The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-11-04

object which bears any resemblance to what
he is in search of, and rushes from the room
SO with Mr.. Fletcher in this instance he
wishes a wife for Ham, of the family of Cain,
and seizes on the first unmarried female Of the
race that he finds, without even asking the
lady's consent, or inquiring whether their ages
will suit. 1t is altogether gratuitous assump-
ton that the genealogical table Of Cams race
is brought down to the time Of the flood III
he had examined the two tables, he would have
found that, while in the family Of Seth, Ham
was the tenth from Adam, Naamah, in that
of Cain, was but the seventh corresponding to
Methuselah who died before the flood, after
living to the unparalleled age Of nine hundred
and sixty-nine.
But" asks Fletcher, "why are Mammals
name and genealogy mentioned, if she did not
survive the flood Does God tell us anything
it is unnecessary for us to know" Task, why
WAS she not more particularly mentioned If she
WdSi Why was the fact from which Mr.
Fletcher derives such a solemn warning left
altogether to Arabian myths and dubious
condolences The mention of her is merely
incidental! " And the sister of Tpbai Cain was
Naamah." To his second interrogatory, whether
God tells us anything it is unnecessary for us
to know, | answer, yes, most unhesitatingly, if
the Bible is the word of God. Was it necessary
that we should know that the brothers of
Naamah were the inventors Of musical instru-
ments, of the art of working metals, &c
But the Arabians have a legend about a
race of degraded beings, the offspring of this
Naamah and Aza--a word which means to
grow hot and is therefore synonym for Ham.
Well, that is easily accounted for. An Arabian
poet wanted heroine for his legend, and to
A.
before the flood, the one of whom the least is
known, or, more probably, the legend was
founded on an Illicit amour of subsequent
female of the same name, who was afterward
COMPOUNDED with the daughter of Lamech The
application of the name Aza signifying heat
to party in such an affair, surely requires no
other coincidence to explain it. All that can
be found in this is, that Fletcher is not the
first r0mancer who has selected Naamah for
his heroine, and that he is mere copyist of
his oriental predecessor. But, finally on this
point, the name Naamah is found commemo-
rated among the descendants of Ham, who set
tied Canaan. The name of Naamah is derived,
according to the usual opinion, from Mann,
sweetness, pleasantness, merely by aifxing the
feminine termination Hay(h) to ia most
beautiful name and one whose appropriateness
when applied to female, every one can see. II
is therefore no wonder that it should be used
But this does not suit Mr.. Fletcher's theory :;
so he derives it, in a very roundabout way, SO
as to make it intimate dstinctness, separation,
referring to the isolated condition Of her race
caused by their color. But the first derivation
is so much more simple and beautiful that
every one not married for life to Mr.. Fletcher's
theory must at once give it the preference.
We come now to the general argument for the
marriage of Ham with descendant of Cain
The first argument is, that the descendants of
Ham are black but, Us have shown the
utter mprobability of Gains race being black,
it falls TO the ground. | cannot but remark
here how one probability gives birth to another
throughout the whole of the theory. Cain was
probably black. If Cain was black, Hams
descendants probably became 40 in consequence
fthe marriage of their ancestor with descend
ant of Cain If Ham did marry one of Gains
race, it is probable that this was the cause of
the degradation of his family, and so on through
an endless series of hypothetical generations
lie then adduces the similarity of the names
found among the descendants of Cain and
Ham In regard to this he says in one place,
We have heretofore remarked, that such
names as are derived from Cain and Naamah
are never found in the holy books, except
among and applied to the descendants of Ham
| But there are some few instances of the appli-
cation of these terms in the family Of the
| BenjamtesD Even with this qualification, the
assertion is palpabIy, ridiculously false Cal
man, the name of the grandson of Seth is de-
rived from Cain, with the simple addition of
the common uifix-Nan (N) 1t is impossible
to give the Hebrew letters in this article but
any one who examines the original will bear
me out in my assertion, that this is the only
difference in the characters. Consequently,
the names Kenaz, Kenite, &c, might Just as
we'll be derived from the name of Cainan, as
from that of his grand uncle Cain The
names in the two genealogies Of Seth and Cain
are generally similar as every reader o! Gene
sis with the exception of Mr.. Fletcher, If he
is, or ever has been, q reader has noticed
We come now to the third head the predc-
ton of Noah. "And let us inquire" says our
author, "where are we to find an adequate
cause for the immediate degradation Of an un-
born race, unless we find it in intermarriage?
His intermarriage, then, could have been with
no other than the race Of Cain. When Noah
spoke to Ham, and said, Cursed be Canaan"
he had no reference to any particular descend
ant of Ham, but included them all, as the race
of Cain, and in reproof and disparagement to
his son. reproducing the connection. Suppose,
even at this day, a descendant Of Japheth
should choose TO amalgamate with the negro,
could not his father readily foretell the future
destiny of the offsprng-their standing among
the rest of his family?N
Here is another precious specimen Of MIR.
Fletcher's inventive faculty Let me inquire
where he finds the immediate degradation Of
the children of Ham. In it in the fact that
the first great empires, Egypt and Assyria,
were founded by them? Or TO the other fact,
that they led the march of civlizaton--that
to the Egyptians and Phenicians Greece owed
her refinement Athens was founded by
colony of Egyptians under CecroPs, and Thebes
by Phencians, led by Cadmus, who introduced
letters into Greece. Long did the Greek phi
losophers resort to Egypt as the fountain OF
wisdom--the wisdom Of the Egyptians, in
which Moses was learned
1t is quite evident from the extract given
above, that Mr.. Fletcher does not suppose
Noah ~ have spoken by inspiration in uttering
the curse upon Canaan, but that he was mere
ly declaring the natural effect of his sons dis
graceful union.
But there IL one portion Of the passage which
cannot be explained in that way: God shall
enlarge Japheth and he shall dwell! in the tents
of Shem.p This absolutely requiring nsplra-
ton, destroys the necessity for surprising any
previously existing connection on the part OF
Ham, to account for his fathers prediction
Mr. Fletcher supposcs the name Canaan to
have been applied TO Ham himself on account
of his connection with the family OF Cain. But
the names are very dssimar, only one of the
characters being the same in the Hebrew. The
derivation of Cain, as a name is given in the
Genesis account of the birth Of the person 70
whom il was first given. That Of Canaan !
give from the Lexicon of Gesenius, the dstin-
guished oriental scholar Of Germany. He de-
rives it from Cana, to be bowed down, to be
l.. A. - L. LIZ ,uiu La nsked how Ia