美国学生历史 第35期:无代表权税收(1)

 　　CHAPTER 12 第12期

　　TAXATION¹ WITHOUT REPRESENTATION 无代表权税收

　　107. George III and George Grenville. 107．乔治三世与乔治o格伦维尔

　　George III became king in 1760. 乔治三世于1760年登基，

　　He was a narrow, stupid, well-meaning, ignorant young man of twenty-one. 他年仅21岁的年轻人，心胸狭窄、 没有主见且没有多少知识。

　　He soon found in George Grenville a narrow, dull, well-meaning lawyer, a man who would do what he was told. 乔治三世很快发现，乔治o 格伦维尔是一名心胸狭窄、思维迟钝且没有主见的律师， 此人会惟命是从。

　　So George Grenville became the head of the government. 于是，乔治o格伦维尔被任命为政府的首脑，

　　To him the law was the law. 在他看来，法规就是法规，不容僭越。

　　If he wished to do a thing and could find the law for it, he asked for nothing more. 如果他想做一件事并可以找到这么做的法律依据，这就足够了。

　　His military advisers² told him that an army must be kept in America for years. 军事顾问告诉乔治o格伦维尔，一支军队必须在美洲驻扎几年 ，

　　It was Grenville's business to find the money to support this army. 乔治o格伦维尔要做的就是找到钱供给这支军队。

　　Great Britain was burdened with a national debt. 不列颠背负上沉重的国债，

　　The army was to be maintained, partly, at least, for the protection of the colonists³. 在一定程度上， 供养这支军队的目的是为了 保护殖民地居民，

　　Why should they not pay a part of the cost of maintaining it? 为什么殖民地居民不应该拿出一部分钱来供养这支军队？

　　Parliament was the supreme⁴ power in the British Empire. 在不列颠王国议会是最高权力机关，

　　It controlled the king, the church, the army, and the navy. 它控制着国王、教堂、 陆军和海军，

　　Surely a Parliament that had all this power could tax the colonists. 拥有所有这些权利的议会可以向殖民地居民收税。

　　At all events, Grenville thought it could, and Parliament passed the Stamp Act to tax them. 格伦维尔认定议会可以这么做，并且议会通过《邮政法案》 向殖民地居民征税。

　　108. Henry's Resolutions, 1765. 108．亨利方案（1765年）

　　The colonists, however, with one voice, declared that Parliament had no power to tax them. 然而殖民地居民一致宣称议会无权向他们征税。

　　Taxes, they said, could be voted only by themselves or their representatives. 他们认为 ，赋税如何只应该由他们自己或他们的代表来投票表决。

　　They were represented in their own colonial assemblies, and nowhere else. 赋税的提出应该是在他们自己的殖民议会上， 任何别的地方都不行。

　　Patrick Henry was now a member of the Virginia assembly. 此时帕特里克o 亨利是弗吉尼亚州议会的一个成员，

　　He had just been elected for the first time. 他刚刚当选， 而且是第一次当选。

　　But as none of the older members of the assembly proposed any action, Henry tore a leaf from an old law-book and wrote on it a set of resolutions. 但是， 由于议会的所有老议员都没有提出什么解决方案， 亨利从旧法律书上撕下一页，并在上面写下一套解决方案，

　　These he presented in a burning speech, upholding the rights of the Virginians. 他充满激情地提出这套方案，以维护弗吉尼亚人的权力。

　　He said that to tax them by act of Parliament was tyranny. 亨利认为，通过议会操作向他们征税是专制，

　　"Caesar and Tarquin had each his Brutus, Charles I his Cromwell, and George III"-"Treason, treason," shouted the speaker. "May profit by their example," slowly Henry went on. 他慷慨陈词：" 有凯撒和塔坤就有布鲁图斯， 有查理一世就有克伦威尔和乔治三世呢--只有谋反，谋反。" 亨利接着说，

　　"If that be treason, make the most of it." The resolutions were voted. "我们可以从历史中汲取教训，如果这就是谋反， 我们都来做谋反者。"他的方案得到投票拥护，

　　In them the Virginians declared that they were not subject to Acts of Parliament laying taxes or interfering⁵ in the internal affairs of Virginia. 弗吉尼亚人民宣称，他们不再接受议会关于收税的决定， 也不接受议会对弗吉尼亚内部事务的干涉。

　　109. Stamp Act Riots, 1765. 109．《印花税法案》骚乱（1765年）

　　Until the summer of 1765 the colonists contented⁶ themselves with passing resolutions. 直到1765年，弗吉尼亚人一直对通过亨利方案表示满意，

　　There was little else that they could do. 别的他们也不可能做出什么。

　　They could not refuse to obey the law because it would not go into effect until November. 他们不可能拒绝服从法律， 因为法律到11月份之后才生效。

　　They could not mob the stamp distributers because no one knew their names. 他们不可能围攻发放印花的人 ，因为没有人知道发放者的名字。

　　In August the names of the stamp distributers were published. 直到8月， 发放印花人员名单公布，

　　Now at last it was possible to do something besides passing resolutions. 人们终于有可能做除通过一套方案之外的事了。

　　In every colony the people visited the stamp officers and told them to resign. 各个殖民地上的人都造访负责印花发放的官员，劝他们辞职。

　　If they refused, they were mobbed until they resigned. 如果他们不辞职就会遭到围攻，直到其辞职为止。

　　In Boston the rioters were especially active. 波士顿的闹事者更为激进，

　　They detested⁷ Thomas Hutchinson. 他们痛恨托马斯哈钦森，

　　He was lieutenant-governor and chief justice and had been active in enforcing the navigation acts. 此人是总督助理，掌管着司法并积极从事强制执行航海法。

　　The rioters attacked his house. 闹事者攻击托马斯o哈钦森的家，

　　They broke his furniture, destroyed his clothing, and made a bonfire of his books and papers. 捣毁他的家具，扯碎他的衣服 ，并将他的书和文件付之一炬。

1 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

2 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

3 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

6 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

7 detested   

v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They detested each other on sight. 他们互相看着就不顺眼。
• The freethinker hated the formalist; the lover of liberty detested the disciplinarian. 自由思想者总是不喜欢拘泥形式者，爱好自由者总是憎恶清规戒律者。 来自辞典例句