《旧制度与大革命·卷二·第一章·何以封建权利在法国最招人恨》第5节
It is often said that the French nobility, which had long ceased to take part in the government of the State, preserved to the last the administration of the rural districts--the Seigneurs governed the peasantry. This again is very like a mistake. In the eighteenth century all the affairs of the parish were managed by a certain number of parochial officers, who were no longer the agents of the manor or domain, and whom the Lord no longer selected. Some of these persons were nominated by the Intendant of the province, others were elected by the peasants themselves. The duty of these authorities was to assess the taxes, to repair the church, to build schools, to convoke and preside over the vestry or parochial meeting. They attended to the property of the parish and determined the application of it--they sued and were sued in its name. Not only the lord of the domain no longer conducted the administration of these small local affairs, but he did not even superintend it. All the parish officers were under the government or the control of the central power, as we shall show in a subsequent chapter. Nay, more, the Seigneur had almost ceased to act as the representative of the Crown in the parish, or as the channel of communication between the King and his subjects. He was no longer expected to apply in the parish the general laws of the realm, to call out the militia, to collect the taxes, to promulgate the mandates of the sovereign, or to distribute the bounty of the Crown. All these duties and all these rights belonged to others. The Seigneur was in fact no longer anything but an inhabitant of the parish, separated by his own immunities and privileges from all the other inhabitants. His rank was different, not his power. The Seigneur is only the principal inhabitant was the instruction constantly given by the Provincial Intendants to their Sub-delegates. If we quit the parish, and examine the constitution of the larger rural districts, we shall find the same state of things. Nowhere did the nobles conduct public business either in their collective or their individual capacity. This was peculiar to France. Everywhere else the characteristic features of the old feudal society were partially preserved: the possession of the soil and the government of those who dwelt on the soil were still commingled.
注释摘要
托克维尔在这里纠正的是一个流传极广、至今仍在误导人们对旧制度的想象的说法。那种说法认为，法国贵族虽然早已不再参与国家层面的治理，但至少在乡村还保留着实际的行政管理权，领主仍然治理着农民。托克维尔直截了当地说，这几乎是一个错误。他之所以如此强调这一点，是因为它关系到他整章、乃至全书最核心的一个洞察：法国农民的处境之所以变得无法忍受，并不是因为压迫最重，而是因…