"
Three or more nouns, verbs, adjectives, participles, or adverbs,
connected by conjunctions, expressed or understood, must be separated by
commas; as, "The husband, wife,[11] and children,[12] suffered extremely;"
"In a letter, we may advise, exhort, comfort, request, and discuss;"
"David was a brave, wise, and pious man;" "A man, fearing, serving, and
loving his Creator, lives for a noble purpose;" "Success generally
depends on acting prudently, steadily, and vigorously, in what we
undertake."
[11] The correctness and importance of this rule appear to be so
obvious, as to render it not a little surprising, that any _writer_,
possessing the least degree of rhetorical taste, should reject it. I
am bold to affirm, that it is observed by every correct reader and
speaker; and yet, strange as it may seem, it is generally violated
by those printers who punctuate by the ear, and all others who are
influenced by their pernicious example; thus, "The head, the heart
and the hands, should be constantly and actively employed in doing
good." Why do they not omit the comma where the conjunction is
understood? It would be doing no greater violence to the principles
of elocution; thus, "The head the heart and the hands, should be,
&c.
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