Mr. OtwayCave presented a Petition from the inhabitants of Bassingbourne, Cambridge, for the abolition of Negro Slavery.
§ Sir G. Murrayhoped he might be allowed to avail himself of that opportunity of removing an erroneous impression as to what fell from him on Thursday last. In answer to a question put to him by an hon. friend, he was told he had been understood to have said that the increased production and exportation of sugar from the Mauritius arose from the great number of slaves illegally introduced into that colony. In this view of what he said he had been misunderstood. He had not attributed it to that circumstance. The illegal importation alluded to took place between the years 1814 and 1821; and the stimulus given to the increased growth of sugar was by the Act of 1825, which encouraged the cultivation of sugar where coffee had been grown before. It was also in a considerable degree to be attributed to the improvement in the machinery used, and to the application of the steam-engine. He was anxious to set himself right on this point, and he hoped that what he now said would remove the erroneous impression.
§ Petition to lie on the Table.