CHAPTER XII: HOW THE SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY MAINTAINS ITSELF
SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY (主権権力) [名] the highest power in a state
第十二章: 主権権力がいかに維持されるか

 The Sovereign, having no force other than the legislative power, acts only by means of the laws;
have no force (権力を持たない) [動] not have the power to do something
other than (以外の) [前] apart from; besides
主権者は、立法権以外の権力を持たないので、法律によってのみ行動する。
and the laws being solely the authentic acts of the general will, the Sovereign cannot act save when the people is assembled.
authentic (正当な) [形] of undisputed origin; genuine
save (以外は) [前] except; other than
そして、法律は一般意志の正当な行為にすぎないので、主権者は人民が集まったとき以外は行動できない。
The people in assembly, I shall be told, is a mere chimera.
chimera (幻想) [名] a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve
集会を開いた人民は、単なる幻想だと言われるだろう。
It is so to-day, but two thousand years ago it was not so.
to-day (今日) [名] the present day
two thousand years ago (二千年前) [名] two thousand years before the present
not (そうではない) [副] a word that expresses negation or denial
今日ではそうかもしれないが、二千年前はそうではない。
Has man's nature changed?
人間の本性は変わったのだろうか?

 The bounds of possibility, in moral matters, are less narrow than we imagine: it is our weaknesses, our vices and our prejudices that confine them.
bound (限界) [名] a limit on the extent of something
possibility (可能性) [名] the state or fact of being possible
imagine (想像する) [動] form a mental image or concept of
道徳的な事柄において、可能性の限界は我々が想像するほど狭くない。それを制限しているのは、我々の弱さ、悪徳、偏見である。
Base souls have no belief in great men;
base (卑劣な) [形] of little worth or value
have no belief in (信じない) [動] not believe in
卑劣な魂は偉大な人を信じない。
vile slaves smile in mockery at the name of liberty.
vile (卑劣な) [形] extremely unpleasant
smile (笑う) [動] to have a pleased, kind, or amused expression
mockery (嘲笑) [名] words or behavior that are intended to make fun of someone or something
卑劣な奴隷は自由という名を嘲笑する。

 Let us judge of what can be done by what has been done.
be done (行われる) [動] be performed or accomplished
has been done (行われた) [動] be performed or accomplished
何ができるかを、これまでに行われたことから判断しよう。
I shall say nothing of the Republics of ancient Greece; but the Roman Republic was, to my mind, a great State, and the town of Rome a great town.
say nothing of (何も言わない) [動] not to mention
ancient Greece (古代ギリシャ) [名] the period of Greek history from the end of the Mycenaean civilization in the 12th century BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC
great State (偉大な国家) [名] a large and powerful country
town of Rome (ローマの町) [名] the capital city of Italy
great town (偉大な町) [名] a large and important town
私は古代ギリシャの共和国については何も言わないが、ローマ共和国は私の考えでは偉大な国家であり、ローマの町は偉大な町であった。
The last census showed that there were in Rome four hundred thousand citizens capable of bearing arms, and the last computation of the population of the Empire showed over four million citizens, excluding subjects, foreigners, women, children and slaves.
census (国勢調査) [名] an official count or survey of a population
show (示される) [動] be or make visible
four hundred thousand (40万人) [数] 400,000
bear (携帯する) [動] carry
arm (武器) [名] a means (such as a weapon) of offense or defense
computation (計算) [名] the act or process of computing
over (以上) [前] more than
four million (400万人) [数] 4,000,000
exclude (除く) [動] keep or shut out
woman (女性) [名] an adult human female
最後の国勢調査では、ローマには武器を携帯できる市民が40万人いたことが示され、帝国の人口の最後の計算では、臣民、外国人、女性、子供、奴隷を除いて400万人以上の市民がいることが示された。

 What difficulties might not be supposed to stand in the way of the frequent assemblage of the vast population of this capital and its neighbourhood.
stand in the way of (立ちはだかる) [動] be an obstacle to
assemblage (集まり) [名] a collection or gathering of people or things
capital (首都) [名] the city or town that functions as the seat of government and administrative centre of a country or region
neighbourhood (周辺) [名] the area around a place
この首都とその周辺の膨大な人口が頻繁に集まることに、どんな困難が立ちはだかるか想像もつかない。
Yet few weeks passed without the Roman people being in assembly, and even being so several times.
few weeks (数週間) [名] a small number of weeks
pass (過ぎる) [動] go by
Roman (ローマの) [形] of or relating to Rome or its people or culture
それでも、ローマの人々が集会を開かずに数週間が過ぎることはなく、何度も集会を開いていた。
It exercised not only the rights of Sovereignty, but also a part of those of government.
それは主権の権利だけでなく、政府の権利の一部を行使した。
It dealt with certain matters, and judged certain cases, and this whole people was found in the public meeting-place hardly less often as magistrates than as citizens.
case (事件) [名] an occurrence of something
meeting-place (集会所) [名] a place where people meet
それは特定の問題を扱い、特定の事件を裁き、この国民全体が市民としてよりも行政官として公の集会所に集まっていた。

 If we went back to the earliest history of nations, we should find that most ancient governments, even those of monarchical form, such as the Macedonian and the Frankish, had similar councils.
earliest (最も古い) [形] occurring or done before the usual or expected time
Macedonian (マケドニア) [名] a person from Macedonia
Frankish (フランク) [名] a member of the Germanic peoples who conquered Gaul in the 6th century
国家の最も古い歴史を振り返ってみると、マケドニアやフランクのような君主制の政府でさえ、ほとんどの古代政府が同様の評議会を持っていたことがわかるだろう。
In any case, the one incontestable fact I have given is an answer to all difficulties;
answer (答え) [名] a reply to a question
いずれにせよ、私が挙げた唯一の議論の余地のない事実は、すべての困難に対する答えである。
it is good logic to reason from the actual to the possible.
logic (論理) [名] a particular mode of reasoning viewed as valid or faulty
現実から可能性を推論するのは良い論理である。