But perhaps, after all, we are treating this gentleman discourteously. His book may be merely intended as a good joke. By the bye, he says in his Preface, that “while he informs the student, he shall take particular care to _entertain_ him.” Now, the truth is, we have been exceedingly entertained. In such passages as the following, however, which we find upon the second page of the Introduction, we are really at a loss to determine whether it is the _utile_ or the _dulce_ which prevails. We give the italics of Mr. Pue; without which, indeed, the singular force and beauty of the paragraph cannot be duly appreciated. “The _proper_ study of English grammar, so far from being _dry_, is one of the most rational enjoyments known to us; one that is highly calculated to rouse the dormant energies of the student; it requiring continual mental effort; unceasing exercise of mind. It is, in fact, the _spreading of a thought-producing plaster of paris upon the extensive grounds of intellect_! It is the parent of idea, and great causation of reflection; the mighty _instigator of insurrection in the interior_; and, above all, the unflinching _champion of internal improvement_!” We know nothing about plaster of Paris; but the analogy which subsists between ipecac and grammar—at least between ipecac and the grammar of Mr. Pue—never, certainly, struck us in so clear a point of view, as it does now. But, after all, whether Mr. P.’s queer little book shall or shall not meet the views of “Every American Youth,” will depend pretty much upon another question of high moment—whether “Every American Youth” be or be not as great a nincompoop as Mr. Pue. * * * * * _Powhatan; a Metrical Romance, in Seven Cantos. By_ Seba Smith. _New York: Harper and Brothers._