TO THE REV. CHARLES LEE, M.A. A TRUE FRIEND IN THIS CHANGEFUL WORLD, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. PREFACE. EADER! ("Courteous," "Intelligent," "Patient," and "Worshipful," as readers were addressed by authors. whilom), presuming you to possess the estimable qualities implied by such designations, I have less timidity in asking your indulgence while travelling with me through the following chapters on weird and fanciful delusions. Possibly your patience will be tried by predilections of my own for particular subjects, which may not prove so attractive to you as they have been pleasant to myself. It is, also, more than probable that there are omissions, which have been rendered inevitable by the confined compass of this book. But I trust for your forbearance, inasmuch as I have, perhaps, spared you a long and wearisome perusal of time-worn books on occult lore, that may have long slumbered, neglected, on their shelves, and the study of which may not be recreative to general readers. It may be asked, Of what use is the exposure of the dark side of human nature,-the weaknesses and follies of mankind? Were these matters of the past only, we might be contented with smiling at the ignorance and fatuity of our ancestors, but the inheritance of many strange and flimsy fancies has descended to us through long ages, and is still deeply engrafted on the |