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  PRIMEVAL 
  MAN. 
  

  

  even 
  tolerable 
  purity 
  any 
  high 
  standard 
  of 
  

   spiritual 
  faith. 
  A 
  thousand 
  tendencies 
  from 
  

   within, 
  and 
  from 
  without, 
  are 
  perpetually 
  at 
  

   work 
  to 
  undermine, 
  or 
  to 
  transform 
  it. 
  And 
  

   then 
  the 
  awful 
  correlations 
  of 
  Human 
  Thought 
  

   render 
  it 
  not 
  only 
  probable 
  but 
  inevitable 
  that 
  

   the 
  first 
  departures 
  from 
  the 
  knowledge 
  and 
  

   the 
  love 
  of 
  Truth, 
  must 
  end 
  in 
  wider 
  and 
  

   wider 
  divergence 
  from 
  it. 
  The 
  infinite 
  subtlety 
  

   and 
  ingenuity 
  of 
  Imagination 
  will, 
  when 
  it 
  

   is 
  ignorant 
  and 
  corrupt 
  amply 
  account 
  for 
  

   the 
  origin 
  and 
  growth 
  of 
  even 
  the 
  most 
  

   degraded 
  superstitions. 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  subject 
  too 
  

   extensive 
  to 
  be 
  pursued 
  here; 
  but 
  it 
  could 
  

   be 
  shown 
  that 
  even 
  among 
  the 
  South 
  Sea 
  

   Islanders, 
  and 
  other 
  tribes 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  

   driven 
  farthest 
  from 
  the 
  original 
  settlements 
  

  

  