The difficulty which Buonaparte had created for himself by the usurpation8 of the thrones of Spain and Portugal, had the direct result which his wisest counsellors foresaw. Austria immediately began to watch the progress of the Peninsular struggle, and the resistance of the Spanish people; and the stepping of Great Britain into that field induced her to believe that the opportunity was come for throwing off the French yoke10, and avenging11 her past injuries and humiliations. She had made arrangements by which she could call out an immense population, and convert them into soldiers. But in determining to declare open war against Buonaparte, Austria displayed a woful want of sagacity. To compete with a general like Buonaparte, and a power like France, it needed not only that her armies should be numerous but thoroughly12 disciplined. Nothing could have been lost by a little delay, but much might be gained. If Buonaparte succeeded in putting down the insurrection in Spain, he would then fall on Austria with all his victorious forces; if he did not succeed, but his difficulties increased, then every day that Austria waited was a day of strength to her. Russia, which was nominally13 at peace with Buonaparte, but which at heart was already determined14 on breaking the connection, saw, with just alarm, this precipitate15 movement of Austria. If she rose at once, Alexander was bound by treaty to co-operate in putting her down; if she deferred17 her enterprise for awhile, there was every probability that they could issue forth18 together against the common disturber. If Austria made a rash blow and were prostrated19, Russia would then be left alone; and Alexander knew well, notwithstanding Napoleon's professions, that he would lose little time in demanding some concession22 from him.
But Austria had not the prudence24 to guide herself by these considerations. Her ablest statesman, Metternich, and the ablest statesman of France, Talleyrand, had many private conferences with the Russian ambassador, Romanzoff, to endeavour to concert some scheme by which this war could be prevented, but in vain. Austria believed that the time for regaining25 her position in Germany, Italy, and the Tyrol, was come; and Talleyrand knew that Buonaparte would make no concession to avoid the threatened collision, because it would argue at once a decline of his power. All that he could do, he did, which was on his hasty return to Paris from Spain: he opened communications with Austria, intended to defer16 the declaration of war for a few months whilst he made his preparations. He had little fear of crushing Austria summarily. He believed that Soult, having driven Sir John Moore out of Spain, would prevent the British from sending[587] another army there; and he was confident that his generals there could speedily reduce the Spaniards to submission26. On the other hand, Austria, he knew, could have no assistance from Russia, Prussia, or the other Northern Powers. All he wanted, therefore, was a little time to collect his armies. Austria had made gigantic exertions27, and had now on foot a greater host than she had ever brought into the field before. It was said to comprehend half a million of men, two hundred thousand of whom were under the command of the Emperor's brother, the Archduke Charles, and posted in Austria to defend the main body of the empire. Another large army was, under the command of the Archduke John, in Carinthia and Carniola, ready to descend28 on the north of Italy; and a third was posted in Galicia, under the Archduke Ferdinand, to defend Poland. John was to co-operate with Charles through the defiles29 of the Tyrol, which, having been given over, by the pressure of Buonaparte at the Treaty of Pressburg, to Bavaria, was ready to rise and renew its ancient and devoted30 union with Austria.
Buonaparte had not a sufficient French force in Germany under Davoust and Oudinot, but he called on the Confederacy of the Rhine to furnish their stipulated31 quotas32 to fight for the subjugation33 of their common fatherland. Bavaria, Würtemberg, Saxony, and the smaller States were summoned to this unholy work. His numbers, after all, were far inferior to those of the enemy, and, besides the renegade Germans, consisted of a medley34 of other tributary35 nations—Italians, Poles, Dutch, Belgians, and others. It is amazing how, in all his later wars, he used the nations he had conquered to put down the rest. Even in his fatal campaign in Russia—yet to come—a vast part of his army consisted of the troops of these subjugated36 nations.
On the 9th of April, 1809, the Archduke Charles crossed the Inn, and invaded Bavaria, the ally of France. He issued a manifesto38 declaring that the cause of Austria was that of the general independence of Germany, and called on those States which had been compelled to bear the yoke of France to throw it off, and stand boldly for the common liberty. The serious discontent of the people of Germany encouraged him to hope that his call would be responded to; but Germany was not yet ripe for an effective reaction. Simultaneously39, the Archduke John had descended40 from the Alps into Italy, and driven the troops of the viceroy, Eugene Beauharnais, before him. He had advanced as far as the Tagliamento, and laid siege to the fortresses41 of Orobo and Palma Nuova. The Archduke Ferdinand had also marched into Poland, defeated Poniatowski, Buonaparte's general, and taken possession of Warsaw. All so far looked cheering; for the great actor was not yet on the scene. But he quitted Paris on the 11th of April, two days only after the Archduke Charles entered Bavaria, and in a few days was with his army at Donauw?rth. He expressed the utmost contempt for the Austrian troops, saying, in a letter to Massena, that six thousand French ought to beat twelve thousand or fifteen thousand of "those canaille." He greatly disapproved43 of the manner in which Berthier had disposed of his forces, for he had extended them in a long line from Augsburg to Ratisbon, with a very weak centre. He ordered Davoust and Massena, who commanded the opposite wings, to draw nearer together. That being done, on the 20th of April he made a sudden attack on the Austrians at Abensberg, and defeated them. The next day he renewed the attack at Landshut, and took from them thirty pieces of cannon44, nine thousand prisoners, and a great quantity of ammunition45 and baggage. The following day he advanced against the main position of the Archduke Charles, at Eckmühl, where, by the most skilful46 man?uvres, he turned all the enemy's positions, and defeated one division after another with all the art and regularity47 of a game of chess. Charles was thoroughly defeated, and had twenty thousand men taken prisoners, with a loss of fifteen stand of colours, and the greater part of his artillery48. The next day the Austrians made a stand to defend the town of Ratisbon. They fought bravely; but, a breach49 being made in the wall, Marshal Lannes seized a scaling-ladder, and, whilst hundreds of French were falling under the fire of the Austrians, he planted it against the breach, saying, "I will show you that your general is still a grenadier!" The wall was scaled, and a desperate battle ensued in the streets of the town. At one moment, a number of tumbrils loaded with powder were in danger of exploding, and destroying the combatants on both sides; but the Austrians warned the French of the danger, and they mutually combined to remove them. That over, they recommenced the struggle, and the Austrians were driven out of the town, leaving again cannon, much ammunition, and many prisoners in the hands of the French. Whilst watching the mêlée, Buonaparte was struck on the toe by a spent musket-ball; but he had the wound dressed, and again remounted his[588] horse, and watched with unfailing vigilance the progress of the battle.
MARSHAL LANNES AT RATISBON. (See p. 587.)
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In five days he had snatched the most damaging victories. The Archduke Charles retreated in haste towards Bohemia, to secure himself in the defiles of its mountains; and Buonaparte employed the 23rd and 24th of April in reviewing his troops and distributing rewards. General Hiller, who, with the Archduke Louis, had been defeated at Landshut, had united himself to a considerable body of reserve, and placed himself on the way, as determined to defend the capital. He retreated upon Ebersberg, where the sole bridge over the Traun gave access to the place, the banks of the river being steep and rocky. He had thirty thousand men to defend this bridge, and trusted to detain the French there till the Archduke Charles should come up again with reinforcements, when they might jointly51 engage them. But Massena made a desperate onset52 on the bridge, and, after a very bloody53 encounter, carried it. Hiller then retreated to the Danube, which he crossed by the bridge of Mautern, and, destroying it after him, continued his march to join the Archduke Charles. This left the road open to Vienna, and Buonaparte steadily54 advanced upon it. The Archduke Charles, becoming aware of this circumstance, returned upon his track, hoping to reach Vienna before him, in which case he might have made a long defence. But Buonaparte was too nimble for him: he appeared before the walls of the city, and summoned it to surrender. The Archduke Maximilian kept the place with a garrison55 of fifteen thousand men, and he held out for three or four days. Buonaparte then commenced flinging bombs into the most thickly populated parts of the city, and warned the inhabitants of the horrors they must suffer from a siege. All the royal family had gone except Maximilian and the young archduchess, Maria Louisa, who was ill. This was notified to Buonaparte, and he ordered the palace to be exempted56 from the attack. This was the young lady destined57 very soon to supersede58 the Empress Josephine in the imperial honours of France. The city capitulated on the 12th of May, the French took possession of it, and Napoleon resumed his residence at the palace of Sch?nbrunn, on the outskirts59.
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Buonaparte's army now occupied the city and the right bank of the Danube. The archduke arrived, and posted himself on the left bank. The river was swollen60 with the spring rains and the melting of the snow in the mountains. All the bridges had been broken down by which Buonaparte might cross to attack the Austrians before they were joined by their other armies. Buonaparte endeavoured to throw one over at Nussdorf, about a league above Vienna, but the Austrians drove away his men. He therefore made a fresh attempt at Ebersdorf, opposite to which the Danube was divided into five channels, flowing amongst islands, the largest of which was one called Lobau. Here he succeeded, the Archduke Charles seeming unaware62 of what he was doing, or taking no care to prevent it. On the 20th of May the French began to cross, and deployed63 on a plain between the villages of Aspern and Esslingen. Thirty thousand infantry65 had crossed before the next morning, and six thousand horse, and they were attacked by the Austrians, near the village of Aspern, about four in the afternoon. The battle was desperately66 contested on both sides. The villages of Aspern and Esslingen were taken and retaken several times. The struggle went on with great fury, amid farm-yards, gardens, and enclosures, and waggons67, carts, harrows, and ploughs were collected and used as barricades69. Night closed upon the scene, leaving the combatants on both sides in possession of some part or other of these villages. On the following morning, the 22nd, the fight was renewed, and, after a terrible carnage, the French were driven back on the river. At this moment news came that the bridge connecting the right bank with the islands was broken down, and the communication of the French army was in danger of being altogether cut off. Buonaparte, to prevent this, retreated into the island of Lobau with the whole of the combating force, and broke down the bridge which connected the islands with the left bank behind them. The Austrians followed keenly upon them in their retreat, and inflicted70 a dreadful slaughter71 upon them. Marshal Lannes had both his legs shattered by a cannon-ball, and was carried into the island in the midst of the mêlée; General St. Hilaire also was killed. The loss in killed and wounded on both sides amounted to upwards72 of forty thousand. For two days Napoleon remained on the island, with his defeated troops, without provisions, and expecting hourly to be cut to pieces. General Hiller earnestly pressed the Archduke Charles to allow him to pass the Danube, by open force, opposite to the isle73 of Enzersdorf, where it might be done under cover of cannon, pledging himself to compel the surrender of Buonaparte and his army. But the archduke appeared under a spell from the moment that the fighting was over. Having his enemy thus cooped up, it was in his power to cut off all his supplies. By crossing the river higher or lower, he could have kept possession of both banks, and at once have cut off Buonaparte's magazines at Ebersdorf, under Davoust, from which he was separated by the inundation74. By any other general, the other armies under his brother would have been ordered up by express; every soldier and every cannon that Austria could muster75 within any tolerable distance would have been summoned to surround and secure the enemy, taken at such disadvantage. In no other country but Austria could Napoleon have ever left that island but as a prisoner with a surrendered army.
And all this time the spirit of revolt against Napoleon's domination was growing rapidly in Germany; and had the Austrians only made the slightest use of their present opportunity, the whole of the country would have been in arms and the French completely driven out. Though Prussia was still too much depressed76 to dare to rise and join Austria, there was a fast-growing spirit of indignation amongst its population, which the Tugend Bund had tended greatly to increase. The brave Major Schill, without waiting for any sanction from the King of Prussia, led forth his band of hussars, amounting to about five thousand, and prepared to join with Colonel D?rnberg, an officer of Jerome, the King of Westphalia's guard, to raise an insurrection in that State, and drive out Jerome and the French. The design was betrayed to Jerome by a traitorous77 friend of D?rnberg, and he was compelled to fly. Letters found amongst D?rnberg's papers showed the participation79 of Schill in the scheme. Jerome, of course, complained to the King of Prussia, and the unhappy monarch80 was obliged to disavow and denounce the conduct of Schill. The brave partisan81 made his way to Wittenberg and Halberstadt, and was pursued by the forces of Westphalia and Holland northwards to Weimar, and finally to Stralsund, which he prepared to defend. The place was stormed by the Dutch and Westphalians, and Schill was killed fighting in the streets of Stralsund, after having split the head of the Dutch general, Carteret, with his sword. Thus fell the gallant83 Schill, true to his motto—"Better a terrible end than endless terror."
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D?rnberg escaped to Great Britain. Katt, another patriot85, assembled a number of veterans at Stendal, and advanced as far as Magdeburg, but was compelled to fly to the Brunswickers in Bohemia. Had the Archduke Charles marched through Franconia at the opening of the campaign, as he proposed, all these isolated86 bodies might have been encouraged, and knit into a formidable army. But the most powerful of all these independent leaders, the Duke of Brunswick, was too late to join Schill, Katt, and D?rnberg. The son of the Duke of Brunswick who had been so barbarously treated by Buonaparte had vowed87 an eternal revenge. But the French were in possession of his sole patrimony88, Oels, and he went to Bohemia, where he raised a band of two thousand hussars, which he equipped and maintained by the aid of England, the home of his sister Caroline, the Princess of Wales. He clothed his hussars in black, in memory of his father's death, with the lace disposed like the ribs89 of a skeleton, and their caps and helmets bearing a death's-head in front—whence they were called the Black Brunswickers. He advanced at their head through Saxony, Franconia, Hesse, and Hanover, calling on the populations to rise and assert their liberties. He defeated Junot at Berneck, and the Saxons at Zittau, but it was the middle of May before he entered Germany, and by that time the enemy had widely separated Schill and the other insurgents90. He managed, however, to surprise Leipsic, and thus furnish himself with ammunition and stores. But the Dutch, Saxons, and Westphalians were all bearing down on him. He defeated them at Halberstadt and in Brunswick, but was finally overpowered by numbers of these Dutch and Germans disgracefully fighting against their own country, and he retreated to Elsfleth, and thence sailed for England.
All this time, too, the brave Tyrolese were in open revolt, so that the success of Austria would have instantly produced a universal rising of the country. But for six weeks the Austrians continued to allow Napoleon to keep open his communication with Vienna, whence he procured92 every material for building, not one bridge, but three; timber, cordage, iron, and forty engines to drive the piles, were procured from its ample magazines. Besides building the bridges, Buonaparte had quickly fortified93 the island, and placed batteries so as to prevent any successful attack upon him, whilst he was now furnished with the means of issuing from the island almost at pleasure. Since their being cooped up on Lobau, the French had received numerous reinforcements; and though the Archduke John was marching to join the Archduke Charles, Eugene Beauharnais was close at his heels, continually harassing94 him and compelling him to fight. On the frontiers of Hungary, the town of Raab ought to have enabled John to resist and retard95 Beauharnais, and have allowed the Archduke Regnier, who was organising another army in Hungary, to come up; but Raab only stood out eight days, and John was obliged to cross the Danube at Pressburg, to endeavour to advance and make a junction96 with the Archduke Charles. But Eugene Beauharnais managed to join Buonaparte still earlier, and the Emperor did not then allow John to unite with Charles; for, on the night of the 5th of July, he began to fire on the Austrians, on the left bank of the Danube, from gunboats; and whilst they were replying to this, he quietly put his forces across the river. At daylight the next morning the Archduke Charles was astonished to find the French army on the open land; they had turned his whole position, had taken the villages of Esslingen and Enzersdorf, and were already assailing97 him in flank and rear. The archduke retired98 upon Wagram, which was lost and taken several times during the day. Buonaparte attempted to break the centre of the Austrian line by a concentrated fire of grape-shot, but the Austrians replied vigorously with their artillery. The French were held in check, if not repulsed99. The Saxons and other German troops displayed a disposition101 to break, and go over to the Austrians. Buonaparte spoke102 sharply to Bernadotte of the conduct of the Saxons, and the marshal replied that they had no longer such soldiers as they brought from the camp of Boulogne. When night closed the French were in confusion, and, in reality, worsted. The next morning, the 6th of July, the archduke renewed the attack on all the French lines, but is said to have left his centre too weak. Buonaparte again endeavoured to break it, but failed. Bernadotte, Massena, and Davoust were all in turn driven from their positions. Buonaparte, in a state of desperation, cried, "The Austrian centre must be battered103 with artillery like a fortress42." He ordered Davoust to make a desperate charge on the left wing, and called on Drouet, the general of his artillery, to bring up all the artillery of the Guard, and support Davoust. Davoust directed the whole of his force on the left wing, which was broken, and then Buonaparte, forming a dense104 and deep column of all his best troops, old and new Guards, and his celebrated[591] Grenadiers à cheval, under Macdonald and Beauharnais, drove against the centre with a fury that shattered it, and the battle was decided105. But at what a price! The Austrians had twenty-six or twenty-seven thousand killed and wounded, and the French upwards of thirty thousand. Buonaparte lost three generals, and had twenty-one wounded. The Austrians had thirteen generals killed or wounded; but they had taken many more prisoners than they had lost. Whilst the battle was raging, the Archduke John was approaching from Pressburg; but Austrian slowness, or, as it is said, conflicting orders from his brother and the Aulic Council, did not permit him to come up in time, or he would assuredly have turned the day.
Still there was no need to despair. The archduke had yet a great force; there were the divisions of the Archdukes John, Ferdinand, and Regnier, and the Tyrolese were all in active operation in their mountains. But the Emperor, on learning the fate of the battle, lost heart, made offers of peace, which were accepted, and an armistice106 was signed by Francis at Znaim, in Moravia. The armistice took place on the 11th of July, but the treaty of peace was not signed till the 14th of October, at the palace of Sch?nbrunn. The long delay in completing this treaty was occasioned by the exactions which Buonaparte made on Austria of cessions of territory, and the means he took to terrify Francis into submission to his terms. He even addressed a proclamation to the Hungarians, exhorting107 them to separate from Austria and form an independent kingdom, telling them that they formed the finest part of the Austrian empire, and yet had received nothing from Austria but oppression and misfortunes. By such means, and by constantly exerting himself to sow the germs of discontent through all the Austrian provinces, he at last succeeded in concluding peace on condition of the cession23 of various territories to his partisans108 of the Confederacy of the Rhine, and of Trieste, the only Austrian port, to France, thus shutting up Austria, as he hoped, from communication with England. In all, Austria sacrificed forty-five thousand square miles and nearly four millions of subjects to this shameful109 peace. Neither were his allies, the King of Saxony and the Emperor of Russia, forgotten; each obtained a slice of Austria.
The news of the Treaty of Sch?nbrunn was a death-blow to the hopes and exertions of the Tyrolese. At this moment they had driven the French out of their mountains, and the beautiful Tyrol was free from end to end. Francis II. had been weak enough to give this brave country over again to Bavaria, at the command of Napoleon, and sent the patriotic110 Tyrolese word to lay down their arms. To understand the chagrin111 of the people we must recollect112 the strong attachment113 of the Tyrolese to the house of Austria and their brilliant actions during this war. It was decided to ignore the message and raise the Tyrol. On the 9th of April the concerted signal was given by planks114, bearing little red flags, floating down the Inn, and by sawdust thrown on the lesser115 streams. On the 10th the whole country was in arms. The Bavarians, under Colonel Wrede, proceeded to blow up the bridges in the Pusterthal, to prevent the approach of the Austrians; but his sappers, sent for the purpose, found themselves picked off by invisible foes116, and took to flight. Under Andrew Hofer, an innkeeper of the valley of Passeyr, the Tyrolese defeated the Bavarians in engagement after engagement. After the battle of Aspern, Francis II. sent word that his faithful Tyrolese should be united to Austria for ever, and that he would never conclude a peace in which they were not indissolubly united to his monarchy117. But Wagram followed, Francis forgot his promise, and the Tyrol, as we have seen, was again handed over to the French, to clear it for the Bavarians. Lefebvre marched into it with forty thousand men, and an army of Saxons, who had to bear the brunt of the fighting. Hofer and his comrades, Spechbacher, Joachim Haspinger, and Schenk, the host of the "Krug" or "Jug," again roused the country, and destroyed or drove back the Saxons; and when Lefebvre himself appeared near Botzen with all his concentrated forces, they compelled him also to retire from the Tyrol with terrible loss. The French and Saxons were pursued to Salzburg, many prisoners being taken by the way. Hofer was then appointed governor of the Tyrol. He received his credentials118 at Innsbruck from an emissary of the Archduke, his friends Spechbacher, Mayer, and Haspinger being present on the occasion, and also the priest Douay by whom the patriot was subsequently betrayed.
THE DUKE OF BRUNSWICK AND HIS HUSSARS (THE BLACK BRUNSWICKERS). (See p. 590.)
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But the Peace of Vienna was now concluded, and, on the 30th of October, Baron119 Lichtenthurm appeared in the camp of the Tyrolese, and delivered a letter to the leaders from the Archduke John, requesting them peaceably to disperse120, and surrender the country to the Bavarians. This was a terrible blow to these brave men. They appeared prostrated by the news, and Hofer announced to Spechbacher, who was still fighting with the Bavarians, that peace was made with France, and that the Tyrol was forgotten! Hofer returned to his native vale of Passeyr, and still held out against the French, and the Italian mercenaries under Rusca, whom he defeated with great slaughter. But traitors121 were amongst them, who guided the French to their rear. Hofer escaped into the higher Alps, but thirty of the other leaders were taken and shot without mercy. Another traitor78 guided the French to Hofer's retreat in the high wintry Alps. He had been earnestly implored122 to quit the country, but he refused. As the French surrounded his hut, on the 17th of February, 1810, he came out calmly and submitted. He was carried to the fortress of Mantua, and Napoleon sent an order that he should be shot within four-and-twenty hours. He would not suffer himself to be blindfolded123, nor would he kneel, but exclaimed—"I stand before my Creator, and, standing20, I will restore to Him the spirit He gave!" Thus died, on the 20th of February, 1810, the brave Hofer—another murdered man, another victim of the sanguinary vengeance124 of Buonaparte against whatever was patriotic and independent.
ANDREW HOFER APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF THE TYROL. (See p. 591.)
(From the Picture by Franz Defregger.)
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The arbitrary crushing of the freedom of the Tyrol, and the handing of it over to the Bavarians as a gift, was not the only oppression of this period of Napoleon's career, which the Germans call his supremacy125. He seemed to have put down all opposition126 on the Continent, except in Spain, and he dictated127 to all nations according to the arrogance128 of his will. His general in Poland, Poniatowski, himself a Pole, was employed to crush his countrymen. Poniatowski fell on the Austrians with forty thousand men, and made himself master of Warsaw, whilst the Archduke Ferdinand was besieging129 Thorn. He then advanced against the archduke, beat him in two battles fought in April and May, and eventually drove the Austrians out of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Buonaparte then divided Galicia, giving one portion to the Emperor of Russia, and adding the other to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, which was restored to the King of Saxony. Thus the Poles saw an end of all the high hopes with which Buonaparte had artfully succeeded in inspiring them, in order to induce them to[594] fight his battles for the subjugation of other peoples.
The Archduke John, whilst advancing victoriously130 into Italy, driving the viceroy, Eugene Beauharnais, before him, when he had reached almost to Venice was recalled by the news of the unfortunate battle of Eckmühl, and the orders of the Aulic Council. The Italians had received him with unconcealed joy; for, harsh as the rule of Austria in Italy had been, it was found to be easy in comparison with the yoke of Buonaparte. In common with other peoples, the Italians found that Buonaparte's domination, introduced with lofty pretences131 of restoring liberty and crushing all old tyrannies, was infinitely132 more intolerable than the worst of these old tyrannies. It was one enormous drain of military demand. The lifeblood of the nation was drawn133 as by some infernal and insatiable vampire134, to be poured out in all the other lands of Europe for their oppression and curse. Trade vanished, agriculture declined under the baleful incubus135; public robbery was added to private wrong; the works of art—the national pride—were stripped from their ancient places, without any regard to public or individual right, and there remained only an incessant136 pressure of taxation137, enforced with insult, and often with violence.
The Austrians being again expelled from Italy, Buonaparte, in his all-absorbing cupidity138, determined to turn adrift the Pope, and add his little vineyard to his now cumbrously overgrown Ahab's domains139. He had begun this spoliation in 1808, seizing on the greater part of the Pontiff's territories; sending away his cardinals140, and reducing him to little better than a solitary141 prisoner in his own palace. This was an ungrateful return to the poor old Pope for making the long journey into France to crown him, and thus to give a sacred sanction to his usurpation of the imperial crown—a sanction of immense effect throughout the Catholic world. Pius VII. had given Buonaparte great offence by refusing to declare war on Great Britain, and thus keeping up a breach in his system of exclusion142 of British commerce. He had, therefore, already taken military possession of Civita Vecchia and Ancona, but he now resolved to take the whole temporal dominion143 from the Pope, and abrogate144, by virtue145 of his assumed heirship146 of Charlemagne's realm, the gift of Charlemagne to the Church. On the 2nd of February, 1809, General Miollis, by order of Buonaparte, took possession of Rome, disarmed147 and disbanded the Pope's guard, and marched his other soldiers to the north, telling them they should no longer remain under the effeminate rule of a priest. Miollis then gave the Pontiff the alternative to join the French league, offensive and defensive148, or to be deposed149. The Pope firmly refused to concede his rights to anything but absolute force. On the 17th of May, therefore, Napoleon's decree for the deposition of the Pope from his temporal power was proclaimed. It assumed the heirship of Charlemagne to be in Buonaparte; declared the union of the spiritual and temporal powers to be the source of all scandals and discords151 in the Catholic Church; that they were, therefore, at an end—the Roman State for ever united to the French Empire. On the 10th of June Pius issued a bull excommunicating Buonaparte and all who aided him in his sacrilegious usurpation of the patrimony of St. Peter; and this was followed, on the 6th of July, by General Radet forcing the gates of the Vatican, taking possession of it with his troops, entering the presence of the Pope, who was amid his priests, and clad in his pontificals, and demanding that he should instantly sign a renunciation of all the temporal estates attached to the see of Rome. Pius declared that he neither could nor would perform any such sacrilegious act. He was then informed that he must quit Rome. Pius was detained at Savona three years, and was then removed to Fontainebleau.
In England the Ministry was thrown into the utmost chaos152 and discord150 by the disastrous153 progress of the war on the Continent, and especially by the miserable154 result of the Walcheren expedition. One member of the Cabinet endeavoured to throw the blame on another, and the feud155 between Canning, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Lord Castlereagh, the Minister at War, grew deadly. Each accused the other of interfering156 and thwarting157 action, and so producing the lamentable158 consequences that ensued. A hot correspondence followed, in which Castlereagh charged Canning with privately159 insinuating160 to the other Ministers that Castlereagh should be dismissed, and Canning denied it. Between them, Lord Camden came into difficulty; for, though Canning had told Lord Camden, as Lord Castlereagh's relative, that one or other of them must resign, he declared that he did not mean this communication as secret, but as one that he expected Lord Camden would communicate to Lord Castlereagh. Castlereagh resigned, and then challenged Canning. Canning also resigned; and the duel161 was fought on the 22nd of September, on Putney[595] Heath, and Canning was wounded. The Duke of Portland, who was near his end—hastened probably by these agitations162 and embarrassments—also resigned, and died a few days afterwards.
The Tory Ministry was now in a most shattered condition, and it was believed that it could not repair itself. On the 23rd of September official letters were addressed to Lords Grey and Grenville to endeavour to form a coalition164 with the Tories, but they declined. The Tory Ministry was therefore readjusted by the introduction of Lord Wellesley (who had been replaced in his embassy in Spain by his brother Henry, afterwards Lord Cowley), who took the post of Canning in the Foreign Office, Perceval taking the Premiership, which Portland had only nominally held, as well as the Chancellorship166 of the Exchequer167, which he held before. Lord Palmerston also made his first appearance in this Cabinet as Under-Secretary of State for the War Department, in place of Sir James Pulteney. Lord Liverpool took Castlereagh's place as Secretary at War; and the Hon. R. Ryder succeeded Lord Liverpool as Secretary of State for the Home Department.
The year 1810 opened with violent debates on the conduct of the late Ministry, and the miserable management of the Walcheren Expedition. The King's Speech, read by commission, passed over the disasters in Belgium entirely168, and spoke only of Wellesley's glorious victory at Talavera. But the Opposition did not pass over Walcheren; in both Houses the whole business was strongly condemned169 by amendments170 which, however, the Ministry managed to get negatived by considerable majorities. Both Castlereagh and Canning defended their concern in the expedition. They declared that the orders were to push forward and secure Antwerp, and destroy the docks and shipping171 there, not to coop up the troops in an unhealthy island swamp; and that they were not responsible for the mismanagement of the affair. This threw the onus172 on Lord Chatham, the commander, but did not exonerate173 Ministers for choosing such a commander; and though they were able to defeat the amendments on the Address, they were not able to prevent the appointment of a secret committee to inquire into the conduct and policy of the expedition. The committee was secret, because Buonaparte carefully read the English newspapers, and Parliament was desirous of keeping from his knowledge the wretched blunders of our commanders. This object, however, was not achieved, for the evidence given before the committee oozed174 out and appeared in our newspapers, and was duly set forth in the Moniteur for the edification of France and the Continent. Notwithstanding the frightful175 details laid before the committee, and the gross proof of dilatoriness176 and neglect, Ministers succeeded in negativing every condemnatory177 motion; and though General Craufurd actually carried resolutions affirming the propriety178 of taking and keeping the island of Walcheren, awfully179 fatal as it was, still Lord Chatham, though exculpated180 by the Court and Parliament, was by no means acquitted181 by the country, and he found it necessary to surrender his post of Master-General of the Ordnance182.
The motion of Mr. Yorke, afterwards First Lord of the Admiralty, for the exclusion of strangers during the debate on the Walcheren Expedition, gave great offence to the Reformers, who were now beginning to co-operate in societies, and to keep a keen watch on the Ministerial tendency to curb183 the liberty of the Press and carry things with a high hand. At a debating society, called the British Forum184, the president, Mr. Gale Jones, delivered a strong oration185 against it, and proposed for the discussion of the following evening the question, "Which was the greater outrage186 upon public feeling: Mr. Yorke's enforcement of the standing order, or Mr. Windham's attack on the liberty of the press on the same occasion?" This proposal being agreed to, the intended debate was made known by placards posted in the streets. Yorke complained of this as a breach of the privileges of the House of Commons, and the printer was immediately summoned before the House, when he gave the name of the author, Mr. Gale Jones, who was thereupon, on the morrow, the 21st of February, brought before the House, and committed to Newgate.
This action was the height of imprudence. The true wisdom would have been to have taken no notice of such a discussion by an obscure association. On the 13th of March Sir Francis Burdett moved that Mr. John Gale Jones should be discharged, questioning the legality of his commitment, and declaring that, if the proceedings188 of Parliament were not to be criticised like everything else, there was an end of liberty of speech and of the press. This motion was rejected by one hundred and fifty-three against fourteen. The speech of Sir Francis was printed by Cobbett in his Weekly Register, a publication possessing high influence with the people. It was also accompanied by a letter of Sir Francis, commenting in strong language upon this arbitrary act, and[596] questioning the right of such a House to commit for breach of privilege, seeing that it consisted of "a part of our fellow-subjects, collected together by means which it is not necessary to describe."
This definition of the House of Commons at this time, and for long afterwards, was too happy a definition to escape the wrath189 of that body. Accordingly, on the 27th of March, Mr. Lethbridge, member for Somersetshire, moved that Sir Francis Burdett should be committed to the Tower for his attack on the House. After some discussion, the question was adjourned190 to the 5th of April, when, by a majority of thirty-eight, Sir Francis was ordered to be committed as guilty of a libel against the House. But Sir Francis, justly regarding the House as altogether illegally constituted, and as a usurpation by the aristocracy of the functions of the people, determined not to submit to its order. The next day he addressed a letter to the Speaker of the House, declaring his contempt for it as then constituted; that he held its order to be, on that ground, illegal; and that he would resist it to the utmost. He ordered the doors and windows of his house in Piccadilly to be closed, and prepared to yield only to force.
The excitement among the public, as this resolution became known, was intense, and large crowds assembled in front of the baronet's house, applauding, and shouting "Burdett for ever!" In their enthusiasm they compelled all passengers to take off their hats, and shout too. But they did not stop here. On such occasions a rabble191 of the lowest kind unites itself to the real Reformers—and the mob began to insult persons of opposite principles and to break the windows of their houses. The Earl of Westmoreland, Lord Privy192 Seal, was recognised, and, as well as others of the same political faith, pelted193 with mud. The windows of Mr. Yorke, as the originator of the acts of the Commons, were quickly broken, and, in rapid succession, those of Lord Chatham, amid loud shouts of "Walcheren!" of Sir Robert Peel, the Duke of Montrose, Lord Castlereagh, Lord Westmoreland, Lord Wellesley, Mr. Wellesley Pole, Sir John Anstruther, and others. The Horse Guards were called out, and dispersed194 the rioters. The next day the serjeant-at-arms made his way into Sir Francis Burdett's house, and presented the Speaker's warrant for his arrest; but Sir Francis put the warrant in his pocket without looking at it, and a Mr. O'Connor, who was present, led the serjeant-at-arms down stairs, and closed the door on him. A troop of Life Guards and a company of Foot Guards were then ordered to post themselves in front of Sir Francis's house, and at night it was found necessary to read the Riot Act, and then the Guards were ordered to clear the street, which they did. Whilst this was doing, Sir Francis watched the proceeding187 from the windows, and was repeatedly cheered by the mob. Whilst thus besieged195, he was visited by Lord Cochrane, the Earl of Thanet, Whitbread, Coke of Norfolk, Lord Folkestone, Colonel Wardle, Major Cartwright, and other Radical196 Reformers. Some of these gentlemen thought enough had been done to establish a case for a trial of the right of the House of Commons, and advised Sir Francis to yield to the Speaker's warrant. But Sir Francis addressed a letter to the sheriffs of London, informing them that an attack was made upon his liberty, by an instrument which he held to be decidedly illegal, and calling upon them to protect both him and the other inhabitants of the bailiwick from such violence. In this dilemma197, the Premier165, Mr. Perceval, advised that the serjeant-at-arms should lay the case before the Attorney-General, Sir Vicary Gibbs, which he did; but the reply of Sir Vicary only created more embarrassment163, for he was doubtful whether, should any person be killed in enforcing the Speaker's warrant, it would not be held to be murder, and whether if the serjeant-at-arms were killed, a charge of murder would not issue against the perpetrator. The sheriffs, who were themselves strong Reformers, laid the letter of Sir Francis before the Speaker and before Mr. Ryder, the new Home Secretary, who counselled them to give their aid in enforcing the warrant. But these gentlemen proceeded to the house of Sir Francis Burdett, and passed the night with him for his protection.
During that evening and night there were serious contentions198 between the mob and the soldiers still posted in front of Sir Francis's house, and one man was shot by the military. Scarcely had the sheriffs quitted the house of the besieged baronet on the Sunday morning, supposing no attempt at capture would take place that day, when the serjeant-at-arms presented himself with a party of police, and demanded entrance, but in vain. All that day, and late into the night, the mob continued to insult the soldiers who kept guard on the baronet's house, and an order being given at night to clear the streets around, the mob broke the lamps, and threw all into darkness. They then carried away the scaffolding from a house under repair, and made a barricade68 across[597] Piccadilly, which was, however, removed by the soldiers; and the rain falling in torrents199, the mob dispersed.
GEORGE CANNING.
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On the following morning, being Monday, the Ministers came to the resolution of entering the baronet's house by force; and, as he sat at breakfast with a considerable company of friends, an attempt was made by a man to enter by the window, which he broke in trying to raise the sash. This man was secured; but a more successful party of officers below dashed in a window on the ground floor, and soon appeared in the drawing-room. Sir Francis was seized and, still struggling and protesting, was conveyed to a carriage. Then, escorted by the military, he was taken to the Tower, amid tremendous crowds, crying "Burdett for ever!" A strong force had occupied the passage through the City, and had drawn up before the Tower before the arrival of the party with the prisoner, whom they had taken round by Pentonville and Islington. The scene during the conveyance200 of Sir Francis into the old fortress was indescribable for tumult201 and yelling. As the soldiers were returning they were hooted202 and pelted with stones, and at last they lost patience and fired, killing203 two persons and wounding several others.
The whole of London was thrown into great agitation, and Sir John Anstruther that evening, in the House of Commons, was very severe on the Ministers for not taking more decided measures for the protection of the metropolis204. The next day the letter of Sir Francis was taken into consideration. Many severe strictures were made on his conduct, and even Whitbread contended that the Speaker's warrant was perfectly205 legal, and that[598] Sir Francis had done a great injury to the cause of Reform by stirring up a riot in the prosecution206 of a constitutional question. There was a call for the expulsion of the Radical baronet from the House; but as this would have produced a new election in Westminster, by which he would certainly have been returned afresh, that was prudently207 abandoned.
On the 13th of April the Speaker read to the House a notice which he had received, that a bill would be filed against him, in the Court of King's Bench, to try the validity of his warrant in this case, and the House ordered the letter and the notice to be entered on the Journals. On the 16th Sir Samuel Romilly moved for the discharge of Gale Jones; but Windham observed that a meeting of the electors of Westminster was announced for the morrow, to take into consideration the case of their representative, and that to liberate208 Jones at that moment would be sure to be attributed to fear on the part of the Commons. The motion was, therefore, rejected.
The meeting of the Westminster electors the next day, held in Palace Yard, under the very walls of Parliament, was attended by vast crowds, and the tone of the speakers was most indignant. They justified209 the letter of their representative to themselves; denounced the conduct of the Commons as oppressive, arbitrary, and illegal, tending to destroy the popular liberties; and they approved highly of the baronet's spirited resistance to the forcing of his house. They called for his liberation, and for that of the unjustly incarcerated210 Mr. Gale Jones. They drew up a letter to Sir Francis to this effect, to be presented to him in the Tower by the high bailiff of Westminster; and they prepared a petition and remonstrance211 to the House of Commons in equally spirited terms, which was presented the same evening by Lord Cochrane. The Honourable212 J. W. Ward50, afterwards Lord Dudley and Ward, opposed the reception of the petition as highly indecorous, and as violating the dignity of the House; but Whitbread defended it, and even Canning and Perceval excused, in some degree, the tone of the petition in the circumstances. It was ordered, therefore, to be laid on the table.
In the meantime, coroners' inquests had been held on the two men who were shot by the military. In the one case the jury brought in a verdict of "justifiable213 homicide;" but, in the other, of "wilful214 murder" against the soldiers. On their part, the Government offered a reward of five hundred pounds for the discovery of any one who had been guilty of firing at the soldiers, and an additional one of five hundred pounds for the discovery of the person who had fired at and wounded Ensign Cowell, whilst on duty at the Tower, the night after the committal of Sir Francis. The Reform party in the Commons demanded whether the Government did not intend to offer a reward for the discovery of the soldiers who had fired at and wounded several of the people, and killed two of them. Whitbread moved that an inquiry should be instituted into the justice of the verdict of "wilful murder" against the soldiers, and in this he was seconded by William Smith of Norwich; but Captain Agar, who had been on duty, declared that the people had fired the first shot, and the Premier got rid of the question by asserting that an inquiry was already going on into the circumstances of the riot, and that it was not for Parliament to anticipate it.
During the Easter recess215, popular meetings were held condemning216 the conduct of Ministers and calling for Parliamentary Reform. On the meeting of the House again, a very strong petition, bearing rather the character of a remonstrance, was presented from the electors of Middlesex by Mr. George Byng, on the 2nd of May. The Ministerial party declared that the petition was an insult to the House; but the Reformers maintained that not only the language of the petition, but the whole of the unhappy events which had taken place, were the direct consequences of the corrupt217 character of the representation, and of the House screening from due punishment such culprits as the Duke of York, Lord Castlereagh, etc. The petition was rejected; but the very next day a petition of equal vigour218 and plainness was voted by the Livery of London, and was presented on the 8th, and rejected too. The House had grown so old in corruption219, that it felt itself strong enough to reject the petitions of the people. A memorial was presented also on the same subject from Major Cartwright, one of the most indefatigable220 apostles of Reform, by Whitbread, and this was rejected too, for the major pronounced the committal of Sir Francis a flagrantly illegal act.
As Sir Francis Burdett had commenced suits, not only against the Speaker, but also against the Sergeant-at-arms, and against Lord Moira, the Governor of the Tower, for his arrest and detention221, the House of Commons appointed a select committee to inquire into the proper mode of defence, and it was determined that the Sergeant-at-arms[599] should appear and plead to these indictments222, and that the Attorney-General should be directed to defend them. Though these trials did not take place till May and June of the following year, we may here note the result, to close the subject. In the first two, verdicts were obtained favourable223 to the Government, and in the third the jury, not agreeing, were dismissed. These trials came off before Lord Ellenborough, one of the most steady supporters of Government that ever sat on the judicial224 bench; and the results probably drew their complexion225 from this cause, for the feeling of the public continued to be exhibited strongly in favour of the prisoner of the House of Commons. He continued to receive deputations from various parts of the country, expressive226 of the sympathy of public bodies, and of the necessity of a searching reform of Parliament. Whatever irregularity might have marked the proceedings of the radical baronet, there is no question that the discussions to which they led all over the country produced a decided progress in the cause of a renovation227 of our dilapidated representation.
The prorogation228 of Parliament, on the 21st of June, liberated229 both Sir Francis and the unfortunate president of the debating society, Mr. John Gale Jones. On the morning of this day vast crowds assembled before the Tower to witness the enlargement of the popular baronet. There was a great procession of Reformers with banners and mottoes, headed by Major Cartwright, and attended by Mr. Sheriff Wood and Mr. Sheriff Atkins; but as Sir Francis apprehended230 that there might be some fresh and fatal collision between the military and the people, he prudently resolved to leave the Tower quietly by water, which he effected, to the deep disappointment of the populace. No such excitement as this had taken place, on a question of right between the House of Commons and an individual member, since the days of Wilkes.
The other measures of Parliament during this Session were these:—In the House of Lords Lord Holland, and in the Commons Henry Brougham, moved for addresses to his Majesty231, exhorting him to persevere232 in his efforts to induce the Governments of other nations to co-operate in the abolition233 of the slave trade, and to take measures for putting a stop to the clandestine234 practice of British subjects yet carrying on this trade in a fraudulent manner, as well as to adopt plans for preventing other evasions235 of Mr. Wilberforce's Act. Mr. Bankes introduced a motion for rendering236 perpetual his Bill to prevent the grant of offices in reversion, and such a Bill was passed in the Commons, but rejected in the Lords.
A Bill for Parliamentary Reform was introduced by Mr. Brand, and debated with unusual interest, owing to the events connected with Sir Francis Burdett, but was, of course, rejected by a large majority. The day for such a measure was yet far off. There was a motion made by Mr. Parnell regarding tithes237 in Ireland; another by Grattan and Lord Donoughmore for Catholic emancipation238; and a third by Sir Samuel Romilly for reform of our criminal code—all necessary, but yet long-to-be-deferred measures. Lord Melville also introduced a plan of great importance into the House of Peers, namely, to substitute Government war vessels239 for the conveyance of troops to their destinations abroad. He showed that not only was there immense and flagrant jobbing going on between the Government Transport Board and the merchants from whom they hired ships on such occasions, but that these all tended to the misery240 and mortality of the soldiers; that the transport vessels hired were often not only inconveniently241 small, necessitating242 very uncomfortable and unhealthy crowding, but they were also frequently crazy, unseaworthy craft, badly manned, and ignorantly commanded by very ordinary skippers. He showed that a great amount of the mortality attending the transport of our troops to distant shores was owing to this cause, and that all might be avoided, and a considerable pecuniary243 saving effected, by employing none but Government vessels, roomy and clean, and commanded by officers duly qualified244. But no such necessary and humane245 scheme was likely to be cordially supported by an unreformed Parliament. Mr. George Rose also obtained leave to bring in a Bill for a more questionable246 object. It was to augment247 our navy by bringing up the children of such people as became chargeable to parishes at Government naval248 schools, and thus regularly appropriating them as sailors. He estimated these children at ninety thousand, and calculated that these schools would furnish seven thousand sailor-boys per annum. It was a scheme for a press-gang system commencing with the cradle.
The supplies for the present year were voted to the amount of fifty million one hundred and eighty-five thousand pounds. No new taxes were to be levied249, but there was to be a loan of eight million pounds. This money was distributed as follows: twenty-five million pounds to the land service and ordnance, twenty million pounds to[600] the navy, a subsidy250 to Portugal of nine hundred and eighty-eight thousand pounds, and to Sicily of four hundred thousand pounds.
ARREST OF SIR FRANCIS BURDETT. (See p. 597.)
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The aspect of affairs in Spain at the commencement of 1810 was gloomy in the extreme. Scarcely a town, fortress, or army remained to the Spaniards; yet, perhaps, never did Napoleon feel a deeper anxiety concerning it. The spirit of the people had shown that it could not be easily subdued251. He might beat its regular troops, and compel the surrender of cities, after long and severe sieges, but there still remained a whole population hostile to him. Throughout all the mountain districts the inhabitants might be said to be still in arms against him, and there was a fire burning in the general Spanish heart that might at any moment blaze up into a dangerous flame, or, if not, must wear out his troops, his energies, and his resources. Napoleon had yet to discover that it is impossible to subdue252 the people of a mountainous country, so as to rule them in peace, if they are at heart opposed to the ruler.
Yet, looking at Spain from a mere253 momentary254 point of view, its condition was sad enough. Saragossa had undergone a second siege, in which the inhabitants had again made a brilliant stand, and caused the French much loss and suffering, though compelled at length to surrender. The battle of Oca?a, in November of 1809, had been lost by Areizaga, and left Spain without a single considerable army. During the latter part of the same year, General Reding, the patriotic Swiss general, had been defeated at Valls. Blake had sustained two heavy defeats near Saragossa and Belchite, with the loss of the greater part of his artillery and men. Gerona had withstood a desperate siege, but was compelled to capitulate on the 10th of December. Tarragona and Tortosa had suffered the same fate. In some of these towns the Spaniards had not yielded till they had killed and eaten their horses and mules255.
Towards the end of the year Soult had been recalled to Madrid, to take the place of Jourdain, who was remanded to Paris. Soult then determined to make an expedition into the south, to subdue Seville and Cadiz—the last places of[601] consequence left to the Spaniards. He took King Joseph with him, or rather, perhaps, King Joseph was afraid to be left in the capital without his protection. The battle of Oca?a, and the destruction of Areizaga's army, left the passes of the Sierra Morena all open, and on the 21st of January Soult was at Baylen, where the army of Dupont had surrendered. Thence he pushed forward for Seville, sending other divisions of the army to traverse Malaga and Granada. Nothing could be more favourable to the visit of Soult than the then condition of Seville. The stupid, proud, ignorant Junta257 had refused all proffers258 of aid from the British, and they had, at the same time, worn out the patience of the people, who had risen upon them, and expelled them from the place. They then fled to Cadiz, in the hope of renewing their authority there; but they met with a still fiercer reception from the people of Cadiz, and were compelled formally to resign. As for the inhabitants of Seville, they talked of defending the city against the French, but there was no order amongst them, no authority, and they did nothing. Soult marched on from town to town, collecting a rich spoil everywhere, which the Spaniards had left behind them. They seemed to think of carrying away with them only their money, but a mass of other wealth fell into the hands of the French, and amongst it, as usual, great quantities of British cannon, muskets259, and ammunition, which assisted in enabling the French to fight with us. Soult entered Cordova in triumph on the 17th of January, and Seville on the 1st of February, and there King Joseph established his court for some time.
CADIZ.
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Soult sent on Marshal Victor, without delay, to surprise and seize Cadiz. But the Duke of Albuquerque, with eight or ten thousand men, had been called at the first alarm, and, making a rapid march of two hundred and sixty English miles, reached the city just before him. The garrison now consisted of twenty thousand men—British, Spanish, and Portuguese260—commanded chiefly by General Graham, an officer who had distinguished261 himself at Toulon, at the same time that Buonaparte first made his merit conspicuous262. The British troops had been offered by Lord Wellington, and, though insolently263 refused by the Junta before, were now thankfully accepted.[602] Some were hastened from Torres Vedras, under command of the Hon. Major-General Stewart, and some from Gibraltar. The British, independent of the Portuguese under their command, amounted to six thousand. The Spanish authorities, having their eyes opened at length to the value of the British alliance, now gave the command of their little fleet to Admiral Purvis, who put the ships, twenty in number, into tolerable order, and joined them to his own squadron. With these moored264 across the harbour, he kept the sea open for all necessary supplies; and though Soult, accompanied by King Joseph, arrived on the 25th of February, and sat down before the place, occupying the country round from Rota to Chiclano, with twenty-five thousand men, he could make no impression against Cadiz, and the siege was continued till the 12th of August, 1812, when the successes of Wellington warned them to be moving. It was an essential advantage to Wellington's campaign that twenty-eight thousand French should thus be kept lying before this place.
In Andalusia, the French under Sebastiani held Malaga and Granada; but more eastward265, the Spanish made a very troublesome resistance. It was in vain that Sebastiani marched into the mountains of Murcia to disperse the forces that Blake was again collecting there. Beaten in one place, they appeared in another. A strong force, under General Lacey, surprised a body of six thousand French at Ronda, and put them to flight, securing their arms and stores. In Catalonia, General O'Donnell stood his ground well, the country not only being by nature strong, but lying along the coast, where the British could support them by their fleets. Rushing from their hills and mountain forts, the Catalonian militia266 continually inflicted severe chastisement267 on the French invaders268, and then retired to their fortresses. Marshals Suchet, Augereau, and Macdonald found it impossible to make permanent head against O'Donnell and the Catalonians. In fact, though Spain might seem to be conquered, having no great armies in the field, it was never less so—and that Buonaparte felt. Wherever there were hills and forests, they swarmed269 with sharpshooters. For this species of warfare270—the guerilla—the Spanish were peculiarly adapted. The mountaineers, headed by the priest, the doctor, or the shepherd, men who, in spite of their ordinary habits, had a genius for enterprise, were continually on the watch to surprise and cut off the enemy. Other bodies of them were led by men of high birth, or of military training, but who were distinguished for their superior spirit and endurance of fatigue271. These leaders had the most perfect knowledge of the woods and passes of the mountains, and had the most immediate9 information from the peasantry of the movements of the French. They could, therefore, come upon them when totally unlooked-for, and cut them off suddenly. If they were repulsed they disappeared like shadows into the forests and deserts. Sometimes they came several thousand strong; sometimes a little band of ten or twenty men would dash forward from their concealment272 and effect some startling deed. To chase them appeared hopeless, for they vanished in a thousand ways, as water sinks into the earth and disappears. To intimidate273 them, Soult published a proclamation that he would treat them as bandits, and immediately shoot all that he captured; and the commanders replied by another proclamation that for every Spaniard shot they would execute three Frenchmen; and they so literally274 fulfilled their threat that the French were compelled to return to the ordinary rules of warfare.
Such was the state of Spain, though nominally conquered by the French. It was only held by a vast force, and there was no prospect275 that this force could ever be dispensed276 with. Joseph was so heartily277 tired of his kingdom that, on going to Paris to attend Napoleon's marriage, he declared that he would abdicate278 unless he were made generalissimo of all the forces in Spain, the separate generals, in their own provinces, paying but little regard to his commands, but each acting279 as if viceroy of his own province. To Napoleon the state of things was equally irksome. The drain of men and money was intolerable, and appeared without prospect of any end. He resolved, therefore, to make a gigantic effort to drive the British out of Portugal, when he hoped to be able to subjugate37 Spain. He could not yet proceed thither280 himself, but he sent heavy reinforcements under Drouet and Junot, and dispatched Massena, who was reckoned the greatest general next to himself, to drive Wellington into the sea. Massena had been so uniformly victorious, that Buonaparte styled him "the dear child of victory," and had made him Prince of Esslingen.
In the Peninsula, altogether, the French had upwards of two hundred thousand men, but the force which Massena led against Wellington did not amount to more than sixty thousand, Drouet remaining, for the present, in Spain with eighteen thousand men, and Regnier lying in Estremadura[603] with ten or twelve thousand more. To contend against Massena's sixty thousand veterans, Lord Wellington had only twenty-four thousand British on whom he could rely. He had thirty thousand Portuguese regulars, who had been drilled by General Beresford, and had received many British officers. Wellington had great expectation that these troops, mixed judiciously281 with the British ones, would turn out well; but that had yet to be tried. Besides these, there were numerous bodies of Portuguese militia, who were employed in defending the fortresses in Alemtejo and Algarve, thus protecting the flanks of Wellington's army.
In June Massena advanced, and laid siege to Ciudad Rodrigo. This was almost within sight of Wellington's lines. The town was defended by a Spanish garrison, and Wellington was called upon to co-operate by attacking the besiegers. This he offered to do if Romana would undertake to prevent the march of Regnier from Estremadura on his rear the while; but Romana would not undertake to maintain himself against Regnier if the British force under General Hill crossed the Tagus. Wellington, whose object was to defend Portugal and not Spain, therefore lay still; and the Spaniards, after a brave defence, were compelled to capitulate on the 10th of July. Then there was a wild cry of indignation raised against Wellington by the Spaniards, and even by his own officers, that he should see a place taken from our allies, under his very eyes, and not attempt to relieve it. The French taunted282 him with it in the Moniteur, and regarded it as a great sign of his weakness. But none of these things moved Wellington. He knew what he had to do—which was to defend Portugal—and he had made his plans for doing it; but this was not by exposing his small army in any situation to which the Spanish chose to call him, while, at the same time, they declined to co-operate with him. He soon had the division of Marshal Ney upon his outposts, where he fell in with our light division under General Craufurd. Wellington had ordered that, on attack, Craufurd should retire on the main body in order, because he did not wish to reduce his small numbers in skirmishes, but to reserve them for favourable occasions; but Craufurd, being hotly pursued, turned and gave the French a severe rebuff, killing and wounding above one thousand of Massena's men. Craufurd, having driven the French back three times, made a masterly passage, by a bridge, over the Coa, and joined the main army.
When he entered Portugal Massena issued a proclamation, informing the Portuguese that the British were the troublers and mischief-makers of Europe, and that they were there only for their own objects of ambition, and calling on the inhabitants to receive the French as their friends and saviours283. Lord Wellington issued a counter-proclamation, remarking that the Portuguese had had too much occasion to learn what sort of friends the French were; that they had learned it by the robbery of their property, their brutality284 towards the women, and oppression of all classes. He called on them, as the sole means of rescue, to resist to the death; and he ordered them, as the British army retired from Lisbon, to withdraw from their towns and villages, carrying whatever they could with them, so that the enemy might find no means of support. This was part of his great plan; and he assured the Portuguese that those who stayed behind after their magistrates285 had ordered them to withdraw should receive no assistance from him; and that whoever was found holding any communication with the enemy should be deemed a traitor, and treated accordingly.
On the 26th of August Massena arrived before Almeida, a strongly fortified town not thirty miles from Ciudad Rodrigo. Wellington hoped that it would detain him at least a month, for it had a good Portuguese garrison, commanded by Colonel Cox, an English officer: and he himself drew near, to be able to seize any opportunity of damaging the besiegers. But in the night of the 27th there was a terrible explosion of a powder magazine, which threw down part of the wall, and made the place untenable. Treachery was immediately suspected, and what followed was sufficient proof of it; for the Portuguese major, whom Colonel Cox sent to settle the terms of the capitulation, went over to the French, and was followed by a whole Portuguese regiment286 with the exception of its British officers. This was a great disappointment to Lord Wellington, whose plan was to detain Massena till the rainy season set in, when he would at once find himself embarrassed by bridgeless floods and in intolerable roads, and, as he hoped and had ordered, in a country without people and without provisions.
But, undiscouraged, Lord Wellington ordered General Hill, who had already crossed the Tagus, to hasten onward287, and he then carefully fell back, and took his position on the grim and naked ridges61 of Busaco, a sierra extending from Mondego to the northward82. Behind this range of hills lay Coimbra, and three roads led through the defiles to that city. These, and several lesser ravines used[604] by the shepherds and muleteers, he thoroughly fortified; and, posting himself on these difficult heights, he calmly awaited the advance of Massena. The ascents288 by which the French must reach them were precipitous and exposed; and on the summit, in the centre of the range, Wellington took up his headquarters at a Carmelite convent, whence he could survey the whole scene, having upwards of thirty thousand men disposed along these frowning eminences289.
On the 26th of September the hostile host was seen in full march—cavalry, infantry, and artillery, attended by a vast assemblage of waggons and burden-bearing mules. The spectacle, as described by eye-witnesses, was most imposing290 in its multitudes and its beautiful order. At night, the whole country along the foot of the hills was lit up by the enemy's camp fires, and towards morning the din21 of preparation for the contest was plainly audible. Nothing but the overweening confidence of Massena in his invincibility291, and the urgent commands of Napoleon, could have induced him to attack the Allied292 army in such a position; but both he and Buonaparte held the Portuguese as nothing, regarding them no more than as so many Spaniards, unaware of the wonderful change made in them by British discipline. A letter of Buonaparte to Massena had been intercepted293, in which he said that "it would be ridiculous to suppose that twenty-five thousand English could withstand sixty thousand French, if the latter did not trifle, but fell on boldly, after having well observed where the blow might be struck." Ney, it is said, was of opinion that this was not such a situation; that it was at too great odds294 to attack the Allies in the face of such an approach. But Massena did not hesitate; early on the morning of the 27th he sent forward several columns both to the right and left of Wellington's position, to carry the heights. These were met, on Wellington's right, by Picton's division, the 88th regiment being commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, and the 45th by Lieutenant-Colonel Meade. They were supported by the 8th Portuguese regiment. The French rushed up boldly to the very heights; but were hurled295 back at the point of the bayonet, the Portuguese making the charge with as much courage and vigour as the British. Another attempt, still farther to Wellington's right, was made, the French supposing that they were then beyond the British lines, and should turn their flank; but they were there met by General Leith's division, the Royals, the 9th and the 38th regiments296, and were forced down the steeps with equal destruction. Both these sanguinary repulses297 were given to the division of General Regnier. On the left of Wellington the attack was made by Ney's division, which came in contact with that of General Craufurd, especially with the 43rd, 52nd, and 95th regiments of British, and the 3rd Portuguese Ca?adores, and with the same decisive and destructive result. There, too, the Portuguese fought gallantly298, and, where they had not room to kill with their bayonets, they imitated the British soldiers, and knocked down the French with the butt-ends of their guns. Everywhere the repulse100 was complete, and Massena left two thousand slain299 on the field, and had between three and four thousand wounded. One general was killed, three wounded, one taken prisoner, besides many other officers. The Allies lost about one thousand three hundred, of whom five hundred and seventy-eight were Portuguese. Wellington was delighted with the proof that General Beresford's drilling had answered the very highest expectations, and that henceforth he could count confidently on his Portuguese troops, and he wrote in the most cheering terms of this fact in his dispatches home.
On the 28th Massena had discovered the pass of Boyalva through these hills, to the north of Busaco, which Wellington had ordered Colonel Trant to occupy. But Trant had missed his way, and did not reach the pass in time. Wellington saw, therefore, his flank turned, and the enemy on the highway to Oporto. He therefore quitted his position, and, taking Coimbra in his way, compelled such of the inhabitants as had not obeyed his order to march along with him. On the 1st of October he was on his route southward, accompanied by this strange crowd. It was a perfect exodus300, and appeared to the poor inhabitants as a severe measure, but to it they owed their after-salvation. Had they remained, it would have been only to suffer the oppressions and insults of the French, and to see them supporting themselves on their provisions. As it was, the French, on entering Coimbra, found it, as they had done Viseu, totally deserted301, and the stacks of corn and provision that could not be carried away, for the most part too adroitly302 buried to be easily found. They were left to the starvation that the English general designed for them. But what a scene on the road! The whole country moving south with the cattle and sheep, and waggons laden303 with their goods. "No power of description," said an eye-witness, "can convey to the mind of any reader the afflicting304 scenes, the[605] cheerless desolation that we daily witnessed on our march from the Mondego to the lines. Where-ever we moved, the mandate305, which enjoined306 the wretched inhabitants to forsake307 their homes and to remove or destroy their little property, had gone before us. The villages were deserted; the churches—retreats so often, yet so vainly confided308 in—were empty; the mountain cottages stood open and untenanted; the mills in the valley, but yesterday so busy, were motionless and silent. From Thomar the flanks of our line of march were literally covered with the flying population of the country. In Portugal there are at no time many facilities for travelling, and those few the exigencies309 of the army had very greatly diminished. Rich indeed were those who still retained a cabriolet, and mules for its service. Those who had bullock-cars, asses256, or any mode of transporting their families and property, looked contented310 and grateful; for respectable men and delicate women of the second class might on every side be seen walking slowly and painfully on foot, encumbered311 by heavy burdens of clothes, bedding, and food." It was a whole country in emigration; quitting their cities, homes, and fields to coop themselves up in the vicinity of Lisbon, for the stern purpose of starving the detested312 enemy out of the land.
WELLINGTON'S RETREAT FROM COIMBRA. (See p. 604.)
[See larger version]
But, sorrowful as the sight itself was, the news of it in Great Britain excited the strongest condemnation313 in the party which had always doubted the power of Wellington to cope with the vast armies of France. They declared that he was carrying on a system that was ruining Portugal, and must make our name an opprobrium314 over the whole world, at the same time that it could not enable us to keep a footing there; that we must be driven out with terrible loss and infamy315. But not so thought Wellington. Before him were the heights of Torres Vedras, about twenty-four miles from Lisbon. These, stretching in two ranges between the sea and the Tagus, presented a barrier which he did not mean the French to pass. He had already planned the whole scheme; he had already had these heights, themselves naturally strong, made tenfold stronger by military art; he had drawn the enemy after[606] him into a country stripped and destitute316 of everything, and there he meant to stop him, and keep him exposed to famine and winter, till he should be glad to retrace317 his steps. Neither should those steps be easy. Floods, and deep muddy roads, and dearths should lie before him; and at his heels should follow, keen as hornets, the Allied army, to avenge318 the miseries319 of this invaded people.
By the 8th of October Wellington was safely encamped within these impregnable lines, and the crowd of flying people sought refuge in Lisbon, or in the country around it. The British did not arrive a moment too soon, for Massena was close at their heels with his van; but he halted at Sobral for three days to allow of the coming up of his main body. This time was spent by the British in strengthening their position, already most formidable. The two ranges of mountains lying one behind the other were speedily occupied by the troops; and they were set to work at more completely stopping up roads, and constructing barriers, palisades, platforms, and wooden bridges leading into the works. For this purpose fifty thousand trees were allowed them, and all the space between Lisbon and these wonderful lines was one swarming320 scene of people bringing in materials and supplies. The right of the position was flanked by the Tagus, where the British fleet lay anchored, attended by a flotilla of gunboats, and a body of marines occupied the line of embarkation321; Portuguese militia manned the Castle of St. Julian and the forts on the Tagus, and Lisbon itself was filled with armed bands of volunteers. There was no want of anything within this busy and interesting enclosure, for the British fleet had the command of the sea and all its means of supply. Seven thousand Portuguese peasantry were employed in bringing in and preparing the timber for the defences; and every soldier not positively322 on guard was enthusiastic in helping323 the engineers and artillery in the labour of making the lines impregnable.
It was one of the most interesting scenes in any warfare; and there was not a man who did not enjoy the astonishment324 and disappointment of the French when, on the 11th, they marched in wonder up to the foot of these giant fortifications. Wellington had doubly obtained his wish; for he was not only safely ensconced in his strong position, but the rainy season which he was anticipating had set in in earnest. The main body of the French had been detained by the bad roads and the floods, and now, when the proud general, who expected so rapidly to drive the British into the sea, surveyed the scarped cliffs bristling325 with cannon and with bayonets far above him, his astonishment was evident. He rode along the foot of the hills for several days reconnoitreing the whole position, which seemed suddenly to have altered the situation of the combatants, and not so much to have shut up Wellington and his army in Lisbon, as to have shut him and his numerous one out to famine and the wintry elements.
For more than four months the invincible326 Massena continued to watch the lines of Torres Vedras without striking a single effective blow. In fact, instead of attacking Wellington, Wellington attacked his advanced posts near Sobral on the 14th, and drove them in with the bayonet. The French then showed themselves in some force near Villa64 Franca, close to the Tagus; but there the gunboats reached them, causing them rapidly to retreat, and killing General St. Croix. After this, the French made no further attempt on those mountain lines which struck Massena with despair. After occupying his position for a month he fell back to the town of Santarem, and there and in the neighbouring villages quartered his troops for the winter. His great business was to collect provisions, for he had brought none with him; and had the people obeyed strictly327 the proclamation of Wellington and the Junta, he would have found none at all, and must have instantly retreated. But the Portuguese thought it hard to quit their homesteads and carry all their provisions to Lisbon or into the mountains, and the miserable Junta threw all the blame of the order on the British general. Not only, therefore, was a considerable amount of provisions left in the country, but boats were left at Santarem, on the Tagus, contrary to Wellington's orders, by which provisions were brought over by the French from Spain.
Yet, during this winter, while Massena's army was in a constant state of semi-starvation, badly clothed and badly lodged328, and thus wasting away by sickness and desertion, that of Wellington increased in numbers, in physical condition, and in discipline. Whilst Massena's army, originally seventy-one thousand men, was ere long reduced by the battle of Busaco and the miserable quarters in the wet country near Torres Vedras to fifty-five thousand, the forces of Wellington had been augmented329, by reinforcements from England, and by the addition of Portuguese and Spanish troops, to fifty-eight thousand. When Massena retreated to Santarem, Wellington followed him to Cartaxo,[607] and there fixed330 his headquarters, and ordered General Hill to post his division opposite to Santarem, so as to check the enemy's foraging331 parties in that direction. At the same time, Colonel Trant, who had surprised the French rear as Massena's army was leaving Coimbra on his march after Wellington to Torres Vedras, and had secured the sick and wounded in the hospitals there to the amount of five thousand men, and who retained possession of Coimbra, now joined Sir Robert Wilson and Colonel Millar, who commanded the Portuguese militia, and their united force appeared in Massena's rear, cutting off his communication with the north and also with the Spanish frontier.
Such was Massena's situation, so early as the commencement of November—having to maintain his army in a country reduced to a foodless desert by the art of his masterly antagonist332, and, instead of being able to drive the British before him, finding them menacing him on all sides, so that he dispatched General Foy to make his way with a strong escort to Ciudad Rodrigo, and thence to proceed with all speed to Paris, to explain to the Emperor the real state of affairs. The state was that the whole of Portugal, except the very ground on which Massena was encamped, was in possession of the British and the Portuguese. There was no possibility of approaching Lisbon without forcing these lines at Torres Vedras, and that, if done at all, must be at the cost of as large an army as he possessed333 altogether. All the rest of Portugal—Oporto, Coimbra, Abrantes—and all the forts except Almeida were in the hands of the enemy. As to the destitution334 of Massena's army, we have the description from his own statements in letters to Napoleon, which were intercepted. From this information, Lord Wellington wrote in his dispatches: "It is impossible to describe the pecuniary and other distresses335 of the French army in the Peninsula. All the troops are months in arrears336 of pay; they are, in general, very badly clothed; they want horses, carriages, and equipments of every description; their troops subsist337 solely338 upon plunder339; they receive no money, or scarcely any, from France, and they realise but little from their pecuniary contributions from Spain. Indeed, I have lately discovered that the expense of the pay and the hospitals alone of the French army in the Peninsula amounts to more than the sum stated in the financial exposé as the whole expense of the entire French army."
Such were the advantages now possessed by the British over the French commander, that both the Portuguese and people at home were impatient that Wellington should at once attack and annihilate340 Massena's army. But Wellington knew better. He knew that a great battle, or battles, must vastly reduce his own as well as Massena's army. He knew that France could readily march down eighty or a hundred thousand fresh men into Portugal at extremity341, but that Great Britain could not so readily do that; and, should the Whigs come into power, as was probable, he could not calculate on any support at all. The king now hopelessly insane, the Prince of Wales must be soon appointed Regent, and then, perhaps, would come in his friends the Whigs. There were many other considerations which made Wellington refuse to accede342 to a general attack on the French at present. He had, as it was, trouble enough with the Junta; but, should any reverse occur, his situation then would be intolerable. Just now the Portuguese troops were in good spirits for fighting, but defeat would ruin all the progress yet made with them. He knew that the winter would do for the French army all that he expected without any cost to himself, and he waited for that, ready then to follow up the advantages it would give him. It was his great plan of operations which already reduced them to the dilemma in which they were, and now came winter and did the rest, fully91 showing his superior sagacity. In November the weather became and continued wretched in the extreme. The country was flooded, cutting off the precarious343 supplies of the French, but adding strength to the encampment of Torres Vedras. The cross roads were impassable for artillery, and all but impassable for waggons bringing provisions, which had to be hunted for far and wide, with incredible hardships and little success. Leaving the hostile armies in this position till the spring, we must notice other important matters.
In the course of 1810 the French were expelled completely from the East and West Indies, and the Indian Ocean. Guadeloupe, the last of their West India Islands, was captured in February, by an expedition conducted by General Beckford and Admiral Sir A. Cochrane. In July an armament, sent out by Lord Minto from India, and headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Keating, reduced the Isle of Bourbon; and, being reinforced by a body of troops from the Cape84 of Good Hope, under Major-General John Abercromby and Admiral Bertie, the Isle of France, much the more important, and generally called Mauritius, surrendered on the 3rd of December. Besides[608] a vast quantity of stores and merchandise, five frigates344 and about thirty merchantmen were taken; and Mauritius became a permanent British colony. From this place a squadron proceeded to destroy the French factories on the coast of Madagascar, and finished by completely expelling them from those seas.
Our forces in Sicily had an encounter, in the autumn, with those of Murat, King of Naples. Murat was ambitious of driving us out of Sicily, and Ferdinand IV. and his court with us. From spring till September he had an army lying at Scylla, Reggio, and in the hills overlooking the Strait of Messina, but he did not attempt to put across till the 18th of September. Seizing then the opportunity, when our flotilla of gunboats and our cruisers were off the station, he pushed across a body of three thousand five hundred men, under General Cavaignac. These troops were chiefly Neapolitans, but there were two battalions345 of Corsicans, and they were furnished with an embroidered346 standard to present to the Corsicans in our service, whom they hoped to induce to desert to them. General Cavaignac managed to land about seven miles to the south of Messina, and attacked the British right wing. Sir John Stuart made haste to bring up other troops to the support of the right, but before he could arrive, Colonel C. Campbell defeated the invaders, taking prisoners a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel, and forty other officers, with eight hundred men. There was a rapid retreat to their boats by the intruders, but the British pursued and cut to pieces great numbers of them, besides what were killed by the Sicilian peasantry. One boat full of soldiers was sunk as it went off, and the Neapolitans in another deserted to their old king.
Colonel Campbell did not lose a single man, and had but three wounded, so that it is evident that the flight of the enemy must have been instantaneous and universal. Murat made no further attempt to seize Sicily, though he kept his camp on the heights behind Reggio and Scylla for two years longer.
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2 reconstruction | |
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62 unaware | |
a.不知道的,未意识到的 | |
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63 deployed | |
(尤指军事行动)使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 ); 施展; 部署; 有效地利用 | |
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64 villa | |
n.别墅,城郊小屋 | |
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65 infantry | |
n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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66 desperately | |
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地 | |
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67 waggons | |
四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 ); 铁路货车; 小手推车 | |
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68 barricade | |
n.路障,栅栏,障碍;vt.设路障挡住 | |
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69 barricades | |
路障,障碍物( barricade的名词复数 ) | |
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70 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71 slaughter | |
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀 | |
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72 upwards | |
adv.向上,在更高处...以上 | |
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73 isle | |
n.小岛,岛 | |
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74 inundation | |
n.the act or fact of overflowing | |
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75 muster | |
v.集合,收集,鼓起,激起;n.集合,检阅,集合人员,点名册 | |
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76 depressed | |
adj.沮丧的,抑郁的,不景气的,萧条的 | |
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77 traitorous | |
adj. 叛国的, 不忠的, 背信弃义的 | |
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78 traitor | |
n.叛徒,卖国贼 | |
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79 participation | |
n.参与,参加,分享 | |
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80 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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81 partisan | |
adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒 | |
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82 northward | |
adv.向北;n.北方的地区 | |
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83 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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84 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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85 patriot | |
n.爱国者,爱国主义者 | |
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86 isolated | |
adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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87 vowed | |
起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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88 patrimony | |
n.世袭财产,继承物 | |
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89 ribs | |
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹 | |
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90 insurgents | |
n.起义,暴动,造反( insurgent的名词复数 ) | |
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91 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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92 procured | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
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93 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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94 harassing | |
v.侵扰,骚扰( harass的现在分词 );不断攻击(敌人) | |
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95 retard | |
n.阻止,延迟;vt.妨碍,延迟,使减速 | |
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96 junction | |
n.连接,接合;交叉点,接合处,枢纽站 | |
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97 assailing | |
v.攻击( assail的现在分词 );困扰;质问;毅然应对 | |
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98 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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99 repulsed | |
v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 );驳斥;拒绝 | |
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100 repulse | |
n.击退,拒绝;vt.逐退,击退,拒绝 | |
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101 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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102 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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103 battered | |
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损 | |
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104 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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105 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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106 armistice | |
n.休战,停战协定 | |
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107 exhorting | |
v.劝告,劝说( exhort的现在分词 ) | |
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108 partisans | |
游击队员( partisan的名词复数 ); 党人; 党羽; 帮伙 | |
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109 shameful | |
adj.可耻的,不道德的 | |
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110 patriotic | |
adj.爱国的,有爱国心的 | |
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111 chagrin | |
n.懊恼;气愤;委屈 | |
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112 recollect | |
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
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113 attachment | |
n.附属物,附件;依恋;依附 | |
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114 planks | |
(厚)木板( plank的名词复数 ); 政纲条目,政策要点 | |
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115 lesser | |
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地 | |
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116 foes | |
敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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117 monarchy | |
n.君主,最高统治者;君主政体,君主国 | |
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118 credentials | |
n.证明,资格,证明书,证件 | |
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119 baron | |
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王 | |
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120 disperse | |
vi.使分散;使消失;vt.分散;驱散 | |
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121 traitors | |
卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 ); 叛徒; 背叛者; 背信弃义的人 | |
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122 implored | |
恳求或乞求(某人)( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123 blindfolded | |
v.(尤指用布)挡住(某人)的视线( blindfold的过去式 );蒙住(某人)的眼睛;使不理解;蒙骗 | |
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124 vengeance | |
n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
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125 supremacy | |
n.至上;至高权力 | |
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126 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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127 dictated | |
v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 );口授;支配;摆布 | |
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128 arrogance | |
n.傲慢,自大 | |
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129 besieging | |
包围,围困,围攻( besiege的现在分词 ) | |
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130 victoriously | |
adv.获胜地,胜利地 | |
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131 pretences | |
n.假装( pretence的名词复数 );作假;自命;自称 | |
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132 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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133 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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134 vampire | |
n.吸血鬼 | |
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135 incubus | |
n.负担;恶梦 | |
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136 incessant | |
adj.不停的,连续的 | |
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137 taxation | |
n.征税,税收,税金 | |
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138 cupidity | |
n.贪心,贪财 | |
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139 domains | |
n.范围( domain的名词复数 );领域;版图;地产 | |
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140 cardinals | |
红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 ); 红衣凤头鸟(见于北美,雄鸟为鲜红色); 基数 | |
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141 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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142 exclusion | |
n.拒绝,排除,排斥,远足,远途旅行 | |
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143 dominion | |
n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 | |
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144 abrogate | |
v.废止,废除 | |
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145 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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146 heirship | |
n.继承权 | |
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147 disarmed | |
v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 );使息怒 | |
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148 defensive | |
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的 | |
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149 deposed | |
v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 );(在法庭上)宣誓作证 | |
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150 discord | |
n.不和,意见不合,争论,(音乐)不和谐 | |
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151 discords | |
不和(discord的复数形式) | |
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152 chaos | |
n.混乱,无秩序 | |
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153 disastrous | |
adj.灾难性的,造成灾害的;极坏的,很糟的 | |
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154 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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155 feud | |
n.长期不和;世仇;v.长期争斗;世代结仇 | |
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156 interfering | |
adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词 | |
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157 thwarting | |
阻挠( thwart的现在分词 ); 使受挫折; 挫败; 横过 | |
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158 lamentable | |
adj.令人惋惜的,悔恨的 | |
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159 privately | |
adv.以私人的身份,悄悄地,私下地 | |
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160 insinuating | |
adj.曲意巴结的,暗示的v.暗示( insinuate的现在分词 );巧妙或迂回地潜入;(使)缓慢进入;慢慢伸入 | |
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161 duel | |
n./v.决斗;(双方的)斗争 | |
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162 agitations | |
(液体等的)摇动( agitation的名词复数 ); 鼓动; 激烈争论; (情绪等的)纷乱 | |
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163 embarrassment | |
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫 | |
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164 coalition | |
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合 | |
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165 premier | |
adj.首要的;n.总理,首相 | |
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166 chancellorship | |
长官的职位或任期 | |
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167 exchequer | |
n.财政部;国库 | |
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168 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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169 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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170 amendments | |
(法律、文件的)改动( amendment的名词复数 ); 修正案; 修改; (美国宪法的)修正案 | |
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171 shipping | |
n.船运(发货,运输,乘船) | |
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172 onus | |
n.负担;责任 | |
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173 exonerate | |
v.免除责任,确定无罪 | |
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174 oozed | |
v.(浓液等)慢慢地冒出,渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 );使(液体)缓缓流出;(浓液)渗出,慢慢流出 | |
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175 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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176 dilatoriness | |
n.迟缓,拖延 | |
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177 condemnatory | |
adj. 非难的,处罚的 | |
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178 propriety | |
n.正当行为;正当;适当 | |
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179 awfully | |
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地 | |
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180 exculpated | |
v.开脱,使无罪( exculpate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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181 acquitted | |
宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 ); 使(自己)作出某种表现 | |
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182 ordnance | |
n.大炮,军械 | |
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183 curb | |
n.场外证券市场,场外交易;vt.制止,抑制 | |
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184 forum | |
n.论坛,讨论会 | |
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185 oration | |
n.演说,致辞,叙述法 | |
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186 outrage | |
n.暴行,侮辱,愤怒;vt.凌辱,激怒 | |
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187 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
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188 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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189 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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190 adjourned | |
(使)休会, (使)休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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191 rabble | |
n.乌合之众,暴民;下等人 | |
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192 privy | |
adj.私用的;隐密的 | |
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193 pelted | |
(连续地)投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 ); 连续抨击; 攻击; 剥去…的皮 | |
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194 dispersed | |
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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195 besieged | |
包围,围困,围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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196 radical | |
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
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197 dilemma | |
n.困境,进退两难的局面 | |
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198 contentions | |
n.竞争( contention的名词复数 );争夺;争论;论点 | |
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199 torrents | |
n.倾注;奔流( torrent的名词复数 );急流;爆发;连续不断 | |
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200 conveyance | |
n.(不动产等的)转让,让与;转让证书;传送;运送;表达;(正)运输工具 | |
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201 tumult | |
n.喧哗;激动,混乱;吵闹 | |
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202 hooted | |
(使)作汽笛声响,作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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203 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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204 metropolis | |
n.首府;大城市 | |
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205 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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206 prosecution | |
n.起诉,告发,检举,执行,经营 | |
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207 prudently | |
adv. 谨慎地,慎重地 | |
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208 liberate | |
v.解放,使获得自由,释出,放出;vt.解放,使获自由 | |
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209 justified | |
a.正当的,有理的 | |
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210 incarcerated | |
钳闭的 | |
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211 remonstrance | |
n抗议,抱怨 | |
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212 honourable | |
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的 | |
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213 justifiable | |
adj.有理由的,无可非议的 | |
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214 wilful | |
adj.任性的,故意的 | |
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215 recess | |
n.短期休息,壁凹(墙上装架子,柜子等凹处) | |
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216 condemning | |
v.(通常因道义上的原因而)谴责( condemn的现在分词 );宣判;宣布…不能使用;迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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217 corrupt | |
v.贿赂,收买;adj.腐败的,贪污的 | |
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218 vigour | |
(=vigor)n.智力,体力,精力 | |
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219 corruption | |
n.腐败,堕落,贪污 | |
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220 indefatigable | |
adj.不知疲倦的,不屈不挠的 | |
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221 detention | |
n.滞留,停留;拘留,扣留;(教育)留下 | |
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222 indictments | |
n.(制度、社会等的)衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 );刑事起诉书;公诉书;控告 | |
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223 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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224 judicial | |
adj.司法的,法庭的,审判的,明断的,公正的 | |
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225 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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226 expressive | |
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的 | |
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227 renovation | |
n.革新,整修 | |
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228 prorogation | |
n.休会,闭会 | |
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229 liberated | |
a.无拘束的,放纵的 | |
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230 apprehended | |
逮捕,拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 ); 理解 | |
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231 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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232 persevere | |
v.坚持,坚忍,不屈不挠 | |
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233 abolition | |
n.废除,取消 | |
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234 clandestine | |
adj.秘密的,暗中从事的 | |
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235 evasions | |
逃避( evasion的名词复数 ); 回避; 遁辞; 借口 | |
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236 rendering | |
n.表现,描写 | |
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237 tithes | |
n.(宗教捐税)什一税,什一的教区税,小部分( tithe的名词复数 ) | |
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238 emancipation | |
n.(从束缚、支配下)解放 | |
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239 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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240 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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241 inconveniently | |
ad.不方便地 | |
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242 necessitating | |
使…成为必要,需要( necessitate的现在分词 ) | |
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243 pecuniary | |
adj.金钱的;金钱上的 | |
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244 qualified | |
adj.合格的,有资格的,胜任的,有限制的 | |
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245 humane | |
adj.人道的,富有同情心的 | |
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246 questionable | |
adj.可疑的,有问题的 | |
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247 augment | |
vt.(使)增大,增加,增长,扩张 | |
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248 naval | |
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的 | |
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249 levied | |
征(兵)( levy的过去式和过去分词 ); 索取; 发动(战争); 征税 | |
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250 subsidy | |
n.补助金,津贴 | |
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251 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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252 subdue | |
vt.制服,使顺从,征服;抑制,克制 | |
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253 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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254 momentary | |
adj.片刻的,瞬息的;短暂的 | |
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255 mules | |
骡( mule的名词复数 ); 拖鞋; 顽固的人; 越境运毒者 | |
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256 asses | |
n. 驴,愚蠢的人,臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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257 junta | |
n.团体;政务审议会 | |
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258 proffers | |
v.提供,贡献,提出( proffer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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259 muskets | |
n.火枪,(尤指)滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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260 Portuguese | |
n.葡萄牙人;葡萄牙语 | |
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261 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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262 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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263 insolently | |
adv.自豪地,自傲地 | |
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264 moored | |
adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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265 eastward | |
adv.向东;adj.向东的;n.东方,东部 | |
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266 militia | |
n.民兵,民兵组织 | |
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267 chastisement | |
n.惩罚 | |
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268 invaders | |
入侵者,侵略者,侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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269 swarmed | |
密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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270 warfare | |
n.战争(状态);斗争;冲突 | |
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271 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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272 concealment | |
n.隐藏, 掩盖,隐瞒 | |
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273 intimidate | |
vt.恐吓,威胁 | |
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274 literally | |
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实 | |
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275 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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276 dispensed | |
v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 );施与;配(药) | |
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277 heartily | |
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很 | |
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278 abdicate | |
v.让位,辞职,放弃 | |
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279 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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280 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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281 judiciously | |
adv.明断地,明智而审慎地 | |
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282 taunted | |
嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 ); 嘲弄; 辱骂; 奚落 | |
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283 saviours | |
n.救助者( saviour的名词复数 );救星;救世主;耶稣基督 | |
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284 brutality | |
n.野蛮的行为,残忍,野蛮 | |
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285 magistrates | |
地方法官,治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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286 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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287 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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288 ascents | |
n.上升( ascent的名词复数 );(身份、地位等的)提高;上坡路;攀登 | |
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289 eminences | |
卓越( eminence的名词复数 ); 著名; 高地; 山丘 | |
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290 imposing | |
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的 | |
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291 invincibility | |
n.无敌,绝对不败 | |
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292 allied | |
adj.协约国的;同盟国的 | |
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293 intercepted | |
拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 ); 截住; 截击; 拦阻 | |
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294 odds | |
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别 | |
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295 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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296 regiments | |
(军队的)团( regiment的名词复数 ); 大量的人或物 | |
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297 repulses | |
v.击退( repulse的第三人称单数 );驳斥;拒绝 | |
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298 gallantly | |
adv. 漂亮地,勇敢地,献殷勤地 | |
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299 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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300 exodus | |
v.大批离去,成群外出 | |
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301 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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302 adroitly | |
adv.熟练地,敏捷地 | |
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303 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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304 afflicting | |
痛苦的 | |
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305 mandate | |
n.托管地;命令,指示 | |
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306 enjoined | |
v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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307 forsake | |
vt.遗弃,抛弃;舍弃,放弃 | |
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308 confided | |
v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的过去式和过去分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等) | |
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309 exigencies | |
n.急切需要 | |
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310 contented | |
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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311 encumbered | |
v.妨碍,阻碍,拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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312 detested | |
v.憎恶,嫌恶,痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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313 condemnation | |
n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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314 opprobrium | |
n.耻辱,责难 | |
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315 infamy | |
n.声名狼藉,出丑,恶行 | |
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316 destitute | |
adj.缺乏的;穷困的 | |
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317 retrace | |
v.折回;追溯,探源 | |
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318 avenge | |
v.为...复仇,为...报仇 | |
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319 miseries | |
n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 );痛苦的事;穷困;常发牢骚的人 | |
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320 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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321 embarkation | |
n. 乘船, 搭机, 开船 | |
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322 positively | |
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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323 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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324 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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325 bristling | |
a.竖立的 | |
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326 invincible | |
adj.不可征服的,难以制服的 | |
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327 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
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328 lodged | |
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属 | |
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329 Augmented | |
adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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330 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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331 foraging | |
v.搜寻(食物),尤指动物觅(食)( forage的现在分词 );(尤指用手)搜寻(东西) | |
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332 antagonist | |
n.敌人,对抗者,对手 | |
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333 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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334 destitution | |
n.穷困,缺乏,贫穷 | |
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335 distresses | |
n.悲痛( distress的名词复数 );痛苦;贫困;危险 | |
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336 arrears | |
n.到期未付之债,拖欠的款项;待做的工作 | |
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337 subsist | |
vi.生存,存在,供养 | |
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338 solely | |
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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339 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
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340 annihilate | |
v.使无效;毁灭;取消 | |
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341 extremity | |
n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
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342 accede | |
v.应允,同意 | |
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343 precarious | |
adj.不安定的,靠不住的;根据不足的 | |
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344 frigates | |
n.快速军舰( frigate的名词复数 ) | |
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345 battalions | |
n.(陆军的)一营(大约有一千兵士)( battalion的名词复数 );协同作战的部队;军队;(组织在一起工作的)队伍 | |
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346 embroidered | |
adj.绣花的 | |
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