Mary shan't come to hear any more of your reasoning, I promise
you. ib., II, 2.

But out hunting, if you can sit upon your horse, no one shall
GOOD WORDS.
know that you are not as good as another.

And if you will but lend me your gown, There is none shall know
us in fair London town. OLD BALLAD.

If you look through history, you shall find that it has always been
So. ALF., THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH, § 319.

There is hardly a town in France or Italy in which you shall not
swindling inn-land-
see some noble countryman of your own
lords. VAN. FAIR, II, CH. I, 9.

The use of shall as in the above quotations has given rise to much
comment. Thus about the following quotation from ADDISON:
There is not a girl in town but let her have her will in going to a
mask, and she shall dress like a shepherdess, BAIN (H. E. Gr.)
observes that "as nobody compels her to dress that way, will
should be used in this case."

STOFFEL (TAALST., III, 171) gives it as his opinion that shall in
this sentence may have been used archaically to denote inevitable
futurity which it often does in Shakespeare, or that ADDISON'S
dictum may be considered as a burlesque prophecy.
DEAN ALFORD's explanation would have run differently. Commenting
on the use of shall in If you look through history, you shall find
that it has always been so, he observes: "The account of it seems
to be that the speaker feels as perfect a certainty of the result,
as if it were not contingent, but dependent only on his absolute
command."

3) the expression of a determination.

D. HEYL.

One more cast of the line, and that shall be the last.
No, no madam, you shall throw away no more sums on such
unmeaning luxury. SCHOOL FOR SCAND., II, 1.

I will alter this: this shall be altered, were there ten Mrs. Yorkes
to do battle with. SHIRL., II, CH. XVI, 329.
Well, if they have concealed their amour, they shan't conceal their
wedding; that shall be public, I am resolved. GOOD-NAT. MAN, II.
Martin and Mark sat looking at the people as they passed, debating
every now and then what their first step should be. CHUZ.,
CH. XXXV, 279a.

4) the expression of a desire.

Moses shall give me further instructions as we go together. SCHOOL
FOR SCAND., III,

1.

For ye shall know that, though we worshipped God | And heard mass duly, still of Swithiod | The Greater, Odin and his house of gold The noble stories ceased not to be told. EARTHLY PAR. PROL, 4a.

5) the expression of a solicitude.

I was obliged to confess that Miss Mowcher and I were wholly
unacquainted. "Then you shall know her," said Steerforth. Cop.,
CH. XXII, 1626.

I'll answer for it the next batch shall be as good. SIL. MARN.,
CH. XI, 86.

"I should like to know your cousins"

CH. V, 48.

"You shall." ALL SORTS,

b) The acting power is the will of the person spoken to: shall in the 1st and 3rd persons, naturally only in interrogative sentences. Sir, there is a gentleman below desires to see you; shall I show him into the parlour? Riv., I, 2.

Come ladies, shall we sit down to cards in the next room? SCHOOL
FOR SCAND., II, 2.
"Nothing shall be changed in your room," he said "it is always
your room it is always my sister's. Shall it not be so,
Laura?" PEND., II, CH. XX, 219.

Ned was delighted and cried out "A hedgehog, a hedgehog!"
Then he said "Shall my dog kill it?" OLD CHAP.

c) The acting power is the will of a person other than either the speaker or the person spoken to; shall in the 2nd and 3rd persons. We may distinguish the following powers:

1) the Supreme Being, or some Higher Power.

A flower produces thousands of seeds, of which perhaps not one shall fall upon fertile ground and grow into a fair plant. ST. KATH., PREF.

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. MATTH., II. 4.

I offer you ideals for your homage: There is Truth for your Mistress to whose exaltation you shall devote your intellect; here is Freedom for your General, for whose triumph you shall fight [etc.]. ANN. BES., AUTOB., 160.

Note. It is clear that shall must be frequently met with in the language of prophecy.

Fear not Macbeth, no man that's born of woman Shall e'er have power on thee. MACB. V, 3, 6.

The day of the great deliverance is at hand. Islam shall no longer obey the dogs of Christians. TENTS OF SHEM, CH. XVIII.

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid. ISAIAH, XI, 6.

Vain transitory splendours! could not all | Reprieve the tottering
mansion from its fall? | Obscure it sinks, nor shall it more
impart An hour's importance to the poor man's heart. |
Thither no more the peasant shall repair, | To sweet oblivion of
DES. VILL. 1. 237-252.
his daily care; etc.

Note. Some grammarians consider shall as used in the language
of prophecy (the 'prophetic' shall), as a mere tense-sign, arguing
that it must be looked upon as a survival of Wycliffe's practice
of using shall throughout as the auxiliary of the future tense.
MOLLOY, CH. II, § 1; CH. IX.

2) some law of nature.

Give the dull black wax the same ridges and furrows (as those of
mother-of-pearl), and its glory shall differ in nothing from that
of the shell. ANN. BES., AUTOB.

So surely as from the sown corn rises the wheat-ear, so from the
sowing of misery, filth and starvation shall arise crime. ib., 167.

Note. Sentences with this shall often have the character of
proverbs.

Such seed as a man has sowed, such harvest shall he reap.

He that spends without regard shall want without pity.

He that stays in the valley shall never get over the hill.

He that touches pitch shall be defiled.

Note. SHAKESPEARE (MUCH ADO, III, 3, 60), has: He that touches
pitch will be defiled.

3) some enactment.

When any person is sick, notice shall be given thereof to the Minister
of the Parish; who coming into the house shall say: "Peace be
to this house and to all that dwell in it." BOOK OF COMM. PRAY.
On and after the appointed day there shall be in Ireland a Legislature
consisting of Her Majesty the Queen, and of two houses, the
Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. HOME-RULE
BILL, PART I, 1.

4) Chance, superior strength, or anything which decides the issue of a contest, wager, etc.

Let our future contest be who shall be most obliging. SCHOOL FOR
SCAND., III, 1.

POUTSMA, A Grammar of Late Modern English. I.

4

H

The boys and girls strive who shall come first when they think it is I that am knocking. STEELE.

They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but
cast lots for it, whose it shall be. JOHN., XIX, 24.

The guests then draw lots as to who shall begin. DOBSON, ENGL.
LIT., 37.

5) some quality of a substance, state or action. Thus in What France appears to want is a stable system of Government which shall secure something like coherence and thoroughness in the ordinary administration of national affairs (GRAPH.), shall is used because the underlying idea of it is: Stability in the system of government will cause France to secure something like coherence, etc.

An analogous explanation may be given of the use of shall in the following quotations:

Mr. Jarndyce, being aware of the desolate position of our young friend, offers to place her at a first-rate establishment, where her education shall be completed, where her comfort shall be secured, where her reasonable wants shall be anticipated, where she shall be eminently qualified to discharge her duty in that station of life in which it has pleased Providence to call her. BL. HOUSE, CH. III, 13. I wish to publish a book that shall create a stir and make me famous. SORR. OF SAT.,

The Change I mean is an amalgamation with the Infirmary, so that the Hospital shall be regarded as a special addition to the elder institution. MID., CH. LXVII, 506.

I have placed the money out of the reach of Robert Gates, and placed it so that it shall be a blessing to his family at his death. SAM. TITM., CH. VI, 61.

Pickle the baker has known how to hide himself and his pony behind a bank, so that even Nimrod shall not see him. GOOD WORDS. Like the majority of young men he wanted an occupation which should be free from disagreeables. MID., CH. LVI, 419.

If we had taken a fancy for the terrible, we should easily have constructed a tale of thrilling interest, through the fiery chapters of which the reader should hurry, panting. VAN. FAIR, I, CH. V, 53.

Note. The nature of this kind of sentences is not always distinctly understood, at least we often meet with instances in which will as an auxiliary of tense is used for shall.

I don't want to possess a faith, I want a faith which will possess me. HYP., CH. XVII, 85a.

as loyal as the population of your town (Birmingham), and I will be no party to a measure which will thrust them from the generosity and justice of the United and Imperial Parliament. GRAPH.

At least two millions of them (Irishmen) are

41. The meaning of shall is frequently announced by some word or expression, in which case we find it largely alternating with forms of the subjunctive mood. The latter are, however, chiefly confined to the higher literary style. For details about the alternating of shall with the subjunctive see a subsequent chapter.

The words and expressions announcing the meaning of shall may be grouped as follows:

a) such as denote a command, an enactment, a decree. MOLLOY, CH. IV, § 2, 41.

The Duke of Connaught has ordered that all bands shall cease playing
when passing restive horses on a public road. ILL. LOND. NEWS.
On the representation of their medical officer, the guardians give
instructions that drains shall be enlarged, and that new sewers shall
be made. Esc., ENGL., CH. IV, 47.

There is a regulation, by no means invariably observed, that relief
shall be withheld entirely when the accident is the result of vicious
ib.. CH. II, 14.
or preventible causes.

It is provided in the constitution of the United States, that no
qualification as to property shall be required in candidates for
seats either in the House of Representatives or in the Senate. GRAPH.
He gave orders that all should be in readiness for passing the river
CLIVE, 518a.
on the morrow.

is

In the following sentences the use of shall may be explained by
some such word,
assuming that the verb to enact, or
understood.

There will be a proposal from the Reactionary Councillors that
Aldermen shall be invested and robed with a chain. PUNCH.
He proposes that, in estimating the compensation to be paid for
land acquired by compulsory purchase, the increase of value thus
given to adjoining or neighbouring lands belonging to the same
owner shall be taken into consideration. TIMES.

b) such as express a threat, promise or vow.

The infuriated king threatens that all the rebels shall be shot.
I promise that one way or other you shall read the name of George
Osborne in the Gazette. VAN. FAIR, I, CH. XXI, 218.

We pledge ourselves that our future actions shall be in accordance

with our vows.

H. E. GR., 170.

4*