| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
superstitious
|
|
| adj.迷信的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
irritable
|
|
| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
prerogatives
|
|
| n.权利( prerogative的名词复数 )；特权；大主教法庭；总督委任组成的法庭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
subsisted
|
|
| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
demonstration
|
|
| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
Portuguese
|
|
| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
deposition
|
|
| n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
testimony
|
|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
benefactor
|
|
| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
opposition
|
|
| n.反对，敌对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
contradictory
|
|
| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
justified
|
|
| a.正当的，有理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
paradox
|
|
| n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
resuscitation
|
|
| n.复活 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
logic
|
|
| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
consecrated
|
|
| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
consecrate
|
|
| v.使圣化，奉…为神圣；尊崇；奉献 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
uncertainty
|
|
| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
deplores
|
|
| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
fanatic
|
|
| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
assassinate
|
|
| vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
spikes
|
|
| n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
presumption
|
|
| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
trumped
|
|
| v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
torments
|
|
| （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] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
inflicted
|
|
| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
naval
|
|
| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
prodigy
|
|
| n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
Neptune
|
|
| n.海王星 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
lamented
|
|
| 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 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
abortive
|
|
| adj.不成功的，发育不全的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
attesting
|
|
| v.证明( attest的现在分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
testimonies
|
|
| （法庭上证人的）证词( testimony的名词复数 )； 证明，证据 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
corroborating
|
|
| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
fictitious
|
|
| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
sketch
|
|
| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
eloquence
|
|
| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
portraiture
|
|
| n.肖像画法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
173
justifiable
|
|
| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
apprehended
|
|
| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
impartiality
|
|
| n. 公平, 无私, 不偏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
177
peruse
|
|
| v.细读，精读 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
178
cardinal
|
|
| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
179
accurately
|
|
| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
180
trifling
|
|
| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
181
maxim
|
|
| n.格言，箴言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
182
conceal
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
183
censurable
|
|
| adj.可非难的，该责备的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
184
reposed
|
|
| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
185
imperative
|
|
| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
186
satire
|
|
| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
187
anecdote
|
|
| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
188
impudent
|
|
| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
189
scattering
|
|
| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
190
slander
|
|
| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
191
censured
|
|
| v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
192
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
193
extolled
|
|
| v.赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
194
impute
|
|
| v.归咎于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
195
odious
|
|
| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
196
alleged
|
|
| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
197
memoirs
|
|
| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
198
calumnies
|
|
| n.诬蔑，诽谤，中伤（的话）( calumny的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
199
slanders
|
|
| 诽谤，诋毁( slander的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
200
pillory
|
|
| n.嘲弄；v.使受公众嘲笑；将…示众 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
201
insolence
|
|
| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
202
grovelling
|
|
| adj.卑下的，奴颜婢膝的v.卑躬屈节，奴颜婢膝( grovel的现在分词 )；趴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
203
motives
|
|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
204
infamous
|
|
| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
205
proprietor
|
|
| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
206
abominable
|
|
| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
207
traitor
|
|
| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
208
retails
|
|
| n.零售( retail的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
209
taverns
|
|
| n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
210
amenable
|
|
| adj.经得起检验的；顺从的；对负有义务的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
211
jurisdiction
|
|
| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
212
authorized
|
|
| a.委任的，许可的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
213
incurred
|
|
| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
214
prosecution
|
|
| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
215
severely
|
|
| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
216
testaments
|
|
| n.遗嘱( testament的名词复数 )；实际的证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
217
forgery
|
|
| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
218
impudently
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
219
compilations
|
|
| n.编辑，编写( compilation的名词复数 )；编辑物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
220
anecdotes
|
|
| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
221
shamefully
|
|
| 可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
222
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
223
hostility
|
|
| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
224
faction
|
|
| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
225
condemn
|
|
| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
226
extricated
|
|
| v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
227
majesty
|
|
| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
228
portray
|
|
| v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
229
tyrants
|
|
| 专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
230
exempt
|
|
| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
231
authenticated
|
|
| v.证明是真实的、可靠的或有效的( authenticate的过去式和过去分词 )；鉴定，使生效 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
232
transcribed
|
|
| （用不同的录音手段）转录( transcribe的过去式和过去分词 )； 改编（乐曲）（以适应他种乐器或声部）； 抄写； 用音标标出（声音） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
233
alterations
|
|
| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
234
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
235
languishing
|
|
| a. 衰弱下去的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
236
pious
|
|
| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
237
alas
|
|
| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
238
disciples
|
|
| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
239
missionaries
|
|
| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
240
symbolical
|
|
| a.象征性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
241
vows
|
|
| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
242
shrine
|
|
| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
243
barbarian
|
|
| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
244
varied
|
|
| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
245
precepts
|
|
| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
246
theocracy
|
|
| n.神权政治；僧侣政治 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
247
imputation
|
|
| n.归罪，责难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
248
blasphemy
|
|
| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
249
dictate
|
|
| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
250
infinitely
|
|
| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
251
prostration
|
|
| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
252
minor
|
|
| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
253
edifying
|
|
| 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 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
254
dominant
|
|
| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
255
bestowed
|
|
| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
256
zealous
|
|
| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
257
paraphrase
|
|
| vt.将…释义，改写；n.释义，意义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
258
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
259
rhetoric
|
|
| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
260
narrates
|
|
| v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
261
condemned
|
|
| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
262
judgments
|
|
| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
263
scripture
|
|
| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
264
penitence
|
|
| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
265
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
266
bestows
|
|
| 赠给，授予( bestow的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
267
enlists
|
|
| v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的第三人称单数 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
268
regiment
|
|
| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
269
brigands
|
|
| n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
270
slays
|
|
| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
271
exterminating
|
|
| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
272
horrid
|
|
| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
273
procures
|
|
| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的第三人称单数 )；拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
274
commentators
|
|
| n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
275
massacres
|
|
| 大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
276
censures
|
|
| v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
277
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
278
repentance
|
|
| n.懊悔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
279
prevailing
|
|
| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
280
absurdity
|
|
| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |