《旧制度与大革命·卷二·第六章·旧制度下的行政积习》第1节
It is impossible to read the letters addressed by an Intendant of one of the provinces of France, under the old monarchy, to his superiors and his subordinates, without admiring the similitude engendered by similar institutions between the administrators of those times and the administrators of our own. They seem to join hands across the abyss of the Revolution which lies between them. The same may be said of the people they govern. The power of legislation over the minds of men was never more distinctly visible. The Ministers of the Crown had already conceived the design of taking actual cognisance of every detail of business and of regulating everything by their own authority from Paris. As time advanced and the administration became more perfect, this passion increased. Towards the end of the eighteenth century not a charitable workshop could be established in a distant province of France until the Comptroller-General himself had fixed the cost, drawn up the scheme, and chosen the site. If a poor-house was to be built the Minister must be informed of the names of the beggars who frequent it--when they arrive--when they depart. As early as the middle of the same century (in 1733) M. d’Argenson wrote--‘The details of business thrown upon the Ministers are immense. Nothing is done without them, nothing except by them, and if their information is not as extensive as their powers, they are obliged to leave everything to be done by clerks, who become in reality the masters.’ The Comptroller-General not only called for reports on matters of business, but even for minute particulars relating to individuals. To procure these particulars the Intendant applied in his turn to his Sub-delegates, and of course repeated precisely what they told him, just as if he had himself been thoroughly acquainted with the subject. In order to direct everything from Paris and to know everything there, it was necessary to invent a thousand checks and means of control. The mass of paper documents was already enormous, and such was the tedious slowness of these administrative proceedings, that I have remarked it always took at least a year before a parish could obtain leave to repair a steeple or to rebuild a parsonage: more frequently two or three years elapsed before the demand was granted.
注释摘要
托克维尔在这一节的开篇，抓住的是一个极为具体的物证：旧制度下外省总督与其上级和下属往来的那些信函。他不急着谈大原则，而是通过读信这件事，把读者引向一个直观的发现——旧制度末期的行政官员与他自己时代的行政官员，在思维习惯与行事风格上惊人地相似。这里用“admiring”一词，不是赞美，而是一种夹杂着惊异与慨叹的打量。他甚至在时间轴上画出一个意象：这两代官员隔…