, 1866-03-13

"and Canaan ahall be his ser1ant." onl,
+ Canaan, then, amouE the eona OF Ham, is IN
der the curse, aud the Canasnites we're GER
tainly not ueGToes-
We may say further, that, interpreting the
prophecy By It's snaalment, II does not entail
personal sla~ery. The days Of slayefTv are
almost done. and the Csuaanites. and fndaed
all ~hom We can Tecoenlze.as sons of Ham
| hare furnished fai less than their 1,ronort,o,,
Of slaves, and far more than their pronort,o,,
Of masters. sodoln and Gon,ot1st, Eere inr,
ot wealth, - well. rs of lnst, untn their sud.
den destruction. The other tribes Of Palea.
tine continued rich and strong TIL the Hebrew
insasion aweM them away and tho Hehress.
With this curse in their hands, were CON.
mandea to destroy thcm-not to keep Their,
a. slaves. There renamed, of the Sons OF
Canaan,' "sidon, his first born" thu Phdrpi-
clans, the Eich mercha1stt1nen Of Tyre and Car
fhage, In whose hands fos centuries WIS 1he
trade and thc wealth of the world They
were no poor huBted barbarians of the Gntnea
: coast-; They were the slaye-tradess and the
shareholders, They. sold the Hebrew sons Of
shcni TO the Greek sons Of Japheth, and the
Greeks to the Hebrews, but were themselves
s1ayes to neither. -:
This may .be sufficient for -an ansyer to
those who are accustomed to urge this text.
If VIC cannot show that the negroes are sons
Of Ham; nor that the sons Of Ham arc under
the curse nor that the curse entails personal
slavery, We shall not recognize 1t az requiring
our people to keep the men who have helped
to saye our nation under the heel Of those who
have tried to destroy it.
But what does the imprrcatian mean
Standing where Il does, It. seems to be H.
tended TO foreshadow the future history OF
mahkfnd: II is similar to the blessing given
to Abraham, In whom "au families Of the
earth SHOULD be hlessea." This blessing, We
ase told by inspired comment, belonged TO
tue children Of the fifth OF Abraham. It Ia
simply the announcement, under the name If
an individual example, Of an eteznal principle,
namely. thst It shall be well with The
man or the people that shs1l believe in God.
and be true TO the law Of God, Upon the
same principle, the curse belongs 10 whose
ever shall prefer the qualification Of any base
and eeldeh lust to the obsef fyance Of those
laws Of picty, purity, loyalty and truth, by
which We are linked man to man, brother to
brother, child to parent, aud au to God, In
one fellowship Of mutual faith, and -of conn
mon good. And the man; whether he be
tlpg or eia'e, ]np Is not tfne 10 the Law,
,!.,en 'sa ~ 49, asteena o. ,sa' eooo ne docs moi
ous ~ us u.' noonlt} u mAnknd ne Is
IN uooefuog, anu o1 no use In the world, er-
cept as nans1no may dra" from him, Is they
mare done rom sodom and Tyre, some lesson
oF some wealth, which 1t was no part Of his
pu1pose to e1ve then.l
Canaan Is chosen -ns the personfacation ot
the accursed cha1estcr.- And what WAS the
character which that name describeds The
word Canaan, In Hebrew. means merchant,
and the name describes the Pheneei4n people
Ia the highest view Of their character, while
the act which provoked the curse of Noah.
illustrates the lowest Their business was
gain, and their religion and relaxation were
lust. They bud no home except little
strip Of coast, set with cities, more rich aud
luxurious, but perhnps not more moral, than
the cities Of the plain. From these they
wandered over oil known lands and seas,
and everywhere they we're In circ1m-
stances Ike the English in India. or the tra-
ders along onr own western border; and such
men. with such opportunities, made the na-
tiou. Christendom scorns the Jews as money
Elhl1HEIb9 l&ke HQlQ IQ9 dew the feE&aQpE
| faith which makes lis nation Indestruct1hlEs;
and substitute the lust OF Ham, and you
have the people in whom antiquity saw the
| seryant Of servants.
So The curse, rightly read, does not speak
] of that bodily serrltude, which NAV leave the
man himself noblemsn, but Of that rolup.
tars slavery Of the soul, Of which the most
| loatlssome form Is the Inst Of Ham, and the
enoothest Is Canaan, the merchant, who sells
| lis manhood for money.
gy Stare, We understands man who is
bought aud sold for money But the man
who will sell himself. for money Is a servant
| Of servants. Every man chooses for himself
between the blessing and the eurse. between
] the faith, which in the love of God and man
| throws Itself without reserve and with fp11
assurance Of victory into whatever Is l,Ichcst
and noblest and truest and best. and that nm
belief which does not believe in God or in
man, hui only in money, or Office. or passion.
A nktiou like ours goes on dividing itsr,f
silently into these classes Of moral ftecu,pn
ind slayes. Before these times that h.ro