Philosophical Works, v. 1 · David Hume
SCOTTICISMS.
_Will_, in the first person, as _I will walk_, _we will walk_, expresses the intention or resolution of the person, along with the future event: In the second and third person, as, _you will_, _he will_, _they will_, it expresses the future action or event, without comprehending or excluding the volition. _Shall_, in the first person, whether singular or plural, expresses the future action or event, without excluding or comprehending the intention or resolution: But in the _second_ or _third_ person, it marks a necessity, and commonly a necessity proceeding from the person who speaks; as, _he shall walk_, _you shall repent it_. These variations seem to have proceeded from a politeness in the _English_, who, in speaking to others, or of others, made use of the term _will_, which implies volition, even where the event may be the subject of necessity and constraint. And in speaking of themselves, made use of the term _shall_, which implies constraint, even though the event may be the object of choice. _Wou'd_ and _shou'd_ are conjunctive moods, subject to the same rule; only, we may observe, that in a sentence, where there is a condition exprest, and a consequence of that condition, the former always requires _shou'd_, and the latter _wou'd_, in the second and third persons; as, _if he shou'd fall, he wou'd break his leg_, &c.
_These_ is the plural of _this_; _those of that_. The former, therefore, expresses what is near: the latter, what is more remote. As, in these lines of the Duke of Buckingham, "Philosophers and poets vainly strove, In every age, the lumpish mass to move. But THOSE were pedants if compared with THESE, Who knew not only to instruct, but please." Where a relative is to follow, and the subject has not been mentioned immediately before, _those_ is always required. _Those observations which he made_. _Those kingdoms which Alexander conquered_. In the verbs, which end in _t_, or _te_, we frequently omit _ed_ in the preterperfect and in the participle; as, _he operate_, _it was cultivate_. _Milton_ says, _in thought more elevate_; but he is the only author who uses that expression. _Notice_ shou'd not be used as a verb. The proper phrase is _take notice_. Yet I find Lord Shaftesbury uses _notic'd_, the participle: And _unnotic'd_ is very common. _Hinder to do_, is _Scotch_. The _English_ phrase is, _hinder from doing_. Yet _Milton_ says, _Hindered not Satan to pervert the mind_. Book IX.
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