"If he chance to die young, yet he lives long that lives well; and time misspent is not lived, but lost. Besides, God is better than his promise, if he takes from him a long lease and gives him a freehold of better value." (Ib.)

"If their master takes no account of them [servants], they will make small account of him." (The Good Master.)

"If he perceives his servant incorrigible, so that he cannot wash the black-moor, he washeth his hands of him and fairly putteth him away." (Ib.)

"If a dumb devil possesseth a servant, a winding cane is the fittest circle, and the master the exorcist to drive it out." (The Good Servant.) "He carefully catechiseth his people in the elements of religion, except he hath (a rare thing) a flock without lambs." (The Faithful Minister.)

"He will not use a light comparison to make thereof a grave application, for fear lest his poison go further than his antidote." (1b.)

"During his suit, he neither breaks off nor slacks offices of courtesy to his adversary; yea though he loseth his suit, he will not also lose his charity." (Ib.)

Here note (1) how Fuller again and again uses the Indicative, where Bacon would have used the Subjunctive: and, (2) how the usage of the present day would in several of the instances restore the pure Subjunctive; or failing that, replace it by a compound form as in the last citation-we should probably say, either, "though he lose his suit," or "though he should lose

III. THE SPECTATOR (Addison, Steele, &c.).

[Prevalent use of Indicative or of Compound forms instead of pure

Subjunctive.j

"If Strephon is not as accomplished and agreeable as Florio, marriage to you will never make him such." (No. 149.)

"Mutual love is the order of the files where he commands; every man afraid for himself and his neighbour, not lest your commander should punish you, but lest he should be offended." (No. 152.)

"[Traders] will, if it comes easily, get money honestly; but if not, they will not scruple to attain it by fraud or cozenage." (No. 174.) "If the chase is his whole adventure, his only returns must be the stag's horns in the great hall, and the fox's nose upon the stable-door." (Ib.)

"What I would humbly propose to the public is, that there may be a society erected in London, for the inspection of modes and fashions; and that hereafter no person or persons shall presume to appear singularly habited in any part of the country, without a testimonial from the aforesaid society." (No. 175.)

"In order, therefore, to try our good nature, whether it arises from

the body or the mind, whether it be founded in the animal or rational part of our nature . . . we must examine it by the following rules." (No. 177.)

[There is a mixture of Indicative and Subjunctive here, which is not to be approved.]

"First, whether it acts with steadiness uniformly in sickness and in health...." (Ib.)

"Though the pure consciousness of worthy actions. . . be to a generous mind an ample reward, yet the desire of distinction was doubtless implanted in our nature as an additional incentive." (No. 224.)

"Though a man has all other perfections, and wants discretion, he will be of no great consequence in the world. . . .?” (No. 225.)

"If this rule was strictly observed, we should see everywhere such a multitude of new labourers, as would in all probability reduce the price of all the manufactures." (No. 232.)

"If the audience does not concur with him, he smites a second time." (No. 235.)

"If flattery be the most sordid act that can be complied with, the art of praising justly is as commendable." (No. 238.)

"If ever this invention should be revived. I would propose," &c. (No. 241.)

"If virtue is of this amiable nature, what can we think of those who can look upon it with an eye of hatred . . .?" (No. 243.)

The usage of Addison and his collaborateurs in the Spectator is substantially that of the present day; only a somewhat clearer distinction has established itself between the two Moods, as a comparison of examples given above will show.

§ 61. The following points may be laid down for guidance in practice :

1. The Subjunctive is rightly used where a suspense of the mind is implied-where the compound Subjunctive might be substituted for it :-" If he come "=" If he should come."

2. The use of the true Subjunctive (with the exception of the forms, If I were, &c.) is chiefly confined to the higher style-poetry, oratory, disquisition-and is replaced in colloquial speech and familiar writing by the compound Subjunctive (should, would) or the Indicative. (Compare examples on p. 73: "if Faith spread the sail"-"if it combine . ." where a more familiar style would giveif Faith spreads" or “should spread"; "if it combines" or "should combine.")

3. The most universal Subjunctive is the Past Subjunctive of to be: "If I were," &c. This belongs to familiar speech no less than to the higher style. The difference between "if I was" and "if I were is one not of style, but of meaning. "If he was poor," assumes that so he was: "if he were poor" is a pure supposition.

4. In the Past Tenses, by which a supposition contrary to the actual fact is expressed-" If he knew "- "if thou hadst known"-the Subjunctive is identical in form with the Indicative. (The solitary exception is, "If I were,' &c.)

§ 62. Use of Participles.-The proper use of Participles has much to do with a neat and compact style. By means of Participles, we may avoid the excessive use of connectives such as "and," "but," and at the same time put a fact into its due subordination.

Compare the two following modes of expression :

(a) "Fabius steadily followed him, not descending into the plain, but keeping his army on the hills above it, and watching all his movements." (Arnold, H. R. iii. 99.)

(b) "Fabius steadily followed him, and did not descend into the plain, but kept his army on the hills, and watched all his movements."

The main state"Fabius steadily

These are equivalent statements: but the former has a twofold advantage over the latter. It is much more elegant, at the same time more logical. ment is contained in the predication, followed him "; the other points are subordinate. The use of the Indicative in each case co-ordinates them all. participial construction is preferable :

The

(1) When one statement is made the ground or explanation of another.

(2) When it is requisite not only to say that a certain thing was done, but also to detail the modus operandi.

(3) In expressing the conditions under which something took place.

EXAMPLES:

“Maximin, abandoned (1) by his guards, was slain in his tent.” (Gibbon, ch. vii.)

Terrified (1), at length, by the sight of some houses in flames, and by the threats of a general conflagration, the people yielded with a sigh, and left the virtuous but unfortunate Ulpian to his fate." (Ib. ch. vii.) "The behaviour of Artaxerxes had been very different. Flying (2)

with rapidity from the hills of Media, he had everywhere opposed the invaders in person." (lb. ch. viii.)

“Followed (2), it is said by two millions of men, Xerxes, the descen⚫ dant of Cyrus, invaded Greece." (Ib.)

"Reduced (1) to this extremity, the Goths would gladly have purchased, by the surrender of all their booty and prisoners, the permission of an undisturbed retreat. But the emperor, confident (1) of victory and resolving (1) by the chastisement of these invaders to strike a salutary terror into the nations of the north, refused to listen to any terms of accommodation." (Ib. ch. x.)

"The Romans, cut off (1) from all relief, and with no provisions, surrendered to Maharbal." (Arnold, H. R. iii. 92.)

"Hannibal laid waste the territory of Beneventum with fire and sword, then moved onwards under the south side of the Matese and took possession of Telesia: . . thence descending (2) the Calor to its junction with the Vulturnus, and ascending (2) the Vulturnus till he found it easily fordable, he finally crossed it near Allifae, and passing (2) over the hills. descended by Cales into the midst of the Falernian plain.. (Ib. p. 99.)

“He found the way quite clear; for the Romans who had guarded it, seeing (1) the hills above them illuminated on a sudden with a multitude of moving lights, and nothing doubting (1) that Hannibal's army was attempting to break out over the hills in despair of forcing the road, quitted their position in haste, and ran towards the heights to interrupt or embarrass his retreat." (Ib. p. 101.)

"Then the Spanish and Gaulish horse charged the Romans front to front, and maintained a standing fight with them, many leaping off (2) their horses, and fighting (2) on foot." (lb. p. 117.)

"Having done (3) this service, and left (3) the aristocratical party in absolute possession of the government, he returned to the hills. (Ib. p. 132.)

"Marcellus. . . had fixed his head-quarters for a time at Casilinum, the position being (1) one of the greatest importance, and there being (1) some danger lest the garrison, while they kept off Hannibal, should resolve to hold the town for themselves rather than for the Romans." (Ib. p. 133.)

"That the appointment of Fabius might want no legal formality, C. Varro, the only surviving consul, was sent for home from Apulia to nominate him, the senate intending (3) to detain Varro in Rome till he should have presided at the comitia for the election of the next year's magistrates." (Ib. p. 143.)

"In this manner, 177 new senators were placed on the roll; the new members thus forming (3) a large majority of the whole number of the senate." (Ib. p. 144.)

"The officers for the year being thus appointed (3) it remained to determine their several provinces." (lb. p. 145.)

The student will not fail to notice the animated effect which is often given to a sentence by beginning with a participial clause; as in several of the above examples. Take any of these, and try to re-arrange the clauses, beginning with the subject, and passing on to the several members in the grammatical or analytical order: it will at once be seen how much of the picturesque effect is lost. Take this for example

(Original form.)

"Terrified, at length, by the sight of some houses in flames, and by the threats of a general conflagration, the people yielded with a sigh,' &c. (P. 77.)

(The same re-arranged in the manner indicated.)

"The people, terrified by the sight of some houses in flames length yielded with a sigh," &c.

...

at

§ 63. The use of Participles requires care. Negligent writers not unfrequently leave a Participle-especially when at the head of a sentence-without any Noun to which it can be properly referred. This error occurs in the following instances:

"Approaching Lord St. Jerome, that nobleman found the redoubtable doctor not ungenial, and assured his wife that she would meet on the morrow by no means so savage a being as she anticipated." (Novel.)

[Here, apart from the context, it would appear that it was "that nobleman" who "approached Lord St. Jerome," instead of being himself "that nobleman.” Correct thus::

"When the redoubtable doctor approached Lord St. Jerome, that nobleman found him not ungenial," &c.]

The following is even worse:—

"Harassed in the south by the Montenegrins, and whilst the quadrilateral north of the Balkans is rendered weak by the surrounding of Rustchuk and the detention of a large Turkish force at Tchernavoda, the march to Adrianople with 150,000 men can be effected, if Russia can afford sufficient forces to mask Shumla." (Newspaper Correspondent.)

[Who were harassed? The Turks, of course. Yet the subject of the principal sentence is "the march to Adrianople." The entire sentence is so chaotic as almost to