Not long ago it was the custom to banish1 from within the limits of the jurisdiction5, for petty thefts, forgeries7, and assaults, the result of which was that the offender8 became a great robber, forger6, or murderer in some other jurisdiction. This is like throwing into a neighbor’s field the stones that incommode us in our own.
Those who have written on the laws of nations have tormented9 themselves greatly to determine whether a man who has been banished10 from his country can justly be said still to belong to that country. It might almost as well be asked whether a gambler, who has been driven away from the gaming-table, is still one of the players at that table.
If by the law of nature a man is permitted to choose his country, still more is the man who has lost the rights of a citizen at liberty to choose himself a new country. May he bear arms against his former fellow-citizens? Of this we have a thousand examples. How many French Protestants, naturalized in England, Holland, or Germany, have served, not only against France, but against armies in which their relatives, their own brothers, have fought? The Greeks in the armies of the king of Persia fought against the Greeks, their old fellow-countrymen. The Swiss in the service of Holland have fired upon the Swiss in the service of France. This is even worse than fighting against those who have banished you, for, after all, drawing the sword in revenge does not seem so bad as drawing it for hire.
点击收听单词发音
1 banish | |
vt.放逐,驱逐;消除,排除 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 banishment | |
n.放逐,驱逐 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 delinquents | |
n.(尤指青少年)有过失的人,违法的人( delinquent的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 jurisdiction | |
n.司法权,审判权,管辖权,控制权 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 forger | |
v.伪造;n.(钱、文件等的)伪造者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 forgeries | |
伪造( forgery的名词复数 ); 伪造的文件、签名等 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 offender | |
n.冒犯者,违反者,犯罪者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 tormented | |
饱受折磨的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 banished | |
v.放逐,驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |