OR,

THE ASTROLOGER.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "WAVERLEY."

'Tis said that words and signs have power

O'er sprites in planetary hour;

But scarce I praise their venturous part,
Who tamper with such dangerous art.

Lay of the Last Minstrel.

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

SECOND EDITION.

EDINBURGH:

Printed by James Ballantyne and Co.

FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,
LONDON; AND ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO.

EDINBURGH.

1815.

GUY MANNERING;

OR,

THE ASTROLOGER.

CHAPTER I.

"He could not deny, that, looking round upon the dreary region, and seeing nothing but bleak fields, and naked trees, hills obscured by fogs, and flats covered with inundations, he did for some time suffer melancholy to prevail upon him, and wished himself again safe at home."

Travels of Will. Marvel, Idler, No. 49.

It was in the beginning of the month of November, 17-, when a young English gentleman, who had just left the university of Oxford, made use of the liberty afforded him to visit some parts of the north of England; and curiosity extended his tour into the adjacent frontier of the sister country. He had visited, upon the day that opens our history, some monastic ruins in the