in defiance of the fact that _no such_
curse was ever denounced against Ham, as they allege--nor can it be
found in the Bible; yet they boldly, on these _assumptions_ and
contradictions, go on to say that Ham _is_ the father of the negro of
the present day. Contradicting the Bible; contradicting the _whole order
of nature_ as ordained by God himself--that like will produce its like;
contradicting the effect of every curse narrated in the Bible, whether
pronounced by God, or by patriarch, or by prophet; and assuming that it
did that, in this case of Noah, which it had never done before nor
since--that it did change Ham from a white man to a black negro.
Forgetting or setting aside the declaration of the Bible, that Ham and
his brothers were the children of one father and one mother, who were
perfect in their genealogies from Adam, and that they were white, they
assume again, that the Bible forgot to tell us that Ham was turned into
a negro for accidentally seeing his father naked in his tent. Tremendous
judgment, for so slight an offense! We do not ask if this is probable;
but we do ask, if it is within the bounds _of possibility_ to believe
it? Did not the daughters of Lot see the nakedness of their father in a
much more unseemly manner? Ham seeing his father so, seems altogether
accidental; theirs deliberately sought. And on this flimsy,
self-stultifying theory, the learned of the world build their
faith--that Ham _is_ the progenitor of the negro! While, on the other
hand, by simply taking Ham's descendants--those _known to be his
descendants now_, and known as much so and as _positively_ as that we
know the descendants, at the present day, of Shem and Japheth--that by
thus taking up Ham's descendants of this day, we find them like his
brothers' children--with long, straight hair, high foreheads, high
noses, thin lips, and, indeed, every lineament that marks the white race
of his brothers, Shem and Japheth; that we can trace him, with history
in hand, from this day back, step by step, to the Bible record, with as
much positive certainty as we can the descendants of his brothers; that,
with the Bible record after, we can trace him back to his father, Noah,
with equal absolute certainty, no one will deny, nor _dare_ deny, who
regards outside concurrent history, of admitted authenticity and the
Bible, as competent witnesses in the case; that the testimony in regard
to Ham and his descendants being of the white race, is mor