mp, and are long-winded, tedious, and unnatural. Another cause
of the deficiencies above-named, may perhaps be discovered in the
severity of German censorship, and the apprehension that more clearness
and identity in their descriptions of persons and places might be
twisted into political and personal allusions.

The admitted superiority of French and English works of fiction, may be
attributed to the widely different habits of the writers. Nearly all the
French, and many of the English writers of the present day, are men of
the world, eschewing solitude, and mixing largely in society. The good
effects of this frequent collision with their fellow-men are visible in
their works, many of which display a deep knowledge of human nature, a
vivid power of description, and a command of dialogue, not only spirited
and natural, but often rising with the occasion into dramatic point and
brilliancy.

At length, however, a new and radiant star has arisen in the cloudy
firmament of German fiction--a novel-writer whose works exhibit a
striking example of entire exemption from the defects so evident in the
great majority of his brethren. This is a nameless personage, known
among German reviewers as Der Unbekannte, or the Unknown, and who has
broken ground that no German writer had hitherto ventured upon. Some
have supposed him to be a Pennsylvanian, a considerable part of which
state was originally colonized by Germans, whose descendants still, to a
large extent, preserve the language and habits of the mother country.
Another report stated him to be a native German, who had emigrated to
Louisiana, and established himself there as a planter. Nothing definite,
in short, is known; but what is certain is, that he has been long
resident in the United States and in Mexico, and has made excellent use
of his opportunities for becoming acquainted with those countries and
their inhabitants. His subjects are, with slight exceptions,
Transatlantic, his materials original, his style singularly natural and
forcible; proving that however rugged the German language may appear in
the works of others, it will yield to the hand of a master, and readily
adapt itself to every subject.

Our readers will probably not have forgotten a series of American,
Texian, and Mexican tales and sketches, which have appeared during the
last few months in the pages of this magazine. With some alterations and
adaptations, intended to render them more acceptable to Engli