OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: DECEMBER 6, 1864. 365 



" Rem. 1 . The tenses of the indicative may also be used in the protasis of 

 a conditional sentence with si, &c. ; as, Si vales, bene est. Cic. Si quis 

 antea mirahatur quid esset, ex hoc tempore miratur potius Id. 



" Rem. 2. The subjunctive after si, &c., implies a greater degree of con- 

 tingency than the indicative. When the imperfect or pluperfect is required 

 to denote a past action, the indicative must be used if its existence is uncer- 

 tain, as those tenses in the subjunctive would imply its non-existence. 



"Rem. 3. The present and perfect subjunctive are sometimes used, both 

 in the protasis and apodosis of a conditional sentence, in the sense of the im- 

 perfect and pluperfect ; as, Tu, si hie sis, aliter sentias ; if you were here, you 

 would think otherwise. Ter. Quos, ni mea cura resistat, jam flammae tule- 

 rint. Virg." 



This is all the information that is given on the matter ; and who can 

 wondei' that school-boys leave school with the idea that the whole sub- 

 ject is beyond their comprehension ? It may be remarked here that 

 the two examples under the main rule do nothing to illustrate the rule, 

 either as it stands or as it should be stated. The first is from Cicero, 

 Lael. XXVII. 104, and the protasis should read etiam si magna sunt 

 (not maxima sint), as nearly all manuscripts and editions have it ; the 

 subjunctive therefore need not be discussed. The second is merely a 

 concessive subjunctive transferred to a protasis, and is no more an illus- 

 tration of the perfect subjunctive in protasis than it is of the ablative 

 absolute. The first example under Rem. 3, is a curious case of a quo- 

 tation which has unjustly suffered by never being referred to its con- 

 text. It might be asked, how a man who was not present could be 

 addressed in this style ; but the mystery will be explained, if any one 

 will turn to the Andria of Terence (II. 1, 10), where he will see that 

 the passage means. If you should put yourself in my position, you 

 would think otherwise ; in which sense it is a perfectly good example of 

 a well recognized usage. But we must not be led away by special 

 criticism, our object being to discuss the main principles of conditional 

 sentences. 



I. Let us consider the simplest question that arises, — What is the 

 meaning of the indicative in protasis, as si cupit, si hoc facit, ei 

 ^ovKiTai, (I TovTo npaa-aei.? The- most common theory is that it ex- 

 presses certainty, or that the supposition is at least assumed to be a 

 fact. This idea, with the misunderstandings that have arisen from it, 

 has perhaps done more than any other to confuse the mind of learners 



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