The second edition, three years later, shows the influence of Condorcet's Sketch, which had appeared in the meantime.

Godwin says that his original idea was to produce a work on political science to supersede Montesquieu.

The note of Montesquieu's political philosophy was respect for social institutions.

Godwin's principle was that social institutions are entirely pernicious, that they perpetuate harmful prejudices, and are an almost insuperable obstacle to improvement.

If he particularly denounced monarchical government, he regarded all government as evil, and held that social progress would consist, not in the reformation of government, but in its abolition.