addition to this, it should be said, that a true prophecy always comes
to pass,--is sure of fulfilment. Noah was not inspired when he
pronounced his curse against Canaan, for the sufficient reason that it
was not fulfilled. He was not speaking in the spirit of prophecy when
he blessed Shem and Japheth, for the good reason that their
descendants have often been in bondage. Now, if these words of Noah
were prophetic, were inspired of God, we would naturally expect to
find _all of Canaan's descendants in bondage_, and all of Shem's out
of bondage,--free! If this prophecy--granting this point to the
learned bishop for argument's sake--has not been fulfilled, then we
conclude one of two things; namely, these are not the words of God, or
they have not been fulfilled. But they were not the words of prophecy,
and consequently never had any divine authority. It was Canaan upon
whom Noah pronounced the curse: and Canaan was the son of Ham; and
Ham, it is said, is the progenitor of the Negro race. The Canaanites
were not bondmen, but freemen,--powerful tribes when the Hebrews
invaded their country; and from the Canaanites descended the bold and
intelligent Carthaginians, as is admitted by the majority of writers
on this subject. From Ham proceeded the Egyptians, Libyans, the
Phutim, and the Cushim or Ethiopians, who, colonizing the African
side of the Red Sea, subsequently extended themselves indefinitely to
the west and south of that great continent. Egypt was called Chemia,
or the country of Ham; and it has been thought that the Egyptian's
deity, Hammon or Ammon, was a deification of Ham.[20] The
Carthaginians were successful in numerous wars against the sturdy
Romans. So in this, as in many other instances, the prophecy of Noah
failed.
Following the chapter containing the prophecy of Noah, the historian
records the genealogy of the descendants of Ham and Canaan. We will
quote the entire account that we may be assisted to the truth.
"And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and
Canaan; and the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah,
and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba and
Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in
the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore
it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the
Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech,
and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shina
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