★★★★

One thing at least is beyond doubt, that no one is so

oppressed or wretched可憐的 as a conquering nation, and that its very

success increases its wretchedness悲慘. Even if we did not learn it

from history, reason is enough to prove that ★the greater the size

of a state, the more heavy and onerous繁重的 in proportion its

expenses become;?

-

for every province has to contribute its share

to the cost of the general administration, and each has in

addition to spend the same amount for itself as if it were

independent.?

-

Furthermore, ★fortunes are always made in one

place and spent in another, which soon destroys the balance

between production and consumption, impoverishing使..貧窮?

much of the country in order to enrich a single town.

-

There is another cause of the increase in public needs, which

is connected with the preceding one. A time may come when

the citizens no longer regard themselves as being involved in

the common cause and cease to be defenders of their country,

and when the officers of state prefer to be in command of

mercenaries雇傭軍 rather than free men, if only to use the former, as

and when necessary, in order to subjugate征服 the latter.

-

This was the condition of Rome towards the end of the Republic and

under the emperors; for all the Romans' early victories, like

Alexander's, had been won by the courage of the citizens, who

for the sake of their country were capable of giving their blood,

if needed, but never sold it.?

-

Marius, in the war against Jugurtha,* was the first to dishonour?

the legions by bringing in freedmen, vagrants and other mercenaries.?

★★★

Having become the enemies of the people whom they had?

undertaken to make happy, the tyrants raised regular troops,?

outwardly for the purpose of keeping foreign nations in check,?

and in fact to oppress the inhabitants.

-

★★★

In order to create troops, it was necessary to take labourers?

from the land: the reduction in their numbers caused the quality?

of goods to fall, while their maintenance brought in taxes,?

which increased prices.?

-

This initial failure made the people discontented; in?

order to repress them it was necessary to have more troops and,?

therefore, more poverty;?

-

the greater the despair, the greater the necessity to

increase it yet further, in order to avert its consequences.

-

The mercenaries, on the other hand, whose character may be

evaluated by the price for which they sold themselves and who

took pride in their own degradation墮落, despised both the laws

which protected them and their brothers whose bread they ate,

believing themselves more honoured to be henchmen of an

emperor than defenders of Rome;?

-

having promised blind obedience服從 their function was to hold?

a knife to their fellow-citizens' throats, ready to slaughter?

all of them as soon as the signal came. It would not be difficult?

to show that this was one of the main causes of the fall of?

the Roman Empire.

-

★★★

For some time now these dangerous creations have

been spreading so rapidly in every area that it is impossible not

to anticipate預(yù)感 the imminent迫近的 depopulation of Europe, and,

sooner or later, the ruin of the nations which inhabit it.

Here we must remember that the foundation of the social

pact契約 is property, and that its first condition is that everyone

should be guaranteed the peaceful enjoyment of what he owns.

-

It is true that, by the same treaty協(xié)議, everyone undertakes, at least

tacitly沉默地, to contribute to public needs; but this undertaking許諾

cannot damage the fundamental law, and supposing that the

contributors accept that the need is obvious, it will be clear that

their contributions, in order to be legitimate, must be voluntary,?

not through individual acts of will, as if it were necessary

to have the consent贊成 of each citizen, who would provide only as

much as he pleased, directly contrary to the spirit of the joint聯(lián)合的

agreement, but through the general will by majority vote,

following a proportional tariff關(guān)稅 which would prevent the?

imposition過(guò)分的要求 being in any way arbitrary專橫的.