Although some of his advisers believed this was the perfect opportunity to crush the Austrian Empire in one fell swoop, William IV felt that keeping House of Hohenzollern rule intact had to come first.
Britain was also hesitant to go to war, since it was still figuring out how to swallow the legacy of the House of Orleans.
If Britain chose to fight Austria now and won, then without a doubt, the flags of the British Empire would fly across the whole world.
But what if it lost? Could the British Empire suffer a backlash?
Nearly all of the Austrian Empire's colonies were tough nuts to crack, and France's colonies were no easier to deal with. What if France and Austria joined forces?
The British economy had already collapsed, and the Scots might take up arms at any moment. The Chartists were already marching and causing trouble everywhere.
And then there was that fool Pius IX. Would he come up with more outrageous demands?
John Russell, however, believed that the British Empire, safely insulated overseas, could never be defeated. All they had to do was weigh the costs against the benefits.
France's Texas and Austria's California and Namibia were resource-rich colonies that had already been developed to a relatively high degree. They could all be used to plug the hole in Britain's economic crisis.
The Tamil Nadu Gang's Tranquebar and Serampore in Kolkata were Britain's two great worries on the Indian Subcontinent. Taking them out would remove two thorns in its side, allowing Britain to keep India to itself and control the eastern sea routes.
With such enormous gains on offer, who could resist? John Russell was a crafty man, though, and thought the Mediterranean Fleet wasn't strong enough yet.
In 1848, the Mediterranean Fleet had a total of thirty-five