Moral Effects of Revolutions.

Moral Effects of Revolutions.
(May, 1822.)

In revolutionary times, as when a civil war prevails in a country, men are much worse, as moral beings, than in quiet and untroubled states of peace. So much is matter of history. The English, under Charles II., after twenty years’ agitation¹ and civil tumults²; the Romans after Sylla and Marius, and the still more bloody³ proscriptions of the Triumvirates; the French, after the Wars of the League and the storms of the Revolution—were much changed for the worse, and exhibited strange relaxations⁴ of the moral principle. But why? What is the philosophy of the case? Some will think it sufficiently⁵ explained by the necessity of witnessing so much bloodshed—the hearths⁶ and the very graves of their fathers polluted by the slaughter⁷ of their countrymen—the acharnement which characterises civil contests (as always the quarrels of friends are the fiercest)—and the license⁸ of wrong which is bred by war and the majesties⁹ of armies. Doubtless this is part of the explanation. But is this all? Mr. Coleridge has referred to this subject in The friend; but, to the best of my remembrance, only noticing it as a fact. Fichte, the celebrated¹⁰ German philosopher, has given us his view of it (Idea of War); and it is so ingenious, that it deserves mention. It is this—‘Times of revolution force men’s minds inwards: hence they are led amongst other things to meditate¹¹ on morals with reference to their own conduct. But to subtilise too much upon this subject must always be ruinous to morality, with all understandings that are not very powerful, i. e. with the majority, because it terminates naturally in a body of maxims¹² a specious¹³ and covert¹⁴ self-interest. Whereas, when men meditate less, they are apt to act more from natural feeling, in which the natural goodness of the heart often interferes¹⁵ to neutralise or even to overbalance its errors.’

1 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

2 tumults   

吵闹( tumult的名词复数 )； 喧哗； 激动的吵闹声； 心烦意乱

参考例句：

3 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

4 relaxations   

n.消遣( relaxation的名词复数 )；松懈；松弛；放松

参考例句：

• Playing the piano is one of his favourite relaxations. 弹钢琴是他喜爱的一种消遣。 来自互联网
• Playing the paino is one of his favourite relaxations. 弹钢琴是他最喜爱的消遣之一。 来自互联网

5 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

6 hearths   

壁炉前的地板，炉床，壁炉边( hearth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The soldiers longed for their own hearths. 战士想家。
• In the hearths the fires down and the meat stopped cooking. 在壁炉的火平息和肉停止做饭。

7 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

8 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

9 majesties   

n.雄伟( majesty的名词复数 )；庄严；陛下；王权

参考例句：

• Their Majesties will open the new bridge today. 国王和王后陛下今天将为新桥落成剪彩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He beseeched me to entreat your Majesties to hear and see the matter. 他拜托我一定请陛下二位也来看戏。 来自辞典例句

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 meditate   

v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想

参考例句：

• It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
• I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想，并进入了一个更高的意识境界。

12 maxims   

n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Courts also draw freely on traditional maxims of construction. 法院也自由吸收传统的解释准则。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• There are variant formulations of some of the maxims. 有些准则有多种表达方式。 来自辞典例句

13 specious   

adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地

参考例句：

• Such talk is actually specious and groundless.这些话实际上毫无根据，似是而非的。
• It is unlikely that the Duke was convinced by such specious arguments.公爵不太可能相信这种似是而非的论点。

14 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

15 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。