《旧制度与大革命·卷二·第八章·法国人何以变得最为相似》第2节
Not only did the provinces become more and more alike, but in each province men of various classes, those at least who were placed above the common people, grew to resemble each other more and more, in spite of differences of rank. Nothing displays this more clearly than the perusal of the instructions to the several Orders of the States-General of 1789. The interests of those who drew them up were widely different, but in all else they were identical. In the proceedings of the earlier States-General the state of things was totally different; the middle classes and the nobility had then more common interests, more business in common; they displayed far less reciprocal animosity; yet they appeared to belong to two distinct races. Time, which had perpetuated, and, in many respects, aggravated the privileges interposed between two classes of men, had powerfully contributed to render them alike in all other respects. For several centuries the French nobility had grown gradually poorer and poorer. ‘Spite of its privileges the nobility is ruined and wasted day by day, and the middle classes get possession of the large fortunes,’ wrote a nobleman in a melancholy strain in 1755. Yet the laws by which the estates of the nobility were protected still remained the same, nothing appeared to be changed in their economical condition. Nevertheless, the more they lost their power the poorer they everywhere became, in exactly the same proportion.
注释摘要
在这段文字里，托克维尔提出了一个看似悖谬的观察：在旧制度末期的法国，各省份日趋相似的同时，各省内部不同等级之间——至少是平民之上的那些阶层——也越来越彼此相似。这里的相似不是指利益趋同，而是心态、教养、趣味和意见方式上的同质化。他用的证据是1789年三级会议的陈情书。这三个等级各自写下的利益诉求固然千差万别，但在表述方式、看待社会问题的范畴、乃至对改革的想…