[62] Of Dr. Bullions’s forms of parsing, as exhibited in his English Grammar, which is a modification of Lennie’s Grammar, it is difficult to say, whether they are most remarkable for their deficiencies, their redundancies, or their contrariety to other teachings of the same author or authors.  Both Lennie and Bullions adopt the rule, that, “An ellipsis is not allowable when it would obscure the sentence, weaken its force, or be attended with an impropriety.”—­L., p. 91; B., p. 130.  And the latter strengthens this doctrine with several additional observations, the first of which reads thus:  “In general, no word should be omitted that is necessary to the full and correct construction, or even harmony of a sentence.”—­Bullions, E. Gr., 130.  Now the parsing above alluded to, has been thought particularly commendable for its brevity—­a quality certainly desirable, so far as it consists with the end of parsing, or with the more needful properties of a good style, clearness, accuracy, ease, and elegance.  But, if the foregoing rule and observation are true, the models furnished by these writers are not commendably brief, but miserably defective.  Their brevity is, in fact, such as renders them all bad English; and not only so, it makes them obviously inadequate to their purpose, as bringing into use but a part of the principles which the learner had studied.  It consists only in the omission of what ought to have been inserted.  For example, this short line, “I lean upon the Lord,” is parsed by both of these gentlemen thus:  “I, the first personal pronoun, masculine, or feminine, singular, the nominative—­lean, a verb, neuter, first person singular, present, indicative—­upon, a preposition—­the, an article, the definite—­Lord, a noun, masculine, singular, the objective, (governed by upon.)”—­Lennie’s Principles of English Gram., p. 51; Bullions’s, 74.  This is a little sample of their etymological parsing, in which exercise they generally omit not only all the definitions or “reasons” of the various terms applied, but also all the following particulars:  first, the verb is, and certain definitives and connectives, which are “necessary to the full and correct construction” of their sentences; secondly, the distinction of nouns as proper or common; thirdly, the person of nouns, first, second, or third; fourthly, the words, number, gender, and case, which are necessary to the sense and construction of certain words used; fifthly, the distinction of adjectives as belonging to different classes; sixthly, the division of verbs as being regular or irregular, redundant or defective; seventhly, sometimes, (Lennie excepted,) the division of verbs as active, passive, or neuter; eighthly, the words mood and tense, which