Assembly and to the Ionian people, in order that both the one and the other may fully and clearly comprehend their actual position. The answer is as follows: VICTORIA REGINA. Her Majesty has taken into Her gracious consideration the prayer of the petition presented by the Legislative Assembly of the Ionian Islands, with reference to the interests of the islands themselves, of the states in their neighbourhood, and of the general peace. Having regard to these objects, Her Majesty, invested as She is by the Treaty of Paris with the exclusive Protectorate of the Ionian State, and constituted the sole organ of that State in the councils of Europe, can neither consent to abandon the obligations She has undertaken, nor can convey, nor permit, any application to any other Power in furtherance of any similar design. Her Majesty does not desire to impose new fetters on opinion; but She will enforce, wherever it is placed in Her charge, the sacred duty of obedience to the laws. Her Majesty has adopted, on Her part, the measures which she deems most conducive to the good of the Ionian people; and She awaits the enlightened cooperation of their Parliament. V. R. Dispatch from Sir H. Storks, K. C. B., to the Right Hon. Sir E. B. Lytton, (No. 31.) SIR, Bart.1 Corfu, February 21, 1859. 1. Mr. Gladstone, in his Despatch No. 26 of the 17th instant, communicated to you the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly up to that day. 2. On Friday, the 18th the committee appointed to draw up and lay before the Chamber the answer to the several communications of the Lord High Commissioner made their report. 3. A copy of the report was communicated to me privately, and went to show that the committee considers that the Queen's reply does not close the question of union with Greece: (a.) Because it excludes the mode of attaining the object, i. e. a reference to Foreign Powers, which the Assembly had contemplated. 1“Ionian Islands,” British Parliamentary Papers, 1861, vol. 67 [2891], p. 76. (b.) Because it does not conform to the declaration of the 15/27th January. (c.) Because of the conduct of the Protecting Power during the present session. 4. I do not trouble you with a copy of the proposed answer, because it is simply a proposal, and is still under discussion.1 I have, &c. (Signed) H. K. STORKS. The Right Hon. Sir. E. B. Lytton, Bart., &c. &c. &c. Resolutions Presented to the Ionian Assembly, March, 1861 2 Proposal of Demetrio Baccomi Mr. Gladstone, two years back, having persuaded us to submit to Her Majesty the Queen of England the question of union, left, perhaps, with the idea that he had succeeded in giving a final and negative solution to the struggle between the Seven Islands and the Protection imposed upon them. Mr. Gladstone, without doubt, permitted this negative solution of the question to become known under the cloud of artificial and studied phrases, in order to conceal the object of his mission amongst us, and to show unclouded the political horizon of his Government in respect to the question of union. The English Government, unceasingly pursuing its own interests, pretends to consider these as superior to the nationality and independence of others. And in contradiction to the principles of liberty and love, which it preaches to other nations, binding itself in an anachronism with the period in which right throws off material forms, and the dead letter of treaties, in order that it may become a fact, that is to say, a principle of sovereignty exercised by the people,- have given to our imprescriptible national rights the form most suitable to its interests, and considered the Islands as a series of rocks and military stations, exclusively serving English interests. . . . In virtue of the new law of Europe, which solemnly proclaimed and recognised, that is, inscribed on the summit of the pyramids of civilisation, the will and sovereignty of the people; and the result of the union of these two 1 The answer was adopted and presented to the Lord High Commissioner by a deputation from the Assembly on Feb. 28. For a French translation of the address of the deputation see François Lenormant, La Question Ionienne devant l'Europe, pp. 144–145, Paris, 1859. 2 "Ionian Islands,” British Parliamentary Papers, 1861, vol. 67 [2891], pp. 7, 8. principles is such that it has obtained the respect of Europe, whose arms do not unite to destroy, in the hands of the people, the principles proclaimed, not interfering with the acts of the people, so that by the rights of nationality and the acquirement of their lost independence they may all live in one State, the emanation of independence, of the same species, and the same form as the national character, from which proceeds the true union of political existence and cohabitation. For the above reasons, I am therefore of opinion that an appeal should be made by the Chamber, to the people of the Seven Islands, who shall proclaim by" universal suffrage," and the new means accepted, viz., the national will and sovereignty of the people, its "independence" and its non-dependence on English protection, which it must vote against, annulling and repudiating, by means of universal demonstration (one of the chief rights), the right of the Protection to be the author of its liberty, autonomous and independent, by annulling the treaty imposed in 1815, from which is derived the unjust continuation of foreign protection. (Signed) DEMETRIO BACCOMI. The Representatives of the Seven Islands, To the Representatives of the Peoples, to the Governments, and to the Philanthropists of Christian Europe. The Greek Assembly of the Ionian Islands, and itself the organ of the wishes, the rights, and of the demands of the eternally and continuously indivisible Greek people assembled in the present critical circumstances of the East, feels imposed upon it the exalted duty of national action by words, although it thinks that unjustly, and by the material power of the stronger, the Seven Islands are excluded, against their will (féλnois) and solemn declaration, from the Greek kingdom to the detriment of the Greek race and of European interests, it hastens, notwithstanding, to continue its labours, and in the position of affairs, turns to the Christian world in favour of rights and interests, both of itself and of the nation, to which are attached those of the peace of Europe. The Seven Islands, having maintained in the midst of grave circumstances, in the exercise of their rights relative to their emancipation, a legitimate conduct and incomparable order, in the same way that the most civilised people boast of in their politics, have the right to make their voice heard, and are not discouraged if from their weakness their words are despised. . . . Let England restore to the kingdom of Greece the trust, which before the formation of that kingdom was confided to her on account of circumstances which have long ceased to exist. This is the first step which the interest of Europe and the rights of Hellenism (rà díxaía Tηs 'EλληvíkóтηTos) require. The question (Znua) of the union of the Seven Islands to the existing (vv) Greek kingdom is not a question. This even on behalf of England herself, by the English Government itself, has lately been solved by the communication which the administration of England addressed, on the 15/27 of October 1860, to the English Ambassador at Turin, and by the whole conduct of the English Government as regards Italian affairs. Truth and justice are not changed by place and nationalities. These are, and must be, the same, whether for an Englishman, for an Italian, or for a Greek, in short, for the strong as for the weak; and duty requires in a greater degree (èníτaкwτeрov) on the part of the stronger, the execution and fulfilment of the principles and dogmas acknowledged and proclaimed by himself (πας αὐτοῦ τοῦ ιδίου). Europe, casting a single glance on Greece, and the Ionian Islands, can easily convince herself that Greeks have all those requisites necessary that there should no longer be withheld from them the political direction of their beautiful country, the independence and peace of which, consolidated as it should be, interest the freedom and the security of the whole European society. (Signed) COSMA PANARETOS, GEORGIOS BERIKIOS, House of Assembly, 25 (o.s.) February 1861 Notification of Warning by the Lord High Commissioner to the Assembly. March 12, 1861 1 Message from his Excellency the Lord High Commissioner to the Most Noble the Legislative Assembly The Lord High Commissioner has perceived that two documents have been laid on the table of the Most Noble the Legislative Assembly, and now stand on the order of the day for discussion; one inviting the Legislative Assembly to call on the Ionian people to declare by universal suffrage the national desire to be united to the kingdom of Greece; the other purporting to be an appeal from the Representatives of the Seven Islands to the representatives of the peoples, to the governments and to the philanthropists of Christian Europe. The Lord High Commissioner is desirous of carrying forbearance to the 1 "Ionian Islands," British Parliamentary Papers [2891], 1861, vol. 67, pp. 10, 11. utmost limits of his duty as the Representative of the Sovereign Protectress of these States. His Excellency thereof warns the Legislative Assembly that the proposals now standing in the order of the day are clearly contrary to the constitution, and as such can not be entertained or discussed. The Lord High Commissioner hopes that nothing will be permitted to divert the Legislative Assembly from its true functions of useful legislation for the good of the country; and, having now informed that body that these proposals are unconstitutional, his Excellency trusts to its prudence and patriotism to remove them from the order of the day. Given at the Palace of St. Michael and St. George, Corfu, this 12th day of March, 1861. By command of his Excellency, H. DRUMMOND WOLFF, Secretary to the Lord High Commissioner. Prorogation of the Assembly. March 12, 1861 1 This Message 2 not having produced the effect hoped for by his Excellency, of causing the withdrawal of the unconstitutional proposals from the order of the day, the Lord High Commissioner has been compelled with reluctance to prorogue the Legislative Assembly for six months. Given at the Palace of St. Michael and St. George, Corfu, this 12th day of March, 1861. By his Excellency's command, H. DRUMMOnd Wolff, Secretary to the Lord High Commissioner. Dispatch of Earl Russell to the British Representatives at Foreign Courts Concerning Announcement that the Question of Union Shall be Left to the Ionian Assembly 3 4 Earl Russell to Lord Bloomfield * Foreign Office, June 10, 1863. MY LORD, The time is at hand when Her Majesty's declaration of her readiness to 1 "Ionian Islands," British Parliamentary Papers, 1861, vol. 67 [2891], p. 12. 2 See supra. 3 Brit. St. Pap., vol. 57, p. 1067. 4 Laid before Parliament in 1863. Similar dispatches were addressed to Earl Cowley, Sir A. Buchanan, and Lord Napier. |