66 ised to draw from the examples quoted. The distinction between shall" and "will" was understood and recognised in English long before the authorised version of the Bible was made. This inference will be strengthened if we turn to letters of the time of Henry IV. and Henry V., published by Sir Henry Ellis. 66 66 Jankyn Harrard, constable of Dynevor, writing with reference to Owen Glendower's rebellion, says, "For thai han ymad har avow that thei well al gat have owss dede th❜rn. Wher for I prei zow "that ze nul not bugil ous, that ze send to ous warning whether schull we have eny help or "44 That is to say, no.' For they have made their vow that they will anywise have us dead therein. "Wherefore I pray you that you will not trouble (boggle, or beguile?) us; that you will send us warning within short time whether we shall have any help or not." 66 66 66 66 66 It is possible that the "will" may, in one or two of these instances, imply volition or determination; "shall" is employed with the first person, and there is nothing in the passage conflicting with modern usage. In the following example "will" occurs with the neuter pronoun of the third person, "and zif it be tariet til sumyr hit wil not be so 66 66 99 45 lightly." So again, "youre shippe wolle not "be redy." 46 44 Ellis's Letters, second series, vol. i. letter iv. p. 15. 45 Letter of Reginald de Bayldon. Ellis's Letters, first series, vol. i. p. 36. 46 Ib. vol. i. p. 69. 47 In John Skydmore's letter 17 to Fairford, the Receiver at Brecknock, he says, "Wherfore wryteth "to Sir Hugh Waterton, and to all thilke that ye 66 suppose wol take this mater to hert." 66 48 The Bishop of Durham addressing Henry V. tells the King" Als sone as I may more do ye shall "have wityng therof;" 4" just as we should now say, as soon as I am able to do more you shall know it;" the act of giving the knowledge being in the power of the speaker, and therefore not within the principle which obliges us to use "will" with the second person. 66 It may be worth while to trace the usage of these auxiliaries a little further down in the history of the language. 66 66 The following passages are from Lord Berners' 6 Froissart.' 49 "Now I shall shewe you what auns"were the King had of his counsayle."—" I shall "do accordyng to your advise."—" And he thought "in hymselfe he wold agree therto.”—“Than the Bysshop of Burgos, Chauncellor of Spayne, who was well langaged, sayd, 'Sirs, ye knyghtes of Englad perteyning to the Duke of Lācaster, and "sent hyder fro his constable, understande that "the Kyng here of his pytie and gentylnesse wyll "shewe to his enemyes all the grace he maye; "and, Sirs, ye shall retourne to your constable, "and shew him fro the Kyng of Castyle that he "shall make it to be knowen through al his hoost 66 6 66 6 by the sowne of a trumpet, that his realme shal 47 Ib. letter vii. p. 20. 48 Ib. letter xvii. p. 52. 49 Edition of 1812, 4to. vol. ii. pp. 304, 305. "be open and redy to reicyve all the Englysshmen "hole or sicke.'-These knightes thanked the "Kynge and his counsayle of their aunswere, and "said, "Sir, there be certayne artycles in your aunswere, we can nat tell if they will be ac"cepted or nat; if they be nat we shall send 66 6 agayne to you our heraulte: if he come nat we "shall accept your saying." 66 6 Now here the first "wyll" may be explained by supposing it to express the intention of the king; but the last is clearly the simple future employed in the passive with the third person. "Shall" in several cases implies power or control; in the others it is used with the first person as it is now. 50 Latimer in his sermons constantly uses, "But ye will say ;" anticipating, as it were, an objection on the part of his hearers. One such sentence as the following is sufficient to show that he was familiar with the use of "will" as the simple future auxiliary in the third person. Then do you deck "the very true temple of God, and honour him in "rich vestures that will never be worn, and so forth 66 use yourselves according unto the commandments; " and then finally set up your candles, and they will report what a glorious light remaineth in your "hearts." 51 66 Again, in the same sermon- "Offer your obla"tions and prayers to our Lord Jesus Christ, who "will both hear and accept them." 50 See Latimer's Third, Fourth, and Sixth Sermons before Edward VI., and compare the 'Second Sermon on the Card.' 51 Second Sermon on the Card (ad fin.). On the other hand "shall" is employed to signify destiny, or the decree of God; as, "I say such men "shall go to hell for so doing." 52 I think that I may close this chapter by asserting confidently that the use of "shall" and "will" according to the modern idiom has been familiar to English authors from the time of Chaucer downwards. On the other hand, I do not assert that the nice distinction between these forms was uniformly or accurately observed by all our writers during these centuries. I do not assert that the practice now established by the example of our best authors and the usage of cultivated conversation can be considered as settled until modern times. The difference, however, was recognised, and the idiom grew and strengthened until it has become part and parcel of the English language, capable of being embodied in a rule of grammar, and founded on a clear and definite principle. 52 First Sermon on the Card. CHAPTER II. ANY discussion of the English auxiliaries “shall” and "will" is incomplete without some notice of the corresponding idioms in other languages; more especially in those of the same family as our own. The original signification too of our own future auxiliaries must necessarily be traced out, and even a cursory glance that way suggests many questions of deep interest which, unfortunately, would demand for their satisfactory solution philological attainments of a very high order. In this chapter I attempt no more than what may serve to point in the right direction, and I claim no merit whatever on the score of originality. Whether it be that our thoughts are not easily directed to the future 53 because the present is too absorbing, or that there is "an awful, irrepressible, "and almost instinctive consciousness of the uncer 66 tainty of the future which makes men avoid the "appearance of speaking presumptuously of it"the fact is certain-the want of a future tense as an organic part of the conjugation of verbs is a common defect in many modern languages. In all those of the Teutonic stock this defect appears inherent. Dr. Prichard 54 says, "It has 53 Archdeacon Hare. Philolog. Museum, vol. ii. p. 218. 54 Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations, ch. vii. p. 107. Compare p. 175. |