The three sons of Noah were not equal—nor were the blessings pronounced upon Shem and Japheth equal. Japheth was, by the conditions of that blessing, made superior to Shem—and that superiority he does and ever will retain. Japheth has the start of Shem, and he will keep it; and Shem has the start of Ham, and he will keep that too. And so it is with all the divisions and subdivisions of the three great families of man.
One of these three general divisions must be the head of universal society, and the other the tail or foot—and Japheth was, from the beginning, constituted the head, and the head he now is, and the head he will ever remain. See how this prediction, uttered more than four thousand years ago, is literally fulfilled and still fulfilling! Who would not fear God for his power—love him for his goodness, and trust his promises and his grace!! And from the beginning Ham was made the foot of universal society, and the foot he will ever be, as certainly as Japheth shall continue to be the head. I do not conceive that Ham’s locality, in the great body politic or social, of the world, was the result of his crime. This, I believe, was all arranged by the divine mind, before that crime was committed, and arranged irrespectively of that crime: because the body social can no more exist without a head and foot than the body individual can: but the degredation, the infamy, the hard bondage, the bitter servitude of Ham and his posterity—these were and are the consequences of his crime: this is the curse pronounced upon him. That this view of the subject is correct, we have only to look at the locality of Shem: he was made then, and is still inferior to Japheth. What crime did he commit that made him his brother’s inferior? What offence against his father and his God was he guilty of, that his tents must be occupied by his supplanting brother? None. He committed none; nay, he assisted Japheth in the performance of the same meritorious deed; and yet he is not, and never was Japheth’s equal. The three sons of Noah, then, were intended to represent the three grand divisions of universal society. Japheth the head, Shem the middle, and Ham the foot; and this order was made by Jehovah as in the case of Jacob and Esau, without respect to the good deed of the one, or the bad deed of the other; and this order will continue to mark and distinguish the posterity of Noah, until the end of the world. Christianity will not alter this arrangement; all she will do for Ham will be to roll away his reproach—his degradation and the curse pronounced upon him—but the foot he will ever be, and be ever subject to his brethren; but he will be as useful and as necessary in the great social body of the world, as Japheth the head. And when Christianity has finished her work—when she has enlightened all—subdued all, and sanctified all—then Ham shall no longer envy Japheth, and Japheth shall no longer vex or oppress Ham. The head shall not say to the foot I have no need of thee,
