Oh blindness to the future kindly given,

That each may fill the circle marked by Heaven.-POPE.

I may do that I shall be sorry for.-SHAKS. Perhaps some arm, more lucky than the rest, may reach his heart.-ADDISON. Who may live to tell the story, is a very different question.-SOUTHEY. No human sagacity can discover. Courts can give nothing to the wise and good. Pray I cannot. He cannot stand it,' said the corporal.-STERNE Canst thou not draw a deeper scene? If I depart from thee, I cannot live. The unavoidable ignorance which absence must produce. Must we but blush?-BYRON. Thou must keep thee with thy sword.-Scott. It must be so.-ADDISON. My thoughts, I must confess, are turned on peace.-ADDISON. May all your joys in her prove false like mine.OTWAY. May he live to prove more gentle than his grandsire.—OTWAY. May my course be bright, if it be but brief. may perhaps be hearing my just condemnation at a superior tribunal. There never can be wanting some who distinguish desert.-JOHNSON. He may be bleeding to death while you are running for the doctor. He is making a handsome income certainly; but as he spends more than he earns, he must be running into debt. He may be standing at the door when you pass.

POTENTIAL PAST.-I might, could, would, or should write, is not only a past of I may, can, will, or shall, but a present or future conditional; so that this tense represents either past or future time, according to the context. (See page 26.)

I might, could, would, or should be writing, is the same as the preceding, with the additional idea of progress or continuation-He might be reading while you are working.

EXAMPLES OF THE POTENTIAL PAST.-I could not deem myself a slave. -BYRON. A friendly eye could never see such faults.-SHAKS. His eyes that might not weep, were dark with grief.-CAMPBELL. Each would prove his own expressive power.-COLLINS. He would not let the winds of heaven visit her face too roughly.-SHAKS. He said he would not ransom Mortimer.-SHAKS. Age should fly converse. Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. A friend should bear a friend's infirmities.-SHAKS. "Tis time we should decree what course to take. The hand should be the agent of the heart.-SHAKS. If I were chained, perhaps I should revile.-HOME. If I should e'er acquire a leader's name. HOME. I should think so. I should be much for open war.

Would I describe a preacher such as Paul,

Were he on earth, would hear, approve, and own,
Paul should himself direct me.-CowPER.

POTENTIAL PERFECT.-I may, can, or must have written, expresses power, liberty, &c., generally under the notions of certainty or uncertainty as to what has occurred.

I may, can, or must have been writing, expresses the same ideas as the succeeding, with the addition of continuation.

EXAMPLES OF THE PERFECT POTENTIAL.-He must have deceived the prince and Claudio. He may have incurred your lordship's displeasure.

I may have attained the end I wish. He may have embarked at Liverpool for New York. Can he have finished that drawing in two hours? These men cannot have gained their money by honest means. He may have been making silken strings. Perhaps he may have been thinking so. He cannot, surely, have been acting thus in the expectation of infamous reward. You cannot have been doing your duty, or you would not have incurred the severe disapprobation of your employers. I must have been dreaming unpleasantly, for I started frequently in my sleep. They must have been acting improperly, or they would not have been deprived of office.

POTENTIAL PLUPERFECT.—I might, could, would, or should have written, expresses that the agent had the power, liberty, will, duty, &c., to perform some act, but did not. Sometimes it expresses past contingency-If the personal virtues of a king could have insured the happiness of his subjects, the scene could not have altered. And in interrogation it is simply a prior of could I write; as-Could he have been deceiving the prince and Claudio?

I might, could, would, or should have been writing, expresses the same notions, with the addition of continuation.

EXAMPLES OF THE PLUPERFECT POTENTIAL.-I might have punished him, but refrained. You might have used me to your best service. Thou mightst have added my purse too. But for these vile guns, he would himself have been a soldier. Mere esteem he would have scorned. Had he escaped, he would ere this have been making the best of his way for America. If the marshal had captured the town, he would ere now have been taking vengeance. You should have been making up your accounts, instead of deferring the duty from day to day.

SUBJUNCTIVE PRESENT.-If I write, is in form the same as the present indicative; and only in the verb to be is there a peculiar form for the first person of the subjunctive present (if I be). Though present in form, this tense is used concerning a future and contingent event. (See 306.) The form if I be writing, implies the progression or continuance of the action.

EXAMPLES OF THE SUBJUNCTIVE PRESENT.-If he be alone, give him the letter. If thou beat him, thou shalt deliver his soul. If he be waiting, send him away. If I do speak, I will scold. If I do not interfere, they will be ruined.

SUBJUNCTIVE PAST.-If I wrote, if I were, though past in form, does not refer to past time, but expresses a supposition, condition, or wish. (See 306.) The form if I were writing, implies continuation.

EXAMPLES OF THE SUBJUNCTIVE PAST.-If I were speaking to him, he would be looking at some one else. If I spoke to him, I would tell him thus. If he were in your place, he would act otherwise. Though I were blind, I could perceive that. Though he were dead, yet should he live. O that they were wise! Would that it were so!

OBSERVATIONS ON SHALL, WILL, SHOULD, WOULD.

Here is another set of niceties in our language which it is almost impossible to reduce to rules. A few general principles, however, may be traced; and the leading one perhaps is, that shall is understood never to convey the determination of its own nominative; that will is used for this purpose in all the persons, and for prediction in the second and third. To exemplify this

1. If the speaker's determination is to be expressed, he must use will in the first person, and shall in the second and third.

II. But if he would assert anything concerning the determination of the party to or of whom he speaks, he must use will in the second and third persons also-Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life. They will have their own way.

III. If, on the other hand, the speaker would simply foretell an event without reference to any one's resolution, he must use shall in the first person, and will in the second and third

It thus appears that the office of shall is in the first person to foretell without determination, and in the second and third to express determination or promise on the part of the speaker

I shall be punished.
Thou shalt be punished.
He shall be punished.

Whereas will expresses determination in the first person, and in the other two persons either simply foretells or expresses their resolution.

I will punish.
Thou wilt punish.
He will punish.

It is, however, usual to employ shall in the first person, even where intention is to be expressed-I shall go to-morrow, if I feel able. A public speaker says: We shall explain the subject as clearly as possible." But this is an elegance arising from the speaker's assuming the modest tone of prediction, instead of the loftier one of determination. Wherever a promise or resolution is to be conveyed with any emphasis, I will must be used. So also will is used in the second and third persons, though the thing is matter of the speaker's intention; but it is assuming the tone of prediction rather than determination-You will learn that lesson thoroughly,' may gently hint a command. 'You will receive a letter from me," My lecture will begin at seven o'clock,' are modest promises.

EXAMPLES.

(1.) The corporal shall be your nurse, and I'll be your servant, Le Fevre.-STERNE. As man ere long and this new world shall know.MILTON. Hear me, for I will speak.-SHAKS. Old men forget, yet shall not all forget. Proud bird of the mountain, thy plume shall be torn.-CAMPBELL. You shall die, base dog.-SCOTT. Thou shalt not steal. We will not say that we envy our first parents.-CHANNING. Nay, more, I can and will say.-LORD THURLOW.

(11.) If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.-Gospel.

To James at Stirling let us go,

When if thou wilt be still his foe.-SCOTT.

(III.) I shall die. When I am forgotten, as I shall be. It will rain. You will fall. He will not much excite confidence whose principal maxim is to suspect.-Rambler. The man will not long be agreeable whom we see only in times of seriousness and severity.-Rambler. You will be told of some wintry chill, some casual indisposition, that laid her low.-W. IRVING. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. A gracious presentiment that the day will come when he will know how to value the advantages of good conduct.-KIRWAN. I shall but give them in the manner in which they were related.-W. IRVING.

These distinctions between shall and will are involved in still further intricacy when interrogation is concerned. The order is then reversed. IV. If the speaker intends an appeal to the person he addresses, he says

Shall I go?

Shall I ?
Wilt thou?
Shall he?

Shall we?

Will you?
Shall they?

Shall he stay?-That is, Would you have us do so? or, Do you think we will? Will you go?-that is, Is it your intention?

v. The form of interrogation without reference to any one's resolution is

Will I be hurt? Will he die ? That is, do you think it will happen so? Shall you be punished? That is, do you expect to be punished? Shall you go to-morrow?' is an inquiry supposing the intention which may be modestly expressed by Yes, I shall go;' but "Will you go?' would be the form of appealing more emphatically to the will or resolution of the party addressed.

VI. Yet again. When the second and third persons are represented as the subjects of their own opinions or expressions, shall foretells as in the first person-He thinks he shall die. You say you shall lose. And will expresses their determination or promise-You think you will never yield to temptation. He says he will bring the book.

*Shall I, shall we, though contrary to analogy, is often used in this case.

EXAMPLES.

(IV. V. VI.) What! Will a man play tricks, will he indulge
A silly fond conceit of his fair form?

Or will he seek to dazzle me with tropes?-CowPER.
[That is, will he dare to do it?-predictive tone.]
Me miserable! which way shall I fly

Infinite wrath and infinite despair? [Appeal]-MILTON.

Who shall determine which of two friends shall yield? [Appeal.]Rambler. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week,

or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be [is?] stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs?-Speech of PATRICK HENRY.

VII. When should and would are used as the past of shall and will, they are subject to the same rules; but duty and future contingency are also expressed by should, which is then used in all persons alike; as-I know I should go, and so should you and he. If either we or

they should receive a letter. (See page 26.) It is perhaps, therefore, safe to say, that should is always to be used, except when the determination of the nominative is to be expressed, or when in the second and third persons, a past future is intended.

EXAMPLES.

(VII.) Would I describe a preacher such as Paul,

Were he on earth, would hear, approve, and own,
Paul should himself direct me. I would trace
His master-strokes, and draw from his design.

I would express him simple, grave, sincere.-COWPER.

But should you lure,

[Determination of the speaker.]

From his dark haunt beneath the tangled roots

Of pendent trees, the monarch of the brook.--THOMSON.

[Supposition.] The utmost expectation that experience can warrant is, that they should forbear open hostilities.-Rambler. She would have experienced no want of consolation [Past future].-W. IRVING. But passing over this topic, we would observe [Determination of the speaker].-CHANNING. We should not fulfil our duty, were we not to say one word on what has been justly celebrated.-CHANNING. This we should the more carefully bear in mind.-ARNOLD. It was clearly for the good of mankind that Hannibal should be conquered.-ARNOLD. It would require a far other pen than mine.-KIRWAN.

Oh that the present hour would lend

Another despot of the kind!-BYRON.

No language that we know of, except the English, has a variety in the future tense corresponding to shall and will. There is none, for instance, in Hebrew and Greek; and the translators of our Bible have therefore employed these auxiliaries according to their own opinions, and this often in defiance of grammatical consistency. We forbear exemplifications of this on account of the delicacy of the subject, and