In the first sentence above, _to me_ tells to whom the place is endeared;
_by many associations_ tells how it is endeared to me, and is therefore
placed after to me. Try the effect of placing _to me_ last. Phrases, like
adjectives, may be of different rank.

Phrases are often transposed, or placed out of their natural order. Notice
that _to me_, in (_h_) above, is transposed, and thus made emphatic, and
that it is set off by the comma.

In (_i_), the phrase is loosely thrown in as if it were not essential, thus
making a break in the sentence. To make this apparent to the eye we set the
phrase off by the comma.

Place the phrase of (_i_) in three other positions, and set it off. When
the phrase is at the beginning or at the end of the sentence, how many
commas do you need to set it off? How many, when it is in the middle?

Do you find any choice in the four positions of this phrase? After having
been told that your answers were correct, would it be a disappointment to
be told that they were not all correct? Is the interest in a story best
kept up by first telling the important points and then the unimportant
particulars? What then do you think of placing this phrase at the end?

What does the last phrase of (_j_) modify? Take out the comma, and then see
whether there can be any doubt as to what the phrase modifies.

In the placing of adverbs and phrases great freedom is often allowable, and
the determining of their best possible position affords an almost unlimited
opportunity for the exercise of taste and judgment.