《旧制度与大革命·卷三·第七章·国民议会召开前夕民智何以大开而精神何以振起》第4节
All minds were struck by the peril of disunion. A sovereign effort was made to agree. Instead of dwelling on the causes of difference, men applied themselves to consider what all alike desired: the destruction of arbitrary power, the self-government of the nation, the recognition of the rights of every citizen, liberty of the press, personal freedom, the mitigation of the law, a stronger administration of justice, religious toleration, the abolition of restraint on labour and human industry--these were all things demanded by all. This, at least, was remembered: this was a ground of common rejoicing. I think no epoch of history has seen, on any spot on the globe, so large a number of men so passionately devoted to the public good, so honestly forgetful of themselves, so absorbed in the contemplation of the common interest, so resolved to risk all they cherished in life to secure it. This it is which gave to the opening of the year 1789 an incomparable grandeur. This was the general source of passion, courage, and patriotism, from which all the great deeds of the Revolution took their rise. The scene was a short one; but it will never depart from the memory of mankind. The distance from which we look back to it is not the only cause of its apparent greatness; it seemed as great to all those who lived in it. All foreign nations saw it, hailed it, were moved by it. There is no corner of Europe so secluded that the glow of admiration and of hope did not reach it. In the vast series of memoirs left to us by the contemporaries of the Revolution, I have met with none in which the recollection of the first days of 1789 has not left imperishable traces; everywhere it kindled the freshness, clearness, and vivacity of the impressions of youth. I venture to add that there is but one people on the earth which could have played this part. I know my country--I know but too well its mistakes, its faults, its foibles, and its sins. But I know, too, of what it is capable. There are undertakings which the French nation can alone accomplish; there are magnanimous resolutions which this nation can alone conceive. France alone may, on some given day, take in hand the common cause and stand up in defence of it; and if she be subject to awful reverses, she has also moments of sublime enthusiasm which bear her aloft to heights which no other people will ever reach.
注释摘要
托克维尔在这一段里描绘了1789年三级会议召开前夕一个极为短暂的时刻，他将其视为旧制度向大革命过渡的转捩点。他先指出一个政治现实：三个等级之间长久的分裂和敌意并未消失，然而在会议即将开幕之际，所有人都被一种共同的危险意识攫住了——那便是如果继续分裂下去，一切改革都将无望。就在这种危惧之上，生成了一种他称为“君王般的努力”的共识意志。他并非天真地以为阶级利益…