When an exact proportion cannot be established between the constituent parts of the State, or when causes that cannot be removed continually alter the relation of one part to another, recourse is had to the institution of a peculiar magistracy that enters into no corporate unity with the rest.
exact proportion
(正確な比率)
[名]
a ratio in which the quantities are equal
be established
(確立される)
[動]
be founded or set up
be removed
(除去される)
[動]
be taken away or eliminated
enter into
(形成する)
[動]
take part in
corporate unity
(企業の統一)
[名]
the state of being united or made into a whole
国家の構成部分の間に正確な比率を確立できない場合、または除去できない原因が継続的に一部と他の部分の関係を変える場合、残りの部分と企業の統一を形成しない独特の政務官の制度に頼ることになる。
This restores to each term its right relation to the others, and provides a link or middle term between either prince and people, or prince and Sovereign, or, if necessary, both at once.
link
(つながり)
[名]
a relationship or connection between two or more things
これにより、各項は他の項との正しい関係を取り戻し、君主と人民、君主と主権者、または必要に応じて両者の間のつながりまたは中間項を提供する。
This body, which I shall call the tribunate, is the preserver of the laws and of the legislative power.
preserver
(保護者)
[名]
someone who protects or preserves something
私が護民官と呼ぶこの機関は、法律と立法権の保護者である。
It serves sometimes to protect the Sovereign against the government, as the tribunes of the people did at Rome;
ローマで人民の護民官が行ったように、それは時々政府に対して主権者を保護するのに役立つ。
sometimes to uphold the government against the people, as the Council of Ten now does at Venice;
Council of Ten
(十人委員会)
[名]
a powerful council of state in the former Venetian Republic
ヴェネツィアで十人委員会が現在行っているように、時には人民に対して政府を支持する。
and sometimes to maintain the balance between the two, as the Ephors did at Sparta.
Ephors
(エフォロス)
[名]
a magistrate in ancient Sparta
そして、スパルタでエフォロスが行ったように、時には両者のバランスを維持する。
The tribunate is not a constituent part of the city, and should have no share in either legislative or executive power;
constituent
(構成要素)
[名]
a part of a whole
護民官は都市の構成要素ではなく、立法権にも執行権にも関与すべきではない。
but this very fact makes its own power the greater: for, while it can do nothing, it can prevent anything from being done.
greater
(より大きい)
[形]
larger in size, amount, or degree
しかし、この事実そのものが、その権力をより大きくしている。なぜなら、何もできない一方で、何事も行われるのを阻止できるからである。
It is more sacred and more revered, as the defender of the laws, than the prince who executes them, or than the Sovereign which ordains them.
revered
(尊敬される)
[形]
regarded with deep respect
ordain
(制定する)
[動]
order by virtue of superior authority
護民官は、法律を執行する君主や、法律を制定する主権者よりも、法律の擁護者として、より神聖で、より尊敬されている。
This was seen very clearly at Rome, when the proud patricians, for all their scorn of the people, were forced to bow before one of its officers, who had neither auspices nor jurisdiction.
auspices
(権限)
[名]
a favourable or propitious circumstance
これはローマで非常にはっきりと見られた。傲慢な貴族たちは、民衆を軽蔑していたにもかかわらず、権限も管轄権もない護民官の前に頭を下げざるを得なかった。
The tribunate, wisely tempered, is the strongest support a good constitution can have;
tempered
(調整された)
[動]
make or become less intense or extreme
support
(支え)
[名]
a person or thing that gives help, encouragement, or approval
賢明に調整された護民官は、良い憲法が持つことができる最も強力な支えである。
but if its strength is ever so little excessive, it upsets the whole State.
ever so little
(少しでも)
[副]
to the slightest extent
excessive
(過剰)
[形]
more than is usual or proper
upset
(混乱させる)
[動]
disturb the normal state or condition of
しかし、その力が少しでも過剰になると、国家全体を混乱させる。
Weakness, on the other hand, is not natural to it: provided it is something, it is never less than it should be.
less
(小さくなる)
[形]
smaller in size, amount, degree, or value
一方、弱さは護民官にとって自然なことではない。護民官が何かである限り、護民官は決してあるべき姿よりも小さくなることはない。
It degenerates into tyranny when it usurps the executive power, which it should confine itself to restraining, and when it tries to dispense with the laws, which it should confine itself to protecting.
dispense with
(無視する)
[動]
do without
護民官は、抑制するべき執行権を奪い、保護するべき法律を無視しようとすると、専制政治に堕落する。
The immense power of the Ephors, harmless as long as Sparta preserved its morality, hastened corruption when once it had begun.
immense
(巨大な)
[形]
very great in size, amount, or degree
harmless
(無害な)
[形]
not causing or likely to cause harm
スパルタが道徳を保っている限り無害だったエフォロイの巨大な権力は、一度腐敗が始まると、その腐敗を早めた。
The blood of Agis, slaughtered by these tyrants, was avenged by his successor;
blood
(血)
[名]
the red liquid that circulates in the arteries and veins of people and vertebrate animals, carrying oxygen to and carbon dioxide from the tissues of the body
slaughter
(殺す)
[動]
kill (people or animals) in a cruel or violent way, typically in a large number
successor
(後継者)
[名]
a person or thing that follows another in office, position, or function
これらの暴君によって殺されたアギスの血は、彼の後継者によって復讐された。
the crime and the punishment of the Ephors alike hastened the destruction of the republic, and after Cleomenes Sparta ceased to be of any account.
alike
(共に)
[副]
in a similar way
Cleomenes
(クレオメネス)
[名]
a king of Sparta
account
(重要)
[名]
importance or value
エフォロイの犯罪と処罰は共に共和国の破壊を早め、クレオメネスの後にスパルタは重要ではなくなった。
Rome perished in the same way: the excessive power of the tribunes, which they had usurped by degrees, finally served, with the help of laws made to secure liberty, as a safeguard for the emperors who destroyed it.
in the same way
(同じように)
[副]
in the same manner
by degrees
(少しずつ)
[副]
gradually
finally
(最終的に)
[副]
after a long time
ローマも同じように滅亡した。護民官が少しずつ奪い取った過度の権力は、自由を守るために作られた法律の助けを借りて、最終的には自由を破壊した皇帝の安全保障となった。
As for the Venetian Council of Ten, it is a tribunal of blood, an object of horror to patricians and people alike;
Venetian Council of Ten
(ヴェネツィアの十人委員会)
[名]
a powerful council of state in the former Venetian Republic
ヴェネツィアの十人委員会については、それは血の裁判であり、貴族と民衆の両方にとって恐怖の対象である。
and, so far from giving a lofty protection to the laws, it does nothing, now they have become degraded, but strike in the darkness blows of which no one dare take note.
lofty
(高尚な)
[形]
of imposing height
protection
(保護)
[名]
the action of protecting someone or something
do nothing
(何もしない)
[動]
not do anything
degraded
(堕落した)
[形]
having lost all or a great deal of its good qualities
strike
(打撃)
[名]
a blow or stroke
darkness
(暗闇)
[名]
the absence of light
blow
(打撃)
[名]
a sudden event or action that causes damage or harm
take note
(注目する)
[動]
notice or observe
そして、法律に高尚な保護を与えるどころか、今や法律は堕落してしまったが、誰も注目しようとしない暗闇の中での打撃以外には何もしていない。
The tribunate, like the government, grows weak as the number of its members increases.
護民官は、政府と同様に、そのメンバーの数が増えるにつれて弱くなる。
When the tribunes of the Roman people, who first numbered only two, and then five, wished to double that number, the senate let them do so, in the confidence that it could use one to check another, as indeed it afterwards freely did.
confidence
(自信)
[名]
a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something
check
(チェックする)
[動]
examine or inspect with care
最初はわずか2人、その後5人だったローマ人の護民官がその数を倍にしたいと思ったとき、元老院は、実際にその後自由にそうしたように、一方を他方のチェックに使えるという自信を持って、そうさせた。
The best method of preventing usurpations by so formidable a body, though no government has yet made use of it, would be not to make it permanent, but to regulate the periods during which it should remain in abeyance.
formidable
(恐ろしい)
[形]
causing fear or dread
permanent
(永続的)
[形]
lasting forever
abeyance
(停止)
[名]
a state of temporary disuse or suspension
このような恐ろしい組織による簒奪を防ぐ最善の方法は、まだどの政府もそれを利用していないが、それを永続的にするのではなく、それが停止されたままであるべき期間を規制することだろう。
These intervals, which should not be long enough to give abuses time to grow strong, may be so fixed by law that they can easily be shortened at need by extraordinary commissions.
これらの間隔は、不正が強くなる時間を与えるほど長くすべきではないが、法律で定めることができ、必要に応じて特別委員会によって簡単に短縮することができる。
This method seems to me to have no disadvantages, because, as I have said, the tribunate, which forms no part of the constitution, can be removed without the constitution being affected.
have no disadvantage
(欠点がない)
[動]
be free of disadvantage
have said
(言った)
[動]
say something in the past
form no part of
(一部を形成していない)
[動]
not be a part of
be affected
(影響を受ける)
[動]
be influenced or changed by something
この方法には欠点がないように思われる。なぜなら、私が言ったように、憲法の一部を形成していない護民官は、憲法に影響を与えることなく削除できるからである。
It seems to be also efficacious, because a newly restored magistrate starts not with the power his predecessor exercised, but with that which the law allows him.
efficacious
(効果的)
[形]
producing the desired or intended result
newly
(新しく)
[副]
recently; lately
restored
(復権した)
[形]
brought back to a former position or condition
start
(始める)
[動]
begin doing something
それはまた効果的であるように思われる。なぜなら、新しく復権した政務官は、前任者が行使した権力ではなく、法律が彼に与えた権力から始めるからである。