美国学生历史 第21期:新荷兰和新瑞典(3)

 　　62. Stuyvesant's Rule. 62．彼得·斯特文森特的统治

　　Stuyvesant was a hot-tempered, energetic soldier who had lost a leg in the Company's service. 彼得·斯特文森特是一个急性子而又精力充沛的士兵，他在服务西印度公司期间失去一条腿。
　　He ruled New Netherland for a long time, from 1647 to 1664. 彼得·斯特文森特从1647年到1664年一直在统治新荷兰，
　　And he ruled so sternly that the colonists 1 were glad when the English came and conquered them. 他的统治非常严酷，被统治的殖民者甚至在英国人赶来征服他们时感到高兴。
　　This unpopularity was not entirely 2 Stuyvesant's fault. The Dutch West India Company was a failure. 这并非完全是斯特文森的错。西印度公司经营不善，
　　It had no money to spend for the defence of the colonists, and Stuyvesant was obliged to lay heavy taxes on the people. 无钱应付殖民地防御开销，他也是被迫向人民征收繁重的赋税。
　　63. New Sweden. 63．新瑞典
　　When the French, the English, and the Dutch were founding colonies in America, 当法国人、英国人和荷兰人在美洲创建殖民地时，
　　the Swedes also thought that they might as well have a colony there too. 瑞典人也认为自己可以在那里拥有一个殖民地。
　　They had no claim to any land in America. But Swedish armies were fighting the Dutchmen's battles in Europe. 瑞典人没有对美洲的任何土地宣称有什么主权，但是，瑞典的军队正在欧洲和荷兰人打仗，
　　So the Swedes sent out a colony to settle on lands claimed by the Dutch. 因此，瑞典人将一些人安置到荷兰人宣称有主权的土地上，
　　As long as the European war went on, the Swedes were not interfered 3 with. 只要欧洲战争不停下来，瑞典人此举就不会被阻碍。
　　But when the European war came to an end, Stuyvesant was told to conquer them. 但是，当欧洲战争结束时，斯特文森特得到命令去征服瑞典人。
　　This he did without much trouble, as he had about as many soldiers as there were Swedish colonists. 斯特文森特毫不费力地完成了任务，因为他的士兵几乎和瑞典的殖民者一样多。
　　In this way New Sweden became a part of New Netherland. 这样新瑞典变成了新荷兰的一部分。
　　64. Summary. 64．小结
　　We have seen how the French, the Dutch, the Swedish, and the English colonies were established on the Atlantic seashore and in the St. Lawrence valley. 我们已经看到，法国人、荷兰人、瑞典人和英国人怎样在大西洋海滨和圣劳伦斯河流域创建他们的殖民地，
　　South of these settlements there was the earlier Spanish colony at St. Augustine. 在这些殖民地的南方是早期西班牙人在圣奥古斯丁建的殖民地；
　　The Spanish colonists were very few in number, but they gave Spain a claim to Florida. 西班牙殖民者的人数不多，但是，他们使得西班牙拥有佛罗里达；
　　The Swedish colony had been absorbed by the stronger Dutch colony. 瑞典人的殖民地则被更强大的荷兰完全吞并。
　　We have also seen how very unlike were the two English groups of colonies. 我们还看到，两个英国殖民地如何地迥然不同；
　　They were both settled by Englishmen, but there the likeness 4 stops. For Virginia and Maryland were slave colonies. 它们都是由英国人创建，但自创建之初就表现出不同：
　　They produced large crops of tobacco. The New England colonists on the other hand were practically all free. 弗吉尼亚和马里兰是奴隶殖民地，出产大量的烟草，新英格兰殖民者则是自由业者，
　　They lived in towns and engaged in all kinds of industries. 它们生活在城镇中，从事各种各样的工业生产。
　　In the next hundred years we shall see how the English conquered first the Dutch and then the French; 在接下来的一百年里，我们将看到英国人如何先后征服荷兰和法国，
　　how they planted colonies far to the south of Virginia and in these ways occupied the whole coast north of Florida. 如何在远离弗吉尼亚南部的地方培植殖民地并用这种方式占据佛罗里达北部的整个海岸。