A verb in the infinitive mood may be governed by a verb, noun,
adjective, participle, or pronoun; as, "_Cease_ to do evil;" "We all
have our _talent_ to be improved;" "She is _eager_ to learn;" "They are
_preparing_ to go;" "Let _him_ do it."
ILLUSTRATION. The supposed principle of _government_ referred to in this
rule, may be thus illustrated. In the sentence, "Cease to do evil," the
peculiar manner in which _cease_ is introduced, _requires_ or _compels_
us to put the verb _do_ in the infinitive mood; and, according to the
genius of our language, we cannot express this act of doing, when thus
connected with _cease_, in any other mood, unless we change the
construction of the sentence. Hence we say, that _cease_ governs the
mood of the verb _do_. Similar remarks may be applied to the words
_talent_, _eager_, _preparing_, and _him_, in the respective examples
under the rule.
Many respectable grammarians refer the government of this mood
invariably to the preposition _to_ prefixed, which word they do not, of
course, consider a part of the verb. Others contend, and with some
plausibility, that this mood is not governed by any particular word. If
we reject the idea of government, as applied to the verb in this mood,
the following rule, if substituted for the foregoing, might, perhaps,
answer all practical purposes.