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throne of Bohemia, while as yet there was no standing army, nor 

 even a regiment of guards in England. From the time of William 

 III. the English have complained of the partiality of their kings for 

 their foreign connexions and dominions, and yet they censure James 

 for not involving the nation in that desperate enterprize on behalf 

 of his son-in-law. When, at length, he was overruled by the po- 

 pular clamour, the failure of the expedition exposed the inability of 

 Britain, at that time, to carry on a continental war. But though 

 he declined supporting the palatine in his Bohemian adventure, he 

 exerted himself for the recovery of his hereditary dominions by men 

 and money, subsidies to Protestant states, and negotiations with 

 other continental powers. As to any obligation from natural af- 

 fection, Nepotism is a more pernicious vice in a king than a pope ; 

 and the elector, in particular, had no claim upon James ; for he 

 had accepted the Bohemian crown without his approbation. His 

 acceptance of it also thwarted some of his father-in-law's favourite 

 plans; and when he recommended an accommodation with the 

 emperor, the young prince rejected his advice. James, too, may 

 have thought that the cause was unjust ; that the Bohemians had 

 no right to depose their sovereign ; and that such a n example was 

 a dangerous precedent, not to be countenanced by any crowned 

 head. Neither could he have any sanguine hopes of success, 

 for the palatine had no abilities for such an arduous undertaking. 

 The reader will observe, that 1 am placing all these questions in the 

 light, in which they would appear to the king, without any refer- 

 ence to my own opinions. 



On the whole, had James been prone to plunge the country into 

 expensive and hazardous wars, he might have brought upon him_ 

 self the crisis that took place under his son ; and had Charles 

 ^'overned himself by his example and his advice in the Basilicon 



