On the Courts of Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 Code of Love of the Twelfth Century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 Note on André le Chapelain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 Translators' Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 _Note:_ All the footnotes to the Translation, except those within square brackets, which are the work of the Translators, are by Stendhal himself. The Translators' notes at the end of the book are referred to by numerals enclosed within round brackets. [Pg 1] PREFACE[1] It is in vain that an author solicits the indulgence of his public--the printed page is there to give the lie to his pretended modesty. He would do better to trust to the justice, patience and impartiality of his readers, and it is to this last quality especially that the author of the present work makes his appeal. He has often heard people in France speak of writings, opinions or sentiments as being "truly French"; and so he may well be afraid that, by presenting facts truly as they are, and showing respect only for sentiments and opinions that are universally true, he may have provoked that jealous exclusiveness, which, in spite of its very doubtful character, we have seen of late set up as a virtue. What, I wonder, would become of history, of ethics, of science itself or of literature, if they had to be truly German, truly Russian or Italian, truly Spanish or English, as soon as they had crossed the Rhine, the Alps or the Channel? What are we to say to this kind of justice, to this ambulatory truth? When we see such expressions as "devotion truly Spanish," "virtues truly English," seriously employed in the speeches of patriotic foreigners, it is high time to suspect this sentiment, which expresses itself in very similar terms also elsewhere. At Constantinople or among savages, this blind and exclusive partiality for one's own country is a rabid thirst for blood; among civilised peoples, it is a morbid, unhappy, restless vanity, that is ready to turn on you for a pinprick.[2] [1] [To the first edition, 1822.--Tr.] [2] Extract from the Preface to M. Simond's _Voyage en Suisse_, pp. 7, 8. [Pg 2] PREFACE[1] ThiS work has had no success: it has been found unintelligible--not without reason. Therefore in this new edition the author's primary intention has been to render his ideas with clearness. He has related how they came to him, and he has made a preface and an introduction--all in order to be clear. Yet, in spite of so much care, out of a hundred who have read _Corinne_, there are not four readers who will understand this volume.