The imperative mood is not strictly entitled to three persons. The command is always addressed to the second person, not to the first or third. For when we say, "Let me have," "Let him, or let them have," the meaning and construction are, do thou, or do ye, let me, him, or them have. In philosophical strictness, both number and person might be entirely excluded from every verb. They are, in fact, the properties of substantives, not a part of the essence of a verb. Even the name of the imperative mood, does not always correspond to its nature: for it sometimes petitions as well as commands. But, with respect to all these points, the practice of our grammarians is so uniformly fixed, and so analogous to the languages, ancient and modern, which our youth have to study, that it would be an unwarrantable degree of innovation, to deviate from the established terms and arrangements. See the advertise. ment at the end of the Introduction, page 8; and the quotation from the Eneyclopædia Britannica, page 86.

If such sentences should be rigorously examined, the Imperative will appear to consist merely in the word let See Parsing, p. 223.

3. He may or can have had. 3. They may or can have had.

|| Shall and will, when they denote inclination, resolution, promise, may be considered, as well as their relations should and would, as belonging to the potential mood. But as they generally signify futurity, they have been appropriated, as helping verbs, to the formation of the future censes of the indicative and subjunc tive moods.

† Grammarians, in general, conjugate the present of the auxiliary, in this manBut we presume that this is the form of the verb, considered as a principal, See page 200. Note 5.

ner.

not as an auxiliary verb

The remaining tenses of the subjunctive mood, are, in every respect, similar to the correspondent tenses of the indicative moodt; with the addition to the verb, of a conjunction, expressed or implied, denoting a condition, motive, wish, supposition, &c. It will be proper to direct the learner to repeat all the tenses of this mood, with a con junction prefixed to each of them. See, on this subject, the observations at page 103; and the notes on the nineteenth rule of syntax.

As the subjunctive mood, in English, has no variation, in the form of the verb, from the indicative, (except in the present tense, and the second future tense, of verbs generally, and the present and imperfect tenses of the verb to be,) it would be superfluous to conjugate it in this work, through every tense. But all the other moods and tenses of the verbs, both in the active and passive voices, are conjugated at large, that the learners may have no doubts or misapprehensions respecting their particular forms. They to whom the subject of grammar is entirely new, and young persons especially, are much more readily and effectually instructed, by seeing the parts of a subject so essential as the verb, unfolded and spread before them, in all their varieties, than by being generally and cursorily informed of the manner in which they may be exhibited. The time employed by the scholars, in consequence of this display of the verbs, is of small moment, compared with the advantages which they will probably derive from the plan.

Except that the second and third persons, singular and plural, of the second future tense, require the auxiliary shalt, shall, instead of wilt, will. Thus, "He mill have completed the work by midsummer," is the indicative form: but the subjunctive is, "If he shall have completed the work by midsummer."

It may not, however, be generally proper for young persons beginning the study of grammar, to commit to memory all the tenses of the verbs. If the simple tenses, namely, the present and the imperfect, together with the first future tense, should, in the first instance, be committed to memory, and the rest carefully perused and explained, the business will not be tedious to the scholars, and their progress will be rendered more obvious and pleasing. The general view of the subject, thus acquired and impressed,. may afterwards be extended with ease and advantage.

- It appears to be proper, for the information of the learners, to make a few observations in this place, on some of the tenses, &c. The first is, that, in the potential mood, some grammarians confound the present with the imperfect tense; and the perfect with the pluperfect. But that they are really distinct, and have an appropriate reference to time, correspondent to the definitions of those tenses, will appear from a few examples: "I wished him to stay, but he would not ;" "I could not accomplish the business in time;" "It was my direction that he should submit ;" "He was ill, but I thought he might live:" "I may have misunderstood him ;" "He cannot have deceived me :" "He might have finished the work sooner, but he could not have done it better."-It must, however, be admitted, that, on some occasions, the auxiliaries might, could, would, and should, refer also to present and to future time. See page 83.

The next remark is, that the auxiliary will, in the first person singular and plural of the second future tense; and the auxiliary shall, in the second and third persons of that tense, in the indicative mood, appear to be incorrectly applied. The impropriety of such associations may be inferred from a few examples: "I will have had previous notice, whenever the event happens;" "Thou shall have served thy apprenticeship before the end of the year;" "He shall have completed his business when the messenger arrives." "I shall have had; thou wilt have served; he

will have completed," &c. would have been correct and applicable. The peculiar import of these auxiliaries, as explained in page 98, under section 7 seems to account for their impropriety in the applications just mentioned.

Some writers on Grammar object to the propriety of admitting the second future, in both the indicative and subjunctive moods: but that this tense is applicable to both moods, will be manifest from the following examples. "John will have earned his wages the next new-year's day," is a simple declaration, and therefore in the indicative mood: "If he shall have finished his work when the bell rings, he will be entitled to the reward," is conditional and contingent, and is therefore in the subjunctive mood.

We shall conclude these detached observations, with one remark which may be useful to the young scholar, namely, that as the indicative mood is converted into the subjunctive, by the expression of a condition, motive, wish, supposition, &c. being superadded to it; so the potential mood may, in like manner, be turned into the subjunctive; as will be seen in the following examples: "If I could deceive him, I should abhor it;" "Though he should increase in wealth, he would not be charitable;" "Even in prosperity he would gain no esteem, unless he should conduct himself better." The auxiliary and neuter verb To be, is conjugated as follows: