Frédéric Passy——Biography
Frédéric Passy（May 20，1822-June 12，1912）was born in Paris and lived there his entire life of ninety years.The tradition of the French civil service was strong in Passy's family，his uncle，Hippolyte Passy（1793-1880），rising to become a cabinet minister under both Louis Philippe and Louis Napoleon.Educated as a lawyer，Frédéric Passy entered the civil service at the age of twenty-two as an accountant in the State Council，but left after three years to devote himself to systematic[1]study of economics.He emerged as a theoretical economist in 1857 with his Mélanges économiques，a collection of essays he had published in the course of his research，and he secured his scholarly reputation with a series of lectures delivered in 1860-1861 at the University of Montpellier and later published in two volumes under the title Leçons d'économie politique.An admirer of Richard Cobden，he became an ardent[2]free trader，believing that free trade would draw nations together as partners in a common enterprise，result in disarmament，and lead to the abandonment[3]of war.Passy lectured on economic subjects in virtually every city and university of any consequence in France and continued a stream of publications on economic subjects，some of the more important being Les Machines et leur influence sur le développement de l'humanité（1866），Malthus et sa doctrine（1868），L'Histoire du travail（1873）.Passy's passionate[4]belief in education found expression in De la propriétéintellectuelle（1859）end La Démocratie et l'instruction（1864）.For these contributions，among others，he was elected in 1877 to membership in the Académie de sciences morales et politiques，a unit of the Institut de France.
Passy was not，however，a cloistered[5]scholar；he was a man of action.In 1867，encouraged by his leadership of public opinion in trying to avert possible war between France and Prussia over the Luxembourg question，he founded the“Ligue internationale et permanente de la paix”.When the Ligue became a casualty of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871，he reorganized it under the title“Sociétéfrançaise des amis de la paix”which in turn gave way to the more specifically oriented“Sociétéfrançaise pour l'arbitrage entre nations”，established in 1889.
Passy carried on his efforts within the government as well.He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1881，again in 1885，and defeated in 1889.In the Chamber he supported legislation[6]favorable to labor，especially an act relating to industrial accidents，opposed the colonial policy of the government，drafted a proposal for disarmament[7]，and presented a resolution calling for arbitration of international disputes.
His parliamentary[8]interest in arbitration[9]was whetted by Randal Cremer's success in guiding through the British Parliament a resolution stipulating[10]that England and the United States should refer to arbitration any disputes between them not settled by the normal methods of diplomacy[11].In 1888 Cremer headed a delegation of nine British members of Parliament who met in Paris with a delegation of twenty-four French deputies，headed by Passy，to discuss arbitration and to lay the groundwork for an organization to advance its acceptance.The next year，fifty-six French parliamentarians[12]，twenty-eight British，and scattered representatives from the parliaments of Italy，Spain，Denmark，Hungary，Belgium，and the United States formed the Interparliamentary Union，with Passy as one of its three presidents.The Union，still in existence，established a headquarters to serve as a clearinghouse[13]of ideas，and encouraged the formation of informal individual national parliamentary groups willing to support legislation leading to peace，especially through arbitration.
Passy's thought and action had unity.International peace was the goal，arbitration of disputes in international politics and free trade in goods the means，the national units making up the Interparliamentary Union the initiating agents，the people the sovereign[14]constituency[15].
Through his prodigious[16]labors over a period of half a century in the peace movement，Passy became known as the“apostle[17]of peace”.He wrote unceasingly and vividly.His Pour la paix（1909），which came out when he was eighty-seven years old，is a personalized account——in lieu of an autobiography which he deplored——of his work for international peace，noting especially the founding of the Ligue，the“période décisive”when the Interparliamentary Union was established，the development of peace congresses，and the value of the Hague Conferences.
Passy was a renowned speaker，noted for the intellectual demands he made on his audiences，as well as for his powerful voice，his ample gestures[18]，and his majestic and dignified manner.
【注释】
[1]systematic adj.系统的，体系的
[2]ardent adj.热心的，热情洋溢的，激烈的，燃烧般的
[3]abandonment n.放弃
[4]passionate adj.充满热情的
[5]cloistered adj.住在修道院的，隐居的
[6]legislation n.立法，法律的制定（或通过）
[7]disarmament n.裁军
[8]parliamentary adj.议会的
[9]arbitration n.仲裁，公断
[10]stipulate v.规定，保证
[11]diplomacy n.外交
[12]parliamentarian n.议事法规专家，国会议员adj.议会的
[13]clearinghouse n.票据交换所
[14]sovereign n.君主，统治adj.至高无上的，君主的，独立自主的，完全的
[15]constituency n.（选区的）选民，（一批）顾客，支持者，赞助者
[16]prodigious adj.巨大的
[17]apostle n.使徒（指耶稣十二使徒），传道者，最初的传道者
[18]gesture n.姿态，手势，表示v.做手势，以手势表示