Omit “them” and “and,” which weaken the intensity of the passage.

The young and the old ... —The thoughts of the mourner turn from the massacre in the sanctuary to the slaughter which did its drea…

Here he relates, speaking as the Church, another calamity: that the young and the aged were lying prostrate in the streets. He includes children wi…

The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets Young men and old men, virgins and aged women; these promiscuously…

Causes for lamentation are described. Multitudes perished by famine. Even little children were slain by their mother's hands and eaten, according t…

Here, the author presents the universal nature of the punishment, and he does so in three parts.

1. He presents the punishment as common …