Mr. Jephsonpresented a petition from a Mr. Johnston, praying for the abolition of Slavery in the West Indies.
§ Mr. O'Connell,in seconding the motion of his hon. friend for bringing up the petition, said, he did not think the House was taking all the steps it might for the abolition of Slavery in the West Indies. He was willing to admit that in those colonies which had no legislatures of their own, being under the immediate control of the Crown, something had been done for ameliorating the condition of the slave-population. Where, however, there happened, unfortunately for the poor negroes, to be a colonial legislature, the condition of those unhappy beings remained unchanged. He could not let that opportunity pass without expressing his deep abhorrence of a system which subjected one human being to the lash of another; a system repugnant alike to the best feelings of humanity, and to the dictates of sound policy.
§ The Petition to lie on the Table.