Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/783

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before the verb; as, "Confession of sin without amendment, obtains no pardon."—Dillwyn's Reflections, p. 6. "To be totally indifferent to praise or censure, is a real defect in character."—Murray's Gram., p. 268.

"O that the tenor of my just complaint,^[1]
Were sculpt with steel in rocks of adamant!"—Sandys.

RULE II.—SIMPLE MEMBERS.

The simple members of a compound sentence, whether successive or involved, elliptical or complete, are generally divided by the comma; as,

"Here stand we both, and aim we at the best."—Shak.
"I, that did never weep, now melt in woe."—Id.
"Tide life, tide death, I come without delay."—Id.
"I am their mother, who shall bar me from them?"—Id.
"How wretched, were I mortal, were my state!"—Pope.
"Go; while thou mayst, avoid the dreadful fate."—Id.
"Grief aids disease, remember'd folly stings,
And his last sighs reproach the faith of kings."—Johnson.

EXCEPTION I.—RESTRICTIVE RELATIVES.

When a relative immediately follows its antecedent, and is taken in a restrictive sense, the comma should not be introduced before it; as, "For the things which are seen, are temporal; but the things which are not seen, are eternal."—2 Cor., iv, 18. "A letter is a character that expresses a sound without any meaning."—St. Quentin's General Gram., p.3.

EXCEPTION II.—SHORT TERMS CLOSELY CONNECTED.

When the simple members are short, and closely connected by a conjunction or a conjunctive adverb, the comma is generally omitted; as, "Honest poverty is better than wealthy fraud."—Dillwyn's Ref., p. 11. "Let him tell me whether the number of the stars be even or odd."—Taylor: Joh. Dict., w. Even. "It is impossible that our knowledge of words should outstrip our knowledge of things."—CAMPBELL: Murray's Gram., p 359.

EXCEPTION III.—ELLIPTICAL MEMBERS UNITED.

When two simple members are immediately united, through ellipsis of the relative, the antecedent, or the conjunction that, the comma is not inserted; as, "Make an experiment on the first man you meet."—Berkley's Alciphron, p. 125. "Our philosophers do infinitely despise and pity whoever shall propose or accept any other motive to virtue."—Ib., p. 126. "It is certain we imagine before we reflect."—Ib., p. 359.

"The same good sense that makes a man excel,
Still makes him doubt he ne'er has written well."—Young.

RULE III.—MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

When more than two words or terms are connected in the same construction, or in a joint dependence on some other term, by conjunctions expressed or understood, the comma should be inserted after every one of them but the last; and, if they are nominatives before a verb, the comma should follow the last also:^[2] as,

"Who, to the enraptur'd heart, and ear, and eye,
Teach beauty, virtue, truth, and love, and melody."—Beattie.

↑ [461] In regard to the admission of a comma before the verb, by the foregoing exception, neither the practice of authors nor the doctrine of punctuators is entirely uniform; but, where a considerable pause is, and must be, made in the reading, I judge it not only allowable, but necessary, to mark it in writing. In W. Day's "Punctuation Reduced to a System," a work of no inconsiderable merit, this principle is disallowed; and even when the adjunct of the nominative is a relative clause, which, by Rule 2d below and its first exception, requires a comma after it but none before it, this author excludes both, putting no comma before the principal verb. The following is an example: "But it frequently happens, that punctuation is not made a prominent exercise in schools; and the brief manner in which the subject is there dismissed has proved insufficient to impress upon the minds of youth a due sense of its importance."—Day's Punctuation, p. 32. A pupil of mine would here have put a comma after the word dismissed. So, in the following examples, after sake, and after dispenses: "The vanity that would accept power for its own sake is the pettiest of human passions."—Ib., p. 75. "The generous delight of beholding the happiness he dispenses is the highest enjoyment of man."—Ib., p, 100.
↑ [462] When several nominatives are connected, some authors and printers put the comma only where the conjunction is omitted. W. Day separates them all, one from an other; but after the last, when this is singular before a plural verb, he inserts no point. Example: "Imagination is one of the principal ingredients which enter into the complex idea of genius; but judgment, memory, understanding, enthusiasm, and sensibility are also included."—Day's Punctuation, p. 52. If the points are to be put where the pauses naturally occur, here should be a comma after sensibility; and, if I mistake not, it would be more consonant with current usage to set one there. John Wilson, however, in a later work, which is for the most part a very good one, prefers the doctrine of Day, as in the following instance: "Reputation, virtue, and happiness depend greatly on the choice of companions."—Wilson's Treatise on Punctuation, p. 30.

[1] [461] In regard to the admission of a comma before the verb, by the foregoing exception, neither the practice of authors nor the doctrine of punctuators is entirely uniform; but, where a considerable pause is, and must be, made in the reading, I judge it not only allowable, but necessary, to mark it in writing. In W. Day's "Punctuation Reduced to a System," a work of no inconsiderable merit, this principle is disallowed; and even when the adjunct of the nominative is a relative clause, which, by Rule 2d below and its first exception, requires a comma after it but none before it, this author excludes both, putting no comma before the principal verb. The following is an example: "But it frequently happens, that punctuation is not made a prominent exercise in schools; and the brief manner in which the subject is there dismissed has proved insufficient to impress upon the minds of youth a due sense of its importance."—Day's Punctuation, p. 32. A pupil of mine would here have put a comma after the word dismissed. So, in the following examples, after sake, and after dispenses: "The vanity that would accept power for its own sake is the pettiest of human passions."—Ib., p. 75. "The generous delight of beholding the happiness he dispenses is the highest enjoyment of man."—Ib., p, 100.

[2] [462] When several nominatives are connected, some authors and printers put the comma only where the conjunction is omitted. W. Day separates them all, one from an other; but after the last, when this is singular before a plural verb, he inserts no point. Example: "Imagination is one of the principal ingredients which enter into the complex idea of genius; but judgment, memory, understanding, enthusiasm, and sensibility are also included."—Day's Punctuation, p. 52. If the points are to be put where the pauses naturally occur, here should be a comma after sensibility; and, if I mistake not, it would be more consonant with current usage to set one there. John Wilson, however, in a later work, which is for the most part a very good one, prefers the doctrine of Day, as in the following instance: "Reputation, virtue, and happiness depend greatly on the choice of companions."—Wilson's Treatise on Punctuation, p. 30.

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