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

condition of Jamaica is a sore reproach to us. It is, what the Ionian Islands were, a
confession of failure and a discredit to our political genius”. 141
Gladstone supported the establishment of responsible government in the Ionian
Islands despite the odds. The inclusion of the veto was an attempt to cover all
possible scenarios for both the British and Ionians. Although the Islands were not
inhabited by British settlers and the population were not Anglo-Saxons, Gladstone
urged the British government to trust the Ionians were ready to govern themselves,
the only option not yet tried. Nevertheless Gladstone acknowledged one major
difficulty was the desire of a large number of Ionians for union with Greece. The
Ionian Assembly had been prorogued numerous times under Ward and Young to
prevent a vote on that issue. Gladstone criticised Britain’s repression of this
discussion, which directly opposed the Ionians’ constitutional rights. If they argued
British protection was not in accordance with European law, they had the right to
express their desire for Union. They had never been consulted by the European
Powers regarding their political fate in 1815 and had never given their consent to
British protection. Gladstone warned against silencing the Ionian people, believing
“the attempt to repress by strong measures everything that is inconvenient is often
found productive of inconveniences greater than those which it aims at curing”. 142
Although Gladstone did not state it explicitly, he seemed to be referring to the
‘Indian Mutiny’ of 1857 when warning London against returning to conservative
141 Quoted in Tsitsonis, S. E., “An unpublished report (1858)”, pp. 328-329.
142 Gladstone to Lytton, Confidential, 18 January 1859, CO 136/165.
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