ing worse
than an idle whim. And why should the formation of the third person be
called _irregular_ when it requires _es_, as in _flies, denies_, _goes,
vetoes, wishes, preaches_, and so forth? In forming _flies_ from _fly_,
Butler changes "_y_ into _ie_," on page 20th, adding _s_ only; and, on page
11th, "into _i_" only, adding _es_. Uniformity would be better.

[255] Cooper says, "The termination _eth_ is _commonly_ contracted into
_th_, to prevent the addition of a syllable to the verb, as: _doeth_,
_doth_."--_Plain and Practical Gram._, p. 59. This, with reference to
modern usage, is plainly erroneous. For, when _s_ or _es_ was substituted
for _th_ or _eth_, and the familiar use of the latter ceased, this mode of
inflecting the verb without increasing its syllables, ceased also, or at
least became unusual. It appears that the inflecting of verbs with _th_
without a vowel, as well as with _st_ without a vowel, was more common in
very ancient times than subsequently. Our grammarians of the last century
seem to have been more willing to _encumber_ the language with syllabic
endings, than to _simplify_ it by avoiding them. See Observations, 21st,
22d, and 23d, above.

[256] These are what William Ward, in his Practical Grammar, written about
1765, denominated "the CAPITAL FORMS, or ROOTS, of the English Verb." Their
number too is the same. "And these Roots," says he, "are considered as
_Four_ in each verb; although in many verbs two of them are alike, and in
some few three are alike."--P. 50. Few modern grammarians have been careful
to display these Chief Terms, or Principal Parts, properly. Many say
nothing about them. Some speak of _three_, and name them faultily. Thus
Wells: "The three _principal parts_ of a verb are the _present tense_, the
_past tense_, and the _perfect participle_."--_School Gram._, 113th Ed., p.
92. Now a whole "_tense_" is something more than one verbal form, and
Wells's "perfect participle" includes the auxiliary "_having_." Hence, in
stead of _write, wrote, writing, written_, (the true principal parts of a
certain verb,) one might take, under Wells's description, either of these
threes, both entirely false: _am writing, did write_, and _having written_;
or, _do write, wrotest_, and _having written_. But _writing_, being the
root of the "Progressive Form of the Verb," is far more worthy to be here
counted a chief term, than _wrote_, the preterit, which occurs only in one
tense, and never receiv