第6章　托马斯·佩恩

6.1　复习笔记

Thomas Paine (1737－1809) (托马斯·潘恩)

1．Life (生平)

Thomas Paine was the most influential ideologist and writer during the Age of Reason and Revolution. He devoted his whole life to fight for human rights. With his natural gift for pamphleteering and rebellion, Thomas Paine was appropriately born into an age of revolution. As an excise officer, he learned social science at first hand, seeing the hardships of the tax-burdened masses and the hopelessness of humble workers of his own class. Paine then became the most articulate spokesman of the American Revolution by publishing Common Sense. On May 21, 1792, Paine was indicted for treason for writing Rights of Man, and he was forced to seek refuge in France. In 1802 he returned to America, only to find that his patriotic services had been forgotten. During his remaining years, neglected by all but his vilifiers, he remained in obscurity, for the most part on his farm in New Rochelle. There he was buried in 1809, after a year of illness in New York.

托马斯·潘恩是理性与革命时期最富有影响的思想家和作家，他的一生是为人的权利不懈奋斗的一生。托马斯·潘恩出生于美国独立战争年代，具有天生的写作才能和叛逆精神。当税务员时，他深入了解社会，目睹了重税负担下人们的疾苦和与自己同一阶层的卑微工人的无助。之后潘恩出版了《常识》，成为美国独立战争的最强音。1792年5月21日，潘恩因写《人权》被指控叛国罪，逃到法国避难。1802年，他回到美国，但是发现他曾经的爱国行为都被人们遗忘了。在他最后的几年里，除了他的诋毁者外，没有人再记起他，大多时候他默默无闻地生活在新罗谢尔的农场上。潘恩于1809年去世，并被安葬在新罗谢尔。

2．Major Works (主要作品)

The Case of the Officers of The Excise (1772) 《税务官的状况》

Common Sense (1776) 《常识》

The American Crisis (1776－1783) 《美国危机》

Rights of Man (1791) 《人权论》

The Age of Reason (1794－1795) 《理性时代》

3．Selected Work (选读作品)

The American Crisis《美国危机》

The American Crisis displays Paine’s strong deist beliefs, inciting the laity with suggestions that the British are trying to assume powers that only God should have.

Paine regards the British political and military maneuvers in America as "impious”.

Paine states that he believes God supports the American revolutionary cause. He maintains a positive view overall, hoping that this American crisis can be quickly resolved.

《美国危机》表现出潘恩强烈的自然神论信仰，告知世人英国试图行使只有上帝才可行使的权利。

潘恩认为英国在美国的政治和军事行为是“不虔诚的”表现。

潘恩声明他相信上帝会支持美国的独立事业。他保持着乐观的态度，希望美国危机能够尽快解决。