Here the person spoken of is represented as foretelling, and shall is employed in expressing what is to happen to him as well as what is to happen to the speaker, while will is employed in expressing what is to happen to others.

8. In promises, resolutions, or threats the original meaning of shall and will is more apparent. Will is applied to the actions or states of the person who is represented as promising, threatening, etc., and shall to those of others.

I will write.
You will write.

He will write.

Here the subject of the verb in each case represents the person who resolves, and will is employed in all the persons.

I will write.

You shall write.

He shall write.

Here the person speaking expresses resolution about the actions of others as well as his own, applying will to his own and shall to those of others.

Here the person addressed is the one who resolves; accordingly will is used in the second person, and shall in the others.

Will you write?
Shall I write?

Shall he write?

Here we inquire concerning the resolution of the person addressed, "Shall I write?" being equivalent to "Are you resolved that I shall write?" Accordingly will and shall are employed as in the preceding forms.*

Here the person spoken of is the one who resolves; accordingly will is used in the third person, and shall in the others.

9. Since the form "Shall I be elected?" denotes either "Do you resolve that I shall be elected?" or "Do you predict that I shall be elected?" we must learn from other circumstances which is meant in any particular instance.

10. To ask a question with will in the first person singular involves an absurdity; for such a question would represent a person as inquiring what his own will is.

Dr. Webster says, "Shall you go? asks for information of another's intention." This would make shall usurp the office of will. But it is easy to see that Will you go? is the form that asks for information of another's intention. The answer to Will you go? is I will: an answer that would be impertinent if the inquiry were not concerning the intention. "Oak. I will have my own way, I am determined. Major O. Why, that's well said. But will you do it? Oak. I will."-Geo. Colman. "Panthino. Wilt thou go? Launce. Well, I will go."-Shakespeare. "Thou canst not hear it named, and wilt thou do it?"-Coleridge. "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?"-English Bible.

Thus, "Will I go?" is equivalent to "Is it my will to go?" In the Scotch song the mariner's wife, who has heard of the safe arrival of her husband, exclaims in the rapture of joy :

"And will I see his face again?

And will I hear him speak?"

By using will instead of shall she asks if it is her will or intention to see him.

11. But will may be employed interrogatively in the first person plural; as, "Will we quietly grant to European despotism what it most covets?" "We will do our best to repay him, will we not?"-Bulwer. In such cases the speaker does not inquire what his own will is, but what is the will of those whom he associates with himself.

12. Will may be employed in the first person singular when the speaker merely changes the person in repeating a question which has been addressed to him; as, "Will you accept the proposition?" "Will I accept the proposition? No, sir."

13. A strong determination on the part of the speaker may be expressed in the form of a question with a negative; as, "Will I not punish him?"

14. Shall is sometimes found employed in the first person to express resolutions or promises, especially among the earlier writers; as, "I shall obey, my lord."— Shakespeare. "Proceed, I shall be silent."-Coleridge. This form may have been originally intended to denote that the performance of the promise would result from obligation or destiny rather than from will, "I shall obey" being equivalent to "I am bound to obey." Compare "Proceed, I shall be silent" with "Speak, I am bound to hear."-Shakespeare.

"Kitely. Forget it not, nor be out of the way.

Cash. I will not, sir.

Kitely. I pray you have a care on't;

Or whether he come or no, if any other,
Stranger or else, fail not to send me word.

Cash. I shall not, sir."-Ben Jonson.

15. Shall is used in all the persons to denote simple futurity in certain cases in which the future event is assumed rather than directly asserted; namely, after such words as except, if, though, although, whether, unless; in relative propositions which qualify the antecedents, and in propositions containing adverbs in which the idea of the relative is involved; as, "If ye shall see the Son of man ;" "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees;" "Unless the work shall be completed;" "Every person who shall be present will hear;" Whoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment;" "Beware of the day when the Lowlands shall meet thee in battle array;" "Till time shall be no more;" "We will pursue this course whenever it shall be practicable;" "Before the child shall know."

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The relative proposition who shall be present qualifies the antecedent person, describing what class of persons will hear; the relative proposition whoever shall kill qualifies the antecedent (person) understood; when is equivalent to in which; till is equivalent to the time at which; whenever, to at all times at which.

In modern usage shall is generally omitted; as, "Unless the work be completed." 16. Will, as well as shall, is used in commands; as, "You will proceed to Paris by the most direct route, and there you will await further orders." Shall expresses the command authoritatively; as, "Thou shalt not steal." Will expresses it in a milder manner as merely a future event.

17. Those who have not been accustomed to do so from childhood, which is the case with the natives of Scotland, Ireland, and some parts of the United States, find it difficult to make the proper distinction between shall and will. As their error consists in using will for shall, not in using shall for will, they will find the difficulty removed by attending to the following

CAUTIONS IN REGARD TO THE USE OF SHALL AND WILL.

I. FIRST PERSON.

If you wish to express merely what will take place, without an idea of will or determination, do not use will.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

"I will be compelled to leave my home." to express merely what will take place, and

Here the speaker wishes can not mean that he is

determined to be compelled, which would be absurd; the use of will is therefore improper.

"I hope that I will see him." Here is intended to be expressed merely a future event, which the speaker hopes will take place, the nature of the case excluding the idea of will or determination. It is therefore improper to use will.

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Perhaps I will find some money." The word perhaps shows that the speaker can not mean that he is determined to find some money; and consequently the use of will is improper.

"I will feel obliged if you will send me the book." As the speaker does not wish to express a determination to feel obliged, but merely the result that will follow the sending of the book, he should not use will.

"We will be pleased to see you." The speaker does not wish to say. that he and those associated with him are determined to be pleased, which would not be complimentary, but that the pleasure will follow as a natural consequence of seeing the person to whom he speaks; he should therefore not use will.

II. SECOND AND THIRD PERSONS.

If the person is to be represented as expressing merely what will happen to himself, without any idea of will or determination, do not use will.

Remark. This caution applies to dependent propositions only; for it is in such propositions only that any one but the speaker can be represented as expressing what will happen to himself.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

"You say that you will be compelled to leave your home." "He hopes that he will see him." "You think that perhaps you will find some money." "He says that he will feel obliged, if you will send

They say that they will be pleased to see you."

In these examples you, he, and they take the place of I and we in the examples under Caution I, the persons being represented as foretelling what will happen to themselves, without any idea of will or determination; the use of will is therefore improper.

III. INTERROGATIONS.

If the inquiry is merely about what will happen to the person spoken to, and not about his will or determination, do not use will.

Remarks.-1. That one of these two words which would be proper in the answer is the word to be employed in the question; as, "Shall you be compelled to leave your home?" "I shall be compelled to leave my home."

2. When a proposition is dependent on another which takes the interrogative form the use of shall and will in the dependent proposition is regulated by the principle involved in Caution II; as, "Do you say that you shall be compelled to leave your home?"

ILLUSTRATIONS.

"Will you be happy to see me?" "Will you be obliged to desist from the undertaking?" "Will you not lose your suit by doing so?" In these examples the inquiry is about what will happen to the person addressed, not about his will or determination; the use of will is therefore improper.

EXERCISES.

1. Explain why shall is used correctly in the following examples:

I suppose we shall see her in the spring. [Correct, because it is merely a future event that is denoted, not a determination or promise.] I shall be very happy to see her. Perhaps I shall be able to find him. I shall be murdered by my barbarous subjects. I shall perish ere they come to save me. I shall be secure with her. O! I shall die; I shall expire in a fit of laughing. I shall have an altercation with this honest blockhead.

I hope we shall see Sir Peter. I fear we shall not go hence as we came. I shall be very much obliged to you, if you will give me your opinion on these points. I shall be glad to be your servant. If we examine this, we shall perceive its utility. What sufferings shall I have to endure! It is very improbable that I shall sell my house before Christmas.

2. Explain why will is used incorrectly in the following examples:

I dare say I will become fat, torpid, and motionless. [Incorrect, because the speaker can not intend to express a determination to become

When should you avoid using will in the second person?

To what kind of propositions does this caution apply?

|

What is the caution about interrogations?

What is said about the correspondence of the question and the answer?

fat, torpid, and motionless.] I will be driven to that at last. I take it

I fancy that I will read my
The time is so short that I
I will like him less than I

for granted we will have to endure them.
sermon all the better for such a listener.
will have no opportunity of seeing him.
wish. I will be ruined if you do not assist me.

We will be punished for this. I hope I will be able to see him in the morning. When will we see him again? Now I will be teazed by all his tribe. I will be sorry to leave you, my kind friend. Perhaps I will be able to discover some useful coadjutor. This day, if he keeps his promise, we will have our answer. I will laugh myself to death at this puppy-headed monster.

8. In which of the following sentences is will correctly employed: Help! help! I will be murdered! [The speaker does not intend to express a determination to be murdered; therefore will is incorrectly used.] How will I be revenged on him? I suppose I will find him at the inn. I will drown, nobody shall help me. I will do what you request me to do. [Correct, because the speaker intends to express a promise.] I will stand, and so shall Trinculo. [Determination about the act of the speaker and about that of the person spoken of.] I shall be extremely happy to see him and will leave a note for him at the tavern. [The first proposition expresses a future event, the second a promise.] If you are going into the field, I will go with you. We will often find ourselves obliged to dissent from the opinions of the biographer.

If you come this way, we will be happy to see you. I will be at the least three weeks in making my tour. We will be able to form some idea of the large field opened for Christian philanthropy. I will be much obliged to you, if you direct me where I shall find the best information. I will mount the boys on the ponies, and they shall scour the country forthwith, and you shall be supplied with yeast and eggs. [Determination or promise.] Ha! I will have a fine pet now. [Future event.] If it is my lot to crawl, I will crawl contentedly. When the political storms shall pass away, we will find the flag of our country floating proudly on the breeze.

We will gain all we wish. He received acknowledgments, in consequence of which I will be this day set at liberty. We have every reason to believe that we will be called upon to record some remarkably fast time. Let this work go on, and we will soon be once more a united and happy people. I want office: if you vote for me, I will be elected; if you do not vote for me, I will not be elected.