2IO r HEORV of the 



ferent from what is exprefied in the two laft of them. The 

 future events mentioned feem to be announced with authority, 

 or fomething hke fupernatural knowledge or information, 

 which I take to be elTential to the notion of prophecy. 



But Juno's promife of a handfome wife to JEoliis, and Simo's 

 threatening of a fevere whipping and perpetual imprifonment and 

 hard labour to Davus, are by no means mere predidlions of fuch 

 good or evil to them, nor yet bare enunciations of the intentions 

 of the fpeakers to them, but fomething very different ; other 

 energies^ modifications of thought, or moods, in fo far at leaft 

 as mood is predicable of thought, which I think it is com- 

 pletely. For if there were two or ten different forms or in- 

 fle<flions of a verb in any language, or in all languages, to ex- 

 prefs any one mood of thought, for inftance affirmation, willi, 

 or command, they would not be different moods, but only dif- 

 ferent forms of the fame viood. This is not altogether an ima- 

 ginary cafe. In Englifh we have, at leaft in fome parts of our 

 verbs, two forms or grammatical moods for one mood of 

 thought ; one of them fimple, and only marked by itiflecflion 

 of the primary verb ; the other compound, confifting of an 

 auxiliary in addition to the primary verb ; and in this cafe the 

 infledlion is in the auxiliary verb alone. / write, I do write. 

 'they wrote, they did write. ('they did wrote or they do wrote, 

 would be folecifms.) Write thou. Do thou write. Every per- 

 fon, I think, mufl acknowledge, that thefe are not inftances of 

 two indicative and of two imperative moods in Englifli,. but 

 only two forms or cxpreffions of one indicative and of one im- 

 perative mood. If fo, then it follows that mood is generally 

 conceived to be properly an attribute or predicate of thought 

 alone, while only the expreffion of it, by inflection or other- 

 wife, belongs to grammatical verbs, juft as the firflrand fecond 

 futiare, or the firft and fecond aorift, of the regular Greek 

 verbs, are not two futures and two pad tenfes, but only two 

 different forms or expreffions of one future and of one paft tenfe, 



which 



