Neither man nor beast was to be seen.
Either James or Henry has won the prize.

But meanwhile ax and lever have manfully been plied. Reading and travel improve the mind.

Tense. The form of the verb to be used in the different tenses should receive careful attention. The form used for the past tense and that used for the perfect participle are often confused, and a tense of one verb is sometimes used for that of another which it resembles in form.

In the following verbs the past tense and perfect participle are often confused, and for this reason they require special attention.

He began to think that he was lost in the woods.

Morning had begun to dawn before we reached the camp.

The stranger drank the wine eagerly, and then noticed that his host had not drunk any.

The traveler found that he had forgotten his purse.

The soldier had ridden all night to bring the message. [Not: rode.]

We saw that the sun had already risen. [Not: rose.]

He rang the bell wildly. [Rang is preferred to rung for the past.]

I saw the robins building their nests in the apple tree. [Seen is often incorrectly used in the past tense.]

"From my wings are shaken the dews that waken the sweet birds.'

He had never shown greater heroism than at that trying moment. [Showed is sometimes incorrectly used for shown.] He had no sooner spoken than fifty swords leaped from their scabbards. [We sometimes hear spoke used for spoken.] The poor man said he had stolen the bread because his children were starving.

The children knew that their mother had taken the road so they took the short cut across the fields.

It would be as well for the reputation of some poets if many of the things they wrote had never been written.

The past tense or the perfect participle of one verb is often incorrectly used for that of another verb which it resembles in form. The following verbs are the ones with which such mistakes are most frequently made.

Loch Katrine lay beneath him. [Not laid.]

The bag of nuts had not lain there long before the squirrels found it.

Little Mary laid her head in her mother's lap and soon

fell asleep.

The wicked flee when no man pursueth.

Having secured the booty, they fled in great haste.

The eagle flew far up above the cliff.

The birds have all flown away for the winter.

"I chatter, chatter, as I flow, to join the brimming river." "The sun, that brief December day,

Rose cheerless over hills of gray.'

The old man had slowly risen, and now stood facing the speaker.

The hunter raised his gun, took aim, and fired.

"Shall" and "Will." Mistakes are so often made in the use of shall and will that special attention should be given to these words. Shall and will are used to form the future tenses of all verbs.. Shall is used with the first person, and will with the second and third persons. In "I shall go," "You will go," "He will go," shall and will have no distinct meaning, but are merely used to indicate the time when the act of going takes place.

Besides the uses in forming the future tense, shall and will are used in forming verb-phrases in which they have distinct meanings. In these verb-phrases will is used with the first person and shall with the second and the third perIn this case will does not indicate future action, but determination or intention; and shall denotes necessity or compulsion. "I will go," means, I am determined to go; "You shall go," means, You are obliged or compelled to go by some power other than your own volition.

sons.

Shall and Will in Questions. — In questions shall is used in the first person, as" Shall I go?" The question“ Will I go?" means, Am I determined to go? As it would be nonsense to ask another what our own intentions are we should avoid this incorrect use of will. In the second and third

persons shall or will is used according to the nature of the answer expected. "Shall you go?" requires shall in the answer as a sign of futurity, "I shall," or " I shall not go." "Will you go?" implies intention or determination on the part of the person addressed, and requires will in the answer if given in a complete sentence. "Will he go?" requires will in the answer merely as a sign of futurity, as "He will go." "Shall he go?" implies obligation or compulsion, and requires shall in the reply. "He shall go " is equivalent to, He must, or He is obliged to go.

"Should" and "Would."—The general rules for the use of shall and will when referring to the future apply to should and would: that is, should is used in the first person to express future action, and would in the second and third persons for the same purpose. Should and would have also other meanings. Should expresses duty or obligation, as "You should go," meaning You ought to go. Would is used to indicate habitual action and sometimes in expressing a wish. "He would wander about like one in a dream," means, He was in the habit of, or accustomed to wandering about. "Would she were mine and I like her a harvester of hay," expresses a wish.

In questions, should is used in the first person and when expected in the reply. "How should I feel?" "Should you not go to school?" Would is used when expected in the reply. "Would you read the book if I gave it to you?" implies a wish or desire. In questions with the third person would is generally used," Would he come if he were invited?"

Examples.

1. I shall never forget my first sight of the Pacific Ocean. [Futurity.]

2. Here will we sit and let the sound of sweet music creep in our ears. [Intention.]

3. One man will see all that art can exhibit. [Futurity.] 4. "If you make me your friend," said Pleasure, "you shall have no care, but only enjoyment." [Promise.]

5. "Thou shalt not steal."

[Command.]

6. Shall you attend the lecture? [Shall is expected in reply to denote futurity.]

7. You will compel me, then, to read the will? [Will is expected in the reply to denote determination.] 8. Your country expects great things of you. you justify its expectations?

to denote intention.]

Will

[Will is expected in reply

9. I should be sorry to miss the concert.

[Futurity.]

10. He would probably sing if he were asked.

11. You should consider the wishes of others. [Obligation.] 12. Would that I had wings like a dove. [A wish expressed.]

13. He would sit beside the fireplace, gazing at the figures that came and went in the flames. [Habitual action.]

14. Why should we defer the declaration? [Should expected in reply.]

15. Would you rather Cæsar were living, to die all slaves? [Wish implied.]

Indicative and Subjunctive. The subjunctive mode, or manner of assertion, is not as much used in English as in other languages, nor as much in English at present as it was formerly. It is still common, however, in such expressions as, "If I were you,' ""Had I seen him," and in certain verb phrases to express condition or supposition. It is often confused with the indicative mode, and errors in the structure of sentences result. To understand the distinction between the indicative and the subjunctive modes, you must bear in mind that the indicative asserts action or being as a fact; and the subjunctive asserts action or being as merely thought of, or as uncertain or conditional. The forms of the verb be as used in the same tense of the indicative and