So every bondman in his own hand bears
The power to cancel his captivity.
And as the greatest only are,
In his simplicity sublime.
Note that “only” modifies “greatest,” and hence should be separated from “are.” If the sentence were prose, it would read, “And as only the greatest are,” in which case there would be no difficulty in the reading. As it is, we must bring out the relation by careful grouping.
The first object of a free people is the preservation of their liberty; and liberty is only to be preserved by maintaining constitutional restraints and just divisions of political power.
Soon after William H. Harrison’s nomination, a writer in one of the leading administration papers spoke of his “log cabin” and his use of “hard cider,” by way of sneer and reproach....
It did not happen to me to be born in a log cabin, but my elder brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin, raised amid the snowdrifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early that, when the smoke rose from its rude chimney and curled over the frozen hills, there was no similar evidence of a white man’s habitation between it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada.
The following example is an excellent one to illustrate the necessity of paying careful attention to grouping:
Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit