ss. If its
function were generally appreciated, it might even now be saved.... If we
lose the Subjunctive Verb, it will certainly be a grievous impoverishment
to our literary language, were it only for its value in giving variation
to diction--and I make bold to assert that the writer who helps to keep it
up deserves public gratitude."--John Earle: English Prose, its Elements,
History, and Usage, p. 172.
[84] "The lecturer also put in a plea for more vitality in the teaching of
English, which ought to be made the gate to other languages. Many of the
difficult questions of Latin syntax might be examined in the field of
English, if only we were careful to treat our English critically. Whereas
most grammars cut the ground from under them by denying the existence of a
Subjunctive Mood. Until teachers recognize generally that, in such a
sentence as 'If he had done it, it had been better,' we have a Subjunctive
in both clauses, and a sentence essentially different from 'If he had
loved her before, he now adored her,' English must forfeit half its value,
both as a mental discipline and as a means of approach to Latin, Greek,
and German."--From a report of a Lecture by Prof. Sonnenschein, of the
Mason College, quoted in Earle's "English Prose," p. 55.
[85] In such sentences the indicative would be, according to modern usage,
correct, and it is more common.

EXAMPLES.--"Long _live_ the king!" "If thou _go_, see that thou _offend_
not." "It is better he _die_." "Though he _slay_ me, yet will I trust
him." "Unless he _behave_[86] better, he will be punished." "If I will that
he _tarry_ till I come, what is that to thee?" "Govern well thy appetite,
lest sin _surprise_ thee." "If my sister _saw_ this snake, she would be
frightened." "I wish I _knew_ where Charles is."

The perfect and pluperfect subjunctives are of course formed by means of
the subjunctive present and past tenses of "have."

3. Very often, instead of the simple subjunctive forms, we use auxiliary
verbs--_may_ (past, _might_) and _would_ or _should_--to express the
subjunctive idea. "May" ("might") is common as an equivalent for the
subjunctive mode in clauses denoting a purpose, a wish, a hope, or a fear:
as, "Bring him the book, that he _may read_ to us;" "_May_ he _rest_ in
peace;" "I hope you _may succeed_;" "They were afraid we _might lose_ the
way." "Would" and "should" are common substitutes for all tenses of the
subjunctive: as, "Walk carefully lest you (st