AN -

INTRODUCTION

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ENGLISH GRAMMAR,
ON . AN

ANALYTICAL PLAN,
ADAPTED TO THE USE OF

STUDENTS IN COLLEGES
AND

THE HIGHER CLASSES IN SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES.

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BY SAMUEL WEBBER,

A. 111., !II. D .

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BOSTON :
CARTER

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HENDEE,

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PREF ACE .

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Entered according to the act of Congress, in th e yenr 1832,
by Samuel Webber,
in the Clerk's Office of the Distri ct Court of tho District of Mnsso.chusetts.

CAMBRID GE:
E.

W.

METCALF

A ND

CO .

THE circumstarices which Jed to the cornposition of
the little work here presented . to the public, are these.
Havin g been for many years engaged either professe dly
or incideBtally in the business of te~ching, . and, for a
number of years past, having be en one of those .charged
with the examinatio~ of the public teache~s, and the
inspection of the scl)ools of the· town where he resides,
the ' author has had fr'e quent occasion to notice the different degrees of progress made by pupils of various ages ·
and capacities, while. pursuing their studies, and of
ascertaining the real, substantial acquirements they had
made, when released from the discipline of their teachers, as a stock to answe.r tnei1; purposes 'in their onward
course throu gh life, eith er for their own peculiar use,
or to be emp loyed in the instruction of others. The
result of his observations was, th at in grammar, to speak
of that only, mu ch that was ac quired, was acquired
mechanically, as· a matter of routin e and ha hit, a recol'lction of the contents of the Grammar, rather than an'
'derstanding of them . Tfiis was the case with even
1he maj ority of those, whose instructers sent them forth
·as qu alifi ed to teach. They would know well 'what the
Grammar contained, and apply its rules with readiness
to the common forms of writing; but, if questioned as to
the meaning of what was so flu ently repeated, 'or as to
the reason of rul es or their adaptation to unusual constructions, they soon betrayed how superficial was their
knowledge .
.
Con sideration of the causes of this seemed to point
out imperfection in the plan and execution of the Gram-:
mars in common use, as one among the p_rin~ipal, and

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PB.l'!l'..lCE.

PREFACE,

want of attention m the teachers, as another. For the
former of these it seemed as if even an individual
might in some degree provide a remedy, by' constructing
a better elementary work ; for the latter he could not
expect to do much, yet might possibly do something, by
so constructing his work as to compel the tear.her to
more attention, by guarding against too great facility of
rep etition on the part of the learner, which might pass
for knowledge, and rendering it necessary for the teacher to exert his own mind in comprehending what the
learner ought to say, as satisfactory evidence of his
acquisition of the subjP.ct of his study.
The Grammars in commo.n use are chiefly abridgments of Murray, with small alterations of one kind or
another, some valuable, and somP. of little intrinsic importance. Murray's is a compilation, mainly and essentially from Lowth's, which constitutes, as it were, the
frame-work of th e system, and gives its shape anJ character to th e whole. Lowth's Grammar is sti ll retained
in use in some sem in aries, and deserv edly; for as a whole,
explainii1g the principles and uses of our ton gue, it is a
more philosophical and original work than Murray's;
though the latter contains some valuable improvem ents,
and may perh aps seem more methodical, and better
adapted to general use for acquiring the technicalities of
the subject.
The great fault of Murray is a want of perspicuity.
The definitions are often vague, and in some instances a
defin ition of one term contains another, that is not ex.i...
plained till some time after, in a more advanced part of
the work; nor do th e definitions seem always to be correct. There are besid es often omissions of circumstances of importance; and the Syntax presents little but a
chaos of rules and remarks, without any guiding principles in the use of language and the construction of
sentences.
Lowth is in some degree liable to the same objections,
as must necessarily be the case, since a great portion of
his work is copied literally into that of Murray ; yet in

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its original shape may b.e see~ gr~ater .dist.inctness of
general principles al)d ph1losoph1cal mvest1gat1~n.
Both works have however done good service to the
language in bringing order into and establishing it in its ·
usage ; · ;nd to them may .be _a ttributed mu~h of the
settled form it now wears m general acceptation. _,.yet
they seem to have this great defect, - th.ey are too synthetical ; they seem too much to treat of !he. use of
language, as if it were derive~ from t~e prmc1ples of
grammar, and in pursuance of its forms, mstead of treating of grammar as derived from the use of language,
and merely embodying and arranging the forms and
principles established by custom in the cqmmon employment of it.
'
Hence these systems have too artificial a character,
one too independ'ent of the realities of the ca~e, a~d too
unconnected with them; so that they 1 are studied w~thout
their real relation to la_n guage being properly p~rce1ved ;
and, aided as this imperfection of the plan 1s by the
defects above pointed out, it hence results, that _much
time is often wasted in the · study of grammar without ·
leading to a proper understanding o~ . th~ language.
When gramm'ar, without more exp~anatton, 1s defined . to
be ." the art of reading and writmg a langu~ge with
propriety," it is hardly to_be wondered ~t; th~t 1t shou!d
be considered as somethrng not essentially mherent m
the use of ·the language and derived from it, but as
something artifi,cial fastened upon it, to guide and di-rect it.
,
It seemed to the author that the way to correct these
defects was, to arrange the whole ~ys~em anew; to tak~
up the subject from the very begmmn~'. and purs~e 1t
more analytically, tracing out and explam~ng the vanous
natures, properties, an'd uses of wor~s? . mstead_ of defining them, and drawing out and exh1b1tmg their for.ms
and modifications from the different purposes to which
they are applied, and as expres_sive of their corresponding · changes in signification ; goi_ng on g~adually from
step to step, and as far as .possible makrng each step

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PREFACE.

clear in itself, without ant1C1pating any thing n~t sufficiently obvious to persons having such a general comprehension of the meaning of language, as to fit them
for pursuing a subject, that must be taught by language
solely.
Such a system, by substituting, instead of definitions,
explanations more diffuse and inductive in their character, seemed to promise to the learner a more full understanding of the subject, not only by really . affording · it,
but by checking th e facility of committing what was said
to me mory, and substituting recollection for perception,
and by the same means calling the attention. of the
teach er more p erfectly to th~ real import of the subject,
and both enablin g and making him to perceive the actual
progress of his pupil.
Such a system the author. has endeavoured .to construct in the follcwing work, compos~d in the often
interrupted hours of leisure from widely different pursuits. How far he has been successful in his attempt,
those skilled in tb e subject have now an opportunity of
judgin g for themselves.
Th e work is not in any sense a compilation. 'W hat
were believed to be the essential and well established
prin cipl es of the language, ·were taken as exhibited in
the grammars in use, or as impressed upon the mind of
the author by his read ing, critical or miscellan eo us, or
in the experience of several years' teaching both his own
and other languages.
These ma(eri.als he has arranged and expressed according to his own ideas, and in his own words ; with
the assistance, in revising the work, of a few remarks on
some passages· in it from a highly esteemed literary
friend.
He has adhered to the commonly received rules of
classification and form in all cases where . the results of
his analysis did not conduct him to something importantly
different ; and where any change has thus been made,
the reasons are giveri at considerable length either in
the body of the work or in the Appendix.
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, PREJ'ACE.

· vii

A more strictly analytical and inqnctive form might
possibly have been adopted with advantage ; but there
seemed to be considerable objections to it, both from the
complex nature of the subject, and as making a wider
departure from the forms and. methods of instruction,
in common use; too wide probably for teachers easily
to accommodate themselves to it. Even as it is, one or
two literary friends, who ,saw the work in manuscript,
seemed to think, that some might find objection,s on that
score, especially in the instruction of the younger class
of pupils, for whom, according to their _apprehension,
the work is of too high and argumentative , a cast. It
may possibly be so as a whole ; that is, there are undoubtedly passages in it on the nature, p'ropriety, adap.,. ·
tation, and peculiar import of certain forms, which such
'Pupils could not be expected to stL1dy with either pleasure or profit; yet, unless the author's experience and
the assertions of his pupils ha\'e greatly deceived him,
.this cannot well be the case with much of the work,
and a judicious tBacber could easily mark off with bis
pencil such passages, as .subjects to be rese rved for maturer judgment and more advanced.· progress in knowledge.
In reality the present work is not designed for the
elementary instruction of young beginners. Such can
study with-advantage only the simple outlines aod technical forms of grammar; though it is important that they
should get ;:i clear and accunte knowledge of these, and
in such a form as shall advance their progress, when they
arrive at an age capable of a deeper consideration of the
subject, and not retard them, by the necessity of doing
away false impressions, and learning to substitute ideas
instead of words.
The author's object was to produce a tolerably thorough elementary system on the plan before described ;
and to do this, it was necessary to go into considerable
discussion and examination of some points involving
more or less abstract reasoning. Without stating these
points, the system would not be complete, and without

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giving the reasonings that led to the stating of them in
the manner in which they are stated, a fair view of the
subject might not be presented to his readers, and the
well founded -results of analysis might be considered
causeless and wanton innovations.
·
Such a system as this, it is obvious, considered as a
whole, must be adapted only to those persons, who have
some maturity of mind, and have made some progress
in the acquisition of knowledge; that is, to students in
the higher classes in academies, to those in colleges, and
to persons preparing to teach or engaged in ~eaching.
As such it is accordingly designated on its title-page ;
though it is believed that it may be adapted, as before
mentioned, to very many others .
Should the work be favorauly received by those for
whom it is intended, it is in the author's contemplation
to prepare an abridged and simplified form for the use
of beginn ers, and to render the larger work -m ore complete by the introduction, in appropriate places, of some
more minute remarks on several somewhat anomalous
particulars in the use of our langu age, and a few pages
.on its correspondences in particular forms with somewhat ana logous forms in one or two other languages, or
its differences from the same.
Th e criticism of the learned will doubtless be able
to point out defects and imperfections in the present
publication, which, shou ld it be otherwise favorably received, so as to come into use, it will be the author's aim
to supply and correct in another edition.

s. w.
March, 1832.

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,E NG L I S H GRAMMAR.

LA NGUAGE is the means of intercourse or conversation
among men, con$isting of ·sounds, by the utterance.of ~hi ch
they express to each other whatever it may be their wish to
communicate.
The sounds, thus pronounced and exp~es.sing. distinct
meanings, are c~lled articulate sounds, to d1st.mgu1sh t~em
froin mere cries, like those of the brute creation, destitute
of particular mea ning, but showing merely the influe.n ce or
action of some passion, as fear, love, anger, &c .
The formation of these sounds and the meaning that they
convey, differ among different races, tribes, or communities
of men; being regulated in each by common consent, custom, or the like, and thus constitute the d_ifferent-languages
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spoken by mcu.
The re g ul a~ions by which any language 1s governed, as
l!poken among the· people to whom it belongs, constitute
what is called the -Grammar of that lan guage. These regulations consist of certain generally ackno'wledged forms
and variations of form in the employment of the articulate
sounds of the language, whereby one man may preciselJ
and definitely present to the perception of another, using
the same language, whatever ideas he may wish .so to present. The directions for the employment of these different
forms and their variations, expressing the established usage,
are called the Rules of Grammar.
The Science of Grammar in any language consists in
knowing the distinctions and - divisions of the articulate
sounds in it, with their variations, and· the varieties or modifications of meaning belonging to them or denoted by them;
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SYNTAX.

native is placed a[ter the ~erb, or between the auxiliary and
the verb; as, " Were I," 111stead of " If I were ·" " Had I.
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h ear d.' " ~nstead
of ''. If I had heard." This form
of ex~
pr~ss10n 1s proper on.ly where there is no danger of its being
m1sta.ken. for a question, which has a similar positiou of the
Nomrnat1ve.
Some conjunctions go in pairs, corresponding -to each
other, so as to make two subsequent members of a sentence
answer to each otl:er; as, Tlioug!t or altltoug!t, .,--- yet; ·
sWhether,- or; Neither ,-nor·, Eit!t•1·
{,' -r.11", A~
. . , -as•,
_o, - as ; As, - so; So, - t!tat; as, " Tlwu{!,h he was
nch, yet for our sakes he became poor · " " l¥hether he
come 01' go; " "Neither John nor Jame/ knew· "Either
he or.I will g:o;" "As black as pitch;"
is not so
beautiful as !us father; " "As · the cedar of Lebanon among
the shrubs, so art thou among the daughters of the land · " ·
"~"strive t!tat ye may win."
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~on junctions are frequently used double ; as, CC: Though
neither he 1wr I were there;" "lf either John or James
can come ; " " He was there, but w!tether he heard hirri is
doubtful."
The adverbs that connect sentences ar~ when while
whilst, therefore, wherefore, however, and the like; a~, "H~
came whilst I was the re ; " " You shall see it when it is
~,one ; '_' "_He did it n~t, therifoi·e, he was punisirnd;"
He did wrong, however 1t happened.' These have- been
called_ advcrbia_l co1y11n ctions, but they often retain distinct.
ly _the1_r adverbial meaning and influence on the verbs or
adJect:ves_ folio.wing them ; though if nothing can connect
but a conJunct10n, they must in these and the like·iustances
be considered such.
There ~re a few expressions, such as methinks, methought,
~c. occas1o?ally met with, that defy grammatical construct10n, bemg, l.1ke some oth~rs already mentioned under the head
of lnterJ eCt1011s, corruptions of phrases belono-ino0 to one of
the older. dialects of ~he language, and having therein a
grammatical form, wl11ch is not found in the moder-a dialect
Thus, 'methinks,' meant it seems -to me, · ·m ethought,'
seemed to me.

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APPENDIX,

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CONTAINING SOME FARTHER REMARKS O~ THE NATURE OF
THE. FUTURE EXPRESSIONS IN THE ENGLISH · LANGUAGE,
AND ON nm CHANGES MADE IN THE CONJUGATION OF

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VERBS JN THE !'RECEblNG WORK.

IN the .body of the work the author has stated generally
the principles, which led him to make an alteration in the
usual disposition of the parts of a rnrb constituting its conjugation. For the. farth~r explanatioq of the subject, some
remarks are now given, with which i.t did not see_m to him
worth while to incumber tht work itself, but which may yet
be necessary fur the-full explanation of his views, and for the
satisfaction of those who take an interest in _the subject,
and may be disposed to exam'ine it ihoro-ughly.
The three great and strictly pliilosophical division_s of
time are, the Present, the Past, and the Future. •The Indicative Mode, according to the generally received definitions of it, siinp(IJ indicates or positively declares an action,
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being, or state of being.
Simply to indicate, or pos(tfrely to declare, an -action &c.,
seems to be, to point it out, or declare i_t, merely as such,
without any admission of power, wilt, liberty, delenninatio'f!.,
necessity, or obligation, .extranco·us to the signification of the
simple verb, si11ce the admission of the_se _constitutes l- a
differen~ nwnnei· or modification of the action, of course
belonging to another JJ1ude of the verb, whicli by the possession of _them is, according to the. definition, known to be
t~e Potential JJiode, having for its characteristics these very
circumstances.
The simple indication or positive declaration must also be
without the admission of a mot\ve, a wi.sh, or .doubtfulness,
since these are the characteristics of the Subjunctive Mode,
and certainly constitute a distin.ct modification of the action
or being.
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APPE'NDIX,

APPENDIX,

The Indicative mode must therefore be limited to pointing or declaring the existence of an action, or being, simpl¥ as a fact, either present or past, or to indicating it as a '
thmg to come, with equal simplicity of manner; that is, as a
futia ·c fact, unmixed with any declaration of power, will,
determination, &c., and unclogged with any doubtfulness,
or contingency. Even simple intention to do, or be, is inadmissible in the annunciation of it; since intention is a
part of volition.
If this definition of the Indicative mode !s correct, (and
there. ~eems to be no well founded objection to it,) it ·~mly
!emams to examine how far the usual assignment of Tenses,
m conformity to the three great divisions of time above
specified, is consistent with it.
The present_ tense, either simple or with the auxiliary do,
harmonizes perfectly with the definition, since it only declares more or less forcibly the actual occurrence of the
action at the time of the declaration, or its existence as a
present foct. Such also is the case with the imperfect
tense, either simple or with the auxiliary did; the_time only,
of the occurrence of the action • is changed, so that it is
stated as a past fact, either definitely or indefinitely as .to
the prec ise time of its occurrence. It is true that from the 1
nature of th ~ tense, the fact, although mentioned by it ·as
past, is not precluded from being present also, if the action
or be ing were capable of continuance, but this does not
make less true the statement of it as past, or being pres·
ent at a past time, nor does it interfere at all with the ex·
pression, so far as the JWode is concerned.
The Perfect tense states the fact as past, with an allusion
to the time of the declaration. of it, made by the use of the
present of the compound auxiliary have, for the purpose of
showing the action or being to be completed; thus expressing fully what the i111perft~ct le;ives unfinished, except so far
as it may be limited by the signification of the verb.
The Pluperfect tense in the same manner states the action
as a past fact ; but by the use of the past auxiliary !tad, an
allusion is made to another time also passed, which the
occurrence of the fact itself, or the action, is thus made lo
precede, and is also shown to be completed at or before that
passed time.
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In these tenses no change is made but in the time, which
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action remains unmodified by any admission of circumstan1
ces in its expression.
· In the Future tenses usually assigned to this mode, two
new auxiliaries,. will and sltall, are .introduced. These by
the definition of 1the mode ought to have no effect, except on
the time of the action; if they have any other ·influence,
if they in any way affect the manner of expressing the
action, they must Li~ inconsistent with this definition; and
should, with the tenses they form-, be placed in some other
mode.
Will seems evidently to have been originally the present
tense of the verb to wilt, and as .such implies volition or detcrminati.o n, a greater or less exerciiie of the wi!l 1 and thereby introuuces a new element of meaning, and one, by the
definitions given, belonging to' the Potential Mode . . 'l'hat
this element is actually present in the tense formed by this
auxiliary, however much we are accustomed in many cases
to overlook it, may be ascertained by a consideration of
examples. Thus take the phrase, " I will read the book."
'l'his does not seem to mean merely, that the · act of reading
the book is to come, but that. there .is also an intention to
perform the action. Let th.ese wards be spoken with a
calm uniformity of accent, and in the simplest manner
possible, the inte'ntion is evidently expressed, and the manner of expression amounts to a promise, which is a decided
act of volition: Now let the phrase be pronounced with a
moderate emphatic stress o.f the voice upon will, the act of
volition or the exercise of the will immediately becomes
strong and prominent, and the expression is that of a firm
determination. Let the phrase be pronounced a third time,
with a strong abrupt emphasis upon will, and the language
becomes that of menace, or of resolute, uncontrollable determination in defiance of menace or opposition.
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Thus in the first pe\son the new element modifying· the
-annunciation, or statement of the action, is evident, since
in its simplest and least obtrusive form, it shows intention,
-and is universally considered as amounti.ng to . a promise
· wherever a promise is admissible.
In the second and third persons, this signification is less
forcible, and its ex!lct character and force. are :otherwise
changed. When a phrase, such as "He will read·the book," '
is pronounced with an equable accent, it seems to come very
·near in expression to a simple announcement of the futurity

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APPENDIX.

· APPENDIX.

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i~ the speaker, by which to compel the performance of ~he
of the action, so latent has the real force of the auxiliary
become by usage. Let however a moderate emphasis be ·
action in the person addressed or spoken of; .th~s addmg
laid upon will, and the volition of the agent, or our belief in
another element of modification to the annunc1at10n of the
it, immediately becomes apparent; and by a still stronger
'action, belonging also to the Potential Mode.
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emphasis the phrase may be made to express any degree of
Something of the same kind may als~,be o?served m. wilf:
d etermination or resolution in the agent, or our belief in '
though less strongly marked; for to say I w_ill do. a thmg,
such resolution, though it does not in itself convey so clear·
implies that I think I can do it; and "He will do 1.t." seems
ly as in the first person the expression of defianc e or menfo suppose that the spe,aker believes him able to do 1t, as well
ace, simply because one cannot affirm so strongly for a third
as willing or intending to do it.
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person, as he can for himself. This re ady developement of
These instances seem sufficient for the 11lustrauon of
the element of volition, iri these two last cases, serves to
these auxiliaries when applied to persons. 'l~o prove how
show, that it was me rely latent in the first; possibly from
readily the mind, even without analysis, perce1v~s th~ force
the effect of habitual inatte ntion to it as being slight, though
of them, Jet the two be mutually misplaced,- as m th~ sto!Y
it at the same time really existed, signifying merely inten, of the poor Frenchman, who fell overboard from a ship ~~d
tion in the person spoken of, or our belief in his ha1•ing
· was drowned without an effort's being -made to save him,
the intention.
because ,h e kept crying out, " I witl drown, and nobody
S!tall, in its primary sense, means 'to owe, and is so found
shallhelpme."
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in-Chaucer, conveying a sense of duty, of something that ,
It is from the application of these ~ux1han~s to the exought to be done or must be done. From this last exprespression of actions, the , agents of which are. mc.apable of
sion it was readily inflected to denoting determin at ion or
exercising will, or volition, that probably arises ii: a great
resolution , and the nce softened down by habi tual employ- '
measure the obtuseness of our perceptions to th.e1.r prop~r
me nt of it to an nouncin g, when used of on e's self, merely
and literal import, when our at.tention .is. not ~ol1c1ted to It
intention, which is its least formal and forcible expression,
directly, by an unusual emphasis. It 1s ai: ms~anc~ 'of a
though it still retains its other derived significa~im>s, accornatural sense of propriety correcting ~he deficiencies· or
ding to the grea ter or less e mph asis laid uppn it in speaking.
inappropriateness of means.. But ~~en m the cases w?ere
Taking the phrases before made use of, if shat! be subthe agents are things of wh,1ch voht1~n canno~ be . pred1~a~­
stituted instead of will, so that they may read, "I s!tall read
ed, let the stronger ·e mphasis be applied, and It ma<J be .Im·
th e book," a nd " He s!tall re ad the book,~ ' somewhat simimediately perceived, that the natural force of ~he au~1har.y
lar results will be obtained; though with a variation in the
is by no means -Jost, though the manner ?f its act.ion is
application of them to the persons. Thus, " I shall read
altered and its seemin" direction and location changed.
the book,'' simply pronounced, comes the nea res t to a 'm ere
Tak~, foi instance, the following phrase; " T.h~ river will
expression of futurity, conveying in addition to it, only inoverflow its banks." We can attribute no vohuon to the
tention, and that o(ten but sligh tly. With a ~ tron ger accent,
river, except figuratively, and this .figurat!ve meaning being
shall in this phrase exp resses different degrees_of resolution ·
put aside, as not enteri~g into the ~rdmary usage of 'the
or determination,. but does not convey the idea of menace
expression the phrase, as generally rec~1ved, amounts merely
or defiance. This is reserved for the second and third perto ap. ann~uncement of a future event. If however it. be
sons. Thus, "He shall read the book," expresses resoluexamined carefully, it will be found · to indi_cate somet~m.g
tion, and is equivalent to a promise, me~ning I will make
different from a mere announcement or a future fact; ·1t _1s
him read it. With the stronger accents upon shall it exnot positive and declaratory enough for that, but only depresses stronger resolution and determination, and becomes
11otes an apprehension or-opinion in.the mi~d of the sp~ak"
the language of menace and defiance.
er that the event is to take·place, bemg eqmvalent to say mg,
In the second and third persons, shall also very distinctly
th~t "There is danger of the -r iver's m·erflowing its banks,"
implies the possession of power, or a beljef in _po::;sessing it,
or, "I think that the overflow is going -to happen.'~ If we

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use an equivalent figurative expression, the phrase may be '
appropriately rendered by saying; "The river t!treatens to
overflow its banks," a form of expression not unfrequently.
used in such cases, and fully developing the force of wiil,
as expressing volition. ·
.
If instead of will, slzall is substituted, the force of the '
expression becomes still more striking. Thus, " The river
~!tall overflow its banks," is the language of prophecy, and
implies supernatural knowledge, and the possession of con.:
trolling power over the event, according to the force of sliall'
a~ before explained. This meaning, with a stronger empha·
sis on shall, passes from implication to assertion, and from ·
~hat to menace, much as is the case when a personal agent
1s used.
The chief distinction between will and shall in the second · ·
and third persons seems to be, that the speaker using ioill,
pr~sumes or vouches for the .volition of the agent, and in
usrng s!tall declares his own. Hence the signification of
shall is always distinctly and ma11ifestly a. mental attribute
belonging to the speaker, while the signification of will be- ·
!ongs properly to the speaker only in the - first person, and
m th e other persons belongs to the agent. Wheu therefore
the agent in the third person is destitute of mind, and of
course incapable of volition, will loses in the understanding
~f the he'arer its pecu liar signification, unless in the figurative application of it, as above explained, and thus becomes _
a mere annunciatiop of the futurity of the action to which
it is applied, or what by usage passes for such annunciation.
To sum up briefly, it appears then as the result of this
examination, that s!tall is in no case a simple indication, or
simple positive declaration of futurity, but one comprehending in itself volition, from the simple expression of intention to th <i strongest assertion of resolution, accompanied
with a greater or less implication of power, ·according asmore or less stress is laid upon its pronunciation. Will
expresses the same element in e_qual strength in the first
person, and voui:ihes for it in the second_ and thirrl when
applied strictly to persons. . When applied to inanimate objects, it does the same figuratively, and it is only by throwing
aside this figurative sense, and reducing the expression witlr.
in.the limits of reality, d~priving it i.n fact of -its proper. forne,
that it becomes an an.nunciation of futurity only. Even ..
this annunciation it makes only in a peculiar anci limited
form, as will be shown in another place.

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" Even the very circumstance of having two forms to express one modification .of futurity, seems, without discussion,
to show that they must express, one at least, something
~ore than simple futur-ity, and the exchange of force, in the
different persons points out this something as belonging to
~~

. .

. From this result it seems to follow, that their ,proper
place is in the Potential Mode, as being th_e mode expressing will and power, and accordingly they have· been ·so
placed in the present work, with ho"'.ever an accompanying
title to the tense to point out the ·relations,in which by usage
they are considered to stand to the tenses of other languages.
This conclusion is confirmed by the consideration mentioned in the text,, that their imperfect tenses should and
would are ·considered as established in this mode, and that
regard for analugy and grammatical propriety alone- should,
be a suffic ient argument against assigning forms to different
modes, when these. forms differ from each other 011Iy in time,
that is, in tense.
If the restricted and conventional use of s!tall and will
to denote little more than simple futurity, when no particular
force of accent is laid upon them, is deemed· of sufficient
weight to overcome the consid_erations ·arising from their
proper and equall y frequent force of signification, and to
render it expedient to place th~m in a mode to which otherwise th ey do not belong, it seems difficult to say why
the same reason does not apply with equal force to should
and would.· These imperfect tenses have the same range
of meaning genera lly, that belongs to their present tenses,
referrincr only to a time that is passed, instead of to that
now pa:.~ing. Thus in the phrases, "I said that I should
come," " He told me that he would read it," ' 1 It was expected that the river would overflow its banks;" should and
would announce a -simple futurity to a past time, as deli- ·
nitely as ,;/wll anq will in any case announ_c e the same to,
,the present, and include the same force of signification, to
be develoned in the same manner by addi~ional emphasis.
. Should nnd would have indeed, from usage, in some forms
of expression, a signification, which does not belong to shall
, and will, and is indeed inqependent of their proper nature
of ve'r bs of past time; as, for instance, " I would advise you
in thi:o case to say," "On that account [ should not deem

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108

it proper." This signification is_ not howeve_r peculiar to
them as belonging to the Potential Mode, bemg of~en _b ut
a softened and guarded way _ o~ _ex,pressiug the Jnd1cativ~,
referrinO' as it were to a condition, thouO"h often no cond1·
tion is ~~pressed, a~d the for?e <;>f the pl1rase is in reality
equivalent to that of the lnd1cat1ve P~es~'.1t, so. that th,~
unO'uarded meaning of the above phrases 1s, I advise you,_
and" I do not deem it proper." This use of the words 1s
a sort of insi nuation or a diplomatic style, intend ed to produce the effect of th'e simple expression without its abruptness, or withou_t making the speaker responsible for the consequences.
.
.
Similar trains of reasonm g may be appbed to the compound auxiliaries s!tall !tave and will !t~we, should !taoe . and
would !tave, so that if sliull have and wzll !tave belong to the
Indicative, s!tould !tave and would !t ave ought also to belong
to it.
,
· .
In reg ulating the parts ?f the coujuga~_ion by t~e anal~s1s
of the m, the least extensive and objeCC1011able rnnovut10n
seerr:c"d to be, to put the two jutures, as they were called,
into the Potential Mode, where they naturally belong by
their proper force of signification, a ud where_ they har.monize so well with their ow.n past te nses, and with the various
tenses and imports of the other simple auxiliari es, nut only
in th eir several peculiar meanings, hut in the general character of futurity, which belongs to them all, and remarkably
characterizes the Mode.
This arrangement has moreover, as was before rema~ked,
the advantage of giving great regularity to the structure of
the different modes, as regards th e numbe r of the.1r tl)nses.
If it be objected, that by adopting this arrangement, a
strange departure will be made from the usage of other
languages, which have ge~erally one or more future tenses
in the Ind1cauve Mode, ·1t rnay be replied that these languages have a properly indicative expression for the f~turity ?f
an act ion and do not employ convent1onally, to designate 1t,
a form p;operly signifying a modification _of t_he action, and
not an announcement of its time, and winch rn a vast many ·
instances is employed distinctly and purpQ~ely to e~press
that modification. In the Greek and Latm, and m the
French, Itali an, and other coQnate. languages .<;Jf the Sou~;
of Europe, the future is denote_d by a..change 1~ t~e te~mi-·
nation of the verb; and no new element of s1g~1ficat1on,

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APPE~DIX.

e~cept that of time, is thus introdu·c ed.

Here th~n the
analogy fails, since the form resorted to for expressmg fu.
turity is so entirely dissimilar. This will also be the case
with regard to any other language, ill' which the future tense
is formed by a mere inflexion of the verb. In t.he German
the analogy holda better, sin'c e the future is there express~d
by means of an auxiliary ; · but the difference in the . na~ ..
ture of th e auxiliary destroys the argument, that might ,
otherwise thence· be drawn. The · auxiliary in German is
'nm:ben, to become, implying no volition of any kind, but
merely futw·e being, and therefore not in the least interfering with the proper import of the Indicative Mo.de.
Where the structure of languages is composed upon
different radical principle~·, and of different materials, it
seems unwise to attempt to force them into th e same forms
· from any casual analogy. The proper business of a grammarian seems to be, to give to each language that form, which
its own nature .and usage render most suitable , and to connect d ifferent languages with eacq other, not by a forced
disposition of their parts, but by pointing out the correspondences iu usage and signification in the part;; of each,
as th ey arc arranged in their own order.
On this principle, and for th e reasons already given both
here and in the body of the work, the author has proceeded,
deeming th at the explanation given of the nature of the
Pote nti ~ l Mode, and of the particular future imp9rt of each
of its tenses, would suffic ie ntly point out its correspondences with th e futures &c. of othe r languages.
Among the va rious expressions of futurity, with which
the English language abounds, there is but one form that
answers strictly in its import to the future of the Indicative
Mode, though it has, as is beli eved, never yet been so exhibited by grammarians, notwithstanding it is of frequent
use as a phrase, and corresponds very closely, almost literally indeed, to the -expression of the futures of th e Indicative in the kindred language of Germany. This form of
exp,r ession is made by placing the simple Indicative tenses
of the verb to be before the Infinitive tenses' of the verb
expressing the action. Thus, for t_he _first future, " I am
, to love,'' " He is to be there," ·" They are to come to-mor. row," "You are to be whipped ." Cn the second future
' the perfect of the Indicative is used instead of the present,
· • as, "I
to have done it," (or to have it done,) " He is to
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APPENDIX.

ha~e drawn out the writings to-morrow morning.'.'

Substitut1.ng the verb to be instead of t-0 'become, which is ·strictly
an mdependent verb in our language, inadmissible before
an Infinitive, 1 am to love, is an accurate translation of
;JcfJ l1JC\'l> e fie bm, literally, 1 become to love; and 1 am to
have loved is the same of '.}cl) ltlei:ile ge(iebt ()abm, literally,
become to have loved, though these are usually translated
m. gra ;nm ars respecti vely, I sltall or will love, and 1 sltall or
wilt !tave loved. When however the infinitive ltlerilen is
used, as in its own future, it may be transl ated literally to'
~ecome, in stead of to be, so nearly do the words agree in
import; thu s, :Jc() ltlC\'be gut 111erileu, which translated as
above wou ld signify I am to be good, may also be appropriatel y tran slated, I am to become good.
111 a simil ar manner, by the use of the imperfect was,
may be tran8lated the two conditional futur es of the German; thus, :Jc[) mitrile (ieben, I was to love, and ,3c(J mitrile
ge!irlir l)1lbm 1 1 was to liave loved. These phrases are
usun 11 y tran slated, I should love, and I sltould have loved,
thou g h the translations above given are not only more exact,
but ollen more appropriate in our own language.
Tl1e futur es made by was with the infinitive of another
verb, are of extremely frequent use in English, and are
strictly concordant with the definition of the Indicative
Mode; and the four forms taken together constitute a complete se t of future s to the tenses of that Mode; thus,
\ Present,
I am to love,
Future to the~ Impcifect, I was to love,
Peifcct,
I am to have loved,
1
( Plupe1fect, I was to have loved;
gil'ing to each expression of time its appropriate future,
which in reality belongs to it.
If grammarians should feel troubled at the apparent loss
of the future time in the Indicative by the restoration of
shall and will to their proper places in the Poten tial, they
are here presented with abundant means bf replacing the
loss two-fold; with not only greater harmony with dt!finition s already long established, but with the gratification of
prese rvin g analogy with a kindred tongue, the only analogy
deserv in g serious consideration. .Moreover by using .these·
futures, they will complete the three great philosophical
distinctions of time, and have the pleasure of replacing the
verb to be amongst the auxiliaries, . a situation to which, for -:~
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111

the reasons given in the text, it seems at present to have no
l~gitimate claim.
·
. ,
.
Even clussical analogy of time may be also gratified by
the introduction of these forms of the Future, since by
merely inserting the adverb about, w.e are at once presented
with a set of futures corresponding to the Paulo-post-future
of the Greek, but with the advantage over that .of being
four in number instead of one, and of expressing, by this·
· means, the Paulo-post-future to each of the various divisions
of past time, as well to the present. These Paulopo~t-futures would be, Pres. 1 am about to love, Imp. 1 was
about to love, Perf. I am about to have loved, Pluperf. 1 was
about to have loved.
The analogy might be pushed so far, without doing violence to the idioms of our own language, as to provide even
its participles and infinitives with futures, not only simple
but Paulo-post. Thus we might. have being to love, and
being about to love, having been to love, and having been
about to love, for the future participles, and these are forms
of expression not unfrequently employed with many verbs;
as for instance, " Being to join a party which had set out
by a different route," " Being. about to commence a new
enterprise," " Having been to witness the exP,cution, (1) "
"Having been about to suffer much bodily . pain, and
having experienced much te rro~ at the thought of it."•
The present infinitive would have no simple future, but only
a Paulo-post, answering to the corresponding tense in Greek ,
and to what is called the simple future in Latin, though in
reality a Paulo-post, as; to be about to love. The futures to
the Perfect of the Infinitive are not of common occurrence,
but may be used where g reat brevity and sententiousness of
expression are wanted. They require a strong and well
marked emphasis to give their signification correctly. The
following sentences may serve as exemplifications of the
use of them. " To have been to .be thus honored , though
the fruition was wanting, was in itself some co'nsolation ; "
"He was not contented to have been about to be a king, to
have had the crown and sceptre within his gq1sp, and yet to
have failed to clutch them."
.
It is even possible to accommodate the Potential and
Subjunctive Modes with a set of futur es from the same
source, corresponding to those .provided for the Indicative.
Thus a. i>howman may say, permissively, conditionally, or

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APPENDIX.

doubtfully of his exhibition, "It mav be to .be seen this
evening; " or with a simpl e promise,·" It will be to be seen
this evening;" or with determination, "It shall be _to be
seen this evening;" thus giv ing the Present of the Potential a future . " If I could be there tp see," may serve as
an example of the Imperfect future, though m~rred by the
introduction of the adverb thel'e. "If I be tu see him," ·
"If I were tn see him," are plainly instances of hypothetical futur es, belonging to the Subjunctive. So also, "If the
town had bun to be taken by storm, he was the man to have
done it, " exemplifies a Pluperfect future to the same mo~e.
In fact almost every tense of the verb to be may be used
before the i!lfi11itive of another verb, or before its own infinitive , simpl e or followed by a passive participle, and in
almost all cases will express a futurity corresponding to the •
time and mode employed. By the application of about,
most of these become Paulo-post-futures. From the usage
of the language, however, all of the inflections of to be are
not alik e admissible before all verbs; and there are but few
that have sufficient generality of use to entitle them to a place
in a regular conjugation, so th at it. seems better not to make
the attempt, but to leave the conjugation of the verb as it
now stand s, and to content ourselves with pointing ou~ the
force and usage of this position of the affirmative verb before the Infinitive.
Except for the sake of preserving entire this form of
expression, as a thing by itself, and to avoid breaking the
harmony of the conjugation, it might be worth while to introduce the Indicative tenses of to be before the Infinitive,
as futur es to the Indicative, since these are ve ry much used:,
and since they often express most exact! y the futures in
other lan guages, mo re often than at first would be readily
conceived, accustomed as we are to look upon shall and wilt
as th e leg itim ate futures. They seem at first, when thus
employed, to one unaccustomed to considering the exact
force and proper use of th e various expressions, to have a
startling air of reality and positiveness, to state the future
too J11Uch as a matter of fact, to be in short too indicative.
This will be better explained by an illustration. Thus
take the phrase before employed, "The river will overflow
its banks," and substitute the infinitive of ove,.flow with is,
making it read, "The river is to overflow its banks." The
force of the expression is to represent the event as future

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113

indeed but as 'settled and determined, a real future fact,
without any doubt, volition, .or subsidiary meaning'. to m?dify its force. . This comparison of the two e;cpressw~s hke- ,
wise brings into relief the propel force of will, sh~wmg its
import of volition, and as equivalent to tlireaten.s 111 figurative language, and, in plain language, as <lenotmg merely
the belief, opinion, or apprehension in the mind of the spea~­
er, that the event may take place; it does not de~lare positively that it is to take place, and is not therefore m harmony with the Indicative Mode.
-. '
.
It is indeed the proper form of expresswn for a circu.m. stance of this kind ; for. however strong may be our belief,
that die overflowing of the river may take place, yet, unless
in cases where the event may be directed by humJn agency
of which we know the determination, we are not warranted
in declal'ing positively that it is to overflow, we can only
express our opinion, belief, or app rehension of t he danger,
or presume upon the will that directs the event. <?~nse­
quently we shou ld make use of an expression, not pos1t1vely
declarincr that is, not essential ly indicative, but merely potential, ;.: indirect.
·
There is con:o.iderable general resemblance between ~he
least forcible use of will and sliall, and the correspondmg
use of may and can, Thus, for instance, " You wiU find
in the Bible; " it might with little ditf\lrence of mean.mg be
said, you mal/ find, or.you can find; "you shall.find" 1s very
different. Again, "1 think I s!tall find it here," or I may,
or can; "I tl;inlc I will find it here," seems quite incorrect.
This seemB farther to show the potential character of the
futures made by will and shalt. In rend ering the futures
of oth er languages, it will sometimes be most proper .to use
one of th ese potential futur es, and sometimes that pointed
out as more indicative, according to the ·circumstances of
the case. This can be no matter of surprise to persons
conversa nt with other lang uages, since to them _it must be a
matter of fami li ar re mark, that very few of their tenses are
at all times rendered by corresponding modes and tenses in ·
our own language; and where tl1ose languages ~1ave a ~ess
variety of future expressions, or with a different a?ap.tat1~n,.
'it may well happen that what is designated by an md1~at1ve
future with them, may sometimes be most ap,propnately
' translated by a potential future in the' English.
The different variety and force of our future expressions

114

APPENDIX,

have not apparently been consider~d . so well as they ought
to have been, by those who und ertook the labor of forming
grammars. of foreign tongues for English use ; they seem
to have tried as much as possible not to go out of the limits
of our own conjugation, as this was establisherl, and hence
probably arose the making slwll and wilt answer in all cases
to th e Indicative futures of those lanll'uacres thoui;h they
are far from being always the proper ~xp~es~ious for them.
A thorou gh revision of these grammars, with a more complete adapta tion to th em of the English forms to which they
most accurately correspond in various instanc·es, would
probabl y be of much advantage for facilitating an accurate
kno wl~d ge of th e signification of th e languag.es, the forms
of wl11ch th ey were designed to teach.* ·
These re?1arks have extended to a much greater length ·.
than was ongrnally contemplated, but they will serve not
onl~ fo r g 1vrng the ex planation, for which th ey were at first'
designed, but likew ise to illustrate the copiousnes3 of our
own I.ang uage, and the greatness of its resources of varied
yet d1st1nct expression .
Even now th e subject is far from ha1•incr been exhausted
thou g h most o.r the forms.of th e future h~ve been pointed
out;. much farther elu c1da.t1011 of them might. be given,
particularly of those belongrng to the Potential Mode in
the employment of which, simply or in connexion with ~th- '
er .verbs, much con.fusion is often to be observed among
writers. . A more m111ute attention to their real import and
C<;>n vent1onal . usage, and to th eir relat ion and adaptation to
different subj ects and fo rms ·o f exp ression, than is believed
to be usually g iven, would correct this, and establish the
great. prin ciples of th e laug uage more clearly and firmly .
vVnh regard to the n ew tense in corporated into the Imperative Mode , little more need be said than was mentioned
in t!1e text. The substantial form of the expression seems ·
o~mo11 s l y to ex ist in the language, thoug h obscured by the
circumstance of. the object of the verb being introduced
between the aux d.1 ary and the imperfect participle, which
*Whi le writin~ th es.e rema rks I accid ental!y took up Goodrich's .
Greek Grammar, 111 which I lonnd that he renders the first future in
some ca ,;es by is before the infinitive, and sometimes by must, as well
as.by shall anti will. I do not remember ever before to have seen
this form po.1nteu out in a foreign grammar, though its fitness seems to
me unques tionable.
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APPENDIX.

115

together constitute the tc:nse. In consequence of.. this the
object of the whole has. been considered the object of the
auxiliary merely, which therefore has been thought to exist
· in these phrases in its independent capacity of a possessive
.verb, while the participle has been supposed to be employed
as an attribute of the object. .The consideration, <lf· two
points seem.s to be sufficient to show the true nature of
the phrase to be as arranged in the text. The first of these
is the circumstance, that the objec~ is often placed in the
~ame position in the compound tenses of other modes~
without being thought to infringe upon their str.ucture, or
thei r right to existence as distinct ten ses ; and as it may in
th ese be placed after the wpole compound verb without im- '
pairing the meaning, so it may often in the Jmperative.
Th e second point is, that if a careful examination be made
of the .real and exact impo rt of these . phrases, it will be
found, · that !tave does not retain in them its possessive
· meaning, but serves only to denote, as in other tenses, the
peculiar variety of time to be given to the action, which the
whole phrase commands. To this there is however the
following exception, applicable likewise to all the tanses in
which have is employed, viz., when the action is not to be
done by the subject of the verb directly, but through -the
agency of anothe r, in which case have is employed with a
meaning equivalent to malce, get, or cause; as, "I will do
it, or have it done," th at is, get it done, or cause or rnake it
to be done. So, " Do this, or have it done," that is, do it
-yourself or get it don e, or rn c1ke or cause it to be done. If
we_say, "Have finish ed your supper, or h;ave your supper
fimshed, before I come back," the command is entirely personal, and does not mean to employ the agency of a third
person in eating, for it would then be !tis supper. "Do it
yourself, and have it done, or have don e it., by 4 o' clock,"
precludes expressly the agency of a third person. Take the
phrase, ''Have your cairn eaten quickly;" the old proverb
about eating one's cairn and having it, is decidedly opposed
to considering have in this case the possessive verb.
For calling the simple past participle such merely, or the
_imperfect participle thus, instead of perfect, no reason need
be given save the definition of the perfect tense, which
describes it as containing an ' allusion to the present time,
which allusion is always made in our language by the present of the auxiliary !tave in ,the ·corresponding mode. The .
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heretofore pei:fect participle is therefore properly only the
imperfect, and being one of ·the simple tenses of the verb,
is called the simple past participle, in oppo5ition to the
compound past participle, heretofore called the compound
jJerfect, but in reality by composition' and definition the perfect pi\rticiple.
The analysis and reasonings in pursuance of which the
changes in form were made, are in their principal parts now
laid before th e pu'bJic. To the author !hey see m a S\tfficient
warrant for his innovations; to those more learned and
pi~cip l incd in th e language than himself, this may not ap•
pear to be th e case. The author does not lee! particularfy
te nac ious of th e form he has adopted, if after a candid
conside ration of his reaso ns, those qualified to judge should .
decid e it to be incorrect. It really can matt er but little
wheth er will and sliall be put in the lndicati1•e or Potential,
or whether th e simpl e past participle be called the Imperfect or Perfect; that is, it can matte r but little as to any
practical utility in the employm e nt of lnng uage. If, however, principles incline one way, and c uswm has hitherto·
inclin ed 1he other, <is to the arrangeme nt, the very circumstance of its not exerting any consid e rab le effect on . the .
practi cal employment of language is an argum en t for
establ is hing lhe mo>'t correct prin ciples, since th.;) change
can be a ttend ed with little inconvenience.
Those wishing to ha1•e a full view of the subject would
do we ll to ana lyze th e force of sliall and will in asking
qu estion s, and in some indirect forms of command; co.m· .
paring th e m wit!J the analysis here g ire n ; 11nd likewise to · .
try th e employment of is and was , before the infinitive, for "
the same purposes.
It may be well to re mark, on account of the length of the
for.egoing discussion, and the nature of the argument used
in it, that the author does not by nny means intend to interfere with th e appl icat ion of shall and will to the expression of simple futurity, but merely to s how, that such is not
their proper force, nor that in which th ey are actually used
in ve ry man y instances. , They must have some place assigned them, and his only object. was to show, if possible,
that, to choose between the two,,_th ere was greater fitness on
the whole in placing them as · he has done, than: in their
former position.
THE END,

