The times., 1900-12-31
WILL AND SHALL.
The Use of Words That Are FIRE.
qucntIy MisappIied.
(From the Ncw Ynrk Trihlne


A reader of the Tribune" calls our at
tention TO a recent article in which 'wilI''
was wrongly used for shall We are
obliged to him, and regret the error but
its occurrence even in our own columns is
not a miracle. The most careful SUPER
vision cannot always save a newspaper
necessarily made in haste. from mistakes
which anybody may deteCl at leisure. and
which are pretty sure To catch the o'iitOr's s
eye and vex his soul when he sees the
printed sheet Moreover. the so-cdiled
English auXiliaries set many traps into
which the unwary are likely TO fall. and
which unhappily a multitude OF highly in
telligent persons are utterly unable to
avoid. A Yale professor. who, Of course.
had excellent opportunities 10 observe the
linguistic habits Of young men brought Up
in all parts of the country, was wont to
say that nobody born west OF The Hudso on
River could distinguish the difference be-
tween "wilr' and shall" and that in cor. Z
sequence a large majority OF the people of
the United States used those words with
out discrimination, not knowing, or, he
was sorry to say, much caring whether
they were accidentally right or wrong. He
expected that before long the distinction
would be wholly lost. being convinced that
there was no way to avert what he
deemed a great misfortune. Doubtless his
geographical Limitation was too strict, but
his apprehension was not foolish. 1t has
been shared by many OBJ servers, including
Richard Grant White, arA since his time
the tendency which he deplored has stead
lily increased
1t should be said however. that incom-
petence TO distinguish between will and
SHALL" and. of course, between would
and should" which are far more trouble
some to those whose auxiliary sense. II
we may employ that definition. is de
ficient is a cause for pity rather than for
reproach. 1t seems to be a question of in
tuition unconsciously derived from early
associations, no rule that we have ever
seen being clear, complete, and insSliible.
We are confident that thousands of i'll
educated New Englanders go through life
without ever making r:lissaNe in the use
of those ,..,fis or knowing WY they use
them correctly, or indeed giving the SUD
iect a moments thought; and that iar
larger number of Americans having an
admirable command of the vernacular are
habitually right or wrong, as the case
may be- by mere chance, being incapable
of determining in advance which word
should be chosen or Of judging afterward
whether their choice was proper or i'm
proper.
With the lapse of years the English
language has had many irEso.ne snackles
stricken off and 1t makes noble use OF
it's growing freedom. But we cannot tmnk
that it's auxiliary verbs establiSh re-
straints which need to be removed. In our
view they are. on the contrary, exquisite
" adapted, If not absolutely eSserunI. to
the purpose of expressing delicate shades
of meaning which may, indeed. be gath-
cred from the context without them, put
which. nevertheless may fairly claim to be
made visible in writing and audible IN
speech Yet we, too, fear tGat the as
tinctions which these words Stii preserve
to the consciousness of many are q, o~iI'r'' ~
to disappear, and that IN me not Histaie i
future some unworthy innerit1rs OF their
nother tongue will even have tie aCdacity
10 shout In triumph, I'VE iniNed in0se
children UP and not a creature knew II!