This mood has also been improperly used in the following places: "I am not like other men, to envy the talents I cannot reach." "Grammarians have denied, or at least doubted, them to be genuine." "That all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always what is righteous in thy sight."

Adjectives, substantives, and participles, frequently govern the infinitive mood after them: as, " He is eager to learn;" "She is worthy to be loved;" "They have a desire to improve ;" "Endeavouring to persuade."

The infinitive mood has much of the nature of a substantive, expressing the action itself which the verb signifies, as the participle has the nature of an adjective. Thus the infinitive mood does the office of a substantive in different cases in the nominative; as, "To play is pleasant :" in the objective: as, "Boys love to play" "For to will is present with me ; but to perform that which is good, I find

not."

The infinitive mood is often made absolute, or used independently on the rest of the sentence, supplying the place of the conjunction that with the subjunctive mood: as, "To confess the truth, I was in fault ;""To begin with the first ;"" To proceed;" "To conclude;" that is, "That I may confess," &c.

RULE XIII.

In the use of verbs and words, that, in point of time, relate to each other, the order of time must be observed. Instead of saying, "The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away ;" we should say, "The Lord gave," &c. Instead of, "I remember him these many years; it should be,." I have remembered him," &c.

It is not easy to give particular rules for the management of the moods and tenses of verbs - with respect to one another, so that they may be proper and consistent; but the

best rule that can be given, is this very general one, "To observe what the sense necessarily requires." It may, how ever, be of use to give a few examples that seem faulty in these respects.." The last week I intended to have written," is a very common phrase; the infinitive being in the past time, as well as the verb which it follows. But it is certainly wrong for how long soever it now is since I thought of writing, "to write" was then present to me, and must still be considered as present, when I bring back that time, and the thoughts of it. It ought, therefore, to be, "The last week I intended to write." The following sentences are also erroneous: "I cannot excuse the remissness of those whose business it should have been, as it certainly was their interest, to have interposed their good offices." "There were two circumstances which made it necessary for them to have lost no time." "History painters would have found it difficult to have invented such a species of beings." "It ought to be, "to interpose, to lose, to invent." "On the morrow, because he should have known the certainty, wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him." It ought to be," because he would know," or rather, “being willing to know.” "The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight." "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead;" "may," in both places, would have been better. "From his biblical knowledge, he appears to study the Scriptures with great attention;"" to have studied." &c. "I feared that I should have lost it, before I arrived at the city;""should lose it." "I had rather walk;" It should be," I would rather walk." "It would have afforded me no satisfaction, if I could perform it :" it should be, " if I could have performed it ;" or "It would afford me no satisfaction, if I could perform it.”

To preserve consistency in the time of verbs, we must recollect that, in the subjunctive mood, the present and imperfect tenses often carry with them a future tense; and, that the auxiliaries should and would, in the imperfect times

are used to express the present and future as well as the past: for which see page 83.

1. It is proper further to observe, that verbs of the infinitive mood, in the following form; "to write," "to be writing," and "to be written," always denote something contemporary with the time of the governing verb, or subsequent to it; but when verbs of that mood are expressed as follows; "To have been writing," "to have written," and "to have been written," they always denote something antecedent to the time of the governing verb. This remark is thought to be of importance; for if duly attended to, it will, in most cases, be sufficient to direct us in the relative application of these tenses.

The following sentence is properly and analogically expressed: "I found him better than I expected to find him." "Expected to have found him," is irreconcilable alike to grammar and to sense. Indeed, all verbs expressive of hope, desire, intention or command, must invariably be followed by the present, and not the perfect of the infinitive. Every person would perceive an error in this expression: "It is long since I commanded him to have done it:" Yet "expected to have found," is no better. It is as clear that the finding must be posterior to the expectation as that the obedience must be posterior to the command.

In the sentence which follows, the latter verb is with propriety put in the perfect tense of the infinitive mood : "It would have afforded me great pleasure, to have been the messenger of such intelligence." As the message must have preceded the pleasure, the infinitive which expresses it, must also be precedent in time. But in this sentence, "It was truly comfortable to see him so affectionate and dutiful to his parents," the verb is properly put in the present of the infinitive; because the comfort and the seeing were contemporary.

It is proper to inform the learner, that, in order to express the past time with the defective verb ought, the perfect of the infinitive must always be used: as, Q

He ought

to have done it." When we use this verb, this is the only possible way to distinguish the past from the present.

We

In support of the positions advanced under this rule, we can produce the sentiments of eminent grammarians : amongst whom are Lowth and Campbell. But there are some writers on grammar, who strenuously maintain, that the governed verb in the infinitive ought to be in the past tense, when the verb which governs it, is in the past time. Though this cannot be admitted, in the instances which we have already given under this rule, or in any instances of a similar nature, yet there can be no doubt that, in many cases, in which the thing referred to preceded the governing verb, it would be proper and allowable. may say; "From a conversation I once had with him, he appeared to have studied Homer with great care and judgment." It would be proper also to say, "From his conversation, he appears to have studied Homer with great care and judgment:" "That unhappy man is supposed to have died by violence" These examples are not only consistent with our rule, but they confirm and illustrate it. It is the tense of the governing verb only, that marks what is called the absolute time: the tense of the verb governed marks solely its relative time with respect to the other.

To assert, as some writers do, that verbs in the infinitive mood have no tenses, no relative distinctions of present, past and future, is inconsistent with just grammatical views of the subject. That these verbs associate with verbs in all the tenses, is no proof of their having no peculiar time of their own. Whatever period the governing verb assumes, whether present, past, or future, the governed verb in the infinitive always respects that period, and its time is calculated from it. Thus, the time of the infinitive may be before, after, or the same as, the time of the governing verb, according as the thing signified by the infinitive is supposed to be before, after, or present with, the thing denoted by the governing verb. It is, therefore, with great propriety, that tenses are assigned to verbs of the infinitive

.

mood. The point of time from which they are computed, is of no consequence since present, past, and future, are completely applicable to them. Our limits do not permit us to discuss this point at large; or we might further evince the truth of our positions, by showing how far all the tenses of verbs denote relative time; and by elucidating the subject with a variety of examples. See the remarks on the participles, and the note at page 77.

We shall conclude our observations under this rule, by remarking, that though it may sometimes be proper to use the past infinitive immediately after the governing verb, yet it is generally better to give the sentence a different turn. Thus, instead of saying, "I wish to have written to him sooner," "I then wished to have written to him sooner," "He will one day wish to have written sooner;" it would be more perspicuous and forcible, as well as more agreeable to the practice of good writers, to say, "I wish that I had written to him sooner," "I then wished that I had written to him sooner," "He will one day wish that he had written sooner." Should the justness of these strictures be admitted, there would still be numerous occasions for the use of the past infinitive; as we may perceive by a few examples. "It would have made me happy to have found him wise and virtuous." "To have deferred his repentance longer, would have disqualified him from repenting at all." "They will then see, that to have faithfully performed their duty, would have been their greatest consolation."

RULE XIV.

Participles have the same government as the verbs have from which they are derived: as, "I am weary with bearing him; " She is instructing us;" "He was admonishing them."

1. Participles are sometimes governed by the article; for the present participle, with the definite article the before it, becomes a substantive, and must have the preposi