《旧制度与大革命·卷二·第十五章·何以法国人先求改革后求自由》第10节
They, therefore, undertook to combine an unlimited administrative centralisation with a preponderating legislative body--the administration of a bureaucracy with the government of electors. The nation as a whole had all the rights of sovereignty; each citizen taken singly was thrust into the strictest dependence; the former was expected to display the experience and the virtues of a free people--the latter the qualities of a faithful servant. This desire of introducing political freedom in the midst of institutions and opinions essentially alien or adverse to it, but which were already established in the habits or sanctioned by the taste of the French themselves, is the main cause of the abortive attempts at free government which have succeeded each other in France for more than sixty years; and which have been followed by such disastrous revolutions, that, wearied by so many efforts, disgusted by so, laborious and so sterile a work, abandoning their second intentions for their original aim, many Frenchmen have arrived at the conclusion that to live as equals under a master is after all not without some charm. Thus it is that the French of the present day are infinitely more similar to the Economists of 1750 than to their fathers in 1789. I have often asked myself what is the source of that passion for political freedom which in all ages has been the fruitful mother of the greatest things which mankind have achieved--and in what feelings that passion strikes root and finds its nourishment. It is evident that when nations are ill directed they soon conceive the wish to govern themselves; but this love of independence, which only springs up under the influence of certain transient evils produced by despotism, is never lasting: it passes away with the accident that gave rise to it; and what seemed to be the love of freedom was no more than the hatred of a master. That which nations made to be free really hate is the curse of dependence. Nor do I believe that the true love of freedom is ever born of the mere aspect of its material advantages; for this aspect may frequently happen to be overcast. It is very true that in the long run freedom ever brings, to those who know how to keep it, ease, comfort, and often wealth; but there are times at which it disturbs for a season the possession of these blessings; there are other times when despotism alone can confer the ephemeral enjoyment of them. The men who prize freedom only for such things as these are not men who ever long preserved it.
注释摘要
托克维尔在此做的是一个诊断。他捕捉到法国政治文化中一种持久而致命的内在矛盾：人们渴望同时拥有两样在逻辑上互不相容的东西——不受任何中间力量制衡的行政中央集权，以及一个享有最高主权、看似自由的代议制立法机构。换句话说，他们想要的是一个官僚机器全权管理的国家，同时又由选民来统治。他在这段话里拆解了这个矛盾的后果：整体被赋予全部主权，每一个个体却被压入最严格的依…