202 THEORY of the 



The word crederem to be fure denotes merely a qualified or con- 

 ditional affirmation : I might, could, would, or mould believe, 

 if a certain event took place. But the verbs expreffing this 

 condition and fuppofition, are alfo in the fubjunclive,- nocuifjct, 

 feres, after the particle ft. With this particle, they might have 

 been put in the indicative, and the fenfe would ftill have been 

 complete, nocuerat, fiebas. The fame thought may be expreffed. 

 accurately in Englifh, without the ufe of any particle corre- 

 lponding to ft, and merely by the peculiar arrangement of the 

 words, jufl as was done with the wifh of Tibullus, " Had 



any punifhment ever overtaken you for your broken vows ; 

 " were but one of your teeth growing black, or even were but 

 " one of your nails becoming lefs beautiful, I mould believe 

 " you." 



I cannot conceive that the three hrft verbs in this fentence 

 denote any affirmation at all, conditional or unconditional, but 

 a very plain fuppofition. And this thought feems to me to be 

 as well entitled to be called an energy, as Tibullus's wifh ; and 

 when it is exprefTed (no matter in what way, whether by in- 

 flection, by augment, or by peculiar arrangement) by a verb, 

 it mufl be either a perfect grammatical mood, or fomething 

 very near akin to one. 



The very fame kind of thought, to wit fuppofition, is ex- 

 prefTed by circumlocution, and a kind of metaphor, in the follow- 

 ing lines. 



Pone me, pigris ubi nulla campis 

 Arbor czjliva recreatur aura : 

 Pone fub curru nimium propinqui 

 So lis, in terra domibus negata. 



In which pone, though in the imperative mood, expreffes no 

 command, but only fuppofition or condition. This Captain 

 Macheatb and Polly Peachum (or Mr Gay for them) underftood 



perfectly '? 



