Second edition of Bage's fifth novel, first published by William Lane in 1792. There were two Dublin piracies in 1793. A German translation appeared in 1798, and a third English edition in 1819. By abandoning the epistolary technique in this novel, Bage was able to concentrate better on his main character, Sir George Paradyne, and to combine greater realism with a firmer movement of plot. Rational virtues triump over selfish hedonisms, and the "gentleman" is treated as a superior role model to the inflexible and unheeding "man of birth and fortune." Lively discussions of the idea of progress show that Bage's position though anti-authoritarian was broadly tolerant and ironic rather than dogmatic in tendency -- hence his underlying attraction as a radical novelist.