The fatal shock to his health, which was already shaken by gout and dyspepsia, seems to have been given at a review in Silesia on August 24, 1785. After the man?uvres of the previous year he had written to the Infantry3 Inspector-General of the province that he was more dissatisfied with his troops than ever before. “Were I to make shoemakers or tailors into generals, the regiments5 could not be worse,” declared the King by way of prelude6 to more particular strictures. He threatened court-martial in the following year to whomsoever should not then fulfil his duty.
DEATH-MASK OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.
FROM THE ORIGINAL IN THE HOHENZOLLERN MUSEUM, BERLIN.
When the time arrived for the visit of 1785 to Silesia, no symptoms of disorder7 could keep the345 King from his post. As he made his usual tour of inspection8, thousands of the country-folk flocked in to see him pass and to utter their gratitude9 for his subsidies10. So he arrived at the review of August 22nd-25th, which was held in the plain that lies south of Breslau, and which military Europe regarded as one of the greatest tactical displays of the year.
On the third morning of the four, Frederick insisted on teaching his men their duty by sitting his horse for six hours in a deluge11 of rain without the shelter of a cloak. In spite of the inevitable12 chill, he then presided at dinner, at which the Duke of York, Lafayette, and Cornwallis were among the guests. Fever and ague followed, but he shook them off in a night and completed the review, the progress through Silesia, the journey to Potsdam, and the inspection of artillery13 at Berlin. On September 10th, he left his capital for the last time.
At Potsdam, on the eve of the Grand Review, the blow fell. Within a month of his indiscretion in Silesia he was seized in the night with a fit of apoplexy (September 18–19, 1785). Gout, asthma14, dropsy, and erysipelas set in, and after days of torment15 he was compelled to spend his nights in fighting for breath in an armchair. Yet no disease could break his spirit. “There is traceable,” says Carlyle with fine insight, “only a complete superiority to Fear and Hope.”
Partly, perhaps, because Austrian troops might menace the frontiers if his weakness were known, but doubtless in part out of fortitude16 and pride, he concealed17 his illness so far as possible from his346 subjects and from his friends. He performed the labours of the Cabinet with unclouded brain and with a growing fever of energy. His mind was full of plans for establishing new villages upon the districts reclaimed18 from the sand, for providing technical instruction in agriculture, and for arranging the coming man?uvres in Silesia. He continued to read history day by day, and to converse19 cheerfully with his friends. Once he enquired20 of the Duke of Courland whether he needed a good watchman, maintaining that his sleeplessness22 at nights qualified23 him to fill the post. After seven months of suffering he entertained Mirabeau with lively conversation, though his state was so pitiable as to render the interview painful to his favoured guest.
Very early on the morning of April 17, 1786, he left the palace in Potsdam town, where he had passed the winter, and made a long, circuitous24 journey to his favourite abode25, Sans Souci. But the change was powerless to bring relief. Some days he was too weak to converse as usual with his guests. On June 30th, however, he shocked his doctor by taking a copious26 dinner of strong soup full of spices, beef steeped in brandy, maize27 and cheese flavoured with, garlic, and a whole plateful of pungent28 eel-pie. Four days later he actually quitted his chair for a short gallop29 on horseback, but the exertion30 left him prostrate31.
Again he rallied, and until the middle of August disease and his inflexible32 determination to accomplish the daily routine struggled for the mastery. On August 10th, he sent a tender little note to his347 widowed sister Charlotte of Brunswick. “The old,” wrote the dying King, “must give place to the young, that each generation may find room clear for it: and life, if we examine strictly33 what its course is, consists in seeing one’s fellow-creatures die and be born.” By an almost pathetic chance his last letter, written on August 14th, was to de Launay, demanding more minute accounts of the hated excise34.
Frederick, like his ancestors, died at his post. The Great Elector, whose only fear was that dropsy might unfit him to govern, held a Privy35 Council within two days of the end. Frederick William amid all his torments36 spent his last days in private conference with his heir. Frederick, an older man than either, began work at five o’clock on the morning of Tuesday, August 15th. He made the arrangements for a review at Potsdam and dictated37 despatches of weight with all his wonted clearness. On Wednesday he failed, struggling in vain to give his weeping general the parole. All that day he lay in his chair dying, attended by valets, ministers, and physicians. In the evening he slept, and when eleven o’clock struck he enquired the time and declared that he would rise at four. Towards midnight he asked for his favourite dog and bade them cover it with a quilt. Then for more than two hours his faithful valet Strützky knelt by his chair to keep him upright, passing both his arms around the half-unconscious King. At twenty minutes past two in the morning of August 17th, Frederick passed quietly away.
Hertzberg closed his eyes and led his nephew and348 successor, Frederick William, to the corpse39. The King had willed to be buried on the terrace of Sans Souci, but he could now command no longer. Throughout one day, August 18th, he lay in state at Potsdam. In the evening his coffin40 was borne to a vault41 in the garish42 church of the Potsdam garrison43, where it rests by the side of his father’s.
Frederick’s fame, as was inevitable in the case of one who died on the eve of the French Revolution, has fluctuated with the current of subsequent events. The world that he quitted paid to his memory the homage44 due to one who had been for a generation the foremost among its princes. Among his poorer subjects traces of a warmer feeling may be discerned. The legend of the Prussian soldier who boasted all his life that Frederick had answered his challenge with the words, “Dog, hold thy peace,” is doubtless symbolic45 of the attitude of many of the rank and file. It would be idle to imagine that multitudes of humble46 serfs did not bewail the loss of the Father whose charity succoured them in time of need and whose equity47 they could always invoke48 against oppression. It would be no less idle to imagine that among his veteran servants no hearts beat in unison49 with the heart of General Lentulus, who craved50 the honour of following his great chief as rear-guard, since Zieten, who died earlier in the year, had secured the place of pride in the van.
COFFINS51 OF FREDERICK THE GREAT (RIGHT) AND FREDERICK WILLIAM I. (LEFT) IN THE GARRISON CHURCH AT POTSDAM.
Berlin, however, rejoiced that Frederick was no more. The cry of the hour was, Back to Frederick William I! Led by a silly King (1786–1797) Prussia plunged52 into a Teutonic reaction. Good-humour,349 pomp, aggressive orthodoxy, the use of the German speech, and a grandiose53 foreign policy marked the royal condemnation54 of Frederick’s practices. Prussia was tempted55 by profits in Poland and in Germany to regard the convulsions of France with narrow selfishness. On the field of Jena, twenty years after Frederick’s death, she paid the price of all her errors (1806). Next year her Russian ally agreed with Napoleon that she should lose half her land, forego the right to arm, and submit for the future to be hemmed56 in by four hostile States.
Prussia was rescued from this plight57 by forces which found no place in Frederick’s system. Great ministers now gained ascendancy58 over the King. The nation flung off the fetters59 of feudalism, all classes joined in the War of Liberation, and the final triumph in 1813–1815 was inspired by the spirit not of autocracy60 but of German nationality. The memory of Frederick faded into that of a ruler of that old despotic type which the sovereigns, in defiance61 of the claims of their people, were striving to restore.
It was the spirit of nationality, however, that in the long run revived Frederick’s renown62. The German people cried out for an organisation63 that should be closer and more virile64 than the federation65 into which they had been formed after the overthrow66 of Napoleon. In 1848–49, while Austria was paralysed by revolt, they turned hopefully to Prussia for leadership, but the reigning67 King refused to accept an Imperial crown at the hands of the mob. From that time onwards, however, the theory gained wide350 credence68 that it was the destiny of Prussia to unite and to regenerate69 Germany.
When in 1866 she worked her will with Austria, and when in 1871 the Imperial crown was handed to her over the body of prostrate France, the Hohenzollern legend grew. Results so glorious, men thought, could have been achieved only because a long series of national heroes had worked towards a common goal. The Hohenzollerns, and Frederick chief among them, were extolled70 by a thousand pens as the pioneers of a solid and triumphant71 Germany. A generation which salutes72 by the title of “Great” the Emperor whom Bismarck was wont38 to hoodwink and cajole is logically compelled to regard Frederick as superhuman.
The student who reviews the life-work of Frederick without either the sympathy or the bias73 of German patriotism74 may return a calmer answer to the question,—Is Frederick rightly termed “The Great”? Having followed the main steps in his long career, we may at its close sift75 out and set down those qualities and achievements, if such exist, which entitle him not merely to a place among the great, but to a place in that small circle of the world’s heroes whose memory is so illustrious that greatness is always coupled with their names.
As a thinker, Frederick falls very far short of greatness. Though he struggled all his life with the problem of the World and its Maker4, he convinced himself only that nature furnished irresistible77 proof of an intelligent Creator, but that the idea of an act of creation was absurd. In no department351 of thought was his range of vision long, but he saw with wonderful clearness so far as his sight could penetrate78. The very fact that all objects within his ken1 seemed so distinct prevented him from realising that great forces might lie beyond. Thus the method of progress which he followed was that of devising ingenious improvements in a world that was settled and known. Though he witnessed the American Revolution and died within three years of the great explosion in France, he seems to have had no suspicion that the framework of the world might change.
This lack of sympathy with the deeper currents of human progress reveals itself by many signs in almost all the phases of Frederick’s activity. In the art of war, indeed, he had witnessed too great an advance during his own career not to suppose that further advance was possible. He had himself given the infantry a mobility79 then unrivalled. He had introduced horse-artillery, and created the finest cavalry80 in the world. In his old age he turned to account the lessons of wars in both hemispheres, by raising his artillery to the importance of a separate arm and experimenting with the straggling tactics of the Americans.
Literature and learning, however, he regarded with a less open mind. While Voltaire lived, he viewed him as the sole surviving man of letters. He treated the work of young Goethe, his own fervent81 admirer, with contempt and showed himself no less blind to the latent possibilities of natural science and mathematics. What he saw clearly was that these studies claimed much devotion, but sometimes failed to352 produce practical results. “Is it not true,” he demanded of d’Alembert, “that electricity and all the miracles that it reveals have only served to excite our curiosity? Is it not true that the forces of attraction and gravitation have only astonished our imagination? Is it not true that all the operations of chemistry are in the same case?” Euler himself had failed to make the fountains at Sans Souci play successfully, and the King jeered82 at geometricians as the very type of the pig-headed. In the campaign of 1778 an officer who trusted his theodolite in preference to his eye was bidden to go to the devil with his trigonometry.
None of Frederick’s opinions or whims83 can be termed unimportant, for his power was so unfettered that he could embody84 any of them in acts of State. The building of the New Palace furnishes a hint of how great might have been the consequences had he given rein85 to a single enthusiasm in the sphere of art. But with this reservation it is in the domain86 of statecraft, especially in his system of foreign policy, his economic doctrine87, and his theory of the organisation of the State, that we must seek the true measure of his mind.
In his conception of the political world and of Prussia’s place in it, acuteness and lack of profundity88 are again apparent. The acuteness is indeed impaired89 because of the existence of two political factors, honesty and women, that Frederick never understood. The former, it is true, was so rare that his ignorance of its nature hampered90 him but little, save when Augustus frustrated91 all his plans in 1756,353 and when in the later stages of the Seven Years’ War Louis XV. fulfilled his unprofitable engagements with the Queen. But during Frederick’s lifetime women played an unusually prominent part in Europe, and his misjudgment of them was a serious political defect. Prussia suffered severely92 for his belief that Maria Theresa was pliable93, Elizabeth of Russia incapable94, the Pompadour insignificant95, and Catherine II. shallow.
In general, however, Frederick was as gifted a tactician96 in politics as in war, and in both he knew how to profit by experience. Compared with his handling of France in his early years, his handling of Russia from 1762 to 1779 shows an advance as marked as that of his guardianship97 between Mollwitz and Leuthen. The circumstances of the age favoured a policy of opportunism for Prussia. Dexterity98, not depth, was profitable, and Frederick therefore earned handsome rewards—Silesia, East Frisia, and West-Preussen.
The pillars of his system, none the less, were built of crumbling99 stone. The triumphs of his successors have to this day shored up some among them—that profit ranks before promises in affairs of State, that morals are to be reserved for manifestoes, and that the rectitude of an act is determined100 by its success. Some, on the other hand, were swiftly demolished101 by the course of subsequent events. That Austria was Prussia’s most dangerous foe102, that the German princes were her least desirable allies, and that lasting103 concord104 with Russia was expedient105, may be regarded as mistakes, natural enough but damaging354 to Frederick’s reputation for profound statesmanship.
His economic errors have been discussed in earlier chapters of this book. Where an original thinker would have reflected and enquired, Frederick plunged into ill-judged action. While he claimed for Prussia a place among the Great Powers, he was bent106 on administering her resources as despotically as though she were a farm and he the steward107. His thrift108 and industry palliated but could not cure the evils which flowed from this confusion. The birth of individual enterprise was retarded110, while by the concentration of its attention upon petty cash the hereditary111 tendency of the Prussian Government to be sordid112 was intensified113. The King, though admirably acquainted with the details of the production of material wealth, was insensible to the vastly greater value of goods which cannot be seen or handled. How, it may be wondered, could his Government foster honour, initiative, or independence—qualities which in the long run are the fundamentals even of material success?
In foreign policy Frederick was successful, and in economic practice his failure was qualified. But his lack of true insight into the functions of government was fraught114 with terrible consequences for Prussia. Judged by the standard of the age, it is true, Frederick’s administration was a pattern to the world. The State, as the fashion then was, interfered115 everywhere and with irresistible strength. Its machinery116, though cumbrous, ran smooth and true, and the actual expense was small. “If Prussia355 perishes,” wrote Mirabeau, “the art of government will return to its infancy117.”
From the same pen, however, came a verdict, damning, indeed, yet unshaken by appeal to reason or to the event. “If ever a foolish prince ascends118 this throne we shall see the formidable giant suddenly collapse119, and Prussia will fall like Sweden.” Frederick secured his own triumph by making it impossible to succeed him.
Against this department of his statecraft a double indictment120 must be brought. He was not profound enough to see that the machine which he laboured to render indissoluble was such that only an unbroken series of monarchs121 as gifted as he could guide it. Nor was he wise enough, though he knew that the next steersman of the State would be a fool, to alter the machine so as to give it some power of self-direction.
The folly122 of tacitly assuming that successors like himself would be forthcoming was shared by Frederick with many of the great autocrats124 of history. Men abhor125 the thought of a vacuum created by their own disappearance126. The self-abnegation of a Washington is as much rarer as it is wiser than the augmented127 industry of an aged128 Louis XIV. Yet the sketch129 that has been given in this book of the all-embracing activity of the King, who nominated even the sergeants130 and corporals in an army of 200,000 men, and allowed no branch of his civil hierarchy131 the least real independence, suffices to show how improbable it was that an ordinary prince could put himself in Frederick’s place, and how fatal it would be to the Government if he did not.
356 Frederick himself stated clearly the ruin that would ensue if a King of Prussia relaxed his grip on the finances, embarked132 upon schemes of premature133 aggression134, or paused to enjoy his kingship. His nephew and heir, to look no further into the future, was a man whom he knew to be likely to commit all these faults. The remedy was to call into existence a body outside the throne and to entrust135 to its keeping some share in the power which had grown too great for the monarchy136 to wield137. In the bureaucracy Frederick possessed138 a body of loyal and upright men who were not connected with any dangerous caste. Yet so far from training them for partial independence, he continued to treat them, from the General Directory downwards139, like schoolboys who deserved to be flogged. His standing140 recipe was to keep them between fear and hope. In 1780, to cite only one instance from many, he wrote to the Chamber141 for West-Preussen: “Ye are arch-rogues not worth the bread that is given you, and all deserve to be turned out. Just wait till I come to Preussen!” It is not surprising that men of birth and capacity hesitated to serve in the administration during Frederick’s lifetime and that narrow-minded pedantry142 soon became its distinguishing feature after he died. The King bequeathed an impossible task to posterity143 and the catastrophe144 of the Prussian State at Jena was the result.
FREDERICK THE SECOND, KING OF PRUSSIA.
AFTER THE PAINTING BY CHODOWIECKI.
As a thinker, then, even in politics and administration, Frederick falls very far short of greatness. His powers were, in reality, those of a man of action. The versatility145 with which he entered into every357 department of government in turn is no more astounding146 than the clearness with which he perceived the immediate147 obstacles to be overcome in each, the courage with which he faced them, and the force, swift, steady, and irresistible, by which he triumphed. The wonderful energy which prompted him to bear on his own shoulders all the burden of the State in war and peace, and to put forth123 all his strength at every blow, was yet more marvellous because it was susceptible148 of control. Frederick, as we have seen, ceased from the labours of the Seven Years’ War, only to undertake the reconstruction149 of the economic life of a great kingdom. By mere76 overflow150 of force he finished his History of the War early in the year after that in which peace was made. Yet, with all his energy, he was able to realise that not seldom force needs the help of time. He was gratified when some of his enterprises began to repay him after twenty years, and he declined to aggrandise Prussia beyond the limit which his statesmanlike instinct taught him that her strength would warrant.
Among Frederick’s powers, then, energy alone is truly great, but his energy was such that to him few achievements were impossible. If we turn from his powers to his performance, we find his name associated with three great phenomena151 of history. Under his guidance Prussia rose at one step from the third to the highest grade among the Powers. He was, moreover, the pattern of the monarchs of his time, the type of the benevolent152 despots of the later eighteenth century. Finally, in the great series of events by which Germany has become a united358 military Empire his life-work fills a conspicuous153 place. How far, we may enquire21, should his work in any of these three fields compel the admiration154 of succeeding ages?
That part of the Hohenzollern legend which portrays155 Frederick as the conscious or semi-conscious architect of the modern German Empire finds little support in the record of his life. Sometimes, it is true, he used the language of Teutonic patriotism and posed as the indignant defender156 of German liberties against the Hapsburg. But he posed with equal indignation as the protector of Polish or Swedish “liberties” against a reforming king or as the champion of Protestantism against Powers who might be represented as its foes157. The whole course of his life witnessed to his preference for French civilisation158 over German, and to his indifference159 as to the race of his subjects and assistants, if only they were serviceable to the State. His point of view was invariably and exclusively Prussian. It would never have occurred to him to refuse to barter160 his Rhenish provinces for parts of Bohemia or Poland because the former were inhabited by Germans and the latter by Slavs. He was far from being shocked at the suggestion that he might one day partition the Empire with the Hapsburgs. He struggled for equality with Austria, never dreaming of the time when his descendants should expel her from Germany and assume the Imperial crown. Thus, though his work was a step towards their triumph, it was unconscious. He must be judged by viewing his achievements in relation to his own designs.
359 Frederick’s influence upon his contemporaries was enormous, and in many respects it cannot be overpraised. He found what has been styled “Sultan and harem economy” prevalent among his peers, together with a tendency to regard the income of the State as the pocket-money of the ruler. For this he substituted in Europe a great measure of his own ideal of royal duty. Fearing nothing and hoping little from any future state, he was yet too proud to flinch161 from an atom of the lifelong penance162 that he believed was prescribed for kings by some law of nature. Duty to his House and duty to his State were to him the same, and they dictated a life of incessant163 labour for his subjects’ good, and forbade the appropriation164 of more than a living wage. Other sovereigns followed the Prussian mode, and “benevolent despotism” came to be regarded as the panacea165 for the ills of Europe. Though it hardly survived the storm of the Revolution, it was instrumental in removing many abuses and in promoting during several decades the comfort of the common people. Thanks in great part to Frederick, irresponsible monarchy became impossible for ever.
Frederick’s fame, none the less, finds its most solid basis in the achievement to which all else in his life was subordinate,—the successful aggrandisement of Prussia. Though it may be true that another and a better way lay open to him, that the path which he marked out led straight to Jena, that he owed much of his success to fortune, and that his work was rescued by forces which he had not prized, in spite of all it is to him that Prussia owes her place360 among the nations. By his single will he shaped the course of history. His rule completed the fusion109 of provinces into a State, his victories gave it prestige, and the success of his work of aggrandisement was great enough to consecrate166 the very arts by which it was accomplished167. Two decades after his death a king of Prussia entered his tomb by night, seeking inspiration to confront Napoleon. The architects of modern Germany declare that all that they have built rests upon the foundations that he laid. As long as the German Empire flourishes and the world is swayed by the principles of its founders168, so long will the fame of Frederick the Great remain secure.
The End
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
ken
|
|
| n.视野，知识领域 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
diligent
|
|
| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
infantry
|
|
| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
maker
|
|
| n.制造者，制造商 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
regiments
|
|
| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
prelude
|
|
| n.序言，前兆，序曲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
disorder
|
|
| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
inspection
|
|
| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
gratitude
|
|
| adj.感激，感谢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
subsidies
|
|
| n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
deluge
|
|
| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
artillery
|
|
| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
asthma
|
|
| n.气喘病，哮喘病 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
torment
|
|
| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
fortitude
|
|
| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
concealed
|
|
| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
reclaimed
|
|
| adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
converse
|
|
| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
enquired
|
|
| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
enquire
|
|
| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
sleeplessness
|
|
| n.失眠，警觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
qualified
|
|
| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
circuitous
|
|
| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
abode
|
|
| n.住处，住所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
copious
|
|
| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
maize
|
|
| n.玉米 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
pungent
|
|
| adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
gallop
|
|
| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
exertion
|
|
| n.尽力，努力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
prostrate
|
|
| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
inflexible
|
|
| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
strictly
|
|
| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
excise
|
|
| n.(国产)货物税；vt.切除，删去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
privy
|
|
| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
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： |
|
|
|
|
37
dictated
|
|
| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
wont
|
|
| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
corpse
|
|
| n.尸体，死尸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
coffin
|
|
| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
vault
|
|
| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
garish
|
|
| adj.华丽而俗气的，华而不实的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
garrison
|
|
| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
homage
|
|
| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
symbolic
|
|
| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
equity
|
|
| n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
invoke
|
|
| v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
unison
|
|
| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
craved
|
|
| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
coffins
|
|
| n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
plunged
|
|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
grandiose
|
|
| adj.宏伟的，宏大的，堂皇的，铺张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
condemnation
|
|
| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
tempted
|
|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
hemmed
|
|
| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
plight
|
|
| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
ascendancy
|
|
| n.统治权，支配力量 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
fetters
|
|
| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
autocracy
|
|
| n.独裁政治，独裁政府 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
defiance
|
|
| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
renown
|
|
| n.声誉，名望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
organisation
|
|
| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
virile
|
|
| adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
federation
|
|
| n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
overthrow
|
|
| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
reigning
|
|
| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
credence
|
|
| n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
regenerate
|
|
| vt.使恢复，使新生；vi.恢复，再生；adj.恢复的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
extolled
|
|
| v.赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
triumphant
|
|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
salutes
|
|
| n.致敬，欢迎，敬礼( salute的名词复数 )v.欢迎，致敬( salute的第三人称单数 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
bias
|
|
| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
patriotism
|
|
| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
sift
|
|
| v.筛撒，纷落，详察 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
irresistible
|
|
| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
penetrate
|
|
| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
mobility
|
|
| n.可动性，变动性，情感不定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
cavalry
|
|
| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
fervent
|
|
| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
jeered
|
|
| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
WHIMS
|
|
| 虚妄，禅病 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
embody
|
|
| vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
rein
|
|
| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
domain
|
|
| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
doctrine
|
|
| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
profundity
|
|
| n.渊博；深奥，深刻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
impaired
|
|
| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
hampered
|
|
| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
frustrated
|
|
| adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
severely
|
|
| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
pliable
|
|
| adj.易受影响的；易弯的；柔顺的，易驾驭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
insignificant
|
|
| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
tactician
|
|
| n. 战术家, 策士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
guardianship
|
|
| n. 监护, 保护, 守护 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
dexterity
|
|
| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
crumbling
|
|
| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
demolished
|
|
| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
foe
|
|
| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
lasting
|
|
| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
concord
|
|
| n.和谐；协调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
expedient
|
|
| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
steward
|
|
| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
thrift
|
|
| adj.节约，节俭；n.节俭，节约 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
fusion
|
|
| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
retarded
|
|
| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
hereditary
|
|
| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
sordid
|
|
| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
intensified
|
|
| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
fraught
|
|
| adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
interfered
|
|
| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
machinery
|
|
| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
infancy
|
|
| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
ascends
|
|
| v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
collapse
|
|
| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
indictment
|
|
| n.起诉；诉状 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
monarchs
|
|
| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
autocrats
|
|
| n.独裁统治者( autocrat的名词复数 )；独断专行的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
abhor
|
|
| v.憎恶；痛恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
disappearance
|
|
| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
Augmented
|
|
| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
aged
|
|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
sketch
|
|
| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
sergeants
|
|
| 警官( sergeant的名词复数 )； （美国警察）警佐； （英国警察）巡佐； 陆军（或空军）中士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
hierarchy
|
|
| n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
embarked
|
|
| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
premature
|
|
| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
aggression
|
|
| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
entrust
|
|
| v.信赖，信托，交托 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
monarchy
|
|
| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
wield
|
|
| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
downwards
|
|
| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
chamber
|
|
| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
pedantry
|
|
| n.迂腐，卖弄学问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
posterity
|
|
| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
catastrophe
|
|
| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
versatility
|
|
| n.多才多艺，多样性，多功能 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
astounding
|
|
| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
susceptible
|
|
| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
reconstruction
|
|
| n.重建，再现，复原 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
overflow
|
|
| v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
phenomena
|
|
| n.现象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
benevolent
|
|
| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
conspicuous
|
|
| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
portrays
|
|
| v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
defender
|
|
| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
foes
|
|
| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
civilisation
|
|
| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
indifference
|
|
| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
barter
|
|
| n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
flinch
|
|
| v.畏缩，退缩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
penance
|
|
| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
incessant
|
|
| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
appropriation
|
|
| n.拨款，批准支出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
panacea
|
|
| n.万灵药；治百病的灵药 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
consecrate
|
|
| v.使圣化，奉…为神圣；尊崇；奉献 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
founders
|
|
| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |