and unexpected. 'Does the devil mingle in the dance, to avenge
himself for our trifling with an art said to be of magical origin?
Or is it possible, as Bacon and Sir Thomas Browne admit, that
there is some truth in a sober and regulated astrology, and that
the influence of the stars is not to be denied, though the due
application of it by the knaves who pretend to practise the art is
greatly to be suspected?' A moment's consideration of the subject
induced him to dismiss this opinion as fantastical, and only
sanctioned by those learned men either because they durst not at
once shock the universal prejudices of their age, or because they
themselves were not altogether freed from the contagious influence
of a prevailing superstition. Yet the result of his calculations
in these two instances left so unpleasing an impression on his
mind that, like Prospero, he mentally relinquished his art, and
resolved, neither in jest nor earnest, ever again to practise
judicial astrology.

He hesitated a good deal what he should say to the Laird of
Ellangowan concerning the horoscope of his first-born; and at
length resolved plainly to tell him the judgment which he had
formed, at the same time acquainting him with the futility of the
rules of art on which he had proceeded. With this resolution he
walked out upon the terrace.

If the view of the scene around Ellangowan had been pleasing by
moonlight, it lost none of its beauty by the light of the morning
sun. The land, even in the month of November, smiled under its
influence. A steep but regular ascent led from the terrace to the
neighbouring eminence, and conducted Mannering to the front of the
old castle. It consisted of two massive round towers projecting