eble is the contest where we fear to strike! Even Rawleigh is prodigal
of his praise to James for the king's chapter on magic. The great mind of
Rawleigh perceived how much men are formed and changed by _education;_
but, were this principle admitted to its extent, the _stars_ would
lose their influence! In pleading for the free agency of man, he would
escape from the pernicious tendency of predestination, or the astral
influence, which yet he allows. To extricate himself from the dilemma,
he invents an analogical reasoning of a royal power of dispensing
with the laws in extreme cases; so that, though he does not deny "the
binding of the stars," he declares they are controllable by the will of
the Creator. In this manner, fettered by prevalent opinions, he satisfies
the superstitions of an astrological age, and the penetration of his own
genius. At a much later period Dr Henry More, a writer of genius,
confirmed the ghost and demon creed, by a number of facts, as marvellously
pleasant as any his own poetical fancy could have invented. Other great
authors have not less distinguished themselves. When has there appeared a
single genius who at once could free himself of the traditional prejudices
of his contemporaries--nay, of his own party? Genius, in its advancement
beyond the intelligence of its own age, is but progressive; it is
fancifully said to soar, but it only climbs. Yet the minds of some authors
of this age are often discovered to be superior to their work; because the
mind is impelled by its own inherent powers, but the work usually
originates in the age. James I, once acutely observed, how "the author may
be wise, but the work foolish."

Thus minds of a higher rank than our royal author had not yet cleared
themselves out of these clouds of popular prejudices. We now proceed to
more decisive results of the superior capacity of this much ill-used
monarch.

* * * * *

THE HABITS OF JAMES THE FIRST THOSE OF A MAN OF LETTERS.

The habits of life of this monarch were those of a man of letters. His
first studies were soothed by none of their enticements. If James loved
literature, it was for itself; for Buchanan did not tinge the rim of the
vase with honey; and the bitterness was tasted not only in the draught,
but also in the rod. In some princes, the harsh discipline James passed
through has raised a strong aversion against literature. The Dauphin, for
whose use was formed the well