3 King’s College

CHAPTER 3 King's College Alexander arrived in New York City in 1773. Ned Stevens was waiting for him there.

亚历山大于1773年来到纽约市。 内德·史蒂文斯在那里等他。

Alexander also quickly made friends with a young tailor named Hercules Mulligan. Hugh Knox had written to friends he knew in New York, so Alexander met even more people through him. He enrolled in the Elizabethtown Academy in New Jersey, where he studied Latin, Greek, and advanced math. After six months, he was ready to apply to college.

亚历山大还很快和一位名叫赫拉克勒斯·穆里根的年轻裁缝交了朋友。 休·诺克斯写信给他在纽约认识的朋友，所以亚历山大通过他认识了更多的人。 他进入了新泽西州的伊丽莎白镇学院，在那里他学习了拉丁语、希腊语和高等数学。 六个月后，他准备申请大学。

Now known as Princeton University, the College of New Jersey had been Alexander's first choice. Although he was only eighteen, he felt his education was way behind other young men his age. Alexander had heard of another young man, Aaron Burr, who graduated from the College of New Jersey at sixteen. So he asked the president of the college if he could complete his studies in only two years. He wanted to graduate as quickly as he could. The president refused, so Alexander enrolled in another school: King's College in New York City, which is now called Columbia University.

现在被称为普林斯顿大学的新泽西学院曾是亚历山大的第一选择。 虽然他只有18岁，但他觉得自己的教育水平远远落后于同龄的年轻人。 亚历山大听说过另一个年轻人亚伦·伯尔，他16岁就从新泽西学院毕业。 于是他问学院院长他能否在两年内完成学业。 他想尽快毕业。 总统拒绝了，所以亚历山大进入了另一所学校：纽约市的国王学院，也就是现在的哥伦比亚大学。

At King's College, everyone was talking about revolution. New York at that time was one of thirteen colonies owned by Great Britain. Like Alexander's home in Nevis, it was under the control of the British king, George III. Many colonists were angry that the king taxed the colonies for their money but did not give them a voice in the government.

在国王学院，每个人都在谈论革命。 当时，纽约是英国拥有的13个殖民地之一。 就像亚历山大在尼维斯的家一样，它也在英国国王乔治三世的控制之下。 许多殖民者对国王向殖民地征税却不给他们在政府中的发言权感到愤怒。

The president of King's College, Dr. Myles Cooper, was a Tory. The Tory party thought the American colonies should be loyal to Britain. But Alexander believed in American independence from Britain. Just outside the college grounds, on lower Broadway in Manhattan, was an area called the Fields. Anyone was welcome to make public speeches there. Alexander had listened to many speakers at the Fields. One day he decided to speak himself. He started out shyly. He'd never spoken in public before. But soon he was making a powerful argument against the rule of Great Britain in the colonies. When he finished, the crowd was shocked at first. Alexander was only nineteen and looked even younger. Yet he spoke like a much older man. "It is a collegian!" people whispered to one another. From that day on, New Yorkers recognized Alexander as a voice in favor of revolution. He also started writing articles arguing for independence in local newspapers. One of the things Alexander spoke about that day in the Fields was the Boston Tea Party.

国王学院的院长。 迈尔斯·库珀是保守党成员。托利党认为美洲殖民地应该效忠英国。 但是亚历山大相信美国应该从英国手中独立出来。 就在大学场地外，在曼哈顿的下百老汇，有一个叫做菲尔兹的地方。 任何人都可以在那里发表公开演讲。 亚历山大在菲尔兹庄园听过许多演讲者的演讲。 有一天，他决定自己说话。 他害羞地走了出去。他以前从未在公共场合讲过话。 但很快，他就提出了反对英国在殖民地统治的有力论据。 当他结束演讲时，观众一开始都惊呆了。 亚历山大只有19岁，看起来更年轻。 然而他说话却像个老人。 “是一个大学生！”人们互相窃窃私语。 从那天起，纽约人把亚历山大视为支持革命的声音。 他还开始在当地报纸上撰写主张独立的文章。 亚历山大那天在菲尔兹谈到的一件事就是波士顿倾茶事件。