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the thought will occur, that he might be imperfect in his generation, or that Noah was conscious of some evil in his origin; for Noah having been declared a just man, and favoured by an intercourse with God, we must conclude knew, that when he cursed Canaan, he did what was fitting to be done; and that there was some cause which rendered Canaan and his descendants unworthy to mix upon terms of equality with the descendants of Japhet and Shem, in the line of which latter our Saviour was to come-Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. And if for these reasons the probability of Canaan's bad descent is admitted, the case of his brothers must be the same; and although apparently not quite so obnoxious as himself, such a descent would account for the circumstance of their posterity remaining so constantly beyond the pale of either the Jewish or the Christian religion, as the people of Babylonia and the Egyptians have done.

Verse 24." And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son [Ham] had done unto him.

23. "And he said, Cursed be Canaan: a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

26." And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

27. "God shall enlarge Japhet, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."

The obvious fulfilment of this prophecy is one of the standing miracles.

When Ham journeyed to his settlement in Egypt, it is natural to suppose that Canaan followed his course towards that country, till he reached the wellknown land to which he gave his name (Canaan); but his descendants in that country were ever considered as obnoxious to God, by those who knew his will; and as far as the genealogies are preserved in Genesis, none of the true race of Abraham were ever permitted to intermarry in the line of Canaan.

Abraham (Genesis xxiv. 3.) says to his servant, "And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of

the Canaanites, among whom I dwell." "And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life, because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me ?” This solemn determination of Abraham, and the abhorrence expressed by Rebekah against her son's marrying in that line, looks very like the disapprobation shown to those matches which took place, as mentioned in the sixth chapter, between the sons of God and the daughters of men, and the disapprobation, it must be remembered, was from God himself. And we further find, in St. Matthew, chap. xv. that when a Canaanitish woman made supplication to our Saviour, he passed her by in silence, till her continued cries called forth this answer: "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to the DOGS." Which showed the estimation in which the Canaanite was held by him. Nevertheless, by the evincement of faith and worship, the woman was finally listened to, and obtained the object of her prayer; and mercy shown to one so far beyond the pale of

election, gives hope to all sorts and conditions of men. Many parts both of the Old and New Testament confirm this hope, in direct terms; none but the great inimical spirit appears to be destined to perdition.

In the sixth chapter, verse 4, which treats on subjects before the flood, it is said, "There were giants on the earth in those days, and also AFTER that." When, therefore, after the flood, we find in and about the land where Canaan settled, whole districts of giants, as the Rephaim, the Anakims, and the Emims; does it not still concur with the apprehension, that they were descended from one of those offensive alliances described as producing giants? And this apprehension seems countenanced by the command of the Deity given to the Israelites, to destroy the Canaanites; according with which command, the giants so frequently mentioned in Scripture, and by ancient authors, are no more found upon the earth; but they were ever described as men of violence, and without principle. Goliath was of an idolatrous race, and cursed David by his gods. Giants, also, in the Alkoran, are supposed

to be genii; which proves that, in remote times, they were considered as a peculiar species of the human race.

Much learning has been employed to do away the meaning of the word giant; but why should we scruple to conclude, that the words of Scripture, in the various chapters where giants are mentioned, really mean what the import of the word is usually taken to be, and especially when the context, according to the literal sense, bears us out in that conclusion?

The giants mentioned in the sixth chapter are not said to be of immense size, nor is there any reason to suppose they were so: but Moses, in giving us information concerning a wicked set of men, which by intermixture with the people of God brought corruption among them, adopts the method of relating such characteristical attributes of their persons and dispositions, as might, with certainty, show that they were a distinct race of people; and why should we wish to nullify this direct information? There are many vestiges of giants mentioned in profane history, and several

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