﻿WHATELY 
  S 
  ARGUMENT 
  DEFECTIVE. 
  137 
  

  

  His 
  assertion, 
  repeated 
  over 
  and 
  over 
  again, 
  

   is 
  that 
  mere 
  savages 
  "never 
  did 
  and 
  never 
  

   could 
  raise 
  themselves, 
  unaided, 
  into 
  a 
  higher 
  

   condition." 
  Now 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  perfectly 
  true 
  

   that 
  Man 
  never 
  could 
  " 
  unaided 
  " 
  discover 
  

   religious 
  truth, 
  or 
  rise 
  to 
  any 
  adequate 
  idea 
  

   of 
  the 
  nature, 
  or 
  of 
  the 
  demands, 
  of 
  moral 
  

   obligation 
  ; 
  and 
  yet 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  wholly 
  untrue 
  

   that 
  he 
  is 
  equally 
  incompetent 
  to 
  discover 
  the 
  

   physical 
  laws 
  of 
  nature, 
  or 
  to 
  find 
  out 
  by 
  

   mechanical 
  skill 
  how 
  to 
  adapt 
  them 
  to 
  his 
  

   own 
  use. 
  Again, 
  Whately 
  admits, 
  that 
  "when 
  

   men 
  have 
  once 
  reached 
  a 
  certain 
  stage 
  in 
  

   the 
  advance 
  towards 
  civilization, 
  it 
  is 
  then 
  

   possible 
  for 
  them 
  (under 
  favourable 
  circum- 
  

   stances) 
  to 
  advance 
  further 
  and 
  further 
  in 
  the 
  

   same 
  direction." 
  But 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  attempt 
  to 
  

  

  