托馬斯‧傑斐遜
(THOMAS JEFFERSON)

第一任就職演說
First Inaugural Address

(American Memory Collection, Library of Congress)

如果我們當中有人想解散這一聯邦，或者想改變它的共和體制，那麼就讓他們去吧，不用干擾他們，這樣做就為安全樹立了標誌，表明在一個理智能夠自由地與之鬥爭的地方，錯誤的意見是可以容忍的。

托馬斯‧傑斐遜(1743－1826)和班哲明‧富蘭克林一樣是個多才多藝的人。他是一位天才的作家、政治家、音樂家、建築師、哲學家、發明家和法學家。他曾在 維吉尼亞州議會和大陸議會任職。在大陸議會任職時，他起草了《獨立宣言》。他後來曾任維吉尼亞州長、駐歐洲的外交官和喬治‧華盛頓的國務卿。

1801年，在激烈的競選中，傑斐遜當選為總統。在美國，這是第一次把政府權力由一個政黨(聯邦主義者)轉移給另一個政黨(共和黨人或民主─共和黨人)。在選舉院裏，傑斐遜和阿倫‧伯爾所得的選舉人票數相等，後由眾議院選擇傑斐遜當總統。

傑斐遜的就職演說是第一篇由一位總統在首都華盛頓發表的演說。當時新政府剛從費城搬到首都華盛頓。在經歷了一番競選苦戰之後，傑斐遜以這篇演說來統一國家，並明確表明他的施政綱領。

在我們所經歷的一段爭論中，大家熱烈討論，競相奔走，初見的人，由於不習慣於自由思考，不習慣於把所想的說出來或寫出來，看見那種情形，可能相顧失色；但現在已由全國的民意作出決定，並根據憲法的規定予以公佈，大家當然會遵照法律，妥為安排，並且為了共同的利益，團結一致，同心協力。大家也會記住這樣一條原則，即多數人的意願，雖然在任何情況下都應採納，但那種意願也必須合理才能站得住腳；而且少數人也有同等的權利，必須受平等的法律的保護，如果予以侵犯，便是壓制。那麼，同胞們，讓我們團結一致，同心同德吧，讓我們恢復和睦相處，彼此友愛吧，因為沒有它們，自由，甚至生活本身，都將成為無聊的事物。我們還應思量，現在我們已經把那種使人類長期流血和受害的宗教偏執性從我們國土上摒棄了，如果我們又支援政治上的偏執性，而其專橫、邪惡，以及所造成的酷烈和血腥的迫害，都與宗教偏執性所導致的後果一樣，那麼我們的所得便很有限了。當舊世界經歷痛苦和激變時，當盛怒的人們經受痛苦的痙攣，想通過流血和屠殺尋找他們喪失已久的自由時，那巨濤般的震撼甚至會傳到遙遠而和平的此岸；各人對這種震撼的感覺和恐懼的程度不盡相同，對 於採取安全措施也有意見分歧，這些都不足為奇。但是，意見分歧並不都是原則分歧。我們遵守同一原則的兄弟們，曾被加以各種不同的稱號。我們都是共和黨人，我們都是聯邦同盟會員。如果我們當中有人想解散這一聯邦，或者想改變它的共和體制，那麼就讓他們去吧，不用干擾他們，這樣做就為安全樹立了標誌，表明在一個理智能夠自由地與之鬥爭的地方，錯誤的意見是可以容忍的。我的確知道有些誠實的人擔心共和政府不能強大有力，擔心這個政府不夠強有力；但是，一個誠實的愛國者，會在試驗最成功的時候，僅因理論上的和虛幻的疑懼，以為這個世界寄予最美好希望的政府可能不足以自存，就放棄這個一直使我們享有自由和安定的政府嗎?我相信不會。相反，我相信這個政府是世界上最強的政府，我相信在這個政府之下，無論何人，一經法律召喚，就會飛奔而來回應法律所要求做的事，而且會像處理自己的私事一樣去對付侵犯公共秩序的行為。有時，人們說，一個人自己管自己是不可靠的。那麼，讓別人去管他們就會可靠嗎?或者我們是否覺得以國王身份出現的天使來管理人們才可靠呢?這個問題讓歷史來回答吧。

因此，讓我們秉著勇氣和信心，繼續奉行我們自己的聯邦同盟和共和黨的原則，擁護聯邦和代議制政府。我們由於自然環境和大洋的阻隔，倖免於全球四分之一地區那種毀滅性的浩劫；我們品格高尚，不能容忍別人的墮落；我們蒙天賜良土，足以容納於秋萬代的子孫；我們有一種觀念，認為在發揮自己的才能上，在取得自己的勤勞之所得上，在贏得我們同胞的尊敬與信賴上，(這種信賴和尊敬不是出自門第，而是來自我們的行為和他們的體會。)都享有同等的權利；我們都受到善良宗教的啟迪，雖然派別不同，可是所有教派都誨人以正直、信實、節制、感恩和仁愛；我們承認和崇拜主宰一切的上帝，上帝所行之道證明其樂見人類現世的幸福和死後更大的幸福──有了這些神恩，我們還需要什麼才能使我們成為一個幸福和欣欣向榮的民族呢?各位同胞，我們還需要一樣東西，那就是一個明智和節儉的政府，它防止人們相殘，讓人們自由地從事他們自己的事業並不斷進步，而且不能奪取人們勤勞之所得。這就是一個良好政府的要旨，也是我們獲得圓滿幸福所必需的。

各位同胞，我就要開始履行職責了，由於這種職責包容了你們所珍惜的一切，我覺得你們應當瞭解什麼是我所認為的我們政府的基本原則，以及那些指導我施政的原則。我打算盡量簡略地加以陳述，只講一般原則，而不講其全部範疇：不管人們的地位、宗教信仰或政治主張有何不同，人人都應得到平等和絕對公正的待遇；與所有國家和平相處，互相通商，並保持誠摯的友誼，但不與任何國家結盟，以免糾纏不清；維護各州政府的一切權利，使它們成為處理我們內政最合適的機構，以及抵制反共和趨勢的最有力的屏障；維護全國的政府，使之能充分行使憲法賦予的權力，從而成為對內和平和對外安全的最後堡壘；要十分注意維護人民的選舉權，因為革命留下的弊端，一時沒有和平的補救辦法，而人民選舉權乃是對那些弊端的一種溫和而安全的矯正手段；要絕對服從多數的決定，這是共和政體的主要原則，離開這個原則，便只好訴諸武力，而這就是專制的主要原則和直接起源；要維持一支紀律嚴明的民團，以作為和平時期和戰爭初期的最好依仗，直至正規軍來接替；實行文權高於軍校的政制；節省政府開支，減輕勞動人民的負擔；如實償還我們的債務，把維護政府的信用看作神聖的義務；促進農業發展，並鼓勵以商輔農；傳播知識並以公眾理智為依據譴責一切弊端；保障宗教自由及出版自由，並以人身保護令以及由公平選出的陪審團進行審判來保障人身自由。在革命和改革的時代，這些原則成了在我們前面照耀，指引我們前進的星座。我們聖哲的智慧，我們英雄的鮮血，都曾奉獻出來實現這些原則。它們應當是我們政治信念的綱領，公民教育的課本，檢驗我們所信託者的工作的試金石；如果因一時的錯誤或驚惶而背棄了這些原則，我們應當趕快回頭，重新走上這條通往和平、自由和安全的唯一大道……

   During the contest of opinion through which we have passed the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possesses their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow citizens, unite -with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law. and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

     Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter--with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens--a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.

    About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, staling the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people--a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety..,.