評論
打印
248. America, Britain, and France.
248．美國、不列顛和法國
Napoleon Bonaparte was now Emperor of the French.
此時拿破侖·波拿巴是法國的皇帝，
In 1804 he made war on the British and their allies.
1804年，他向英國和英國的同盟國開戰，
Soon he became supreme on the land, and the British became supreme on the water.
很快法國成為陸地之王，而英國成為海上之王，
They could no longer fight one another very easily, so they determined to injure each other's trade and commerce as much as possible.
兩個國家彼此都不能輕易打敗對方，因此它們決定盡可能地去損害對方的商業貿易。
The British declared continental ports closed to commerce, and Napoleon declared all British commerce to be unlawful.
英國宣布關閉所有的陸地港口，而拿破侖則宣稱所有的英國商貿活動都不合法。
Of course under these circumstances British and Continental ships could not carry on trade, and American vessels rapidly took their places.
在這種情況下，英國和法國的船只當然不可能從事商貿活動，美國的船只迅速取代了它們。
The British shipowners called upon their government to put an end to this American commerce.
英國的船主們呼吁政府終止美國的貿易，
Old laws were looked up and enforced.
于是，英國人翻查過去的法律，
American vessels that disobeyed them were seized by the British.
并強制執行這些法律，不服從這些法律的美國船只被英國收繳，
But if any American vessel obeyed these laws, Napoleon seized it as soon as it entered a French harbor.
但是，如果美國的船只服從這些法律的話，拿破侖會在這些船只進入法國港口時立刻將它們收繳起來。
249. The Impressment Controversy.
249．"強制征兵"問題
With the British the United States had still another cause of complaint.
還有一個原因導致美國人對英國心存怨氣。
British warships stopped American vessels and took away all their seamen who looked like Englishmen.
英國的軍艦攔截美國船只，并將所有看起來像英國人的人帶走，
These they compelled to serve on British men-of-war.
他們強迫這些人在英國軍艦上服務，
As Americans and Englishmen looked very much alike, they generally seized all the best-looking seamen.
因為美國人和英國人開起來非常接近，他們一般掠走那些英俊的水手，
Thousands of Americans were captured in this way and forced into slavery on British men-of-war.
數千美國人就這樣被捕獲并被強迫到英國的軍艦上當奴隸，
This method of kidnaping was called impressment.
人們把這種劫持人的方法叫做"強制征兵"。
