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【名人家书】托马斯杰弗逊致侄儿
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托马斯·杰弗逊（ThomasJefferson，1743年4月13日─1826年7月4日)，为美利坚合众国第三任总统（1801年─1809年），也是美国独立宣言（1776年）主要起草人，及美国开国元勋中最具影响力者之一。此后，他先后担任了美国第一任国务卿，第二任副总统和第三任总统。他在任期间保护农业，发展民族资本主义工业。从法国手中购买路易斯安那州，使美国领土近乎增加了一倍。他被普遍视为美国历史上最杰出的总统之一，同华盛顿、林肯和罗斯福齐名。于1826逝世。
August 10, 1787
Dear Peter, — I have received your two letters of Decemb 30 and April 18, and am very happy to find by them, as well as by letters from Mr. Wythe, that you have been so fortunate as to attract his notice & good will; I am sure you will find this to have been one of the most fortunate events of your life, as I have ever been sensible it was of mine. I inclose you a sketch1 of the sciences to which I would wish you to apply in such order as Mr. Wythe shall advise; I mention also the books in them worth your reading, which submit to his correction. Many of these are among your father’s books, which you should have brought to you. As I do not recollect2 those of them not in his library, you must write to me for them, making out a catalogue of such as you think you shall have occasion for in 18 months from the date of your letter & consulting Mr. Wythe on the subject. To this sketch, I will add a few particular observations.
1. Italian. I fear the learning of this language will confound your French and Spanish. Being all of them degenerated3 dialects of the Latin, they are apt to mix in conversation. I have never seen a person speaking the three languages, who did not mix them. It is a delightful4 language, but late events having rendered the Spanish more useful, lay it aside to prosecute5 that.
2. Spanish. Bestow6 great attention on this, & endeavor to acquire an accurate knowledge of it. Our future connections with Spain & Spanish America, will render that language a valuable acquisition. The ancient history of that part of America, too, is written in that language. I send you a dictionary.
3. Moral Philosophy. I think it lost time to attend lectures on this branch. He who made us would have been a pitiful bungler7, if he had made the rules of our moral conduct a matter of science. For one man of science, there are thousands who are not. What would have become of them? Man was destined8 for society. His morality, therefore, was to be formed to this object. He was endowed with a sense of right & wrong, merely relative to this. This sense is as much a part of his nature, as the sense of hearing, seeing, feeling; it is the true foundation of morality, & not the to kalon, truth, &c. as fanciful writers have imagined. The moral sense, or conscience, is as much a part of man as his leg or arm. It is given to all human beings in a stronger or weaker degree, as force of members is given them in a greater or less degree. It may be strengthened by exercise, as may any particular limb of the body. This sense is submitted indeed in some degree to the guidance of reason; but it is a small stock which is required for this: even a less one than what we call common sense. State a moral case to a ploughman & a professor. The former will decide it as well, & often better than the latter, because he has not been led astray by artificial rules. In this branch therefore read good books because they will encourage as well as direct your feelings. The writings of Sterne particularly form the best course of morality that ever was written. Besides these read the books mentioned in the enclosed paper; and above all things lose no occasion of exercising your dispositions9 to be grateful, to be generous, to be charitable, to be humane10, to be true, just, firm, orderly, courageous11, &c. Consider every act of this kind as an exercise which will strengthen your moral faculties12 & increase your worth.
4. Religion. Your reason is now mature enough to examine this object. In the first place divest13 yourself of all bias14 in favor of novelty & singularity of opinion. Indulge them in any other subject rather than that of religion. It is too important, & the consequences of error may be too serious. On the other hand shake off all the fears & servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched15. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage16 of reason, than that of blindfolded17 fear. You will naturally examine first the religion of your own country. Read the Bible, then, as you would read Livy or Tacitus. The facts which are within the ordinary course of nature you will believe on the authority of the writer, as you do those of the same kind in Livy & Tacitus. The testimony18 of the writer weighs in their favor in one scale, and their not being against the laws of nature does not weigh against them. But those facts in the Bible which contradict the laws of nature, must be examined with more care, and under a variety of faces. Here you must recur19 to the pretensions21 of the writer to inspiration from God. Examine upon what evidence his pretensions are founded, and whether that evidence is so strong as that its falsehood would be more improbable than a change in the laws of nature in the case he relates. For example in the book of Joshua we are told, the sun stood still several hours. Were we to read that fact in Livy or Tacitus we should class it with their showers of blood, speaking of statues, beasts, &c. But it is said that the writer of that book was inspired. Examine therefore candidly22 what evidence there is of his having been inspired. The pretension20 is entitled to your inquiry23, because millions believe it. On the other hand you are astronomer24 enough to know how contrary it is to the law of nature that a body revolving25 on its axis26 as the earth does, should have stopped, should not by that sudden stoppage have prostrated27 animals, trees, buildings, and should after a certain time gave resumed its revolution, & that without a second general prostration28. Is this arrest of the earth’s motion, or the evidence which affirms it, most within the law of probabilities? You will next read the new testament29. It is the history of a personage called Jesus. Keep in your eye the opposite pretensions 1. of those who say he was begotten30 by god, born of a virgin31, suspended & reversed the laws of nature at will, & ascended32 bodily into heaven: and 2. of those who say he was a man of illegitimate birth, of a benevolent33 heart, enthusiastic mind, who set out without pretensions to divinity, ended in believing them, and was punished capitally for sedition34 by being gibbeted according to the Roman law which punished the first commission of that offence by whipping, & the second by exile or death in furc?. See this law in the Digest Lib. 48. tit. 19. §. 28. 3. & Lipsius Lib 2. de cruce. cap. 2. These questions are examined in the books I have mentioned under the head of religion, & several others. They will assist you in your inquiries35, but keep your reason firmly on the watch in reading them all. Do not be frightened from this inquiry by any fear of its consequences. If it ends in a belief that there is no god you will find incitements to virtue37 in the comfort & pleasantness you feel in its exercise, and the love of others which it will procure38 you. If you find reason to believe there is a god, a consciousness that you are acting39 under his eye, & that he approves you, will be a vast additional incitement36; if that there be a future state, the hope of a happy existence in that increases the appetite to deserve it; if that Jesus was also a god, you will be comforted by a belief of his aid and love. In fine, I repeat you must lay aside all prejudice on both sides, & neither believe nor reject anything because any other persons, or description of persons have rejected or believed it. Your own reason is the only oracle40 given you by heaven, and you are answerable not for the rightness but uprightness of the decision. I forgot to observe when speaking of the new testament that you should read all the histories of Christ, as well of those whom a council of ecclesiastics41 have decided42 for us to be Pseudo-evangelists, as those they named Evangelists. Because these Pseudo-evangelists pretended to inspiration as much as the others, and you are to judge their pretensions by your own reason, & not by the reason of those ecclesiastics. Most of these are lost. There are some however still extant, collected by Fabricius which I will endeavor to get & send you.
5. Travelling. This makes men wiser, but less happy. When men of sober age travel, they gather knolege, which they may apply usefully for their country, but they are subject ever after to recollections mixed with regret, their affections are weakened by being extended over more objects, & they learn new habits which cannot be gratified when they return home. Young men who travel are exposed to all these inconveniences in a higher degree, to others still more serious, and do not acquire that wisdom for which a previous foundation is requisite43 by repeated & just observations at home. The glare of pomp & pleasure is analogous44 to the motion of their blood, it absorbs all their affection & attention, they are torn from it as from the only good in this world, and return to their home as to a place of exile & condemnation45. Their eyes are forever turned back to the object they have lost, & its recollection poisons the residue46 of their lives. Their first & most delicate passions are hackneyed on unworthy objects here, & they carry home the dregs, insufficient47 to make themselves or anybody else happy. Add to this that a habit of idleness, an inability to apply themselves to business is acquired & renders them useless to themselves & their country. These observations are founded in experience. There is no place where your pursuit of knowledge will be so little obstructed48 by foreign objects as in your own country nor any wherein the virtues49 of the heart will be less exposed to be weakened. Be good, be learned, & be industrious50, & you will not want the aid of travelling, to render you precious to your country, dear to your friends, happy within yourself. I repeat my advice to take a great deal of exercise, & on foot. Health is the first requisite after morality. Write to me often, & be assured of the interest I take in your success, as well as the warmth of those sentiments of attachment51 with which I am, dear Peter, your affectionate friend.
P.S. Let me know your age in your next letter. Your cousins here are well & desire to be remembered to you.
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1
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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2
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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3
degenerated
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| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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6
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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Bungler
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| n.笨拙者，经验不够的人 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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9
dispositions
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| 安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质 | |
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humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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11
courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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12
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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13
divest
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| v.脱去，剥除 | |
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14
bias
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| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
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15
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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17
blindfolded
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| 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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18
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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19
recur
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| vi.复发，重现，再发生 | |
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20
pretension
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| n.要求；自命，自称；自负 | |
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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22
candidly
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| adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地 | |
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23
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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24
astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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axis
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| n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线 | |
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27
prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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29
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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30
begotten
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| v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起 | |
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31
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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32
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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34
sedition
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| n.煽动叛乱 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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36
incitement
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| 激励； 刺激； 煽动； 激励物 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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38
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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39
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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40
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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41
ecclesiastics
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| n.神职者，教会，牧师( ecclesiastic的名词复数 ) | |
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42
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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43
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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44
analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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45
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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46
residue
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| n.残余，剩余，残渣 | |
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47
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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48
obstructed
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| 阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止 | |
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49
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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50
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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51
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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