The sentence meaning

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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Wahtwadu
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The sentence meaning

Post by Wahtwadu »

This is a sentence from a SAT reading article: Passing by, in this place, the advantages to the community from the early attachment of youth to the laws and constitution of their country, I shall only remark, that young men who have trodden the paths of science together, generally feel such ties to each other.

Here is my question, how to understand the meaning of "Passing by, in this place, advantages to the community from the early attachment of youth to the laws and constitution of their country", and what is the grammatical structure of this sentence.

Thanks!
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Alan
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Re: The sentence meaning

Post by Alan »

From a grammatical viewpoint, 'passing (by)' here introduces a participle phrase modifying the sentence subject 'I'.

As for its meaning, it appears to some kind of unusual metaphor...
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