MY father took a single turn across the room, then sat down, and
finished the chapter.
The verbs auxiliary we are concerned in here, continued my father, are,
_am; was; have; had; do; did; make; made; suffer; shall; should; will;
would; can; could; owe; ought; used;_ or _is wont._—And these varied
with tenses, _present, past, future_, and _conjugated_ with the verb
_see_,—or with these questions added to them;—_Is it? Was it? Will it
be? Would it be? May it be? Might it be?_ And these again put
negatively, _Is it not? Was it not? Ought it not?_—Or
affirmatively,—_It is; It was; It ought to be._ Or
chronologically,—_Has it been always? Lately? How long ago?_—Or
hypothetically,—_If it was? If it was not?_ What would follow?—If the
_French_ should beat the _English?_ If the _Sun_ go out of the
_Zodiac?_
Now, by the right use and application of these, continued my father, in
which a child’s memory should be exercised, there is no one idea can
enter his brain, how barren soever, but a magazine of conceptions and
conclusions may be drawn forth from it.——Didst thou ever see a white
bear? cried my father, turning his head round to _Trim_, who stood at
the back of his chair:—No, an’ please your honour, replied the
corporal.——But thou couldst discourse about one, _Trim_, said my
father, in case of need?——How is it possible, brother, quoth my uncle
_Toby_, if the corporal never saw one?——’Tis the fact I want, replied
my father,—and the possibility of it is as follows.
A WHITE BEAR! Very well. Have I ever seen one? Might I ever have seen
one? Am I ever to see one? Ought I ever to have seen one? Or can I ever
see one?