has looked with so little attention upon the world around him'; this would mean—'as I know that they have.' The meaning intended is probably—' as I do not know whether they have or not,' and therefore the subjunctive 'have' is preferable. 'If ignorance is bliss,' which I (ironically) admit. Had Pope been speaking seriously, he would have said, 'If ignorance be bliss,' he himself dissenting from the proposition.

"A wish contrary to the fact takes the subjunctive: 'I wish he were here' (which he is not).

"An intention not yet carried out is also subjunctive : 'The sentence is that you be imprisoned.'

"The only correct form of the future subjunctive is, • If I should.' We may say, 'I do not know whether or not I shall come'; but 'If I shall come,' expressing a condition, is not an English construction. If he will' has a real meaning, as being the present subjunctive of the verb 'will': ‘If he be willing,' ‘If he have the will.” It is in accordance with good usage to express a future subjunctive meaning by a present tense; but in that case the form must be strictly subjunctive, and not indicative. If any member absents himself, he shall forfeit a penny for the use of the club'; this ought to be either 'absent,' or 'should absent.' 'If thou neglectest or doest unwillingly what I command thee, I will rack thee with old cramps'; better, 'If thou neglect or do unwillingly,' or 'If thou should neglect.' The indicative would be justified by the speaker's belief that the supposition is sure to turn out to be the fact.

The past subjunctive may imply denial; as, ‘If the book were in the library (as it is not), it should be at your service.'

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'If the book be in the library,' means, 'I do not know whether it be or not.' We have thus the power of dis

criminating three different suppositions. If the book is in the library' (as I know it is); 'If it be' (I am uncertain); 'If it were' (as I know it is not). So, 'If it rains,' 'If it rain,' 'If it rained.' 'Nay, and the villains march wide between the legs, as if they had gyves on,' implying that they had not.

"The same power of the past tense is exemplified in ‘If I could, I would,' which means, 'I can not'; whereas, 'If I can, I will,' means, 'I do not know.'

"The past subjunctive may be expressed by an inversion: 'Had I the power,' 'Were I as I have been.'

"In Principal Clauses.—The principal clause in a conditional statement also takes the subjunctive form when it refers to what is future and contingent, and when it refers to what is past and uncertain, or denied. If he should try, he would succeed'; 'If I had seen him, I should have asked him.'

"The usual forms of the subjunctive in the principal clause are 'would,'' should,' 'would have,'' should have'; and it is to be noted that in this application the second persons take the inflectional ending of the indicative : ‘shouldst,' 'wouldst.'

"If 'twere done when 'tis done, then 'twere [would be] well It were [should be] done quickly.'

"The English idiom appears sometimes to permit the use of an indicative where we should expect a subjunctive form. Many acts, that had been otherwise blamable, were employed'; 'I had fainted, unless I had believed,' etc.

"Which else lie furled and shrouded in the soul.' "In 'else' there is implied a conditional clause that would suit 'lie'; or the present may be regarded as a more vivid form of expression. Had may be indicative; just as we sometimes find pluperfect indicative for pluper

fect subjunctive in the same circumstances in Latin. We may refer it to the general tendency, as already seen in the uses of could, would, should, etc., to express conditionality by [with] a past tense; or the indicative may be used as a more direct and vivid mode. Had may be subjunctive; 'I had fainted' is, in construction, analogous to 'I should have fainted'; the word for futurity, shall, not being necessary to the sense, is withdrawn, and its past inflection transferred to have. Compare German würde haben and hätte.”

In addition to the foregoing, we find in Prof. Bain's Composition Grammar the following:

'The case most suited to the subjunctive is contingent futurity, or the expression of an event unknown absolutely, as being still in the future: 'If to-morrow be fine, I will walk with you.'

"Unless I were prepared,' insinuates pretty strongly that I am or am not prepared, according to the manner of the principal clause.

"'What's a tall man unless he fight?'

"The sword hath ended him: so shall it thee,

Unless thou yield thee as my prisoner.'

"Who but must laugh, if such a man there be?

Who would not weep, if Atticus were he?'

"I am to second Ion if he fail'; the failing is left quite doubtful. 'I should very imperfectly execute the task which [that] I have undertaken if I were merely to treat of battles and sieges.' Macaulay thus implies that the scope of his work is to be wider than mere battles and sieges.

“The subjunctive appears in some other constructions. 'I hope to see the exhibition before it close'; 'Wait till the return'; 'Thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come'; 'Take heed lest passion sway thy judgment'; 'Speak

to me, though it be in wrath'; ‘If he smite him with an instrument of iron so that he die, he is a murderer'; 'Beware this night that thou cross not my footsteps' (Shelley).

"

Again: Whatever this be'; 'whoever he be'; 'howe'er it be' (Tennyson); and such like.

"And as long, O God, as she
Have a grain of love for me,
So long, no doubt, no doubt,
Shall I nurse in my dark heart,
However weary, a spark of will
Not to be trampled out.'

"The future subjunctive is given in our scheme of the verb as 'should' in all persons: If I should, if thou should, if he should.' In old English we have 'thou shouldst': 'If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities.'

"An inverted conditional form has taken deep root in our language, and may be regarded as an elegant and forcible variety. While dispensing with the conjunction, it does not cause ambiguity; nevertheless, conditionality is well marked.

"If you should abandon your Penelope and your home for Calypso, -': 'Should you abandon

'Go not my horse the better,

I must become a borrower of the night

For a dark hour or twain.'

"Here had we now our country's honor roof'd

Were the graced person of our Banquo present.

"Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd,

Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,

Be thy intents wicked or charitable,

Thou com'st in such a questionable shape

That I will speak to thee.'

"Come one, come all, this rock shall fly

From its firm base as soon as I.'-Scott. "The following examples are given by Mätzner: "Varney's communications, be they what they might, were operating in his favor.'-Scott.

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“Governing persons, were they never so insignificant intrinsically, have for most part plenty of memoir-writers.' -Carlyle.

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'Even were I disposed, I could not gratify the reader. -Warren.

"Bring them back to me, cost what it may.'-Coleridge, Wallenstein.

"And will you, nill you, I will marry you.'-Taming of the Shrew.

"Were is used in the principal clause for should be or would be.*

“'I were [ = should be] a fool, not less than if a panther Were panic-stricken by the antelope's eye,

If she escape me.'-Shelley.

"Were you but riding forth to air yourself,
Such parting were too petty.'

"He were[= would be] no lion, were not Romans hinds.'
"Should he be roused out of his sleep to-night,

It were not well; indeed it were not well.'-Shelley. "Had is sometimes used in the principal clause for 'should have' or 'would have.' t

*"So, in German, wäre for würde sein. 'Hätt' ich Schwingen, hätt' ich Flügel, nach den Hügeln zög' ich hin,' for 'würde ich ziehen.""

"So, in German, hätte occurs for würde haben. Wäre er da gewesen, so hätten wir ihn gesehen,' for 'so würden wir ihn gesehen haben.' Hätten is still conditional, not indicative. In Latin, the pluperfect indicative is occasionally used, which is explained as a more vivid form."