210 T HEORT of the 



ferent from what is expreffed in the two lafl of them. The 

 future events mentioned feem to be announced with authority, 

 or fomething like fupernatural knowledge or information, 

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



But Juno'% promife of a handfome wife to JEolus, and Simons 

 threatening of a fevere whipping and perpetual imprifonment and 

 hard labour to Davus, are by no means mere predictions 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 lead 

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

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

 flections of a verb in any language, or in all languages, to ex- 

 prefs any one mood of thought, for inftance affirmation, will), 

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

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

 ginary cafe. In Engliih 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 inflection 

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

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

 inflection 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, muft acknowledge, that thefe are not inftances of 

 two indicative and of two imperative moods in Engliih. but 

 only two forms or expreflions 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 expreflion of it, by inflection or other- 

 wife, belongs to grammatical verbs, juft as the nrft and fecond 

 future, 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 expreflions of one future and of one paft tenfe, 



which 



