First Cornerstone

The cornerstone was laid on Wednesday, September 18, 1793, during the first large public event staged in the federal city.

奠基石于 1793 年 9 月 18 日星期三安放，那是在这座联邦城市里举办的第一次大型公共活动。

Contemporary Masonic practice included the laying of an inscribed metal plate along with a cornerstone. Caleb Bentley, a Quaker clockmaker and silversmith who lived in Georgetown not far from Suter's Fountain Inn, where the commissioners held their meetings, made the silver plate for the Capitol ceremony.

按照当时共济会的惯例，安放奠基石时要连同一块刻有铭文的金属牌一起安放。为国会大厦的奠基典礼制作银牌的，是住在乔治城的贵格会钟表匠兼银匠凯莱布·本特利；他的住处离委员们开会的苏特喷泉旅馆不远。

The newspaper invitation announcing the cornerstone ceremony was directed to the Masonic fraternity:

宣布奠基典礼的报纸邀请函，是写给共济会兄弟们的：

The Capitol is in progression—the southeast is yet kept vacant that [the] cornerstone is to be laid with the assistance of the brotherhood [on] the 18th Inst. Those of the craft however dispersed are requested to join the work. The solemnity is expected to equal the occasion.

国会大厦正在建造之中——东南角仍空着，［那块］奠基石将于本月 18 日在兄弟们的协助下安放。凡我同道，无论散居何处，敬请前来共襄此举。典礼之隆重，当与此盛事相称。

The ceremony proceedings were reported in an article in The Columbia Mirror and Alexandria Gazette, which remains the only known eyewitness account of the event. Activities began at 10:00 a.m. with the appearance of President Washington and his entourage on the south bank of the Potomac River. Crossing the river with the president was a company of volunteer artillery from Alexandria.

《哥伦比亚之镜与亚历山大公报》上的一篇文章报道了典礼的经过，这至今仍是这一事件唯一已知的目击者记述。活动于上午 10 点开始，华盛顿总统及其随行人员出现在波托马克河南岸。与总统一同渡河的，还有一支来自亚历山大的志愿炮兵连。

The procession joined Masonic lodges from Maryland and Virginia, and all marched two abreast, "with music playing, drums beating, colors flying, and spectators rejoicing," to the site of the Capitol about a mile and a half away. There the procession reformed and Washington, flanked by Joseph Clark (the Grand Master) and Dr. E. C. Dick (the master of the Virginia lodge), stood to the east of a "huge stone" while the others formed a circle west of it.

游行队伍与来自马里兰和弗吉尼亚的共济会分会会合，大家两人一排，“奏着音乐，敲着鼓，旗帜飘扬，观众欢呼”，向大约一英里半之外的国会大厦工地进发。到了那里，队伍重新排列，华盛顿在约瑟夫·克拉克（总导师）和 E. C. 迪克医生（弗吉尼亚分会的导师）的陪同下，站在一块“巨石”的东边，其他人则在巨石西边围成一圈。

Soon, the engraved plate was delivered and the inscription read:

不久，那块刻好的银牌被送了上来，上面的铭文被宣读出来：

Thomas Johnson, David Stuart and Daniel Carroll, Commissioners

委员：托马斯·约翰逊、戴维·斯图尔特、丹尼尔·卡罗尔

James Hoban and Stephan Hallate, Architects

建筑师：詹姆斯·霍本、斯蒂芬·阿莱特

Collen Williamson, M. Mason

石匠师傅：科伦·威廉森

Following the formal exercises, a 500 pound ox was barbequed and those in attendance "generally partook, with every abundance of other recreation." By dark, the festivities had ended.

正式仪式结束后，人们烤了一头五百磅的牛，到场的人“大都分享了，还有种种丰富的其他娱乐”。天黑时，庆祝活动结束了。

Where is the original U.S. Capitol cornerstone?最初的美国国会大厦奠基石在哪里？#

Those who witnessed this ceremony in 1793 were the last to see the silver plate on which the cornerstone was laid. They were also among the last to see the cornerstone itself: soon, vast quantities of additional stonework necessary for the Capitol's foundation were set around and above it.

1793 年目睹这场典礼的人，是最后一批见到奠基石下那块银牌的人。他们也几乎是最后见到奠基石本身的人：不久，修建国会大厦地基所需的大量石材就围绕着它、在它上面砌了起来。

For the next 100 years no one was much concerned with the exact location of the stone. When the Capitol's centennial was celebrated in 1893, however, it was decided to place a bronze tablet to mark the cornerstone's approximate location. A spot at the southeast corner of the original Senate (or north) wing was selected, because this wing was the first of the Capitol's many sections to be completed. It was therefore presumed that the cornerstone was laid in connection with that part of the building.

此后一百年里，没有人特别关心这块石头的确切位置。不过，1893 年庆祝国会大厦一百周年时，人们决定安放一块铜牌，标出奠基石的大致位置。选定的地点是最初的参议院翼楼（即北翼）的东南角，因为这座翼楼是国会大厦众多部分中最先完工的。因此人们推测，奠基石是结合这一部分建筑安放的。

In the late 1950s, during construction of the East Front Extension, the east foundations of the north wing (among others) were completely exposed to view. Seizing this opportunity, those interested in the cornerstone undertook a thorough examination of the stonework, including the use of a metal detector, in an attempt to locate the silver plate. Despite these efforts, neither the cornerstone nor the plate had been located by the time the foundations were covered over. The footings were underpinned during that construction process and no silver plate was found in the removal of soil in that connection.

二十世纪五十年代后期，在修建东立面扩建工程时，北翼（以及其他部分）东侧的地基完全暴露了出来。关心奠基石的人们抓住这个机会，对石砌结构进行了彻底的检查，还使用了金属探测器，试图找到那块银牌。尽管做了这些努力，直到地基被重新掩盖，奠基石和银牌都没有找到。在那次施工中，基脚得到了加固托换，而在为此清除泥土时，也没有发现银牌。

The approach of the bicentennial of the Capitol generated a renewed interest in the cornerstone and its whereabouts. Responding to this interest, the Architect of the Capitol developed a plan to find the best, most reliable, and least invasive technology that could be employed in the search.

国会大厦两百周年临近，人们对奠基石及其下落重新产生了兴趣。为回应这种兴趣，国会大厦建筑师办公室制定了一项计划，要找出可用于搜寻的最好、最可靠、破坏最小的技术。

After a great deal of research and study, it was determined that, in addition to using modern metal-detection devices, samples of soil taken just below the foundations could be scientifically analyzed to detect the presence of silver, which, over many years, would have leached from the plate under the cornerstone. Finding such evidence of the silver plate would pinpoint the cornerstone's location.

经过大量研究，人们确定，除了使用现代金属探测设备之外，还可以对地基下方的土壤取样，进行科学分析，检测其中是否含有银；多年来，银会从奠基石下的银牌中渗出到土壤里。只要找到银牌的这种痕迹，就能确定奠基石的位置。

A second and more likely cornerstone location has been the subject of subsequent excavation and testing. In accordance with information developed from a recent examination of early construction records, the southeast corner of the entire building as planned in 1793 was the target of this second investigation. The records indicate that, although the original Senate wing was the first portion of the building to be completed, the footings and foundations for the entire building were completed at the same time, thus pointing to the southeast corner of the House wing as the cornerstone location.

此后的发掘和检测，针对的是第二处更有可能的奠基石位置。根据最近对早期施工记录的研究，第二次调查的目标是 1793 年规划中整座建筑的东南角。记录表明，虽然最初的参议院翼楼是建筑中最先完工的部分，但整座建筑的基脚和地基是同时完成的，因此奠基石的位置应在众议院翼楼的东南角。

A large foundation block of metamorphic sandstone was uncovered at this site, which was at the predicted location and under which the soil was removed when underpinning occurred during the extension of the east front in the 1950s. The Architect of the Capitol believes that it is in fact the "missing" stone. It is very large, larger than all other foundation stones that have been seen, and is therefore deemed to be a ceremonial stone. The silver plate could easily have disappeared during the underpinning activity. In any case, all of the circumstantial evidence indicates that the stone is indeed the cornerstone.

在这个地点发现了一块巨大的变质砂岩地基石，它正位于预测的位置；二十世纪五十年代扩建东立面进行托换加固时，它下方的泥土曾被清除。国会大厦建筑师办公室认为，它正是那块“失踪的”石头。它非常大，比人们见过的所有其他地基石都大，因此被认为是一块典礼用的石头。那块银牌很可能就在托换加固施工期间不见了。无论如何，所有的间接证据都表明，这块石头就是奠基石。