ABSTRACT
H i s t o r y has given an air of ludicrous irony to Cowper’s estimate of the event for which 1789 was to be memorable. His great theme was the temporary recovery of George III. from his madness. The controversy over the terms under which the Prince of Wales should assume the regency absorbed the attention of England. Next, perhaps, in political interest came the agitations for the repeal of the Test Acts and for the abolition of the slave trade. It was not, probably, until midsummer that Englishmen awoke to the fact that 1789 was to be remembered for anything of greater consequence than the recovery of George III.
