評論
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125.Sympathy with the Bostonians.
125．對波士頓人的同情
King George thought he could punish the Massachusetts people as much as he wished without the people of the other colonies objecting. It soon appeared that the people of the other colonies sympathized most heartily with the Bostonians. They sent them sheep and rice. They sent them clothes. George Washington was now a rich man. He offered to raise a thousand men with his own money, march with them to Boston, and rescue the oppressed people from their oppressors. But the time for war had not yet come although it was not far off.
喬治國王認為他可以隨意處罰馬薩諸塞人，其他殖民地不會出來反對，但是，其他殖民地的人很快給波士頓人以最誠摯的同情，他們送給波士頓人羊、大米和衣物。現在喬治·華盛頓是一個富翁，他主動拿出錢召募一千個人，隨從大家長途跋涉趕到波士頓將受壓迫的人從壓迫者手中解救出來。但是，戰爭還沒有到來，盡管這場戰爭已隱約可見。
126.The Quebec Act, 1774.
126．《魁北克法案》（1774年）
In the same year that Parliament passed the four acts to punish Massachusetts, it passed another act which affected the people of other colonies as well as those of Massachusetts. This was the Quebec Act. It provided that the land between the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Great Lakes should be added to the Province of Quebec. Now this land was claimed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. These colonies were to be deprived of their rights to land in that region. The Quebec Act also provided for the establishment of a very strong government in that province. This seemed to be an attack on free institutions. All these things drove the colonists to unite. They resolved to hold a congress where the leaders of the several continental colonies might talk over matters and decide what should be done.
在通過懲罰馬薩諸塞四個法案的同一年，議會還通過一個對馬薩諸塞人和其他殖民地的人同樣有影響的法案，這就是《魁北克法案》。這個法案規定，俄亥俄、密西西比河，五大湖之間的土地應該歸屬魁北克省，現在這塊土地被馬薩諸塞、康涅狄格、紐約、賓夕法尼亞和弗吉尼亞分別擁有，這些殖民地要交出其在這塊土地上的主權。《魁北克法案》還規定，要在這個省建立一個強大的政府。這看來就是對自由制度的攻擊。所有這些都在驅使著殖民地結成聯邦，他們決定舉行一次議會，通過這次會議幾個殖民地的首領可以協商事務以決定如何行動。
127.The First Continental Congress, 1774.
127．第一次大陸會議（1774年）
The members of the Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, in September, 1774. Never, except in the Federal Convention (p. 137), have so many great men met together. The greatest delegation was that from Virginia. It included George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee. From Massachusetts came the two Adamses, John and Samuel. From New York came John Jay. From Pennsylvania came John Dickinson. Of all the greatest Americans only Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were absent.
1774年9月，大陸會議的成員聚集到費城的卡朋特大禮堂。除了聯邦大會，從來沒有這么多大人物聚集在一起。最優秀的代表來自弗吉尼亞，包括喬治·華盛頓、帕特里克·亨利和理查德·亨利·李。馬薩諸塞派來了兩個亞當斯--約翰和薩繆爾，來自紐約的是約翰·杰伊，來自賓夕法尼亞的是約翰·狄更森。在美國偉人中只有托馬斯·杰斐遜和本杰明·富蘭克林沒有到場。
