78 Latent Thought. [February, 
any astonishment that' no logical “ confused ” man is born. 
The brain, being part of the body, cannot be exempt from 
the same causes that rule the body — evolution, correlation, 
&c. Of course this latent thought is a very dim, vague 
sort of a thing to define. 
It would seem only certain that a constant relation, or 
proportion, is generally a law of thought. For instance, 
two persons look at a colour, and call it “ red.” How are 
we to prove that they both see identically the same effeCt ? 
Each always sees one constant result, and he has learnt to 
call it “ red,” and so with the other person, although it may 
really be green to one and blue to the other, in their relative 
individual judgment. This of course is no detriment to our 
thinking, but it shows there may be wide differences un- 
known to us. Perhaps every one of us has a different pic- 
ture of a man ; we have only learned things relatively to 
ourselves. We pity the poor frog who, with a partially 
brainless skull, answers with a meaningless croak the stroke 
on his extremities; but are we much better — i.e., any dif- 
ferent— in principle ? It is but a more complex affair. We 
get a kick, and our anger is roused, all our nervous system 
s disturbed, and the tongue utters harsh sounds, like the 
frog croaked. Then there is the restraintive power of the 
human mind ; but animals have that too. 
In this latent thought lies the nature that maketh all the 
world akin ; how alike is every human emotion ! Is there 
any difference in the love language of a Savage and an 
Englishman ? 
There are certainly traits of (latent ?) thought in a nation’s 
literature. How dull we find Oriental history, until it has 
time after time got thoroughly imbued with an European 
way of telling its story. Strange it is, too, what the effeCt 
of style is on writers ; extracts from dry books seem to keep 
dry; writers on Oriental history (e.g., China) seem unable 
to throw off its tone. We have literal translations of 
Chinese stories; what “stuff” they seem to the English 
mind ! And yet often they approach very near. Colenso 
gives a Gala religious rhapsody ; it is as good as a Psalm 
(which are by-the-bye the product of a very different stage 
of civilisation to the present). 
We cannot help being struck by the art productions of the 
Aryan, Semitic, or Hamitic division of the human race. 
The difference is most striking. One would venture tc 
suggest that the sculptural remains of ancient nations 
might be taken as decisive testimony as to their respective 
races. 
