﻿142 
  PRIMEVAL 
  MAN. 
  

  

  I 
  do 
  not 
  agree, 
  therefore, 
  with 
  the 
  late 
  

   Archbishop 
  of 
  Dublin, 
  that 
  we 
  are 
  entitled 
  

   to 
  assume 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  fact 
  that, 
  as 
  regards 
  the 
  

   mechanical 
  arts, 
  no 
  savage 
  race 
  has 
  ever 
  

   raised 
  itself. 
  The 
  other 
  assertion 
  that 
  no 
  

   such 
  i*ace 
  ever 
  could 
  so 
  raise 
  itself, 
  is 
  

   confessedly 
  a 
  theory, 
  and 
  a 
  theory 
  the 
  truth 
  

   of 
  which 
  is 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  self-evident. 
  In 
  

   the 
  first 
  place, 
  when 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  

   progress 
  is 
  admitted, 
  provided 
  some 
  elemen- 
  

   tary 
  instruction 
  is 
  supposed 
  as 
  a 
  foundation 
  

   on 
  which 
  to 
  work, 
  it 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  we 
  are 
  

   dealing 
  with 
  a 
  proposition 
  altogether 
  hazy, 
  

   unless 
  there 
  be 
  some 
  clear 
  definition 
  of 
  the 
  

   nature 
  and 
  amount 
  of 
  this 
  elementary 
  

   instruction 
  which 
  is 
  demanded. 
  Whately 
  says 
  

   that 
  " 
  the 
  earliest 
  generations 
  of 
  mankind 
  

  

  