- Have is used in forming the perfect, pluperfect, and second future tenses of the indicative and subjunctive moods; the perfect and pluperfect of the potential mood; and the perfect of the infinitive mood.

Will is used in forming the first and second future tenses of the indicative and subjunctive moods; and, sometimes, in forming the present tense of the potential mood.

Caroline. And, when these are used as principal verbs, their moods and tenses are formed just as those of other verbs are, are they not?

Tutor. They are. And you perceive, that have may be an auxiliary to its own participle: as, in the indicative and subjunctive perfect and pluperfect, "I have had; I had had," and, "If I have had; if I had had," &c. And in the infinitive perfect: as, "To have had." And do may be used as an auxiliary to itself: as, "I do do it," in the present; and, 66 I did do it," in the imperfect; and will, as, " He will will it; he will have willed it," &c.

George. I believe we understand the use of the auxiliary verbs now very well, and know which are used as auxiliaries always, and which are used sometimes as such, and sometimes as principals.

Tutor. I think you do. But before I dismiss this subject, I will give you some additional

REMARKS ON DO, BE, HAVE, AND WILL.

The verbs have, be, will, and do, when they are unconnected with a principal verb, expressed or understood, are not auxiliaries, but principal verbs: as, "We have enough;" " I am grateful;" "He wills it to be so;" "They do as they please." In this view, they also have their auxiliaries: as, "I shall have enough;" "I will be grateful," &c.

The peculiar force of the several auxiliaries will appear from the following account of them.

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Do, and did, mark the action itself, or the time of it, with greater energy and positiveness: as, "I do speak truth;" "I did respect him :" "Here am I, for thou didst call me." They are of great use in negative sentences: as, "I do not fear;" "I did not write." They are almost universally employed in asking questions: as, " Does he learn ?" "Did he not write ?" They sometimes also supply the place of another verb, and make the repetition of it, in the same or a subsequent sentence unnecessary, as, "You attend not to your studies as he does ;" (i. e. as he attends, &c.) "I shall come if I can; but if I do not, please to excuse me;" (i. e. if I come not.)

Let, not only expresses permission, but entreating, exhorting, commanding: as, "Let us know the truth;" "Let me die the death of the righteous ;""Let not your hearts be too much elated with success;" "Let your inclinations submit to your duty."

May and might express the possibility or liberty of doing a thing; can and could, the power: as, "It may rain;” “I may write or read ;" "He might have improved more than he has ;""He can write much better than he could last year."

Must is sometimes called in for a helper, and denotes necessity: as, "We must speak the truth, whenever we do speak, and we must not prevaricate."

Will, in the first person singular and plural, intimates resolution and promising; in the second and third person, only foretels: as, "I will reward the good, and will punish the wicked;""We will remember benefits, and be grateful;" "Thou wilt, or he will, repent of that folly;" "You or they will have a pleasant walk.”

Shall, on the contrary, in the first person, simply foretels; in the second and third persons, promises, commands, or threatens : as," I shall go abroad ;” “ We shall dine at home;" "Thou shalt, or you shall, inherit the land;" "Ye shall do justice and love mercy;" "They shall account for their misconduct." The following passage is not translated according to the distinct and proper meaning of the words shall and will: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." It ought to be," Will follow me," and "I shall dwell.”—The foreigner who, as it is said, fell into the Thames, and cried out; "I will be drowned, nobody shall help me ;" made a sad misapplication of these auxiliaries.

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These observations respecting the import of the verbs will and shall, must be understood of explicative sentences; for when the sentence is interrogative, just the reverse, for the most part, takes place: thus, "I shall go; you will go;" express event only: but, "will you go?" imports intention; and "shall I go?" refers to the will of another. But, "He shall go," and "shall he go?" both imply will; expressing or referring to a command.

When the verb is put in the subjunctive mood, the meaning of these auxiliaries likewise undergoes some alteration; as you will readily perceive by a few examples: "He shall proceed;" ;" "If he shall proceed;" "You shall consent," "If you shall consent." These auxiliaries are sometimes interchanged, in the indicative and subjunctive moods, to convey the same

meaning of the auxiliary: as, " He will not return;” “If he shall not return;" "He shall not return;" "If he will not return."

Would primarily denotes inclination of will; and should, obligation: but they both vary their import, and are often used to express simple events.

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Were is frequently used for would be, and had, for would have: as, "It were injustice to deny the execution of the law to any individual;" that is, "it would be injustice." Many acts which had been blamable in a peaceable government, were employed to detect conspiracies;" that is, " which would have been blamable."

Sometimes that form of the auxiliary verbs shall, will, &c. which is generally conditional, is elegantly used to express a very slight assertion, with a modest diffidence. Thus we say, "I should think it would be proper to give up the point ;" that is, "I am rather inclined to think."

Some writers still use shall and will, should, and would, as they were formerly used; that is, in a sense quite contrary to that in which they are generally used at present. The following expressions are instances of this incorrect practice: "We would have been wanting to ourselves, if we had complied with the demand;" "We should:" "We will therefore briefly unfold our reasons ;" "We shall" "He imagined, that, by playing one party against the other, he would easily obtain the victory over both ?" "He should easily,” &c.

In several familiar forms of expression, the word shall still retains its original signification, and does not mean, to promise, threaten, or engage, in the third person, but the mere futurition of an event: as, "This is as extraordinary a thing as one shall hear of."

You now know, very well, how to form all the tenses, in all the different moods; but to use them with propriety, is quite another affair, and requires much reflection and critical attention. To aid you in understanding this, I will give you the following

REMAKKS ON THE TENSES.

TENSE, being the distinction of time, might seem to admit only of the present, past, and future: but to mark it more accurately, it is made to consist of six variations, viz.

THE PRESENT,

THE IMPERFECT,

THE PERFECT,
THE PLUPEREECT, and

THE FIRST AND SECOND FUTURE TENSES.

The PRESENT TENSE represents an action or event, as passing at the time in which it is mentioned: as, " I rule; I am ruled; I think; I fear."

The present tense likewise expresses a character, quality, &c. at present existing: as, "He is an able man ;" "She is an amiable woman." It is also used in speaking of actions continued, with occasional intermissions, to the present time: as, "He frequently rides;" "He walks out every morning;' "He goes into the country every summer." We sometimes

apply this tense even to persons long since dead: as, "Seneca reasons and moralizes well;" "Job speaks feelingly of his afflictions."

The present tense, preceded by the words, when, before, after, as soon as, &c. is sometimes used to point out the relative time of a future action: as," When he arrives he will hear the news;" ;""He will hear the news before he arrives, or as soon as he arrives, or, at farthest, soon after he arrives;" "The more she improves, the more amiable she will be."

In animated historical narrations, this tense is sometimes substituted for the imperfect tense: as, "He enters the territory of the peaceable inhabitants: he fights and conquers, takes an immense booty, which he divides amongst his soldiers, and returns home to enjoy a vain and useless triumph." Every point of space or duration, how minute soever it may be, has some degree of extension. Neither the present, nor any other, instant of time, is wholly unextended. Nay, we cannot conceive, as Dr. Beattie justly observes, an unextended instant: and that which we call the present, may in fact admit of a very considerable extension. While I write a letter, or read a book, I say, that I am reading or writing it, though it should take up an hour, a day, a week, or a month; the whole time being considered as present, which is employed in the present action.-So, while I build a house, though that should. be the work of many months, I speak of it in the present time, and say that I am building it. In like manner, in contradistinction to the century past, and to that which is to come, we may consider the whole space of a hundred years as time present, when we speak of a series of actions, or of a state of existence, that is co-extended with it; as in the following example: "In this century we are more neglectful of the ancients, and we are consequently more ignorant, than they were in the last, or, perhaps, than others will be in the next." Nay, the entire term of man's probationary state in this world, when opposed to that eternity which is before him, is considered as present time by those who say, "In this state we see darkly as through

a glass; but in a future life, our faith will be lost in vision, and we shall know even as we are known."

The IMPERFECT TENSE represents the action or event, either as past and finished, or as remaining unfinished at a certain time past: as, "I loved her for her modesty and virtue ;" They were travelling post when he met them,"

The first example, in the preceding paragraph, shows that the action was past and finished, though the precise time of it was not defined. In this point of view, the tense may be said to be imperfect: the time of the action is not exactly and perfectly ascertained. In the second instance, the action is represented as past, but not finished; and it may therefore with propriety be denominated imperfect.

It is proper to observe, on this occasion, that in such sentences as the following-"He wrote to him yesterday;" They behaved themselves at that period very properly;" the precise time of the action is not deñoted, by the tense of the verb itself; but by the addition of the words yesterday, and at that period.

The PERFECT TENSE not only refers to what is past, but also conveys an allusion to the present time: as, "I have finished my letter;" "I have seen the person that was recommended to me."

In the former example, it is signified that the finishing of the letter, though past, was at a period immediately preceding the present time. In the latter instance, it is uncertain whether the person mentioned was seen by the speaker a long or short time before. The meaning is, "I have seen him sometime in the course of a period which includes, or comes to, the present time." In both instances," The finishing of the letter," and "The seeing of the person," comprehend periods, each of which extends to the time present. We have no idea of any certain portion of time intervening, between the time of action and the time of speaking of it. The sentence, “I have written a letter," implies that "I have, or possess, the finished action of writing a letter." Under these views of the subject, it appears that the term perfect may be properly applied to this tense; as the action is not only finished, but the period of its completion is especially referred to, and ascertained.

When the particular time of any occurrence is specified, as prior to the present time, this tense is not used; for it would be improper to say, "I have seen him yesterday;" of, "I have finished my work last week." In these cases the imperfect is necessary: as, " I saw him yesterday;" "I finished my work