我们人民

2004 · 演讲 · 原文约 701 词

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“我们人民”演讲词

约翰·C·博格尔

先锋集团创始人

在费城良好公民奖颁奖典礼上的致辞

七十人委员会百年庆典

宾夕法尼亚州费城

2004 年 6 月 9 日

感谢诸位授予我这个殊荣——虽然我深感受之有愧——表彰我作为国家宪法中心主席所做的工作。

“We the People” Remarks by John C. Bogle Founder, The Vanguard Group On Receiving the Philadelphia Good Citizenship Award At the Centennial Celebration of The Committee of Seventy Philadelphia, PA June 9, 2004 Thank you all for the high—if hardly fully-deserved—honor you bestow on me for my work as Chairman of the National Constitution Center.

让我讲清楚：作为主席，我所取得的成就与我前任、时任市长爱德华·G·伦德尔相比黯然失色，正是他的领导力对宪法中心项目启动至关重要。但真正将宪法中心从构想变为现实的功劳，大部分应归于我们的前总裁兼首席执行官——也是我近五年的搭档——约瑟夫·M·托尔塞拉。在董事会通过的关于乔离职的决议中，我们想不出比镌刻在伦敦圣保罗大教堂地下室中克里斯托弗·雷恩爵士墓前那段文字（译自拉丁文）更贴切的话来形容他的成就：你若想瞻仰他的纪念碑，请环顾四周。

Let me be clear: My achievements as Chairman pale by comparison with those of my predecessor, then-Mayor Edward G. Rendell, whose leadership was essential in getting the Constitution Center project underway. But the man who deserves the lion’s share of the credit for actually taking the Center from an idea to a reality is our former President and CEO—and my partner for nearly five years— Joseph M. Torsella. In the resolution passed by the Board of Trustees on Joe’s departure, we could think of no more fitting words to define his accomplishment than those written at the tomb of Sir Christopher Wren in the crypt of his masterwork, St. Paul’s Cathedral in London (translated from the Latin): If you would see his monument, look around.

昨晚我在纽约历史学会演讲时，尽己所能向那里对情况不甚了解的同胞们介绍了我们辉煌的新宪法中心。在那里，我找到了一段特别精彩的轶事，非常契合今晚“七十人委员会”百年庆典这一历史性场合——该委员会一百年来始终有力地推动着公民对良好政府的承诺。

Last evening, when I spoke at the New York Historical Society, I did my best to inform our largely uninformed brethren and sisters there about our splendid new Constitution Center. There, I found an especially fine anecdote that is remarkably appropriate for tonight’s historic Centennial celebration of the Committee of Seventy, that has so ably fostered citizen commitment to good government for one hundred years.

为纪念昨晚的活动，我们伟大的宪法手稿的两份原始版本在学会礼堂展出。第一份是 1787 年 8 月 6 日的草稿。它以“我们，新罕布什尔州、马萨诸塞州、罗德岛州、康涅狄格州、纽约州、新泽西州、宾夕法尼亚州……的人民”开头，明显按从北到南的顺序排列……最后是“与佐治亚州的人民，特此制定、宣布并确立以下宪法，以治理我们自身及后代。”

In commemoration of last evening’s event, two original versions of our great Constitution were on exhibit in the Society’s auditorium. The first was the draft of August 6, 1787. We the people, it began, of the States of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, . . . and so on, clearly running in a north to south order . . . and Georgia, do ordain, declare and establish the following Constitution for the Government of Ourselves and our Posterity.

是的，这整段话就是全部开场白！然而，费城又上演了一个奇迹，就在一个月后——1787 年 9 月 17 日，这份文件最终版本的文本发生了翻天覆地的变化。（事实上，昨晚在纽约市的活动中，还展出了本杰明·富兰克林亲自收藏的那部宪法副本，上面有这位最年长、最睿智的开国元勋的亲笔签名。）

Yes, that was the entire preamble! But by another miracle at Philadelphia, just a month later, on September 17, 1787, the final version of the document’s text had changed drastically. (Actually, Benjamin Franklin’s personal copy of that Constitution, signed by that oldest and wisest of our Founding Fathers, was also shown at last night’s event in New York City.)

这段话写的是：我们，合众国的人民——注意不是各州的人民，而是合众国的人民——为了建立一个更完善的联邦，树立正义，保障国内安宁，提供共同防务，促进公共福利，并使我们自己和后代得享自由之福祉，特为美利坚合众国制定和确立这部宪法。

It read, of course, We, the People of the United States—not the individual states, but the United States—in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

这正是我们深爱的那段激励人心的序言。诚然，按照我的前任主席、现任州长伦德尔的指示，它被以巨型字体镌刻在中心正面外墙之上，正对着独立厅。这篇序言本身，正是当晚我们应当留意的关于公民致力于善治的讯息。

That is the inspiring preamble we have all come to love. Indeed, as directed by my predecessor as Chairman, now-Governor Rendell, it is inscribed in giant lettering on the outside front wall of the center, directly facing Independence Hall. The preamble itself is the message about citizen commitment to good government that we ought to heed tonight.

因为在独立广场上那座宏伟的纪念碑上，我们看到了公民责任感的鲜明体现。只有当七十人委员会和在座的所有市民，今晚以各自的方式，共同保持对良政深切、持久——而且积极！——的承诺，我们才能延续 1787 年传承下来的价值观：追求一个日益完善的联邦，为正义更加努力奋斗，保障国内安宁，促进社区和国家的公共福利，从而让我们自己和后代继续享有自由的非凡赐福。

For in our own magnificent monument on Independence Mall, we see citizen commitment writ large. And only if the Committee of Seventy and all of us citizens here tonight share, in our own individual ways, in maintaining a deep and abiding—and active!—commitment to good government, shall we continue the values of our 1787 heritage: to seek an ever more perfect union, to fight even harder for justice, to insure our domestic tranquility, to promote the general welfare of our community and Nation, and thus continue to enjoy the incredible blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.

但让我们永不忘记，倘若我们的承诺动摇、松懈或落空，我们便不再配得上我们的宪法——开国先贤留下的无价馈赠。是的，国家宪法中心矗立在那里，正是我们自身承诺的象征，用以提醒我们在美利坚合众国各地的全体公民：必须维护、保护并捍卫这份无价的遗产。

But let us never forget that should our commitment falter or flag or fail, we will no longer be worthy of our Constitution, the priceless gift of our founding fathers. Yes, the National Constitution Center stands as a symbol of our own commitment to remind our citizens, all over the Unites States of America, of the need to preserve, protect, and defend that priceless legacy.

再次感谢你们，对我为践行这一理念所做的微薄贡献给予认可。

Thank you again for honoring my modest contribution to doing exactly that.