The essay, as a form of literary writing, is not very old. It is a product of the Renaissance. The first great essayist in Europe was Montaigne, the great French writer of the sixteenth century. Montaigne had a Jewish mother, and his writings betray a great deal of his Jewish origin. In England it was Lord Bacon, the founder of modern philosophy, who introduced the essay as a new literary form. Both men, Bacon and Montaigne, recognized clearly that the scholarly treatise was too heavy for the average reader, and that the ascendancy of the middle class required a form of literary writing to be satisfactory to representatives of this class. The scholarly treatise, with its heavy load of quotations and its erudition, was only good for the professional scholar; religious books, folklore, and light poetry were better for the lower classes, and the essay for the middle class. The development of the essay as a form of literary writing is as old as the middle class.

It can thus be seen that the essay, while it may express philosophical ideas and formulate deep problems, is not meant to be a scholarly treatise for scholars only. It is meant to be an attempt to commune intellectually with nonprofessional intellectuals, and the rich essay literature of the last couple of hundred years proves best that the attempt was successful. By today the essay has acquired full citizenship rights in the realm of literature. Ahle and great essayists are as rare as able and great philosophers. An essayist must combine the qualities of a thinker and those of a poet. An essayist must not only be a fluent writer, but he must be a thinker as well. The essay in short is a piece of popular, graceful, and philosophic writing. If the essay does not make smooth and pleasing reading, it is not an essay but a treatise. The essay must not be loaded with quotations, with erudition, and citations. While it is permissible to repeat what others have said regarding a certain subject, it is not permissible to quote too much or to argue with others while writing an essay. The essayist must express his own thoughts on a certain subject, and express them in a pleasant and graceful form. The place of the essay in philosophical writing may be compared to the 3place of the short story in fiction. It is an entity in itself, but still an essay is an attempt, an etude, and like the short story it must be brief, to the point, and still fascinating.

Of course essay writing has its own technique. One must never start an essay with a quotation, and not even with a proverb. In the first sentence of the essay one must express its main thought, and it must be brief and striking. It does not matter if the first brief and striking sentence reads like a paradox. An essay writer may be paradoxical, at least in form. The first sentence or paragraph of an essay may determine its worth and fate. An essay badly begun will not catch the reader's interest, and will not be accepted by the reading public. The beginning must be strong and striking, and the essay writer must be careful with the first few sentences of his work.

The founder of the essay as a form of literary writing was a half Jew, and to the present day the Jew has proven to be a master essayist. His temperament, his witticism, and his striking way of expressing things qualify him for essay 4writing. Max Nordau, the famous Zionist leader, is probably the greatest essay writer living, and Maxmilian Harden, the greatest German journalist living, is also one of the great essayists of his time.

All those of our readers who are anxious to try their luck as essay writers will do well to read Max Nordau and Maxmilian Harden, and, of course, the great French and English essay writers of today.