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the origins of contemporary france-1-第95章

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organization makes of him from the earliest days an imaginative being

in which swarming fancies develop themselves into monstrous chimeras

to expand his hopes; fears and desires beyond all bounds。  Hence an

excess of sensibility; sudden outbursts of emotion; contagious

agitation; irresistible currents of passion; epidemics of credulity

and suspicion; in short; enthusiasm and panic; especially if he is

French; that is to say; excitable and communicative; easily thrown off

his balance and prompt to accept foreign impulsion; deprived of the

natural ballast which a phlegmatic temperament and concentration of

lonely meditations secure to his German and Latin neighbors; and all

this we shall see at work。  …  These constitute some of the brute

forces that control human life。  In ordinary times we pay no attention

to them; being subordinated they do not seem to us formidable。  We take

it for granted that they are allayed and pacified ; we flatter

ourselves that the discipline imposed on them has made them natural;

and that by dint of flowing between dikes they are settled down into

their accustomed beds。  The truth is that; like all brute forces; like

a stream or a torrent; they only remain in these under constraint; it

is the dike which; through its resistance; produces this moderation。

Another force equal to their force had to be installed against their

outbreaks and devastation; graduated according to their scale; all the

firmer as they are more menacing; despotic if need be against their

despotism; in any event constraining and repressive; at the outset a

tribal chief; later an army general; all modes consisting in an

elective or hereditary man…at…arms; possessing vigilant eyes and

vigorous arms; and who; with blows; excites fear and; through fear;

maintains order。  In the regulation and limitation of his blows divers

instrumentalities are employed; a pre…established constitution; a

division of powers; a code of laws; tribunals; and legal formalities。

At the bottom of all these wheels ever appears the principal lever;

the efficacious instrument; namely; the policeman armed against the

savage; brigand and madman each of us harbors; in repose or manacled;

but always living; in the recesses of his own breast。'16'



On the contrary; in the new theory; every principle promulgated;

every precaution taken; every suspicion awaked is aimed against the

policeman。  In the name of the sovereignty of the people all authority

is withdrawn from the government; every prerogative; every initiative;

its continuance and its force。  The people; being sovereign the

government is simply its clerk; and less than its clerk; merely its

domestic。  … Between them 〃no contract〃 indefinite or at least

enduring; 〃and which may be canceled only by mutual consent or the

unfaithfulness of one of the two parties。  It is against the nature of

a political body for the sovereign to impose a law on himself which he

cannot set aside。〃  …  There is no sacred and inviolable charter

〃binding a people to the forms of an established constitution。  The

right to change these is the first guarantee of all rights。  There is

not; and never can be; any fundamental; obligatory law for the entire

body of a people; not even the social contract。〃 …  It is through

usurpation and deception that a prince; an assembly; and a body of

magistrates declare themselves representatives of the people。

〃Sovereignty is not to be represented for the same reason that it is

not to be ceded。  。  。  。  The moment a people gives itself

representatives it is no longer free; it exists no more。  。  。  The

English people think themselves free but they deceive themselves; they

are free only during an election of members of parliament; on the

election of these they become slaves and are null。  。  。  the deputies of

the people are not; nor can they be; its representatives; they are

simply its commissioners and can sign no binding final agreement。

Every law not ratified by the people themselves is null and is no

law。〃'17'  〃A body of laws sanctioned by an assembly of the people

through a fixed constitution of the State does not suffice; other

fixed and periodical assemblies are necessary which cannot be

abolished or extended; so arranged that on a given day the people may

be legitimately convoked by the law; no other formal conviction being

requisite。  。  。  The moment the people are thus assembled the

jurisdiction of the government is to cease; and the executive power is

to be suspended;〃 society commencing anew; while citizens; restored to

their primitive independence; may reconstitute at will; for any period

they determine; the provisional contract to which they have assented

only for a determined time。  〃The opening of these assemblies; whose

sole object is to maintain the social compact; should always take

place with two propositions; never suppressed; and which are to be

voted on separately; the first one; whether the sovereign( people) is

willing to maintain the actual form of the government; the second;

whether the people are willing to leave its administration in the

hands of those actually performing its duties。〃  …  Thus; 〃the act by

which a people is subject to its chiefs is absolutely only a

commission; a service in which; as simple officers of their sovereign;

they exercise in his name the power of which he has made them

depositories; and which he may modify; limit and resume at

pleasure。〃'18' Not only does it always reserve to itself 〃the

legislative power which belongs to it and which can belong only to

it;〃 but again; it delegates and withdraws the executive power

according to its fancy。  Those who exercise it are its employees。  〃 It

may establish and depose them when it pleases。〃 In relation to it they

have no rights。  〃It is not a matter of contract with them but one of

obedience;〃 they have 〃no conditions〃 to prescribe; they cannot demand

of it the fulfillment of any engagement。  …  It is useless to raise the

objection that; according to this; every man of spirit or of culture

will decline our offices; and that our chiefs will bear the character

of lackeys。  We will not leave them the freedom of accepting or

declining office; we impose it on them authoritatively。  〃In every true

democracy the magistrature is not an advantage but an onerous burden;

not to be assigned to one more than to another。〃 We can lay hands on

our magistrates; take them by the collar and set them on their benches

in spite of themselves。  By fair means or foul they are the working

subjects (corvéables) of the State; in a lower condition than a valet

or a mechanic; since the mechanic does his work according to

acceptable conditions; and the discharged valet can claim his eight

days' notice to quit。  As soon as the government throws off this humble

attitude it usurps; while constitutions are to proclaim that; in such

an event; insurrection is not only the most sacred right but the most

imperative duty。  … The new theory 
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