Dear all,
來Philadelphia已近半年,卻沒有好好拜訪此地聞名的史蹟區,實在是有點”近廟輕神”! 飽受一個禮拜時差之苦而逐漸回復正常後,我在週末(011704),就來趟美國歷史之旅.
Philadelphia(http://
www.gophila.com/) 位於美國東岸的賓州,地處紐約(約二小時車程)與華盛頓特區(約二小時半車程)中間.現為美國第五大城,曾為賓州州政府所在地(現為Harrisburg),且曾在 1790至1800作為美國的首都(1800後為Washington D.C.).
Philadelphia(又可簡稱Phila或Philly.)的中譯有三:
1.費城
2.飛了大肥鴨(音譯)
3.兄弟之愛(意譯:希臘文指brotherly love(phil指:愛; adelphia指兄弟), cf. Philosophy是’愛智,)
(http://townnews.atevo.com/guides/ourpicks/item/0,3750,2770,00.html) ,(可以推知敘述愛滋病患為權利奮鬥故事的電影為何以本城為名),有名的LOVE圖形,即為費城的識別標記.
在市政府的頂端可看到一個人像,鳥瞰Philly,他是Willliam Penn(http://
www.quaker.org/wmpenn.html),為賓州的founder. Pennsylvania的意思是Penn’s wood(sylvania有森林的意思),由十七世紀英王查理二世所命名,英王為清償其對William Penn的父親的債務,而將賓州這地移轉給William Penn.
William Penn屬於教友派(Religious Society of Friends,指神的朋友),又稱桂格教派(Quaker,因被形容為quaking before God)(
http://www.quaker.org). Quaker於十七世紀在英國受到宗教迫害,而大舉向新大陸移民,賓州是Quakers的大本營,他們把作禮拜稱作meeting,而教堂為meetinghouse,教徒互稱friend. 賓州大學Upenn又稱Quaker的典故即在此.
費城的第二號人物是Benjamin Franklin(http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/), 他生於Boston,功成名就於Philly,一月十七日正好是他298歲生日,他在Philly的故居現規劃為Franklin Court(http://
www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_fcourt.htm). Franklin是全方位的傳奇人物,他是政治家,發明家,音樂家,也是一位教育家, 賓州大學UPenn(http://
www.upenn.edu/about/welcome.php), 即為他所創建. 他曾說:If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead& rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing. 勉勵我們成為思想家或行動家.
位在Independence National Park(http://
www.nps.gov/inde/)的獨立宮Independence Hall(http://
www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_indhall.htm) 見證美國建國的歷史.1776年的獨立宣言(Declaration of Independence)
(http://
www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/declaration.html) ,1777年的邦聯條款(Articles of Confederation) (http://
www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/artconf.htm), 及1787年的美國憲法(constitution) (http://
www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html), 皆在此地簽署.
自由鐘Liberty Bell(http://
www.ushistory.org/libertybell/index.html), 曾在1776年懸置在Independence Hall, 噹噹作響的鐘聲呼喚Philly市民至獨立宮廣場,聆聽獨立宣言.它的自由象徵,成為美國歷史上廢奴,婦女及民權運動的精神標誌.刻畫在鐘面上的句子:Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof.引用自聖經利未記二十五章第十節,是自由的神聖使命,而鐘面上的一道明顯的裂痕,似在提醒我們追求自由是要付上代價的!
一月十九日是黑人民權牧師Martin Luther King,Jr.紀念日(http://
www.thekingcenter.org/mlk/bio.html), 全國放假一天, 他在1963年八月二十八日於Washington D.C.林肯紀念堂前的演說’I have a dream’(http://
www.mecca.org/~crights/dream.html), 祈求自由鐘聲響遍全地!令人動容.
Let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
祝 新年快樂
New Mark@Penn Law
