A Timely Appeal to the Common Sense of the People of Great Britain in general, And of the inhabitants of Buckinghamshire in particular, on the present situation of affairs; with references to the opinions of most of the British and French philosophers of the present century. [bound with:] Further Thoughts on the present state of public opinion; being a continuation of A Timely Appeal...

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Grandson of the Founder of Pennsylvania, John Penn (1760-1834), returned to England in 1788, unable to restore the proprietorship of the province of Pennsylvania to the Penn family, although compensated. From a hitherto purely literary dilletantism he now turned to politics. In the year of the Timely Appeal he was appointed sheriff of Buckginghamshire, hence the particularity of the title. Penn addresses himself to 14 heads, including: the unequal distribution of wealth; inequality of rank ('Men have equal rights, but are not born equal'); the severity of our penal code; disregard of the goodwill expressed for us by the French; the weight of taxes; the distresses of the poor; ministerial influence.At first sight this seems to be an author's copy in preparation for a second edition. But the numerous corrections to style and expression are soon mingled with opinions on the clarity or otherwise of the text, and more general comments on merits and demerits. Clearly then the annotations are the work of a friend-cum-critic.