fully justify him in any act of violence which he may think proper to commit. By the royal order of May 23, 1825, which is still in force, the Captain-General is invested with all the powers conferred by law on the governors of cities in a state of siege, and, particularly, with ample and unlimited authority to banish from the island all persons, of whatever rank, profession or family, and, if they were employed in the public service, to replace them by others more faithful to his majesty. "Your excellency," continues the order, "is also fully authorized to suspend the execution of all orders and decrees, relating to any branch of the administration; and, in short, to do whatever you may think expedient for the King's service." Whatever else may be said of this order, it is, at least, as Madame Merlin remarks, sufficiently explicit. The authority conveyed by it, is partially acted on, and the Havana is, in fact, permanently under martial law. The power of proceeding arbitrarily against suspected persons, is very freely exercised, and, apparently, without much discrimination. We learn, for example, from private sources, that one of the most accomplished men of science and purest characters on the island, to whom we have already alluded, Don José de la Luz, has been recently arrested and imprisoned, as an accomplice in the late conspiracy,-probably, for no better reason than that he has been somewhat active in attempting to procure the suppression of the contraband slave-trade. To what extent, the great object of preventing revolution is likely to be effected by this system, the events of the last year afford some means of conjecturing. Under the immediate influence of this display of military and dictatorial powers, a conspiracy was formed, including, as it seems, a large portion of the slaves, and some of the Creole inhabitants, apparently aided and abetted by emissaries from abroad, and having in view, the double objects of emancipation for the blacks, and independence of the mother country for the whites. A discovery of the plot, followed up by the most energetic measures on the part of the local government, has temporarily suppressed this project: but, unfortunately, the occurrence and suppression of one conspiracy, rather increases, than diminishes the probability of others, so long as the causes that led to the first, are left to operate with all their former force. In the meantime, the existing system seems to be exposed to danger, not less imminent, though of a different kind, from another quarter. A military officer of rank and talent-invested with dictatorial power, and placed at the head of an effective army-acting under a government so distracted and inefficient, as that of Spain, might naturally conceive the idea of converting this island into an independant Empire. No means at the disposal of the Spanish government could prevent the execution of such a scheme, if it were attempted; nor, under present circumstances, is there any foreign European power that would, probably, be very anxious to guaranty the possession of the island to the mother country, against an efficient Captain General, who should seek to erect it into an independent state. Great Britain, as the principal European maritime power and the habitual Protector of the island, is the one to which Spain would naturally, in the first instance, look for aid; but the manner in which the treaties for suppressing the slave-trade have been observed in Cuba, have not led the British government to look with much complacency upon the existing state of things; and an independant chief, who should engage to enforce these treaties, and to emancipate the slaves, would not only not encounter opposition from England, but would be sure of her sympathy and indirect assistance. The intervention of Great Britain in the affairs of the island, with a view to the suppression of the slave-trade, and the emancipation of the slaves, seems to have been, thus far, productive of evil, rather than good. By a treaty concluded in 1817, Spain, as has been already mentioned, in consideration of the payment of a stipulated sum of money, consented to relinquish the trade. By a subsequent treaty, concluded in 1835, she authorized British armed vessels to capture Spanish ships engaged in the trade, and established a "mixed commission" to sit at the Havana, and take cognizance of cases of this description. The power, thus given, has been exercised with great vigilance by the British cruisers; but thus far, with little or no effect upon the extent of the trade. The Spanish government never seems to have considered the treaties as obligatory, and has notoriously connived at the evasion and infraction of them. The number of slaves imported into the island, has not been materially diminished; and the only result of the treaties has been, to increase the hardships imposed upon its victims, by counselling the traders to carry on the business in a clandes tine way. Since the emancipation of the slaves in the British West India Islands, a strong desire has been expressed in England, to procure the adoption of a similar measure in Cuba, and suggestions to this effect were made to the Spanish government in the year 1838, by agents of the Anti-Slavery Societies, deputed to Madrid for this purpose. The subject was, at that time, discussed in the Madrid newspapers, and a great alarm was excited in the colony, which resulted in an energetic protest by the municipality of the Havana,--the Society for Improvement (Junta de Fomento) and some other public bodies, against the project. These documents are given by Madame Merlin from the British parliamentary papers in an appendix, and do great credit to the discretion and liberality of the authors. While they agree in deprecating the emancipation of the slaves, as ruinous alike to them and their masters, they are equally uncommon in denouncing the continuance of the trade, as, in the highest degree, dangerous to the future tranquillity of the island, and in urging the enforcement of the treaties with Great Britain. It was generally understood in the island at the period now alluded to, that an attempt by the government to emancipate the slaves, would produce a declaration of independence. The suggestion of the Anti-Slavery agents did not find favor at Madrid, and the plan of emancipation has, apparently, never been contemplated in that quarter. No change was effected by the remonstrances from the island in the policy of the government, in regard to the continuance of the slave-trade, and the system of connivance, which had been temporarily suspended during the administration of Valder, has been, as we remarked before, revived by the present Captain General. The local authorities, and through them, the metropolitan government, have been made to believe, that the possibility of levying the immense sums now raised in the island, depends upon keeping up a constant supply of slaves by fresh importations from Africa. This is probably true. The suppression of the slavetrade, especially, if accompanied by the other reforms, which would naturally be made, if it were seriously intended to place the relations between the colony and the mother country on a footing of liberality and justice, would require, as has been already intimated, a preliminary sacrifice of the immense sums now remitted to the Peninsula. This, under present circumstances, is, unfortunately, not to be expected. The answer of the government to any proposition on this subject, would be substantially, if not literally, the same that was made by General Tacon, to suggestions of a similar kind, which were made to him in person while Governor of the Island. "I am here, not to promote the interest of the people of Cuba, but to serve my master the King." In the meantime, other agents of the anti-slavery societies are understood to have been actively engaged in disseminating the idea of emancipation among the slaves; and, if any confidence can be placed in the denunciations of the conspirators, were active in fomenting the late insurrection. The most conspicuous and important of these agents appears to have been Mr. David Turnbull,-lately British Consul at the Havana, who is represented, in the denunciations just alluded to, as having been the virtual head of the conspiracy, and, as having been looked to, as the provisional ruler of the island in the event of its success. The employment of this person as Consul at the Havana by the British government, seems to implicate the ministry in a rather unpleasant way in the intrigues of the abolitionists. But it would be hardly just or safe to attach too much importance to these confessions of the detected conspirators, some of which, are known to have been prompted by sinister motives, and directed against persons entirely innocent of any concern in the plot. Unfortunately, the undisguised opinions and previous conduct of Mr. Turnbull, give to the denunciation, so far as he is involved, a high degree of probability. That his government is implicated with him, in any other way than by expressing, as it has frequently done, a general approbation of the character and proceedings of the anti-slavery societies, we should be unwilling to believe, and, in fact, consider as hardly probable. The conspiracy itself is a separate topic of high interest and importance, as illustrating the state of the island, and its future prospects; but we have no room to enter upon it at the conclusion of this long article. The subject of Cuba, under all its aspects, will be brought, we fear, by the irresistible power of circumstances, but too frequently to the notice of the people of the United States; and we shall, probably, have occasion hereafter to make it, more than once, the theme of our pages. "Lichenstein" ART. VI.-WORKS OF WILHELM HAUFF. AN acquaintance with the literature of Germany is becoming quite fashionable in our day; and in addition to the high intellectual gratification which it ministers, it is nearly indispensable to the reputation of those who move in our literary circles. Its poets, historians, moralists, and authors in every department of elegant letters and of philosophy, if they do not surpass those of other nations, have yet attained nearly to the culminating point of modern civilization, and are exerting, at the present moment, a controlling and ennobling influence upon the whole empire of mind, throughout both Europe and America. The Germans are proverbially a plodding, but are, at the same time, a progressive race. They display, in an eminent degree, the virtue of perseverance,-a perseverance which conquers all things, and which has been crowned with remarkable success. They may be called a nation of thinkers, and they not only think profoundly but feel deeply. Their philosophy is of an eminently spiritual order, and there is a world of sensibility in their writings. These traits fit them to excel in fictitious literature, and it is in this department, accordingly, they have acquired various and imperishable laurels. The dramatic works of Schiller, exhibiting so faithfully the struggle of human virtue and human will with adverse fate; the lively narrative and rich imaginative prose of Goëthe; the romantic poetry of Herder, whose mind seemed to draw inspiration from every land and every period; the patriot songs of the young and chivalrous Körner; the glowing hymns of the pious Novalis, and the modest yet delicious lyrics of the unassuming Upland, find a responsive chord in every breast where truth and feeling have a dwelling-place. Among the novelists of Germany, Wilhelm Hauff, whose works are the subject of the present article, has attained to considerable and deserved celebrity. Though inferior to several of the above-mentioned writers in the poetic faculty, and richness of fancy, yet in simplicity of style, liveliness of dialogue, and graphic, distinct, yet picturesque descriptions of times and manners, he has attained great excellence. The private and literary history of this author, presents some coincidences with the early history of Sir Walter Scott, that |