《论美国的民主·卷一·第十五章上·多数的无限权力》第5节
Some years ago several pious individuals undertook to ameliorate the condition of the prisons. The public was excited by the statements which they put forward, and the regeneration of criminals became a very popular undertaking. New prisons were built, and for the first time the idea of reforming as well as of punishing the delinquent formed a part of prison discipline. But this happy alteration, in which the public had taken so hearty an interest, and which the exertions of the citizens had irresistibly accelerated, could not be completed in a moment. Whilst the new penitentiaries were being erected (and it was the pleasure of the majority that they should be terminated with all possible celerity), the old prisons existed, which still contained a great number of offenders. These jails became more unwholesome and more corrupt in proportion as the new establishments were beautified and improved, forming a contrast which may readily be understood. The majority was so eagerly employed in founding the new prisons that those which already existed were forgotten; and as the general attention was diverted to a novel object, the care which had hitherto been bestowed upon the others ceased. The salutary regulations of discipline were first relaxed, and afterwards broken; so that in the immediate neighborhood of a prison which bore witness to the mild and enlightened spirit of our time, dungeons might be met with which reminded the visitor of the barbarity of the Middle Ages.
注释摘要
托克维尔在这一段里给了我们一个具体的故事，用来证明他在前文提出的那个更一般的判断：多数的权力不仅让法律本身朝令夕改，也让行政和公共事业充满间歇性的冲动，缺乏持久的耐心。他用的例子，正是他和博蒙 1831 年赴美最表面的官方理由——监狱考察。 几个虔诚的人士发起改良监狱，公众立刻被他们的陈述点燃了热情。这不是某个行政部门的长期规划，而是舆论骤然转向的结果。改…