IO'NIAN ISLANDS, a group, or rather chain, running round the w. coast of Epirus, and w. and s. of Greece. It consists of about 40 islands, of which Corfu, Paso, Santa Manra, Theaki, Cephalonia, Zante, add Cerigo, are of • conSiderable size; the total area is about 1000 sq.m., and the pop. '70, 218,879, is mostly of. Greek descent. The surface is generally mountainous, the plains and valleys being fertile. The collective term "Ionian,, is of modern date. After the division of the Roman empire these islands were included in the eastern half, and so continued till 1081,. when the duke of Calabria (subsequently king of Naples) took possession of them. From this time they underwent a continual change of masters, till the commencement of the 15th c., when they by degrees came into the possession of the Venetians, who in 1797 ceded them to France. They were seized by Russia and Turkey in 1800, by France in 1807, by Britain in 1809, and on Nov. 5, 1815, were formed into a republic ("The Septinsular republic") under the protectorate of the latter. While they were Connected with England, the government was carried on by two assemblies, and the lord high commissioner, who was the representatiVe of her majesty. The lower assembly consisted of 40 members, who required to be nobles; 29 were elected by the islanders themselves, and 11 by the lord high commissioner; their term of office was five years, during which period they held three sessions, of three months each. The senate, composed of five members, which the commissioner had power to increase to seven, formed the executive. The ,Lommissioner was invested with extensive powers; he could convoke an extraordinary meeting of parliament, confirm or reject the resolutions of the senate, and veto all bills passed by the legislature. Up to 1848 the press was restricted, and the government was really a despotism, but in that and the following year wide spread dislike of the English government became apparent. To remove what were sup
posed to be grievances, lord Seaton, then lord high commissioner, introduced sweeping changes in the constitution, including vote by ballot, loWering of the franchise, and freedom of the press. A demand was then made for annexation to the kingdom of Greece, and an insurrection broke out in Aug., 1849, in Cephalonia. It was suppressed by sir Henry Ward, who had succeeded lord with what was considered by some persons as undue severity. Fresh concessions were granted, but without appeasing the malcontents. In the end of 1858, Mr. Gladstone was sent as a special commissioner to ascertain what could be done to meet the claims of the population. But he found that they would be satisfied with nothing but annexation to Greece. There was no great desire on the part of the English government to continue their connection with the Ionian islands. They had cost the United Kingdom £100,000 per annum, and had been a per petual source of annoyance. In 1863 the election of the son of the king of Denmark as constitutional kino. of Greece supplied England with an opportunity of getting rid of this troublesome dependency. On March 29, 1864, a treaty was concluded at London by which they were annexed to Greece, and since this period they have formed a province of the Hellenic kingdom. In Feb., 1867, they were visited by a series of shocks of earthquake, most vioient in Cephalonia,. where they caused great destruction of life and property, and almost destroyed the two chief towns. See Murray's Handbook for Greece and the _Ionian islands, by R. G. Watson, 4th edition, 1872.