《旧制度与大革命·卷二·第二十章·革命自然从既有事实中产生》第9节
In France, in 1789, these States only existed in five provinces of a certain extent and in some insignificant districts. Provincial liberty could, in truth, only be said to exist in two provinces--in Brittany and in Languedoc: everywhere else the institution had entirely lost its virility, and was reduced to a mere shadow. I shall take the case of Languedoc separately, and devote to it in this place a closer examination. Languedoc was the most extensive and the most populous of all the pays d’états. It contained more than two thousand parishes, or, as they were then called, ‘communities,’ and nearly two millions of inhabitants. It was, besides, the best ordered and the most prosperous of all these provinces as well as the largest. Languedoc is, therefore, the fairest specimen of what provincial liberty might be under the old French monarchy, and to what an extent, even in the districts where it appeared strongest, it had been subjected to the power of the Crown. In Languedoc the Estates could only assemble upon the express order of the King, and under a writ of summons addressed by the King individually every year to the members of whom they were composed, which caused one of the malcontents of the time to say, ‘Of the three bodies composing our Estates, one--that of the clergy--sits at the nomination of the King, since he names to the bishoprics and benefices; and the two others may be supposed to be so, since an order of the Court may prevent any member it pleases from attending the Assembly, and this without exiling or prosecuting him, by merely not summoning him.’ The Estates were not only to meet, but to be prorogued on certain days appointed by the King. The customary duration of their session had been fixed at forty days by an Order in Council. The King was represented in the Assembly by commissioners, who had always free access when they required it, and whose business it was to explain the will of the Government. The Assembly was, moreover, strictly held in restraint. They could take no resolution of any importance, they could determine on no financial measure at all, until their deliberations had been approved by an Order in Council; for a tax, a loan, or a suit at law they require the express permission of the King. All their standing orders, down to that which related to the order of their meetings, had to be authorised before they became operative. The aggregate of their receipts and expenditure--their budget, as it would now be called--was subjected every year to the same control.
注释摘要
托克维尔在本节中从前面的宏大叙事转入一个具体案例，他选择朗格多克省作为解剖对象。这个选择的理由本身就构成一种论证：到1789年，法国境内曾经普遍存在的三级会议制度已经萎缩到只在五个省份还有所保留，而真正称得上保有地方政治活力的，只剩下布列塔尼和朗格多克两处。其余省份的同一制度只剩空壳。托克维尔之所以单挑朗格多克，不是因为它的建制最独立，恰恰相反，是因为它在…