main idea

“He had hardly returned from the marquee with the prize in his hand, when it began to be understood that Wiry Ben proposed to amuse the company, before the gentry went to dinner, with an impromptu and gratuitous performance — namely, a hornpipe, the main idea of which was doubtless borrowed; but this was to be developed by the dancer in so peculiar and complex a manner that no one could deny him the praise of originality.”

Adam Bede

“The main idea was, it is claimed, to form a ‘secret government’, with Godefroi de Bouillon—one of the leaders of the First Crusade—as the prime mover.”

Simon & Schuster: The Templar Revelation