would be thrown, by the enactment of a law prohibiting the senators and representatives of one of the States from taking their seats in Congress ;-the indignant declaration of independence by the outraged State, that would follow instantaneously upon the enforcement of such a law, and we may have some idea of the light in which these proceedings on both sides must be viewed, by persons accustomed to the forms and thoroughly imbued with the spirit of constitutional government.

If it were the intention of the metropolitan government, to place its relations with the colony on a just and liberal basis, the first step, of course, would be, to restore the representation in the national Cortes, and thus give the island the opportunity of being heard, in regard to the details of a definitive arrangement. The next would be to substitute, in the way which, on mature consideration, might appear most expedient for both parties, a legal authority, of some sort, for the arbitrary rule of a military despot. Madame Merlin is of opinion, that a local legislature should be established, according to the plan which has been acted on in the American colonies of Great Britain. A local council of some sort seems, in fact, to be absolutely necessary for the proper investigation and settlement of a multitude of matters of much importance, which cannot well be regulated from a distance. The name of such a council, and the precise extent of its powers, would be of little consequence; nor would it, in any way, interfere with a representation of the island in the Cortes. After these preliminary arrangements had been effected, the great practical reform which is wanted would follow of course. The liberty of trade, which is now little better, in many important points, than a mere name, would be rendered complete by the reduction of the enormous duties to a more moderate standard. Proper securities would be afforded to personal rights, and, in particular, to the freedom of the press. The present unprecedented system of taxation would be abandoned, and, with it, the idea of drawing a revenue from the island for the support of the metropolitan government. The inhabitants would be required to pay only the contribution that would be necessary to defray the expense of a moderate civil establishment, and to make the improvements that are so much wanted in the interior of the island. Roads would be laid out and schools established. Finally, the contraband slave trade, which is annu

ally pouring in fresh armies of blacks, and rapidly hurrying on the colony to a catastrophe like that of San Domingo, would be suppressed. Under these new circumstances, there would be no necessity for bounties or encouragements of any kind to invite emigration from abroad. The richness of the soil, and the beauty of the climate, would be amply sufficient. The island would rapidly be filled with inhabitants, and would more than repay to Spain, by the profits of a vastly increased trade, for the temporary sacrifice of an important branch of the revenue.

However obvious, on a just and liberal view of the subject, may be the advantages of a reform like the one here suggested, there is, we fear, but little chance that they will very soon become apparent to the Spanish government. The continual revolutions of all sorts by which the Peninsula is distracted, and the frequent changes in the persons of the ministers, render it almost impossible that any subject should be considered with calmness and maturity. Add to this, that the embarrassments of the national treasury nearly preclude the idea of abandoning any item of the existing ways and means, and especially one so considerable as the annual remittance from Cuba. On the other hand, while the government continues to exact the present enormous taxes, which could not possibly be paid except by the employment of the forced labor of slaves, the planters are furnished with a sort of apology for persisting in the slave trade, and the government with a motive for conniving at it. Thus, one abuse perpetuates another, and the whole system. forms a sort of vicious circle, out of which it is hardly possible to imagine any way of escape, except by a violent revolution.

A violent revolution, under such circumstances, would be so natural, that nothing could prevent it but the absolute impossibility of success. This is felt by the mother country, and the only object immediately contemplated in the present system of administration, is to prevent the occurrence of any such movement. For this purpose a regular army of from ten to fifteen thousand men is kept up, recruited and officered from Spain, well-paid, well-disciplined, and constantly ready for effective service. For this purpose the capital is invested with fortresses, and the island is placed virtually under martial law. For this purpose, the Captain-General is entrusted with powers that make him an absolute military despot, and

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,

A mili

though of a different kind, from another quarter. tary 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