Reflections Upon the Present State of England, and the Independence of America.

This unusually well-written pamphlet has a number of points of interest. Its author, Thomas Day, was also the author of that minor classic “Sandford and Merton.” In the present work he uses the presence of Franklin in England and the preliminary overtures of peace to expound his egalitarian principles and to point out the folly of continuing a war based on injustice and tyranny. He quotes Franklin at length and also deals extensively with the question of slavery. The first part of this essay appeared in the London “Courant.” This enlarged “Second edition” is its first appearance in pamphlet form; and a still further enlarged “Third edition” was reprinted three times the following year.