Robert Walpole / 罗伯特·沃波尔
Robert Walpole is considered to be Great Britain’s first Prime Minister.
罗伯特·沃波尔被认为是大不列颠的第一任首相。
He was born on 26thAugust 1676 and died on the 18th March 1745.
他出生于1676年8月26日，1745年3月18日去世。
His family was very rich and important, and both his father and grandfather had been part of the British parliament for many years.
他的家族非常富有和重要，他的父亲和祖父都在英国议会工作了很多年。
Robert Walpole was very intelligent and went to study at Cambridge University.
罗伯特·沃波尔非常聪明，去剑桥大学学习。
However when his elder brother died he had to leave university to help his father run the family estate.
然而当他哥哥去世时，他不得不辍学帮助父亲管理家族产业。
When his father died Robert subsequently inherited the whole estate.
当他父亲去世后，罗伯特继承了整个遗产。
In addition to receiving income from the family estate, Robert also invested in a company called the ‘South Sea Company’.
除了从家族产业获得收入，罗伯特还投资了一家叫“南海公司”的公司。
The company traded in slaves, rum and expensive timber.
该公司从事奴隶、朗姆酒和昂贵木材的贸易。
The profits made by this company greatly increased his family wealth and allowed Robert to build a magnificent home in Norfolk.
这家公司赚的钱大大增加了他的家庭财富，让罗伯特在诺福克建了一座宏伟的家。
Robert Walpole’s political career began in 1701 when he won a local election and became an MP for his local constituency.
罗伯特·沃波尔的政治生涯始于1701年，当时他赢得了一场地方选举，成为了他所在选区的议员。
At that time the U.K. did not exist and England and Scotland were separate countries.
那时候英国还不存在，英格兰和苏格兰是两个独立的国家。
In addition, the political parties that we have today did not exist.
此外，我们今天的政党并不存在。
There were just loose coalitions of MPs.
只是一些松散的议员联盟。
The most prominent of these coalitions were the Whigs and the Tories.
这些联盟中最显著的是辉格党和托利党。
The Whigs would eventually become the Liberal party of today and the Tories would eventually become the Conservative party.
辉格党最终会变成今天的自由党，而托利党最终会变成保守党。
Robert Walpole joined the Whig coalition.
罗伯特·沃波尔加入了辉格党联盟。
Furthermore, there was no overall government control of the country and minister of government departments were appointed by the monarch.
此外，国家没有整体的政府控制，政府部门的部长是由君主任命的。
Robert Walpole’s political and business abilities were soon noticed and he rose through the ranks until he was finally appointed Minister of War and Treasurer of the Navy at the same time.
罗伯特·沃波尔的政治和商业能力很快就被注意到了，他一路晋升，最终同时被任命为战争部长和海军财政部长。
He became skilled at understanding the motivations of different members of parliament and finding ways of building alliances on the important issues of the day.
他变得擅长理解不同议员的动机，并找到在当今重要问题上建立联盟的方法。
As many members of parliament were corrupt, this often involved bribery.
由于许多议员腐败，这通常涉及贿赂.
Because of this corruption in the government, Robert Walpole was, at one time, prosecuted and sent to prison in the Tower of London for six months.
因为政府的腐败，罗伯特·沃波尔曾经被起诉并在伦敦塔监禁了六个月。
England had been at war with other European countries for a long time and England now had a huge national debt.
英格兰和其他欧洲国家打了很长时间的战争，现在英格兰的国债很高。
In addition, there was a huge scandal regarding speculation in the shares of South Sea Company.
此外，关于南海公司的股票投机还有一个大丑闻。
This was called the ‘South Sea Bubble’.
这被称为“南海泡沫”。
Almost overnight the bubble popped and many people lost their investments.
几乎一夜之间，泡沫破裂，很多人失去了他们的投资。
Walpole himself would have lost a lot of money had not his financial advisor told him to sell his shares.
如果不是他的财务顾问告诉他卖掉股票，沃尔波尔自己会损失很多钱。
As Walpole was able to control appointments to government posts and policy over financial matters he became the most important person in Parliament, hence he became Britain’s first Prime Minister.
由于沃尔波尔能够控制政府职位的任命和财政事务的政策，他成为了国会中最重要的人，因此他成为了英国的第一任首相。
Robert Walpole became Prime Minister in 1721 and held that title for 21 years.
罗伯特·沃波尔在1721年成为首相，并担任这个职务21年。
This is the longest reign of any British Prime Minister.
这是任何英国首相中最长的统治。
As Prime Minister, he lived in London at 10 Downing Street which is still the home of every British Prime Minister today.
作为首相，他住在伦敦的唐宁街10号，这里至今仍是每位英国首相的家。
However, the current building is in fact 3 buildings knocked together to form 1 large home for the Prime Minister and an office for the Prime Minister and their staff.
不过，现在的建筑实际上是3栋建筑拼在一起，形成了一个大型的总理官邸和一个总理及其工作人员的办公室。
Walpole’s major achievements whilst in office was to deal with the South Sea Bubble scandal and reduce the national debt.
沃波尔在任期间的主要成就是处理南海泡沫丑闻和减少国债。
He also expended a great deal of effort to keep Britain out of further expensive wars.
他也花了很多工夫让英国避免更多昂贵的战争。
As Prime Minister he was able to stabilise the economy, promote trade with other nations and restore confidence in the British financial system.
作为首相，他能够稳定经济，促进与其他国家的贸易，并恢复人们对英国金融系统的信心。
However, he was also heavily criticised for protecting some of the corrupt people involved in the South Sea Bubble crisis, and he also had plenty of rivals who wanted his job.
不过，他也因为保护一些参与南海泡沫危机的腐败分子而受到严重批评，而且他还有很多想要取代他的人。
Over time Robert Walpole’s influence waned and he eventually gave up his role of Prime Minister and retired to the House of Lords in 1742.
随着时间的推移，罗伯特·沃波尔的影响力减弱，他最终放弃了首相的职位，并于1742年退休到上议院。
Nevertheless, he continued to represent his local constituency in the House of Lords until his death.
不过，他在去世之前一直代表他的地方选区在上议院。