Having traced the institution of slavery down to its third and final
degree, and finding it firmly lodged in the family of Ham, let us now
inquire what proof there may be that his descendants are also the
descendants and race of Cain. This evidence is to be found in the fact,
1st. That the descendants of Ham were black, inheriting the mark of
Cain. 2d. That the traditions and memorials of the family of Ham are
also traditions and memorials of the family of Cain. 3d. That Naamah, of
the family of Cain, is found to be kept in memory by the earlier
descendants of Ham. 4th. That the characteristics of these families are
the same, and that no facts are found to exist discordant to the
proposition of their being one and the same race; but on the contrary,
every vestige of them is in unison with such proposition.
In presenting the evidence touching the several facts of the inquiry, we
cannot claim the most lucid or logical arrangement, nor that our remarks
will be classed in the best methodical order for the subjects of
consideration. But we present the proposition that aboriginal names are
always significant terms: thus, Abram, the high father; Abraham, the
father of a multitude; Jacob, holding by the heel, supplanting; Israel,
one who wrestles with God; and Cain, one that has been purchased or
bought: “And she bare Cain, and said, I have _gotten_ a man from the
Lord.” _Gen._ iv. 1. The word Cain is from קָנָח _Cana_, and means to
buy, to purchase, and, as a noun, a thing bought; and the word “gotten,”
קַנִ֥יתִי _canithi_, terminating with its verbal formation, means, _I
have bought_ or _purchased_—his name signified _one purchased_.
There is an allusion to Cain in the Koran; and, although we do not
present it as or for authority, yet it may not be out of place to notice
what the ancient Arabians have said on the subject: “Verily, I (the
prophet) am no other than a denouncer of threats, and a messenger of
good tidings unto the people who believed. It is he who hath created you
from one person and out of him produced his wife, that he might dwell
with her; and when he had known her, she carried a light burden for a
time, wherefore she walked easily therewith: but when it became more
heavy, they called upon God their Lord, saying, If thou give us a child
rightly shaped, we will surely be thankful. Yet when he had given them a
child rightly shaped, they attributed companions unto him, for that
which he had given them. But far be that from God, which they associated
with him! Will they associate with him false gods, which create nothing,
but are themselves created, and can neither give them assistance nor
help themselves?” _Koran_, chap. vii.
The Arabian commentators, in explanation of this passage, relate a
tradition among them. They say, when Eve was big with her first child,
the devil came to frighten and fill her mind with apprehension. But he
pretended to her that by his prayers to God he could persuade him to
cause her to have a well-shaped child, a son, the likeness of Adam, and
that she should be safely delivered of it, upon the condition that she
should dedicate or name the child _abed al hareth, the slave of the
devil_, instead of the name that Adam would give it, _abed Allah, the
slave of God_; that Eve accepted the terms, and the child was born, &c.
The legend is varied by the commentators, some saying the child died as
soon as born, or that the devil applied to Adam instead of Eve, &c.; but
they all agree that _al hareth_ was the name the devil went by among the
angels.
It is a little remarkable that the passage in _Gen._ iv. 2, “But Cain
was a tiller of the ground,” Heb. _obed adamah, the slave of the
ground_, would be, in Arabic, this phrase, _abed al hareth_, the cognate
of the Hebrew word ארצ _erets_, the earth. And therefore the Arabic,
_abed al hareth_, will be a translation of the Hebrew in Genesis. This
legend will be found in _Al Beidawi, Jallado' ddin, Zamakhshari, et al._
See _Sale’s Koran_, vol. i. p. 360.
The discovery of the western continent by Columbus was the great and
absorbing event of the age in which it happened. It was an event which,
in consideration of the characteristics of men, would be held in
commemoration: in all parts of the world it would be a matter of such
record as literature made convenient, or the relative influence of the
event rendered constant to the mind. And hence we find it referred to
not only in books, but in the continent discovered; it is commemorated
by the application of the name of the discoverer to its seas, lakes,
rivers, mountains, districts of country, cities, towns, &c. Now, if at
the time of the event, the world had not advanced to the achievement of
literary records, it is evident that the latter mode of commemoration
could have been the only one practicable; and history shows us that this
mode of commemoration was adopted at the earliest ages, nor laid aside
even at this day. This disposition to commemorate is one of the
characteristics of the whole human family. Thus Eve commemorated some
event, described as the purchase of her first-born of the Lord, by
giving said first-born the name of “_one purchased_.”
“And the sons of Noah that went forth of the ark were Shem, and Ham, and
Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.” “And Ham, the father of
Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren
without.” “And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son
had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan.” _Gen._ ix. 18, 22,
24, 25. The things here recorded took place in quick succession from the
removal of Noah’s family from the ark. Ham ultimately had four sons, the
youngest of whom he named Canaan. Is there any evidence, at the time of
these records, that any of the children of Ham were born, and especially
his youngest?
It does appear to us that the word Canaan, as here used, does not mean
any particular son of Ham. It is evidently used at a time before he had
any sons. From the manner of the relation it seems probable the planting
of the vineyard was among the first things Noah did after the flood. Two
or three years was all the time required for the consummation of this
event. In case Ham had married a female of the race of Cain, he had also
identified himself with that race, and might well be called by his
father, especially at a moment of displeasure, by a term emphatically
showing, yea announcing prophetically, his degradation through all
future time,—the degradation to which that connection had reduced him.
The ill-manners of Ham towards his father were not the great cause of
the curse. The cause must have previously existed. The ill-manners only
influence the time of its announcement. Even had it never been
announced, the consequences would have been the same. The sentence of
the law is only declaratory of the relation in which one has placed
himself. The cause of the curse or degradation here pronounced must have
been something adequate, to have produced it. The ill-manners could have
no so great effect. And let us inquire, where are we to find an adequate
cause for the immediate degradation of an unborn 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 descendant of Ham, but
included them all, as the race of Cain, and, in reproof and
disparagement to his son, reproaching 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
offspring,—their standing among the rest of his family? The term
_Canaan_, thus spoken and applied to Ham, was significant of the
character his conduct had created, by identifying himself with the race
of Cain. It was a new name, deeply and degradingly distinguishing him
from the rest of his father’s family. Jacob was called Israel, after
having wrestled with God; but an honourable cognomen would be made known
and used, whereas one of reverse character might or might not.
It cannot be expected, at this late day, to account for the anomalies of
the ancient Hebrew. Terms applied as proper names, whether significant
or not, are in all languages, and in all ages, subject sometimes to
strange and even oblique alterations. Thus, in the family of Benjamin,
“_Ard_,” of Genesis and Numbers, is changed into _Addar_ in Chronicles;
and thus _Colon_ of Genoa was converted into _Columbus_ in the western
continent.
Thus, _Muppim_ and _Huppim_, in Genesis, are changed into _Shupham_ and
_Hupham_ in Numbers, and into _Shephupham_ and _Huram_ in Chronicles.
See _Gen._ xlvi. 21, _Num._ xxvi. 39, and 1 _Chron._ viii. 5. The
Kenites, Kennizites, and Canaanites of _Gen._ xv. 19; the Kenaz, xxxvi.
11 and 42; the Kenite and Kenites of _Num._ xxiv. 21; the _Kenites_ of 1
_Sam._ xxvii. 10, xv. 5, 6; _Judges_ iv. 11–17; and the city called
“_Cain_,” הַקּ֭יִן _ha Kain_, _Josh._ xv. 57, also _Kinah_, קִינָ֥ה
_idem_ 22,—are all legitimately derived and descended from the name
given to the first-born of mankind. Doubtless a critical search would
find many more; but in all these instances the derivative is used for
and by the descendants of Ham. But no instance is found where any such
derivative is in use by the unmixed posterity of Shem or Japheth. We
surely need not point in the direction of the cause of these facts.
In _Judges_ iv. 11, we have, “Now, Heber the Kenite, הַקֵּינִי֨ _ha
Keni_,) which was of the children of Hobab, (the Jethro of Genesis,) the
father-in-law of Moses.” We shall hereafter have occasion to show that
the father-in-law of Moses was a descendant of Misraim, the second son
of Ham; that he dwelt in the mountains of Midian, and, when spoken of in
regard to his country, was called a Midianite; but his daughter, when
spoken of in regard to her colour, was called an Ethiopian; but now,
when he is spoken of in regard to his race, he is called a Cainite,
_Kenite_.
In _Josh._ xv. 17, we have a derivative in common origin of the
foregoing, in “Kenaz,” the brother of Caleb; but upon examining 1
_Chron._ ii., we shall find a sufficient reason in the blood of that
family; and in all instances where such derivative is found, we shall
find the same cause to warrant its use.
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