美国学生历史 第137期:安德鲁·杰克逊的任期(3)

 　　305. Webster and Hayne, 1830. 305．韦伯斯特与海恩（1830年）

　　Calhoun was Vice-President and presided over the debates of the Senate. 科恩是副总统，并且主持参议院的辩论。

　　So it fell to Senator Hayne of South Carolina to state Calhoun's ideas. 轮到南卡罗莱纳州的参议员海恩陈述科恩的思想，

　　This he did in a very able speech. 他做了一个有才华的演讲。

　　To him Daniel Webster of Massachusetts replied in the most brilliant speeches ever delivered in Congress. 马萨诸塞州丹尼尔o韦伯斯特对此回答，这是国会历史上最为精彩的演讲。

　　The Constitution, Webster declared, was "the people's constitution, the people's government; made by the people and answerable to the people. 韦伯斯特认为，宪法是"人民的宪法，是人民政府的宪法，它由人民制定也解答人民提出的问题。

　　The people have declared that this constitution shall be the supreme¹ law." 人民已经宣称这部宪法"应该是最高法律"。

　　The Supreme Court of the United States alone could declare a national law to be unconstitutional; no state could do that. 只有美国最高法院可以宣称一部国家法律为不符合宪法，但没有哪个州可以这么做。

　　He ended this great speech with the memorable² words, "Liberty and Union, now and forever,one and inseparable." 他用一句难忘的话来结束这次伟大的演讲："自由与联邦，无论现在和将来都是不可分割的一个整体。"

　　306. Nullification, 1832-33. 306．州废止联邦法令（1832-1833年）

　　In 1832 Congress passed a new tariff³ act. 1832年，国会通过一项新的关税法案，

　　The South Carolinians decided⁴ to try Calhoun's weapon of nullification. 南卡罗莱纳州的人们决定尝试一下科恩用以废除法律的武器，

　　They held a convention, declared the act null and void, and forbade South Carolinians to obey the law. 他们举行一次会议，宣称这个法案为无效，并禁止南卡罗莱纳人服从这个法律。

　　They probably thought that Jackson would not oppose them. 他们可能认为杰克森不会反对他们，

　　But they should have had no doubts on that subject. 但他们不应该怀疑这一点，

　　For Jackson already had proposed his famous toast on Jefferson's birthday, "our federal Union, it must be preserved." 因为杰克森已经在杰斐逊的生日当天提出一个著名的祝词："联邦是我们联邦的联邦，我们一定要维护它。"

　　He now told the Carolinians that he would enforce the laws, and he set about doing it with all his old-time energy. 此刻杰克森告知卡罗莱纳人他会强制执行这个法案，并且他着手用他惯用的手法来做这些事。

1 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。

2 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

3 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。