This speech was delivered by General Washington to his troops just before the battle of Long Island, August 26, 1776.*

此演讲是由乔治华盛顿于1776年8月26日长岛之战前向他的部队发表的。

(George Washington before the Battle of Long Island)

220'

原文：

The time is now near at hand, which must probably determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them.

The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of a brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer, or to die.

Our own, our country’s honour call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion; and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world.

Let us, then rely on the goodness of our cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions.

The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny mediated against them.


Let us, animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world that a free man, contending for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any mercenary on earth.

Liberty, property, life, and honor are all at stake; upon your courage and conduct rest the hopes of our bleeding and insulted country. Our wives, children, and parents expect safety from us, only, and they have every reason to believe that Heaven will crown with success so just a cause.

The enemy will endeavor to intimidate by show and appearance; but, remember, they have been repulsed on various occasions by a few brave Americans. Their cause is bad - their men are conscious of it; and if opposed with firmness and coolness on their first onset, with our advantage of works, and knowledge of the ground, the victory is assuredly ours. Every good soldier will be silent and attentive – wait for orders and reserve his fire until he is sure of doing execution.


翻译：

美国人能成为自由人，还是沦为奴隶；能否享有可以称之为自己所有的财产；能否使自己的住宅和农庄免遭洗劫和毁坏；能否使自己免于陷入非人力所能拯救的悲惨境地——决定这一切的时刻已迫在眉睫。苍天之下，千百万尚未出生的人的命运取决于我们这支军队的勇敢和战斗。敌人残酷无情，我们别无他路，要么奋起反击，要么屈膝投降。因此，我们必须下定决心，若不克敌制胜，就是捐躯疆场。

祖国的尊严，我们的尊严，都要求我们进行英勇顽强的奋斗。如果我们做不到这一点，我们将感到羞愧，并将为全世界所不齿。所以，让我们凭借我们事业的正义性和上帝的恩助——胜利掌握在他手中——鼓励和鞭策我们去创造伟大而崇高的业绩。全国同胞都注视着我们，如果我们有幸为他们效劳，将他们从企图强加于他们的暴政中解救出来，我们将受到他们的祝福和赞颂。让我们相互激励、互相鞭策，并向全世界昭示：在自己国土上为自由而战争的自由民胜过世上任何受人驱使的雇佣兵。

自由、财产、生命和荣誉都在危急存亡之中，我们正在流血受辱的祖国寄希望于我们的勇敢和战斗，我们的妻儿父老指望我们去保护。他们有充分理由相信，上苍一定会保佑如此正义的事业获得胜利。

敌人将炫耀武力，竭力恫吓，但是，别忘了，在许多场合，他们已被为数不多的勇敢的美国人所击败。他们的事业是邪恶的——他们的士兵也意识到了这一点，如果我们在他们开始进攻时，就沉着坚定地予以反击，凭着我们有利的工事和熟悉的地形，胜利必将属于我们。每一位优秀的士兵都将——整装待命，一旦出击，必歼顽敌。