to the excellence of a manuscript, such as neatness, care in handwriting, spelling, punctuation, and margins, all of which add much to the pleasure of our readers.

11. The Appearance of the Manuscript. Any writing which is to have genuine value and interest must, as we have seen, be orderly in arrangement. As a first step towards the development of orderly habits in the writer, as well as towards giving the reader the impression of orderliness, we may give attention to the appearance of the manuscript. It should be written neatly and legibly on one side of the paper only. The sequence and connection of ideas can be but imperfectly understood by the instructor, if the manuscript is difficult to read, and the good qualities which it may possess will not be apparent. Ruled white paper, such as is usually provided by the school authorities, will answer; and, if folded at all, it should be lengthwise. Care should be taken to leave a blank space between the title and the body of the writing. At the left of every page a margin of an inch should be left, and the first line of every paragraph should be indented another inch or more. According to custom the important words of titles begin with capitals. The title may be followed by a period or not, as pleases the taste of the writer. The more recent method is to omit the period, which is, however, very generally employed.

Plain, legible handwriting and correct spelling are the first essentials of a good theme. They go far to atone for rhetorical deficiencies and to attract attention to any

composition; but above all they develop in the mind of the pupil that regard for the appearance of his manuscript which neatness and courtesy demand. Careless handwriting and spelling are evidences of slovenliness, which all should avoid.

Before taking up theme work it is assumed that the pupil is familiar with elementary grammar. Consequently he should be careful to avoid the errors and vulgarisms so common in his every-day talk. Grammatical correctness is sure to impress the mind of the reader pleasantly towards what he reads.

12. Sources of Material for Themes.

We gather

information in two ways, first, through experience, and, second, from the experience of others. This last may be communicated to us orally, in which case it approaches. personal experience, or through the medium of the printed page. Almost always when there is a special subject upon which we wish to gain information beyond what we have we must appeal to books. This material taken at second-hand is not so vitally our possession as is that which has been a part of the life we have lived. We should first, then, cultivate the habit of observation, and make everything that we see or hear contribute to the enrichment of our minds. Information seemingly of the most trivial consequence may at any moment become of great importance to us. In our reading we should remember that too much careless skimming of newspapers or other ephemeral productions, which we must naturally forget, weakens the memory, and makes our

hold upon what we know and wish to know less sure and trustworthy. Writing may be concerned only with a sort of reporting of the things we know, but ordinarily it attempts more than this. All good reasoning is more or less syllogistic, and the syllogism is merely the putting together of two known facts in such fashion as to make known something new dependent upon these established facts. Out of our experience and our reading, then, we should endeavor to evolve something new. Composition should be a placing together, accomplished with such carefully ordered forethought as to produce in the combination a sort of creation.

The question may arise, How far are we at liberty to appropriate the ideas of others? We may read books for information and gather material to reinforce our ideas, the more the better; but we are not at liberty to take the matter and call it our own.

should give us food for thought. We

What we read should have a

plan of our own, and make our borrowed material conform to this plan. We must compare the ideas we gather from others with our own observation and experience, and deduce our own interpretation, thereby coloring the work with our own personality. What we take in must be thoroughly assimilated before we give it out. 13. The Subject. Several considerations must have weight with us in considering what we shall write about. As we have seen, we must deal with matters upon which we have or can secure information. At first glance, it seems as if we should write better about matters con

cerning which we are already informed, but this will not always be true. If we write largely or altogether from what we already know, we shall write with more ease and freedom, with stronger assurance of conclusions that have become convictions; but our interest in a subject will be less infectious if it has become a little worn for us. The writer as well as the reader needs the stimulus of novelty, and should choose subjects that compel him to do some new thinking, some new studying or reading, for himself. This new studying or reading, it should be remembered, is not to be reproduced simply. The more we do of it the better; but the material that we gather must be digested, reorganized, and made new with our own thought.

Two other considerations especially enter into the choice of a subject, our own interest, and the appreciative interest we may hope for on the part of our readers. Whether our interest is one that has grown with years, or one that we have just brought to life by recent study, it must be a real present interest. If we have no interest in a theme, and a little study quickens no interest in us, we should discard it; for we shall have nothing to say that is worth reading. On the other hand, study of a subject often develops an interest which we had not thought we had; and before rejecting a subject that does not appear promising we should first make sure that we cannot look for such a kindling of interest. We should choose our subjects with some reference to our readers.

Whatever we write about should be a

matter of present interest to those around us, or capable of arousing an interest; otherwise it will be a waste of time to put our thoughts on paper. "The Pleasure of Adversity," or "The Necessity of Hope," would never unless in the hands of an Emerson attract readers; for the subjects are so old and hackneyed that they have no present interest for readers, and the ordinary writer has nothing new or fresh to say which will awaken an interest. Remember then, that, in addition to our own interest in a subject, we should hope to arouse an appreciative interest in others.

1. Sources of Subjects. - Fortunately the world is so full of things that interest us that we do not have to repeat other men's thoughts in order to have something to say. Our daily experiences, our everchanging interests, the newspapers and magazines that crowd our tables, continually suggest new topics for discussion and stimulate our thinking. Our different studies, particularly English literature and history, furnish us with many excellent subjects for themes. Nothing could be more helpful to the pupil or more interesting to read than a theme based on some one of Irving's sketches or on one of the Roger de Coverley papers. An incident in the school history, such as "The Roman Soldier" or "The Army of the Potomac " would be equally interesting. Whenever a pupil finds something in his studies to interest him and to stimulate his mind, he can feel that he has a suitable subject for a theme. 2. Definite Subjects. In general we should choose