《论美国的民主·卷一·第十六章下·陪审团作为免费的公民学校》第4节
The institution of the jury, if confined to criminal causes, is always in danger, but when once it is introduced into civil proceedings it defies the aggressions of time and of man. If it had been as easy to remove the jury from the manners as from the laws of England, it would have perished under Henry VIII, and Elizabeth, and the civil jury did in reality, at that period, save the liberties of the country. In whatever manner the jury be applied, it cannot fail to exercise a powerful influence upon the national character; but this influence is prodigiously increased when it is introduced into civil causes. The jury, and more especially the jury in civil cases, serves to communicate the spirit of the judges to the minds of all the citizens; and this spirit, with the habits which attend it, is the soundest preparation for free institutions. It imbues all classes with a respect for the thing judged, and with the notion of right. If these two elements be removed, the love of independence is reduced to a mere destructive passion. It teaches men to practice equity, every man learns to judge his neighbor as he would himself be judged; and this is especially true of the jury in civil causes, for, whilst the number of persons who have reason to apprehend a criminal prosecution is small, every one is liable to have a civil action brought against him. The jury teaches every man not to recoil before the responsibility of his own actions, and impresses him with that manly confidence without which political virtue cannot exist. It invests each citizen with a kind of magistracy, it makes them all feel the duties which they are bound to discharge towards society, and the part which they take in the Government. By obliging men to turn their attention to affairs which are not exclusively their own, it rubs off that individual egotism which is the rust of society.
注释摘要
托克维尔在这段文字里做了一个看似奇特、实则关乎制度寿命的关键区分：只用于刑事案件的陪审团永远是脆弱的，而一旦进入民事领域，它就变得几乎不可摧毁。他的论证不是基于法学教条，而是基于制度如何扎根于社会习惯。刑事陪审团只在国家与个人激烈对抗的罕见时刻登场，普通人一生未必亲身经历一次；它像一把锁在柜子里的利器，平时看不见，只有出了事才被取出来。正因如此，君主或专制…