I beg, then, that you will apply your great learning to this subject. The matter is one which deserves long and deep consideration on your part; nor am I, for my part, undeserving of having the fruits of your wisdom imparted to me. You may even argue on both sides (as your way is), provided you argue more forcibly on one side than the other, so as not to dismiss me in suspense and anxiety, when the very cause of my consulting you has been to have my doubts put an end to.

THE END

Transcriber's Note:

The Foreword refers to "Mrs. Radcliffe" as the author of "Castle of Otranto." The editor likely confused Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho with Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto. As it is unclear which book he was referring to, the error has not been corrected.

Irregularities in hyphenation (e.g. bed-side and bedside) between stories have not been changed.

Where a line of dots was used as a thought break in the original, the number of dots has been regularized. Some stories included a credit line at the bottom of the first page. These have been formatted as lettered footnotes.

Also, the following errors were corrected: