In the production as presented to the reader, then, the theme may be either expressed or implicit. When expressed, it ordinarily takes a somewhat expanded form, which is by some called the proposition, by others the status. There is no need of separating in idea, as some do, the status or proposition from the theme; it is the theme merely put in a form suitable for public expression.

ILLUSTRATIONS. - 1. The example quoted above from Dr. Bushnell appears both in theme and proposition; the former as a title, the latter as an affirmation. Observe that the latter statement is more extended, though not less carefully expressed.

2. In Herbert Spencer's essay on "The Social Organism," the theme is expressed, in popular form. Compared with the working-idea, as deducible from the study of the essay, it presents an equivalent thought, being merely the nucleus of the essay condensed to a single proposition.

Working-Idea: ANALOGY BETWEEN THE BODY POLITIC AND LIVING BODILY

ORGANISMS.

Expressed Theme or Status: "That under all its aspects and through all its ramifications, society is a growth and not a manufacture.”

This merely puts the definition of organism in the place of the word, and presents it in connection with its contrasted idea.

3. In Macaulay's essay on "History," the theme is implicit; but, though nowhere brought to the definite form of an expressed proposition, the writer's idea and purpose are apparent throughout, conditioning every part. The theme may be stated thus:

THE ART OF HISTORICAL COMPOSITION: WHAT IT HAS BEEN AND IS, AND WHAT IT SHOULD BE.

As to the manner of expressing the theme, the following directions are of importance.

1. The leading aim in determining its expression is exactness: that is, every word should be so accurately weighed, so sharply defined, and its relations so closely discriminated, that it may safely stand as the beginning of a vista of thought in the plan of the discourse. This is necessitated by the ideal of involving in the nucleus what is to be evolved in the completed production.

EXAMPLE OF REGARD FOR ACCURACY. - In an essay on "The Study of Mathematics as an Exercise of Mind," Sir William Hamilton thus defines his

theme, emphasizing by italics and small capitals the fact that it should be worded just so and not otherwise:

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'The question does not regard the value of mathematical SCIENCE considered in itself, or in its objective results, but the utility of mathematical STUDY, that is, in its subjective effect, as an exercise of mind."

What is here indicated by the somewhat excessive use of printers' devices is merely what a writer of clear and careful mind will determine for himself: his accuracy will be real, if not so apparent.

2. A second aim is what may be called suggestiveness: that is, words and phraseology should be so chosen that every main relation of the thought may be provided for, and that no smallest feature of the theme may lack significance. The ideal that the theme be exactly commensurate with the subject-matter, neither too broad nor too narrow dictates that every word of the theme have its meaning, and every main element in the scope of the production its nucleus.

EXAMPLES. It may be well to illustrate this, perhaps, by an example that would seem, if any, to be careless of such a requisite, being an informal and popular production,- Lowell's essay "On a Certain Condescension in Foreigners." The first word of the title, "On," indicates, as to the manner of treatment, that the writer promises merely remarks, discursive or casual, but not necessarily exhaustive of the subject, or scientifically ordered. Then, " a certain condescension " implies not the spirit of condescension in general, but a particular manifestation of it, which it is the business of the essay to define and illustrate. Thus the title, though not containing more than a promise of the working-idea, suggests exactly, as far as it goes, the actual scope and treatment of the subject.

A certain clergyman's study of the text, John vii. 17, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine," revealed the important fact that in the original Greek the verb translated "will do" is not a simple future but indicates volition; which fact he judged should be suggested in the expression of his working-idea; so he adopted as his theme the sentence, rather strikingly aphoristic, "Will to do is wit to know."

3. A third aim in properly expressing the theme is brevity. It is of advantage to employ the briefest and crispest expression possible, because this favors unity of idea and subordination of parts. A word may stand for a whole main division; an epithet may suggest

The working-idea may

important limitations and applications. indeed be stated in less condensed expression ; but in the theme the object is rather so to state it as to concentrate it on one point, and this dictates that the point be not obscured by superfluous words.

NOTE.-The utility of a briefly stated theme is perhaps best illustrated in the literature of the pulpit, where the theme has to be compacted from a text of Scripture. Consider, for instance, how the subject is brought into concentrated shape in the following theme of a sermon by Rev. Alexander Maclaren. From the text 2 Corinthians iii. 18, "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image," he deduces the simple theme, "Transformation by Beholding," thus concentrating the thought on a single object (transformation), which is to be gained by a single means (beholding). This brief theme is just commensurate with the text.

No kind

Form of the Theme as related to Kind of Discourse. of discourse can safely dispense with a theme; but it is to be noted that in the essay, which we are here studying as norm,1 the theme appears in its most distinctly articulated shape; while in some other kinds of discourse, though still inlaid in the structure as a definite working-idea, it may sometimes seem almost dissipated into a vague and elusive suggestion. Not so to the writer, however; though the kind of subject-matter and the aim of the discourse make the theme sometimes less palpable to the reader.

It is in narrative writing, perhaps, that the theme is most nearly formless, being merely that principle of unity which is called the conception of the story. By the conception is meant the central principle, or sentiment, or lesson embodied in the story and giving it a reason for existing; a character to which all its parts are nearly or remotely related. See below, p. 359.

EXAMPLES.- Balzac's novels generally have a very palpable theme. His "Père Goriot," for instance, might be entitled, Paternal love as an overmastering and invincible passion; and his "César Birotteau" is a study of simple business integrity that will take no subterfuges of law, a theme similar to that

1 Some of the themes quoted by way of example have indeed been taken from sermons, which belong rather to oratory; but this only in cases where the theme was not essentially modified by the hortatory aim of the work.

of Howells' "Rise of Silas Lapham." Not always, indeed, is the conception of a story so clear or so single; but if it have none at all, it is sure to incur reproach.

In descriptive writing, also, the theme is hard to reduce to words, being a conception hidden in the author's mind and becoming revealed only through the whole course of the work. It is his conception of the character of the thing described, a conception that reveals not only the nature of the thing itself, but his own individuality and skill in portrayal.

EXAMPLES.—Thus, Ruskin's description of the interior of St. Mark's, Venice, centres in characteristics of color and symbolic decoration; Carlyle's description of Silesia centres mainly in topography; Edgar's description of Dover Cliff in Shakespeare's King Lear emphasizes its dizzy height; Motley's account of the character of William of Orange, being a catalogue description, is more discursive, but still centres quite decidedly in the qualities of greatness and purity.

An expository theme takes naturally the form of a phrase embodying the idea expounded, with suggestion of the means of exposition employed. It is under this form of discourse that most essay themes would be reckoned.

EXAMPLES. Thus, the theme of Martineau's essay on "Revelation - What it is not, and What it is" suggests exposition by definition and contrast; Spencer's essay, already mentioned, on "the body politic compared to a living organism," suggests exposition by analogy, and so on.

In argumentation the theme is a proposition, so carefully expressed and guarded that two opponents may be agreed on the statement of it. So important is it that an essential preparation, ordinarily, for an argumentative discussion is the settlement of the terms and nature of the question,-in other words, determining the theme.

EXAMPLE. Thus, in the arguments on liberal education, elective studies, the place of Latin and Greek in educational courses, and the like, which appear so frequently in periodical literature, much of the work is definition of terms and limits, as well as close discrimination of the author's own position.

In oratory, the basis of which is the appeal to the will or persuasion, the theme cannot be satisfied, at least in the author's mind, with being a mere articulated subject. He must choose an object rather than a subject; and the working-idea, expressing something that may be acted on, should be reducible to a single imperative utterance.

EXAMPLES. — Thus, the earliest preachers said not merely, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand," but also, "Repent"; and the modern statesman, while he labors to convince his audience that this or that view of a public measure is the true one, throws the whole power of his address into the imperative, "Give your suffrage and allegiance to this truth."

The Title. - The theme and the title of a work are related to each other as inner and outer. In the theme the subject exists as determined for the writer's own guidance. In the title the subject takes the name by which it is to be introduced to the world.

In form, the title sometimes coincides with the theme, sometimes with the unrestricted subject. Oftenest, however, it has a form of its own, dictated by the circumstances of publication, or by the writer's own fancy.

The following are the main considerations governing the choice of a title.

1. The title should give a clue, correct and adequate, to the main idea of the work.

This main idea may, however, be approached in different ways. When the work is of the purely intellectual type, that is, when the reader is to peruse it for mere information or argument, the title expresses its main DIDACTIC idea. Sometimes, however, when the work embodies a strong emotional element, or is intended to arouse readers to the importance and significance of its subjectmatter, it may be better to make the title indicate the SPIRIT or SENTIMENT of the work.

EXAMPLES. — 1. Didactic titles. Herbert Spencer's "The Principles of Sociology"; Lecky's “ History of European Morals, from Augustus to Charlemagne"; Dowden's "Shakspere, his Mind and Art."