Constructing Ionian identities: the Ionian Islands in British official ...

century. 31 Her work demonstrates that Peelites believed free trade and empire were
not incompatible. Peelites were committed to responsible government which served
the maintainance of settlement colonies within the empire and they introduced acts
to strengthen the capacity for self-government in Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand. At the same time, Farnsworth shows that Peelites believed such freedoms
could only be accompanied by responsibility from the colonies for their own
defense, examining the conflicts and problems regarding the withdrawal of imperial
troops from these self-governing colonies. This work is especially enlightening in its
examination of the imperial ideas of Gladstone and Newcastle. Farnsworth’s analysis
of Gladstone highlights his attitudes and policies regarding responsible government
throughout the empire. Although the examination of the Islands itself is brief her
wider investigation of Gladstone’s views indicates his suggestion for responsible
government in the Septinsula was not to pacify nationalist sentiments, as advocated
by the more traditional views expressed by Knox, Holland and Markides, but was in
keeping with his hope for a free and voluntary connection between Britain and the
Islands, similar to the relationship Britain had with Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand.
David Bebbington’s examination of the impact of classics, particularly Homer,
on Gladstone’s views and political growth, are the main features in both his book
The Mind of Gladstone and his essay “Gladstone and Homer”. 32 Bebbington’s The
31 Farnsworth S., The Evolution of British Imperial Policy During the Mid-Nineteenth Century: A
Study of the Peelite Contribution 1846-1874 (New York, 1992).
32 Bebbington D., The Mind of Gladstone: Religion, Homer, and Politics (Oxford, 2004); Bebbington
D., “Gladstone and Homer,” in Bebbington D. W., and Swift R. (eds.), Gladstone Centenary Essays
(Liverpool, 2000), pp. 57-74.
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