will have
been. POT. Thou may, can, _or_ must be; Thou might, could, would, _or_
should be; Thou may, can, _or_ must have been; Thou might, could, would,
_or_ should have been. SUBJ. If thou be, If thou were. IMP. Be [thou,] _or_
Do thou be.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--It appears that _be_, as well as _am_, was formerly used for the
indicative present: as, "I be, Thou beest, He be; We be, Ye be, They be."
See _Brightland's Gram._, p. 114. Dr. Lowth, whose Grammar is still
preferred at Harvard University, gives both forms, thus: "I am, Thou art,
He is; We are, Ye are, They are. Or, I be, Thou beest, He _is_; We be, Ye
be, They be." To the third person singular, he subjoins the following
example and remark: "'I think it _be_ thine indeed, for thou liest in it.'
Shak. Hamlet. _Be_, in the singular number of this time and mode,
especially in the third person, is obsolete; and _is become_ somewhat
antiquated _in the plural_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 36. Dr. Johnson gives
this tense thus: "_Sing_. I am; thou art; he is; _Plur_. We are, _or_ be;
ye are, _or_ be; they are, _or_ be." And adds, "The plural _be_ is now
little in use."--_Gram. in Johnson's Dict._, p. 8. The Bible commonly has
_am, art, is_, and _are_, but not always; the indicative _be_ occurs in
some places: as, "We _be_ twelve brethren."--_Gen._, xlii, 32. "What _be_
these two olive branches?"--_Zech._, iv, 12. Some traces of this usage
still occur in poetry: as,

"There _be_ more things to greet the heart and eyes
In Arno's dome of Art's most princely shrine,
Where Sculpture with her rainbow sister vies;
There _be_ more marvels yet--but not for mine."
--_Byron's Childe Harold_, Canto iv, st. 61.

OBS. 2.--Respecting the verb _wert_, it is not easy to determine whether it
is most properly of the indicative mood only, or of the subjunctive mood
only, or of both, or of neither. The _regular_ and _analogical_ form for
the indicative, is "Thou _wast_;" and for the subjunctive, "If thou
_were_." Brightland exhibits, "I _was_ or _were_, Thou _wast_ or _wert_, He
_was_ or _were_," without distinction of mood, for the three persons
singular; and, for the plural, _were_ only. Dr. Johnson gives us, for the
indicative, "Thou wast, _or_ wert;" with the remark, "_Wert_ is properly of
the _conjunctive_ mood, and ought not to be used in the
indicative."--_Johnson's Gram._, p. 8. In his conjunctive (or subjunctive)
mood, he has, "Thou _beest_," and "Thou