THE POETIC SPIRIT 191 



get away from the idea that the child-like traits in the 

 character of the people were not merely a matter of 

 disposition, of the buoyant child surviving in the man, 

 but that it marked a lower stage in mental develop- 

 ment. This may be wrong : but after all what one 

 wants is a working theory, and it does not very much 



. 



I/A 



CORNISH LABOURER 



matter whether it be true or false so long as it enables 

 us to get over the ground. 



When we live with savages, or uncivilised people, 

 it is very much like living with children ; we get to 

 know them as we never know the civilised beings 

 we spend our lives with although they are our own 

 people. For however unexpected their changes of 

 temper and actions may be, especially where these 

 place us in sudden peril, we yet know that they are 

 only feeling, thinking and acting in accordance with 



