Britannia's Assassination

James Gillray, "Britania's assassination, or -- the republican amusement," 1782, etched print on paper, 252mm height x 259mm width, Drew University Archives Special Collections 

This illustration depicts members of the new ministry at the time–including Charles James Fox and John Wilkes–tearing down a statue personifying Britannia. Meanwhile, conservative politicians Edward Thurlow and William Murry Mansfield attempt to pull the statue away from them using ropes. In the background, an American (depicted as a Native American), a Frenchman, a Spaniard, and a Dutch man, foreign enemies of Britain at the time, run off with pieces of the statue. (“Britania's assassination, or -- the republican amusement,” Library of Congress) Through the late 1700s, the American and French revolutions racked European politics, bringing up the idea of radical reforms to conservative governments. Gillray’s illustration criticizes these more radical attempts to reform the British government as destroying Britain. The personifications of other countries running away with statue pieces show his belief that the harm done to Britain through reform would benefit their international rivals. Gillray shows his belief in conservative governance as necessary for the preservation of Britain and the empire.