Harry Tiger Chu

欢迎您, 布朗首相! 作为很年轻的英国信任首相，我们相信您的此次到访定会推动中英关系的进一步发展。

今天BBC也很正面地报道、评论了首相访华。

可以看出，英国历来所奉行的“骑墙主义”国策，还是深具生命力和实际意义的。

www.phrases.org.uk

A nation of shopkeepers

Meaning

The English.

Origin

Adam Smith, in his Wealth of Nations, 1776, wrote:

"To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight, appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers, but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers. "

Napoleon I, who was familiar with Smith's work, is reported as later using a French version to dismiss England's preparedness for war against France:

"L'Angleterre est une nation de boutiquiers."

Josiah Tucker, the Dean of Gloucester, preceded them both in 1766, although not with the precise text of the currently used version of the phrase:

"And what is true of a shopkeeper is true of a shopkeeping nation."