we consider how
exceedingly important it is, that the business of a school should proceed
without loss of time, and that, in the oral exercises here spoken of, each
pupil should go through his part promptly, clearly, correctly, and fully,
we cannot think it a light objection that these forms, so often to be
repeated, are so badly written. Nor does the objection lie against this
writer only: "_Ab uno disce omnes_." But the reader may demand some
illustrations.[61]

30. First--from his etymological parsing: "O Virtue! how amiable thou art!"
Here his form for the word _Virtue_ is--"_Virtue_ is a _common substantive,
of_ the _neuter_ gender, _of the third_ person, _in the_ singular number,
_and the_ nominative case."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. ii, p. 2. It
should have been--"_Virtue_ is a common _noun_, personified _proper_, of
the _second_ person, singular number, _feminine_ gender, and nominative
case." And then the definitions of all these things should have followed in
regular numerical order. He gives the class of this noun wrong, for virtue
addressed becomes an individual; he gives the gender wrong, and in direct
contradiction to what he says of the word in his section on gender; he
gives the person wrong, as may be seen by the pronoun _thou_, which
represents it; he repeats the definite article three times unnecessarily,
and inserts two needless prepositions, making them different where the
relation is precisely the same: and all this, in a sentence of two lines,
to tell the properties of the noun _Virtue!_--But further: in etymological
parsing, the definitions explaining the properties of the parts of speech,
ought to be regularly and rapidly rehearsed by the pupil, till all of them
become perfectly familiar; and till he can discern, with the quickness of
thought, what alone will be true for the full description of any word in
any intelligible sentence. All these the author omits; and, on account of
this omission, his whole method of etymological parsing is, miserably
deficient.[62]

31. Secondly--from his syntactical parsing: "_Vice_ degrades us." Here his
form for the word _Vice_ is--"_Vice_ is a common substantive, _of_ the
third person, _in the_ singular number, _and the_ nominative
case."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. ii, p. 9. Now, when the learner is told
that this is the syntactical parsing of a noun, and the other the
etymological, he will of course conclude, that to advance from the
etymology to the syn