the danger of confusing what the writer says with what others
say.

"We might say that the Caesars did not persecute the Christians;
(_that_) they only punished men who were charged, rightly or wrongly,
with burning Rome, and committing the foulest abominations in secret
assemblies; and (_that_) the refusal to throw frankincense on the
altar of Jupiter was not the crime, but only evidence of the crime."
But see (6 _b_).

*37 a. Repeat Verbs after the conjunctions "than," "as," &c.*

"I think he likes me better _than_ you;" _i.e._ either "than you like
me," or "he likes you."

"Cardinal Richelieu hated Buckingham as sincerely as _did_ the
Spaniard Olivares." Omit "did," and you cause ambiguity.

*38. If the sentence is so long that it is difficult to keep the
thread of meaning unbroken, repeat the subject, or some other emphatic
word, or a summary of what has been said.*

"Gold and cotton, banks and railways, crowded ports, and populous
cities--_these_ are not the elements that constitute a great nation."

This repetition (though useful and, when used in moderation, not
unpleasant) is more common with speakers than with writers, and with
slovenly speakers than with good speakers.

"The country is in such a condition, that if we delay longer some fair
measure of reform, sufficient at least to satisfy the more moderate,
and much more, if we refuse all reform whatsoever--I say, if _we adopt
so unwise a policy, the country is in such a condition_ that we may
precipitate a revolution."

Where the relative is either implied (in a participle) or repeated,
the antecedent must often be repeated also. In the following sentence
we have the Subject repeated not only in the final summary, but also
as the antecedent:--

"But if there were, in any part of the world, a national church
regarded as heretical by four-fifths of the nation committed to its
care; a _church_ established and maintained by the sword; a _church_
producing twice as many riots as conversions; a _church_ which, though
possessing great wealth and power, and though long backed by
persecuting laws, had, in the course of many generations, been found
unable to propagate its doctrines, and barely able to maintain its
ground; a _church_ so odious that fraud and violence, when used
against its clear rights of property, were generally regarded as fair
play; a _church_ whose ministers were preaching to desolate walls, and
with difficulty obtaining their lawful s