Page:Coubertin - France since 1814, 1900.djvu/14

 Napoleon I. was a Liberal, as to say that Louis XVIII. was foisted on France by Foreign Powers ; as absurd, if you like, to see in Louis Philippe the elected sovereign of the people as to refuse that title to Napoleon III. Such assertions are like a daub that hides the work of some fine old master ; our first care should be to remove it that we may see the underlying truth.

In order to judge properly of past events we must first give up every preconceived idea, then go round them, examining them successively under all their aspects ; finally, we must reproduce by thought, as far as may be, the atmosphere which once surrounded them and the background from which they stand out. I know no other way by which we may approach as near as possible to the truth. And I think it is always well to make clear at the outset of any historical work the principle on which it has been constructed, which is the raison d'être of this brief prefatory note.