1861

Waiting For An Answer. Punch, Volume 41, December 14, 1861, p. 239

Following the dispatch of Lord Russell's amended ultimatum, several tense weeks passed as the British waited for an American response, torn between hope for a peaceful resolution and preparations for possible war. Here a youthful Britannia, her hand on the lanyard of a naval gun, stares pensively into the distance. Though she is armed for battle -- her Union Jack shield nearby, a crested helmet on her head -- her pose suggests worried preoccupation. On the date this cartoon appeared, Prince Albert died. During the days that followed, universal grief over the passing of the Prince Consort shifted public attention away from the "Trent Affair" and put the British government into a less confrontational frame of mind.