About to add the solemnity of an oath to the obligations imposed by a second call to the station in which my country heretofore placed me, I find in the presence of this respectable assembly an opportunity of publicly repeating my profound sense of so distinguished a confidence and of the responsibility united with it. 祖国再次召唤我担任此前赋予我的职位，而我即将以庄严誓言承担由此而来的义务。面对在场这个令人尊敬的集会，我得以公开重申：对于这份非凡信任以及与之相伴的责任，我感受至深。
The impressions on me are strengthened by such an evidence that my faithful endeavors to discharge my arduous duties have been favorably estimated, and by a consideration of the momentous period at which the trust has been renewed. 这份感受因两点而更为强烈：这次召唤表明，我为履行艰巨职责所作的忠实努力得到了肯定；同时，这项重任又是在一个关系重大的时刻再次交付给我。
From the weight and magnitude now belonging to it I should be compelled to shrink if I had less reliance on the support of an enlightened and generous people, and felt less deeply a conviction that the war with a powerful nation, which forms so prominent a feature in our situation, is stamped with that justice which invites the smiles of Heaven on the means of conducting it to a successful termination. 如今这项职责如此沉重、如此重大；若不是我深信一个开明而慷慨的人民会给予支持，若不是我坚信当前局势中如此突出的、与一个强国之间的战争具有正义性，足以使上天垂顾我们为取得胜利而采取的手段，我本会不得不退缩。
May we not cherish this sentiment without presumption when we reflect on the characters by which this war is distinguished? 当我们思考这场战争所具有的种种特征时，难道不能毫不自负地怀有这种信念吗？
It was not declared on the part of the United States until it had been long made on them, in reality though not in name; until arguments and postulations had been exhausted; until a positive declaration had been received that the wrongs provoking it would not be discontinued; 美国并非一开始便宣战；事实上，战争虽无其名，却早已加诸美国。直到论辩与交涉请求全部用尽，直到我们收到明确答复，得知引发战争的侵害不会停止；
nor until this last appeal could no longer be delayed without breaking down the spirit of the nation, destroying all confidence in itself and in its political institutions, and either perpetuating a state of disgraceful suffering or regaining by more costly sacrifices and more severe struggles our lost rank and respect among independent powers. 也直到若再拖延这最后的诉诸武力，就会挫败民族精神、摧毁国家对自身及其政治制度的一切信心，并使我们要么永远忍受屈辱，要么日后以更昂贵的牺牲和更严酷的斗争，重新夺回在独立国家中已经失去的地位与尊重，我们才宣战。
On the issue of the war are staked our national sovereignty on the high seas and the security of an important class of citizens, whose occupations give the proper value to those of every other class. Not to contend for such a stake is to surrender our equality with other powers on the element common to all and to violate the sacred title which every member of the society has to its protection. 战争的结果关系到我国在公海上的国家主权，也关系到一个重要公民群体的安全；他们的职业使其他各行业的劳动获得应有价值。不为如此重大的权益而抗争，就等于在各国共有的海洋上放弃我国与其他强国平等的地位，也等于侵犯每个社会成员享有国家保护的神圣权利。
I need not call into view the unlawfulness of the practice by which our mariners are forced at the will of every cruising officer from their own vessels into foreign ones, nor paint the outrages inseparable from it. The proofs are in the records of each successive Administration of our Government, and the cruel sufferings of that portion of the American people have found their way to every bosom not dead to the sympathies of human nature. 我无需再揭示这样一种做法的非法性：我国海员任由每一名巡航军官摆布，被迫离开本国船只，登上外国船只；也无需描绘与这种做法相伴的种种暴行。历届政府的档案都保存着证据，而这部分美国人民所遭受的残酷苦难，也已触动每一颗尚未泯灭人类同情心的心。
As the war was just in its origin and necessary and noble in its objects, we can reflect with a proud satisfaction that in carrying it on no principle of justice or honor, no usage of civilized nations, no precept of courtesy or humanity, have been infringed. The war has been waged on our part with scrupulous regard to all these obligations, and in a spirit of liberality which was never surpassed. 这场战争的起因是正义的，目标是必要而崇高的，因此我们可以自豪而欣慰地回顾：在战争进行过程中，我们没有违反任何正义或荣誉原则，没有违背文明国家的任何惯例，也没有违背任何礼仪或人道准则。我方以一丝不苟的态度恪守所有这些义务，并以无可超越的宽宏精神进行战争。
How little has been the effect of this example on the conduct of the enemy! 这一榜样对敌人的行为产生的影响何其微小！
They have retained as prisoners of war citizens of the United States not liable to be so considered under the usages of war. 他们把按照战争惯例不应被视为战俘的美国公民扣押为战俘。
They have refused to consider as prisoners of war, and threatened to punish as traitors and deserters, persons emigrating without restraint to the United States, incorporated by naturalization into our political family, and fighting under the authority of their adopted country in open and honorable war for the maintenance of its rights and safety. Such is the avowed purpose of a Government which is in the practice of naturalizing by thousands citizens of other countries, and not only of permitting but compelling them to fight its battles against their native country. 那些可以不受限制地移居美国、经归化成为我们政治共同体成员，并在公开而正当的战争中受其选择归属的国家授权、为维护该国权利与安全而作战的人，他们却拒绝将其视为战俘，并威胁以叛国者和逃兵论处。一个本身惯于成千上万地归化他国公民，不仅准许、而且强迫他们与自己的祖国作战的政府，竟公开宣示这种意图。
They have not, it is true, taken into their own hands the hatchet and the knife, devoted to indiscriminate massacre, but they have let loose the savages armed with these cruel instruments; have allured them into their service, and carried them to battle by their sides, eager to glut their savage thirst with the blood of the vanquished and to finish the work of torture and death on maimed and defenseless captives. 诚然，他们并未亲手拿起用于无差别屠杀的战斧和刀刃；但他们却放出了手持这些残酷武器的野蛮人，引诱他们为自己效力，带他们并肩作战，任其急欲以战败者的鲜血满足野蛮嗜欲，并对负伤且无力自卫的俘虏施以折磨和杀戮。
And, what was never before seen, British commanders have extorted victory over the unconquerable valor of our troops by presenting to the sympathy of their chief captives awaiting massacre from their savage associates. 而且，前所未见的是，英国指挥官把等待其野蛮盟友屠杀的俘虏摆在我军将领面前，利用他的同情心，迫使我国军队不可征服的英勇作出退让，从而取得胜利。
And now we find them, in further contempt of the modes of honorable warfare, supplying the place of a conquering force by attempts to disorganize our political society, to dismember our confederated Republic. 如今我们又看到，他们进一步蔑视正当战争方式，企图扰乱我们的政治社会、肢解我们的联邦共和国，以此替代一支能够取胜的军队。
Happily, like others, these will recoil on the authors; but they mark the degenerate counsels from which they emanate, and if they did not belong to a sense of unexampled inconsistencies might excite the greater wonder as proceeding from a Government which founded the very war in which it has been so long engaged on a charge against the disorganizing and insurrectional policy of its adversary. 所幸，这些图谋也会像其他图谋一样反噬其始作俑者；但它们暴露了产生这些图谋的堕落谋划。如果这些图谋不是一连串前所未有的自相矛盾中的一环，它们本会更加令人惊讶，因为它们出自这样一个政府：它长期参与的那场战争，恰恰是以指责对手采取瓦解和煽动叛乱的政策为由发动的。
To render the justice of the war on our part the more conspicuous, the reluctance to commence it was followed by the earliest and strongest manifestations of a disposition to arrest its progress. The sword was scarcely out of the scabbard before the enemy was apprised of the reasonable terms on which it would be resheathed. Still more precise advances were repeated, and have been received in a spirit forbidding every reliance not placed on the military resources of the nation. 为了更加彰显我方战争的正义性，我们在不愿开战之后，最早、最有力地表明了制止战争发展的意愿。刀剑刚刚出鞘，敌方便得知在何种合理条件下可以使其重新入鞘。我们又一再提出更明确的建议，但对方的回应使我们不能把希望寄托在本国军事资源之外的任何事物上。
These resources are amply sufficient to bring the war to an honorable issue. Our nation is in number more than half that of the British Isles. It is composed of a brave, a free, a virtuous, and an intelligent people. Our country abounds in the necessaries, the arts, and the comforts of life. A general prosperity is visible in the public countenance. 这些资源完全足以使战争获得体面的结局。我国人口超过不列颠群岛人口的一半。我们的人民勇敢、自由、高尚而明智。我国拥有丰富的生活必需品、技艺成果和生活便利。举国呈现出普遍繁荣的景象。
The means employed by the British cabinet to undermine it have recoiled on themselves; have given to our national faculties a more rapid development, and, draining or diverting the precious metals from British circulation and British vaults, have poured them into those of the United States. It is a propitious consideration that an unavoidable war should have found this seasonable facility for the contributions required to support it. 英国内阁为破坏这种繁荣而采取的手段反噬了自身；它们促使我国的国家能力更快发展，并把贵金属从英国的流通领域和金库中抽走或转移，注入美国的流通领域和金库。一场无法避免的战争恰逢这种及时的便利，使维持战争所需款项更易筹措，这是一个有利条件。
When the public voice called for war, all knew, and still know, that without them it could not be carried on through the period which it might last, and the patriotism, the good sense, and the manly spirit of our fellow-citizens are pledges for the cheerfulness with which they will bear each his share of the common burden. 当公众呼声要求开战时，所有人都知道，至今也仍然知道：无论战争持续多久，没有这些款项便无法进行；而同胞们的爱国心、良好判断和刚毅精神，保证他们会欣然各自承担共同负担中属于自己的一份。
To render the war short and its success sure, animated and systematic exertions alone are necessary, and the success of our arms now may long preserve our country from the necessity of another resort to them. Already have the gallant exploits of our naval heroes proved to the world our inherent capacity to maintain our rights on one element. 要缩短战争并确保胜利，所需要的只是积极而有系统的努力；我国军队此刻的胜利，或许能使国家在很长时间内不必再次诉诸武力。我国海军英雄的英勇功绩已经向世界证明，我们天生具备在海洋上维护自身权利的能力。
If the reputation of our arms has been thrown under clouds on the other, presaging flashes of heroic enterprise assure us that nothing is wanting to correspondent triumphs there also but the discipline and habits which are in daily progress. 如果我国陆军的声誉一度蒙上阴影，那么英雄壮举所闪现的希望之光使我们确信：要在陆地上取得相应胜利，所欠缺的只是每日都在形成的纪律与历练。