EVER SINCE the law of Copernicus was discovered and proved, the mere recognition that not the sun, but the earth moves, has destroyed the whole cosmography of the ancients. —
自从哥白尼的学说被发现和证明以来，人们意识到了地球运动的事实，摧毁了古人整个的宇宙学体系。 —

By disproving the law, it might have been possible to retain the old conception of the movements of the heavenly bodies; —
尽管可以反驳这个学说，保留古人对天体运动的旧观念也是可能的； —

but without disproving it, it would seem to be impossible to continue studying the Ptolemaic worlds. But as a fact even after the discovery of the law of Copernicus, the Ptolemaic worlds long continued to be a subject of study.
但没有推翻它，似乎无法继续研究托勒密的宇宙世界。但事实上，即使在发现哥白尼学说之后，托勒密的宇宙世界仍然长期以来是一个研究课题。

Ever since the first person said and proved that the number of births or crimes is subject to mathematical laws, that certain geographical and politico-economical laws determine this or that form of government, that certain relations of the population to the soil lead to migrations of peoples—from that moment the foundations on which history was built were destroyed in their essence.
自从有人说并证明出生率或犯罪率受到数学定律的制约，某些地理和政治经济定律决定某种政府形式，人口与土地的某些关系导致人口迁徙——自那时起，支撑历史研究的基础在本质上被破坏了。

By disproving those new laws, the old view of history might have been retained. —
通过反驳这些新定律，旧的历史观可能被保留下来。 —

But without disproving them, it would seem impossible to continue studying historical events, merely as the arbitrary product of the free will of individual men. —
但是如果没有反驳它们，似乎就无法把历史事件简单地看作是个体自由意志的任意产物。 —

For if a certain type of government is established, or a certain movement of peoples takes place in consequence of certain geographical, ethnographical, or economic conditions, the free will of those persons who are described to us as setting up that type of government or leading that movement cannot be regarded as the cause.
因为如果某种政府形式确立，或者某种人民运动发生，都是由一定的地理、民族或经济条件导致的，我们所被描述为建立那种政府或引导那种运动的人的个人自由意志不能被视为原因。

And yet history goes on being studied as of old, side by side with laws of statistics, of geography, of political economy, of comparative philology and geology, that flatly contradict its assumptions.
然而历史仍然继续被研究，与统计学、地理学、政治经济学、比较语言学和地质学的定律并存，这些定律与其假设直接矛盾。

The struggle between the new views and the old was long and stubborn in physical philosophy. —
在自然哲学中，新观点与旧观点之间的斗争是长期而顽强的。 —

Theology stood on guard over the old view, and accused the new view of violating revelation. —
神学站在旧观点的一方，并指责新观点违反启示。 —

But when truth gained the day, theology established itself as firmly as ever on a new basis.
但当真理取得胜利时，神学以全新的基础稳固下来。

As long and as obstinate is the conflict to-day between the old and the new view of history; —
当今，旧观点与新观点之间的冲突坚持不懈； —

and in the same way theology stands on guard over the old view, and accuses the new of attacking revelation.
同样，神学也对旧观点保持警惕，并指责新观点攻击启示；

In both cases on both sides, the struggle rouses evil passions and stifles truth. —
在两种情况下的双方，斗争激起邪恶的激情并扼杀真相； —

On one side there is dread and regret at demolishing the edifice that has been raised by the ages; —
一方面，人们对摧毁长期建立起来的大厦感到忧虑和遗憾； —

on the other, the passion for destruction.
另一方面，则是对破坏的热情；

To the men who fought against the new truths of physical philosophy, it seemed that if they were to admit that truth, it would shatter faith in God, in the creation of the firmament, in the miracle of Joshua, the son of Nun. To the champions of the laws of Copernicus and Newton, to Voltaire, for instance, it seemed that the laws of astronomy were destructive of religion, and the latter made use of the law of gravity as a weapon against religion.
对那些与物理哲学的新真理对抗的人们来说，如果他们承认了真理，就会破坏对上帝、对天空上帝造物、对约书亚奇迹的信仰。对于哥白尼和牛顿的法则的捍卫者，比如伏尔泰，他们认为天文学的法则破坏了宗教，后者利用重力法则来反对宗教；

So now it seems that we have but to admit the law of necessity to shatter the conception of the soul, of good, of evil, and of the political and ecclesiastical edifices reared on the basis of those conceptions.
所以现在似乎我们只需要承认必然性的法则，就能破坏对灵魂、善、恶以及建立在这些概念基础上的政治和教会建筑物的看法；

So too, like Voltaire in his day, the champions of the law of necessity use the law as a weapon against religion, though, like the law of Copernicus in astronomy, the law of necessity in history, far from destroying even strengthens the foundation on which political and ecclesiastical edifices are reared.
所以，和伏尔泰在他那个时代一样，必然性法则的捍卫者将法则用作反对宗教的武器，尽管历史上的必然性法则远远没有破坏，反而加强了政治和教会建筑物的基础；

Just as then in the question of astronomy, now in the question of history, the whole difference of view rested on the recognition or non-recognition of an absolute unit as a measure of visible phenomena. —
就像在天文学问题中一样，在历史问题中，全面观点上的差异在于对一个绝对单位作为可见现象的度量的承认与否； —

For astronomy, this was the immobility of the earth; —
对于天文学而言，这是地球的静止； —

in history, the independence of personality—free will.
在历史上，这是人格的独立-自由意志。

Just as in astronomy the difficulty of admitting the motion of the earth lay in the immediate sensation of the earth’s stationariness and of the planets’ motion, so in history the difficulty of recognising the subjection of the personality to the laws of space and time and causation lies in the difficulty of surmounting the direct sensation of the independence of one’s personality. —
正如在天文学中承认地球运动的困难在于感知到地球静止以及行星运动的直接感觉，所以在历史上，承认个性受到空间、时间和因果定律支配的困难在于克服个性独立感觉的困难。 —

But just as in astronomy, the new view said, “It is true, we do not feel the movement of the earth, but, if we admit its immobility, we are reduced to absurdity, while admitting its movement, we are led to laws”; —
但就像在天文学中，新观点说“没错，我们确实感受不到地球的运动，但如果我们承认它是固定不动的，那就荒谬了；而如果我们承认它的运动，我们就能找到规律”； —

so in history, the new view says, “It is true, we do not feel our dependence, but admitting our free will, we are led to absurdity; —
所以在历史上，新观点说“没错，我们确实感受不到我们的依赖，但是如果承认我们的自由意志，那就荒谬了； —

admitting our dependence on the external world, time, and cause, we are led to laws.”
如果我们承认我们对外界世界、时间和因果关系的依赖，我们就能找到规律。”

In the first case, we had to surmount the sensation of an unreal immobility in space, and to admit a motion we could not perceive of by sense. —
在第一种情况中，我们需要克服在空间中虚幻的静止感觉，并承认我们无法感知的运动。 —

In the present case, it is as essential to surmount a consciousness of an unreal freedom and to recognise a dependence not perceived by our senses.
在当前情况下，同样重要的是克服对虚幻自由的意识，承认我们无法通过感官感知到的依赖性。