EDITOR\'SPREFACETOTHENEWEDITIONOF\'WUTHERINGHEIGHTS\'
IHAVEjustreadover\'WutheringHeights，\'and，forthefirsttime，haveobtainedaclearglimpseofwhataretermed（and，perhaps，reallyare）itsfaults；havegainedadefinitenotionofhowitappearstootherpeople-tostrangerswhoknewnothingoftheauthor；whoareunacquaintedwiththelocalitywherethescenesofthestoryarelaid；towhomtheinhabitants，thecustoms，thenaturalcharacteristicsoftheoutlyinghillsandhamletsintheWestRidingofYorkshirearethingsalienandunfamiliar。
Toallsuch\'WutheringHeights\'mustappeararudeandstrangeproduction。ThewildmoorsoftheNorthofEnglandcanforthemhavenointerest:thelanguage，themanners，theverydwellingsandhouseholdcustomsofthescatteredinhabitantsofthosedistrictsmustbetosuchreadersinagreatmeasureunintelligible，and-whereintelligible-repulsive。Menandwomenwho，perhaps，naturallyverycalm，andwithfeelingsmoderateindegree，andlittlemarkedinkind，havebeentrainedfromtheircradletoobservetheutmostevennessofmannerandguardednessoflanguage，willhardlyknowwhattomakeoftherough，strongutterance，theharshlymanifestedpassions，theunbridledaversions，andheadlongpartialitiesofunletteredmoorlandhindsandruggedmoorlandsquires，whohavegrownupuntaughtandunchecked，exceptbyMentorsasharshasthemselves。Alargeclassofreaders，likewise，willsuffergreatlyfromtheintroductionintothepagesofthisworkofwordsprintedwithalltheirletters，whichithasbecomethecustomtorepresentbytheinitialandfinalletteronly-ablanklinefillingtheinterval。Imayaswellsayatoncethat，forthiscircumstance，itisoutofmypowertoapologise；deemingit，myself，arationalplantowritewordsatfulllength。Thepracticeofhintingbysinglelettersthoseexpletiveswithwhichprofaneandviolentpersonsarewonttogarnishtheirdiscourse，strikesmeasaproceedingwhich，howeverwellmeant，isweakandfutile。Icannottellwhatgooditdoes-
whatfeelingitspares-whathorroritconceals。
Withregardtotherusticityof\'Wutheringheights，\'Iadmitthecharge，forIfeelthequality。Itisrusticallthrough。Itismoorish，andwild，andknottyasarootofheath。Norwasitnaturalthatitshouldbeotherwise；theauthorbeingherselfanativeandnurslingofthemoors。Doubtless，hadherlotbeencastinatown，herwritings，ifshehadwrittenatall，wouldhavepossessedanothercharacter。Evenhadchanceortasteledhertochooseasimilarsubject，shewouldhavetreateditotherwise。HadEllisBellbeenaladyoragentlemanaccustomedtowhatiscalled\'theworld，\'herviewofaremoteandunreclaimedregion，aswellasofthedwellerstherein，wouldhavedifferedgreatlyfromthatactuallytakenbythehome-bredcountrygirl。Doubtlessitwouldhavebeenwider-morecomprehensive:whetheritwouldhavebeenmoreoriginalormoretruthfulisnotsocertain。Asfarasthesceneryandlocalityareconcerned，itcouldscarcelyhavebeensosympathetic:EllisBelldidnotdescribeasonewhoseeyeandtastealonefoundpleasureintheprospect；hernativehillswerefarmoretoherthanaspectacle；theywerewhatshelivedin，andby，asmuchasthewildbirds，theirtenants，orastheheather，theirproduce。Herdescriptions，then，ofnaturalsceneryarewhattheyshouldbe，andalltheyshouldbe。