Edmund Burke
CONCILIATION WITH AMERICA
1775
America，gentlemen say，is a noble object.It is an object well worth fighting for.Certainly it is，if fighting a people be the best way of gaining them.Gentlemen in this respect will be led to their choice of means by their complexions and their habits.Those who understand the military art will，of course，have some predilection for it.Those who wield the thunder of the state may have more confidence in the efficacy of arms.But I confess，possibly for want of this knowledge，my opinion is much more in favor of prudent management than of force；considering force not as an odious，but a feeble instrument for preserving a people so numerous，so active，so growing，so spirited as this，in a profitable and subordinate connection with us.
First，sir，permit me to observe，that the use of force alone is but temporary.It may subdue for a moment，but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again；and a nation is not governed which is perpetually to be conquered.
My next objection is its uncertainty.Terror is not always the effect of force；and an armament is not a victory.If you do not succeed，you are with-out resource；for，conciliation failing，force re-mains；but，force failing，no further hope of re-conciliation is left.Power and authority are some-times bought by kindness，but they can never be begged as alms by an impoverished and defeated violence.
A further objection to force is that you impair the object by your very endeavors to preserve it.The thing you fought for is not the thing which you recover；but depreciated，sunk，wasted，and consumed in the contest.Nothing less will content me than whole America.I do not choose to consume its strength along with our own，because in all parts it is the British strength that I consume.I do not choose to be caught by a foreign enemy at the end of this exhausting conflict，and still less in the midst of it.I may escape；but I can make no insurance against such an event.Let me add，that I do not choose wholly to break the American spirit，because it is the spirit that has made the country.
Lastly，we have no sort of experience in favor of force as an instrument in the rule of our colonies.Their growth and their utility have been owing to methods altogether different.Our ancient indulgence has been said to be pursued to a fault.It may be so；but we know，if feeling is evidence，that our fault was more tolerable than our attempt to mend it；and our sin far more salutary than our penitence.
These，sir，are my reasons for not entertaining that high opinion of untried force.The people of the colonies are descendants of Englishmen.England，sir，is a nation which still，I hope，respects，and formerly adored，her freedom.The colonists emigrated from you when this part of your character was most predominant；and they took this bias and direction the moment they part-ed from your hands.They are，therefore，not only devoted to liberty，but to liberty according to English ideas and on English principles.Abstract liberty，like other mere abstractions，is not to be found.Liberty inheres in some sensible object；and every nation has formed to itself some favorite point which，by way of eminence，becomes the criterion of their happiness.It happened，you know，sir，that the great contests for freedom in this country were，from the earliest times，chiefly upon the question of taxing.Most of the contests in the ancient commonwealths turned primarily on the right of election of magistrates，or on the balance among the several orders of the state.The question of money was not with them so immediate.But in England it was otherwise.On this point of taxes the ablest pens and most eloquent tongues have been exercised；the greatest spirits have acted and suffered.
Permit me，sir，to add another circumstance in our colonies，which contributes no mean part to-ward the growth and effect of this intractable spirit—I mean their education.In no other country，perhaps，in the world is the law so general a study.The profession itself is numerous and powerful，and in most provinces it takes the lead.The greater number of the deputies sent to Congress were lawyers.But all who read，and most do read，endeavor to obtain some smattering in that science.I have been told by an eminent bookseller that in no branch of his business，after tracts of popular devotion，were so many books as those on the law exported to the plantations.The colonists have now fallen into the way of printing them for their own use.I hear that they have sold nearly as many of“Blackstone's Commentaries”in Americans in England.
The last cause of this disobedient spirit in the colonies is hardly less powerful than the rest，as it is not merely moral，but laid deep in the natural constitution of things.Three thousand miles of ocean lie between you and them.No contrivance can prevent the effect of this distance in weakening government.Seas roll and months pass between the order and the execution；and the want of a speedy explanation of a single point is enough to defeat the whole system.You have，indeed，“winged ministers”of vengeance，who carry your bolts in their pouches to the remotest verge of the sea.But there a power steps in that limits the arrogance of raging passion and furious elements，and says：“So far shalt though go，and no farther.”
埃德蒙·伯克
同亞美利加和解
1775年
先生們說亞美利加是一個(gè)宏偉的目標(biāo)，是很值得為之奮斗的目標(biāo)。如果設(shè)法戰(zhàn)勝一個(gè)民族是贏得他們的方法，那么它確實(shí)是一個(gè)宏偉目標(biāo)。在這一方面先生們的信念和氣質(zhì)將會(huì)引導(dǎo)他們?nèi)ミx擇手段。那些熟諳軍事藝術(shù)的人當(dāng)然偏愛用武。那些掌握國家軍事力量的人更會(huì)相信武器的功效。但是，坦率地說，也許因?yàn)槿狈娛轮R(shí)，我的意見更傾向于謹(jǐn)慎行事而不是動(dòng)用武力。我認(rèn)為，為使一個(gè)人數(shù)眾多、積極有為、不斷發(fā)展、情緒高昂的民族與我們保持有益的、從屬的關(guān)系，武力雖非可憎，卻也是無效的工具。
先生們，首先請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我說動(dòng)武只是權(quán)宜之計(jì)。它可能使人一時(shí)屈服，但無法消除再次使用壓服手段的必要性；一個(gè)需要不斷地加以征服的國家是無法治理的。
我反對(duì)動(dòng)武的第二個(gè)理由是武力的不可靠性。
動(dòng)武并不總能使人害怕；武力并不就是勝利。你若不能取勝，你就沒有退路。因?yàn)?，安撫失敗，武力尚存；但是，倘若武力失敗，就再無安撫的希望了。權(quán)力和權(quán)威有時(shí)可以用仁慈去換來，但是決不可能用已耗盡的、遭到挫敗的暴力像乞討施舍似地去求得。
我反對(duì)動(dòng)武的第三個(gè)理由是你們意在保存上述目標(biāo)的種種努力恰好損害了它。你們重新得到的東西不是你們?yōu)橹窢幍臇|西；而是在爭斗過程中已經(jīng)貶值、地位下降、荒蕪衰退、瀕臨枯竭的東西。完整的亞美利加會(huì)使我感到的滿意。我不愿意消耗它的和我們自己的力量，因?yàn)槲以诟鞯厮牡亩际怯牧α?。我不愿意在這場令人精疲力竭的沖突的結(jié)尾，更不愿在其中途，遭到外敵打擊。我可以逃脫；但不能保證不出現(xiàn)這種情況。請(qǐng)容我再說一句，我完全不愿意破壞亞美利加精神，因?yàn)槭莵喢览泳窬喸炝诉@個(gè)國家。
最后一個(gè)理由，我們根本沒有將武力作為工具來統(tǒng)治殖民地的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。殖民地的發(fā)展和它們的功用得自于全然不同的方法。我們?cè)诠艜r(shí)實(shí)行的寬容據(jù)說達(dá)到了過分的程度。情況也許確實(shí)如此；但是，假如感情是一種證據(jù)，我們知道，我們的這個(gè)過失比改正過失的打算更可寬??；我們的罪孽比悔罪更為有益。
先生們，這些就是我為何不接受那種強(qiáng)烈的但未經(jīng)檢驗(yàn)的用武主張的理由。殖民地的人民是英國人的后裔。先生們，我希望過去崇尚自由的英國如今仍是一個(gè)尊重自由的國家。殖民地居民是從你們這里移居出去的，那時(shí)你們這種品質(zhì)已表現(xiàn)得非常突出；他們與你們分手時(shí)帶去了你們這里的愛好和傾向。所以，他們不僅忠誠于自由而且是按照英國人的思想和原則獻(xiàn)身于自由的。抽象的自由如同其他純粹的抽象概念一樣是根本不存在的。自由生來即存在于某些可覺察到的客體之中；每個(gè)國家都形成某種它自己特別喜愛的東西，這種東西變得明顯起來，終于成為衡量幸福的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。先生們，你們知道，從古時(shí)候起，我國爭取自由的偉大斗爭恰好主要是在納稅問題上展開的。古代政治實(shí)體中的爭斗主要開始于爭奪選舉地方行政官的權(quán)利或維持一國內(nèi)部幾個(gè)階層間的平衡。金錢問題對(duì)他們來說不那么直接。但是在英國則不然。在納稅問題上，人們至今仍在使用最有力的文筆和最雄辯的口才，最能干的人物都參與進(jìn)去，卻都不能加以解決。
先生們，請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我補(bǔ)充我國殖民地的另一個(gè)情況，這對(duì)于這種倔強(qiáng)精神的發(fā)展及影響力起著不可低估的作用——我指的是他們的教育。也許世界上沒有任何一個(gè)國家學(xué)習(xí)法律如此普遍。律師界人才濟(jì)濟(jì)，力量強(qiáng)大，且在多數(shù)殖民地居于地位。選派到議會(huì)的代表很多原來就是律師。所有讀法律的人，其中大多數(shù)也確實(shí)讀了點(diǎn)書，但他們所努力獲得的只是對(duì)這門科學(xué)的一知半解。一位的書商曾對(duì)我說，在他的書店的分店中，銷售的最多的是公眾喜愛的小冊(cè)子，其次即是出口到殖民地的有關(guān)法律的書籍?，F(xiàn)在殖民地居民正在翻印這些書籍以供己用。我聽說布蘭克斯通的《法律評(píng)論》在亞美利加的銷售量同在英國的銷售量幾乎持平。
殖民地這種不服從精神作為最后一個(gè)原因，其影響并不亞于其他的原因，因?yàn)檫@不僅僅是個(gè)道德問題，而且深深植根于自然界的構(gòu)造之中。你們和他們之間橫隔著三千海里大洋。目前尚無法防止遙遠(yuǎn)的距離削弱統(tǒng)治。通過海路傳遞命令到執(zhí)行命令往往要幾個(gè)月時(shí)間；只要有一個(gè)問題得不到迅速解釋即足以毀掉整個(gè)體系。你們確實(shí)面對(duì)著“生有翅膀的復(fù)仇大臣”，他們的袋里裝著你們的霹靂直至天涯海角。但有一種力量介入來限制這種盛怒之威，并且說：“至此為止，回頭是岸?！?BR> 王德華 譯
CONCILIATION WITH AMERICA
1775
America，gentlemen say，is a noble object.It is an object well worth fighting for.Certainly it is，if fighting a people be the best way of gaining them.Gentlemen in this respect will be led to their choice of means by their complexions and their habits.Those who understand the military art will，of course，have some predilection for it.Those who wield the thunder of the state may have more confidence in the efficacy of arms.But I confess，possibly for want of this knowledge，my opinion is much more in favor of prudent management than of force；considering force not as an odious，but a feeble instrument for preserving a people so numerous，so active，so growing，so spirited as this，in a profitable and subordinate connection with us.
First，sir，permit me to observe，that the use of force alone is but temporary.It may subdue for a moment，but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again；and a nation is not governed which is perpetually to be conquered.
My next objection is its uncertainty.Terror is not always the effect of force；and an armament is not a victory.If you do not succeed，you are with-out resource；for，conciliation failing，force re-mains；but，force failing，no further hope of re-conciliation is left.Power and authority are some-times bought by kindness，but they can never be begged as alms by an impoverished and defeated violence.
A further objection to force is that you impair the object by your very endeavors to preserve it.The thing you fought for is not the thing which you recover；but depreciated，sunk，wasted，and consumed in the contest.Nothing less will content me than whole America.I do not choose to consume its strength along with our own，because in all parts it is the British strength that I consume.I do not choose to be caught by a foreign enemy at the end of this exhausting conflict，and still less in the midst of it.I may escape；but I can make no insurance against such an event.Let me add，that I do not choose wholly to break the American spirit，because it is the spirit that has made the country.
Lastly，we have no sort of experience in favor of force as an instrument in the rule of our colonies.Their growth and their utility have been owing to methods altogether different.Our ancient indulgence has been said to be pursued to a fault.It may be so；but we know，if feeling is evidence，that our fault was more tolerable than our attempt to mend it；and our sin far more salutary than our penitence.
These，sir，are my reasons for not entertaining that high opinion of untried force.The people of the colonies are descendants of Englishmen.England，sir，is a nation which still，I hope，respects，and formerly adored，her freedom.The colonists emigrated from you when this part of your character was most predominant；and they took this bias and direction the moment they part-ed from your hands.They are，therefore，not only devoted to liberty，but to liberty according to English ideas and on English principles.Abstract liberty，like other mere abstractions，is not to be found.Liberty inheres in some sensible object；and every nation has formed to itself some favorite point which，by way of eminence，becomes the criterion of their happiness.It happened，you know，sir，that the great contests for freedom in this country were，from the earliest times，chiefly upon the question of taxing.Most of the contests in the ancient commonwealths turned primarily on the right of election of magistrates，or on the balance among the several orders of the state.The question of money was not with them so immediate.But in England it was otherwise.On this point of taxes the ablest pens and most eloquent tongues have been exercised；the greatest spirits have acted and suffered.
Permit me，sir，to add another circumstance in our colonies，which contributes no mean part to-ward the growth and effect of this intractable spirit—I mean their education.In no other country，perhaps，in the world is the law so general a study.The profession itself is numerous and powerful，and in most provinces it takes the lead.The greater number of the deputies sent to Congress were lawyers.But all who read，and most do read，endeavor to obtain some smattering in that science.I have been told by an eminent bookseller that in no branch of his business，after tracts of popular devotion，were so many books as those on the law exported to the plantations.The colonists have now fallen into the way of printing them for their own use.I hear that they have sold nearly as many of“Blackstone's Commentaries”in Americans in England.
The last cause of this disobedient spirit in the colonies is hardly less powerful than the rest，as it is not merely moral，but laid deep in the natural constitution of things.Three thousand miles of ocean lie between you and them.No contrivance can prevent the effect of this distance in weakening government.Seas roll and months pass between the order and the execution；and the want of a speedy explanation of a single point is enough to defeat the whole system.You have，indeed，“winged ministers”of vengeance，who carry your bolts in their pouches to the remotest verge of the sea.But there a power steps in that limits the arrogance of raging passion and furious elements，and says：“So far shalt though go，and no farther.”
埃德蒙·伯克
同亞美利加和解
1775年
先生們說亞美利加是一個(gè)宏偉的目標(biāo)，是很值得為之奮斗的目標(biāo)。如果設(shè)法戰(zhàn)勝一個(gè)民族是贏得他們的方法，那么它確實(shí)是一個(gè)宏偉目標(biāo)。在這一方面先生們的信念和氣質(zhì)將會(huì)引導(dǎo)他們?nèi)ミx擇手段。那些熟諳軍事藝術(shù)的人當(dāng)然偏愛用武。那些掌握國家軍事力量的人更會(huì)相信武器的功效。但是，坦率地說，也許因?yàn)槿狈娛轮R(shí)，我的意見更傾向于謹(jǐn)慎行事而不是動(dòng)用武力。我認(rèn)為，為使一個(gè)人數(shù)眾多、積極有為、不斷發(fā)展、情緒高昂的民族與我們保持有益的、從屬的關(guān)系，武力雖非可憎，卻也是無效的工具。
先生們，首先請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我說動(dòng)武只是權(quán)宜之計(jì)。它可能使人一時(shí)屈服，但無法消除再次使用壓服手段的必要性；一個(gè)需要不斷地加以征服的國家是無法治理的。
我反對(duì)動(dòng)武的第二個(gè)理由是武力的不可靠性。
動(dòng)武并不總能使人害怕；武力并不就是勝利。你若不能取勝，你就沒有退路。因?yàn)?，安撫失敗，武力尚存；但是，倘若武力失敗，就再無安撫的希望了。權(quán)力和權(quán)威有時(shí)可以用仁慈去換來，但是決不可能用已耗盡的、遭到挫敗的暴力像乞討施舍似地去求得。
我反對(duì)動(dòng)武的第三個(gè)理由是你們意在保存上述目標(biāo)的種種努力恰好損害了它。你們重新得到的東西不是你們?yōu)橹窢幍臇|西；而是在爭斗過程中已經(jīng)貶值、地位下降、荒蕪衰退、瀕臨枯竭的東西。完整的亞美利加會(huì)使我感到的滿意。我不愿意消耗它的和我們自己的力量，因?yàn)槲以诟鞯厮牡亩际怯牧α?。我不愿意在這場令人精疲力竭的沖突的結(jié)尾，更不愿在其中途，遭到外敵打擊。我可以逃脫；但不能保證不出現(xiàn)這種情況。請(qǐng)容我再說一句，我完全不愿意破壞亞美利加精神，因?yàn)槭莵喢览泳窬喸炝诉@個(gè)國家。
最后一個(gè)理由，我們根本沒有將武力作為工具來統(tǒng)治殖民地的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。殖民地的發(fā)展和它們的功用得自于全然不同的方法。我們?cè)诠艜r(shí)實(shí)行的寬容據(jù)說達(dá)到了過分的程度。情況也許確實(shí)如此；但是，假如感情是一種證據(jù)，我們知道，我們的這個(gè)過失比改正過失的打算更可寬??；我們的罪孽比悔罪更為有益。
先生們，這些就是我為何不接受那種強(qiáng)烈的但未經(jīng)檢驗(yàn)的用武主張的理由。殖民地的人民是英國人的后裔。先生們，我希望過去崇尚自由的英國如今仍是一個(gè)尊重自由的國家。殖民地居民是從你們這里移居出去的，那時(shí)你們這種品質(zhì)已表現(xiàn)得非常突出；他們與你們分手時(shí)帶去了你們這里的愛好和傾向。所以，他們不僅忠誠于自由而且是按照英國人的思想和原則獻(xiàn)身于自由的。抽象的自由如同其他純粹的抽象概念一樣是根本不存在的。自由生來即存在于某些可覺察到的客體之中；每個(gè)國家都形成某種它自己特別喜愛的東西，這種東西變得明顯起來，終于成為衡量幸福的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。先生們，你們知道，從古時(shí)候起，我國爭取自由的偉大斗爭恰好主要是在納稅問題上展開的。古代政治實(shí)體中的爭斗主要開始于爭奪選舉地方行政官的權(quán)利或維持一國內(nèi)部幾個(gè)階層間的平衡。金錢問題對(duì)他們來說不那么直接。但是在英國則不然。在納稅問題上，人們至今仍在使用最有力的文筆和最雄辯的口才，最能干的人物都參與進(jìn)去，卻都不能加以解決。
先生們，請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我補(bǔ)充我國殖民地的另一個(gè)情況，這對(duì)于這種倔強(qiáng)精神的發(fā)展及影響力起著不可低估的作用——我指的是他們的教育。也許世界上沒有任何一個(gè)國家學(xué)習(xí)法律如此普遍。律師界人才濟(jì)濟(jì)，力量強(qiáng)大，且在多數(shù)殖民地居于地位。選派到議會(huì)的代表很多原來就是律師。所有讀法律的人，其中大多數(shù)也確實(shí)讀了點(diǎn)書，但他們所努力獲得的只是對(duì)這門科學(xué)的一知半解。一位的書商曾對(duì)我說，在他的書店的分店中，銷售的最多的是公眾喜愛的小冊(cè)子，其次即是出口到殖民地的有關(guān)法律的書籍?，F(xiàn)在殖民地居民正在翻印這些書籍以供己用。我聽說布蘭克斯通的《法律評(píng)論》在亞美利加的銷售量同在英國的銷售量幾乎持平。
殖民地這種不服從精神作為最后一個(gè)原因，其影響并不亞于其他的原因，因?yàn)檫@不僅僅是個(gè)道德問題，而且深深植根于自然界的構(gòu)造之中。你們和他們之間橫隔著三千海里大洋。目前尚無法防止遙遠(yuǎn)的距離削弱統(tǒng)治。通過海路傳遞命令到執(zhí)行命令往往要幾個(gè)月時(shí)間；只要有一個(gè)問題得不到迅速解釋即足以毀掉整個(gè)體系。你們確實(shí)面對(duì)著“生有翅膀的復(fù)仇大臣”，他們的袋里裝著你們的霹靂直至天涯海角。但有一種力量介入來限制這種盛怒之威，并且說：“至此為止，回頭是岸?！?BR> 王德華 譯