the 'North-American Review,' or the 'Southern Literary
Messenger,' we shall broach the affair to Mr. FIELDS, the enterprising
publisher. We have moreover desired Mr. WHIPPLE to write to his friend Mr.
MACAULAY in England, who will doubtless be proud to foster American
letters by a hoist in the 'Edinburgh.' There is only one other thing
absolutely requisite for the success of the book, and that is the
appearance of this article in the KNICKERBOCKER. Befriend me then with
your fine taste, renowned HERR DIEDRICH! and give me room. I shall not
dive deeply into the matter now; but for the good of my young countrymen,
the labor of whose brains is incompatible with a fruitful development of
whiskers, I wish to put forth a page of advice that may save them a world
of fatigue. It is common with those who are far gone in this tuneful
disorder to set up late o' nights and tipple coffee. Under my new system,
I will engage that they may retire to bed on mulled-punch nightly, at
eleven, and yet effect all that they now perform with the greatest injury
to their eyes and complexions. But _pocas pallabras_--enough of this
preface: will not the thing speak for itself? There needs no farther
introduction for these brief extracts from the aforesaid work:

THE EASIEST WAY OF DISCHARGING A SONNET.

A SONNET (as before stated) consists of fourteen and no more spasms. They
are calm, deliberate twinges, however, and upon a homoeopathical
principle, the great object should be to get over each one in the calmest
possible manner; _idem cum eodem_. The thing cannot be treated too coolly,
for its very essence is dull deliberation. The name sonnet is probably
derived, through the Italian _sonno_, from the Latin word for sleep, in
allusion to its lethargic quality. The best mode of encouraging the efflux
of the peccant humor is for the patient to have a cigar in his mouth. The
narcotic fumes of tobacco are highly favorable to its ejection. The first
step then is the selection of rhymes. Fourteen of these in their proper
order should be written perpendicularly on the right hand of a smooth
sheet of white paper. When this is done, it is necessary to read them
over, up and down, several times, until some general idea of a subject or
a title suggests itself. Great care must be taken, in the selection of
rhymes, to get as original ones as possible, and such as shall strike the
eye. Still greater should be the precaution not to choose such incongruous
rhym