EXCEPTION I.—­COMPLEX NAMES.

When several words, in their common order, are used as one compound name, the comma is not inserted; as, “Dr. Samuel Johnson,”—­“Publius Gavius Cosanus.”

EXCEPTION II.—­CLOSE APPOSITION.

When a common and a proper name are closely united, the comma is not inserted; as, “The brook Kidron,”—­“The river Don,”—­“The empress Catharine,”—­“Paul the Apostle.”

EXCEPTION III.—­PRONOUN WITHOUT PAUSE.

When a pronoun is added to an other word merely for emphasis and distinction, the comma is not inserted; as, “Ye men of Athens,”—­“I myself,”—­“Thou flaming minister,”—­“You princes.”

EXCEPTION IV.—­NAMES ACQUIRED.

When a name acquired by some action or relation, is put in apposition with a preceding noun or pronoun, the comma is not inserted; as, “I made the ground my bed;”—­“To make him king;”—­“Whom they revered as God;”—­“With modesty thy guide.”—­Pope.

RULE VIII.—­ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives, when something depends on them, or when they have the import of a dependent clause, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma; as,

1. ----------------------------“Among the roots
Of hazel, pendent o’er the plaintive stream,
They frame the first foundation of their domes.”—­Thomson.

2. -------------------------“Up springs the lark,
Shrill-voic’d and loud, the messenger of morn.”—­Id.

EXCEPTION.—­ADJECTIVES RESTRICTIVE.

When an adjective immediately follows its noun, and is taken in a restrictive sense, the comma should not be used before it; as,

    ——­“And on the coast averse
    From entrance or cherubic watch.”—­Milton, P. L., B. ix, l. 68.

RULE IX.—­FINITE VERBS.

Where a finite verb is understood, a comma is generally required; as, “From law arises security; from security, curiosity; from curiosity, knowledge.”—­Murray.

   “Else all my prose and verse were much the same;
    This, prose on stilts; that, poetry fallen lame.”—­Pope.

EXCEPTION.—­VERY SLIGHT PAUSE.

As the semicolon must separate the clauses when the comma is inserted by this rule, if the pause for the omitted verb be very slight, it may be left unmarked, and the comma be used for the clauses; as, “When the profligate speaks of piety, the miser of generosity, the coward of valour, and the corrupt of integrity, they are only the more despised by those who know them.”—­Comstock’s Elocution, p. 132.

RULE X.—­INFINITIVES.

The infinitive mood, when it follows a verb from which it must be separated, or when it depends on something remote or understood, is generally, with its adjuncts, set off by the comma; as, “One of the greatest secrets in composition is, to know when to be simple.”—­Jamieson’s Rhet., p. 151.  “To confess the truth, I was much in fault.”—­Murray’s Gram., p. 271.