an enemy in wait?"
--_Id., ib._, B. iv, l. 825.

OBS. 35.--The formation of the third person singular of verbs, is _now_
precisely the same as that of the plural number of nouns: as, _love, loves;
show, shows; boast, boasts; fly, flies; reach, reaches_. This form began to
be used about the beginning of the sixteenth century. The ending seems once
to have been _es_, sounded as _s_ or _z_: as,

"And thus I see among these pleasant thynges
Eche care _decayes_, and yet my sorrow _sprynges_."--_Earl of Surry_.

"With throte yrent, he _roares_, he _lyeth_ along."--_Sir T. Wyat_.

"He _dyeth_, he is all dead, he _pantes_, he _restes_."--_Id._, 1540.

In all these instances, the _e_ before the _s_ has become improper. The
_es_ does not here form a syllable; neither does the _eth_, in "_lyeth_"
and "_dyeth_." In very ancient times, the third person singular appears to
have been formed by adding _th_ or _eth_ nearly as we now add _s_ or
_es_[252] Afterwards, as in our common Bible, it was formed by adding _th_
to verbs ending in _e_, and _eth_ to all others; as, "For he that _eateth_
and _drinketh_ unworthily, _eateth_ and _drinketh_ damnation to
himself."--_1 Cor._, xi, 29. "He _quickeneth_ man, who is dead in
trespasses and sins; he _keepeth_ alive the quickened soul, and _leadeth_
it in the paths of life; he _scattereth, subdueth_, and _conquereth_ the
enemies of the soul."--_I. Penington_. This method of inflection, as now
pronounced, always adds a syllable to the verb. It is entirely confined to
the solemn style, and is little used. _Doth, hath_, and _saith_, appear to
be permanent contractions of verbs thus formed. In the days of Shakspeare,
both terminations were common, and he often mixed them, in a way which is
not very proper now: as,

"The quality of mercy is not strained;
It _droppeth_, as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
It _blesseth_ him that _gives_, and him that _takes_."
--_Merchant of Venice_.

OBS. 36.--When the second person singular is employed in familiar
discourse, with any regard to correctness, it is usually formed in a manner
strictly analogous to that which is now adopted in the third person
singular. When the verb ends with a sound which will unite with that of
_st_ or _s_, the second person singular is formed by adding _s_ only, and
the third, by adding _s_ only; and the number of syllables is not
increased: