Note.—The Gerund is simply the dative case of the Infinitive after tō. It began very early to supplant the simple Infinitive; hence the use of to with the Infinitive in Mn.E. As late as the Elizabethan age the Gerund sometimes replaced the Infinitive even after the auxiliary verbs:
“Some pagan shore,
Where these two Christian armies might combine
The blood of malice in a vein of league,
And not to spend it so unneighbourly.”
—King John, V, ii, 39.
Note.—The Gerund is simply the When to lost the meaning of purpose and came to be considered as a merely formal prefix, for was used to supplement the purpose element: What went ye out for to see?[9]
[1.] Lounsbury, English Language, Part II, § 241.
[2.] Usage sanctions mood, but the better spelling would be mode. It is from the Lat. modus, whereas mood (= temper) is O.E. mōd.
[3.] Gildersleeve’s Latin Grammar, § 255.