How to parse. ...

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111N TS ON

[Par. 299-301 -

the same grammatical adjunct, all but the last are
followed by a Comma.(1) "John, Thomas, and Uenryi came."
(2) " I saw John, Thoinas, and Henry."
(3) "l~e was dutifri, kind, and brave."
(4) "He is acting wiselq, justl, and mercifully."
(5) "She loved, honored, and obeyed her husband."
299 But, if words are in pairs, then each pair (even
the last) is followed by a Comma:(6) " To carp and to criticize, to slander and to rebuke,
to warn and to discourage, are very different
actions."
300 But sometimes, where " and " is repeated between a
number of Co-ordlinate Nouns, the writer may regard them
(It) as a mere list of names, all of one kind, requiring rapid
enumeration, and therefore may omit the comma, or (2) as
expressing different notions, and may therefore insert
commas. Com pare -
(7) "Havoc and spoil and ruin are my gain." - P. L. ii. 109.
18) "Where all is cliff, and copse, and sky." 2 -SCOtt.
No doubt the omission of the comma here, as in Par..306,
is nore easy bef-ore the Verb, when the reader is hurrying on
to the Verb, than af ter the Verb, where pauses are more
natural.
31V. A Noun used Vocatively or Appellatively,
must necessarily have no grammatical adjuncts,
1The reason is that in this case "land " Is not inserted before the
last pair. Hence then terniinationi is someht abrupt; and], after
an enunmerationi of the pirs, the reader requires a pause, as though
to insert " tbe'e ": " - (these) are very different actions."
2 Quoted by AMitner.