Page:The future of Africa.djvu/343

Rh probability of the exclusive application of the curse to Canaan is strengthened by this exception." The testimony of Josephus accords with this theory. He says: "Noah spared Ham by reason of his nearness of blood, but cursed his posterity; and when the rest of them (i. e., of the children of Ham) escaped that curse, God inflicted it on the children of Canaan.

This argument is strengthened and confirmed by a reference to the count erpart of this curse, which is seen in God's dealings with the Canaanites. It is seen in those severe commands to the Hebrews on their entrance into the promised land, to expel and destroy the devoted Canaanites. The indictment against this wicked and profane people is written, in fearfully descriptive terms, in the 18th chapter of Leviticus, which enumerates the aggravated crimes on account of which the Almighty was about calling them to judgment. The events which followed, in consequence of the commands of Jehovah to the Hebrews, have always been taken as the fulfilment of this prediction of Noah. By Jew and Christian Gentile, in the early periods of the Church, and in more recent times by writers upon prophecy, and by commentators upon the Bible, the havoc and destruction visited upon the Canaanites have been regarded, not only as a punishment for their wickedness, but also as the counterpart to the prediction of Noah, and as a