On the Diversity of Origin of the Human Races [pp. 603-642]

Prof. Agassiz New Hypothesis
salvation of Christ; who accordingly is set in contrast with
the first Adam, as "the second man, the Lord from heaven."
Not only does the sacred historian assert this doctrine in
naked general statements, but he expressly undertakes to
trace down the re-peopling of the earth after the deluge, from
the sons of Noah, to his own cotemporary period. As we are
hampered at every turn for the want of space, we shall pass
entirely the intermediate varieties of men, and give our opponents the utmost advantage of controverting, if they can, the
extreme position that the negro races are deduced in Scripture,
expressly from the progeny of Ham.*
We shall not argue the question, whether the Egyptians belong to the Caucasian or African divisions of the race. It will
not be disputed that they are descendants of Ham, and not of
either Japhet or Shem. "The sons of Ham," says the sacred writer, (Gen. 10: 6.) "were Cash and Mizraim, and
Phut and Canaan." That Mizraim is Egypt, is not disputed.
That the term Cush, uniformly rendered Ethiopia, not only in
our version but most others, both ancient and modern, describes the home of a coloured race, we presume no one will
have the boldness to deny. A portion of the Cushite race, it
is well known, inhabited the south of Arabia, and so belonged
to the Asiatic and not African geographical divisions of the
race. This is the source of the confusion in the use of the
word Ethiopia by Herodotus and other secular historians and
ethnologists. On this it is unnecessary to dwell. The only
point upon which we now insist, is that the scriptural patronymic Cush, is used to designate a coloured African race, and that
race is expressly declared to be descended from Ham. In
this sense it was understood by almost every ancient authority
known to us. In this sense it is used by the Prophet in the
proverb, "Can the Ethiopian (Cushite, in the original),
change his skin."t In this sense Champollion found it uni
* There is no chart comparable for explicitness and authority in unfolding the
mazes of ancient ethnology, with the O1thl and 1 lth chapters of Genesis.
t By the way, could any more explicit reply be given to the remarkable challenge of Prof. A. to produce a single passage in the whole Scriptures, pointing at
those physical differences which we notice between the white race and the Chinese negroes, &c., and the equally remarkable assertion, that "there is no where
ay mention of those physical differences Characteristic of the coloured races of
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