From the element of air we descend to that of water, which is its neighbor, which at the beginning of Creation covered all the earth, as the element of air covered that same water. But because in this manner the earth could not be inhabited, the Creator, who created this whole world for the service of man, just as man for himself, commanded that all the waters be gathered in one place, which was the Ocean sea, and that the earth be uncovered for our habitation, and thus it was done, drawing the water out of its natural place, which was to be over the earth, and gathering it into another.
In this element there are many things to consider, which preach the praises of him who created it, namely: its greatness, its fecundity, its gulfs, its beaches, its ports, its waxings and wanings, and finally the great profits that come to us from it. For its greatness and fecundity the Psalmist praises God, saying: “This great and spacious sea, where there are so many differences of fishes that have no count, and animals both small and great”; this greatness the Creator ordered so that all nations might enjoy the profits of the sea, which are, on one part, navigation, which serves (as we said) for the commerce of peoples, and on another the sustenance that it graciously gives us, with the infinity of fishes that it raises. And for this the Maker wished that in it there should be many arms and gulfs, so that they might insert themselves through the lands, and enter through our doors, inviting us with their riches and providing us with sustenance. From here proceeds the Mediterranean sea, and the Red sea, and the Euxine sea, and the gulf of Persia, and many others, which are as arms of this great body, whose profits the Creator wishes all to enjoy. And in all of them there are their ports and beaches, where ships may safely be free from the force of the winds.
Nor does the omnipotence and providence of the Creator shine forth less in so great a multitude of islands as are distributed through the sea, which Saint Ambrose says are as some jewels of this so great and so beautiful body, which adorn it and declare the omnipotence and providence of the Creator: the providence, in providing these as inns and stations for navigators, where they may take refreshment, where they may recover themselves, where they may rest, where they may take shelter, either in time of storms, or when they wish to escape from the robbers of the sea. Nor does the omnipotence of the Creator shine forth less here in conserving some small islets in the midst of so great gulfs and abysses of waters and of the great waves that seem to wish to drown the earth, without for that reason being able to usurp a small piece of them, which is that marvel that the same Lord emphasizes when, speaking with holy Job, he says: “Who closed and set doors to the sea, when it ran with great impetus as if it came out from the womb? I am he who encircled it with my terms, and put doors and locks to it, and said to it: To here you shall come, and you shall not pass onward, and here the fury of your swollen waves shall be broken.” And certainly it is a thing of admiration that, all the elements running with so great an impetus to their natural places, as we already said, and the natural place of water being to be over the whole body of the earth, and to have it covered, God has, with only his word, drawn it out of this place, and conserved it so many thousand years outside it, without it usurping one step of the space that he marked out for it. Which he brings as argument to confound the disobedience and disrespect of men, the obedience of the
unserviceable creatures being seen. And thus Jeremiah: “Will you not fear me, and will you not tremble at my presence, who was powerful to make the sand be the term of the sea, and to put upon it precept and commandment, which it will never break? And the waves will be moved, and will not prevail, and they will swell, and will not pass it over.”
In the navigation that there is from Portugal to East India (which are five thousand leagues of water) there is in the middle of the great Ocean sea, where no bottom is found, an uninhabited islet that is called Saint Helena, supplied with sweet waters, with fishes, with game, and with fruits that the same land without any labor produces, where navigators rest, and fish, and hunt, and provide themselves with water. So that it is like an inn that divine providence deputed for this effect alone, because for no other does it serve. And he who placed it there was not to create it in vain. And what marvels us more is how that peg of earth on which the island is founded rises from the most profound abyss of the water to the summit of it, without so many seas having consumed and worn it away. And besides this, how, this islet being in comparison with the sea no more than a nutshell, does it persevere among so many waves and storms entire, without consuming or wearing away anything of it? Therefore who will not adore here the omnipotence and providence of the Creator, who thus can found and secure what he wishes? This is, then, the bridle that he put upon this great body of the sea so that it may not cover the earth and when it runs impetuously against the sand, it fears to arrive at the terms marked out, and seeing there written the law that was put upon it, turns back in the manner of a furious and rebellious horse, which with the force of the bridle stops, and turns backward, although it does not wish to.
The sea also on one part divides the lands, crossing itself in the middle of them, and on another joins them and reduces them to friendship and concord with the common traffic that there is among them. For the Creator wishing to befriend the nations among themselves, did not wish that one alone should have everything necessary for the use of life, so that the necessity that some have of others might reconcile them among themselves. And thus the sea, placed in the middle of the lands, represents to us a great fair and market, in which are found so many buyers and sellers, with all the merchandise necessary for the sustaining of our life. For since the roads that are made by land are very laborious, and it would not have been possible to bring by land everything that is necessary to us, the Creator provided this new road, through which small and great ships run, one of which carries a greater load than many beasts could carry, so that nothing should be lacking to ungrateful and unknowing man.
These and many other utilities we have in the sea, because as Saint Ambrose says, it is hostelry of the rivers, fountain of the waters, matter of the great floods, carrier of merchandise, compendium of travelers, remedy of sterility, help of necessities, and bond with which separated peoples are joined, and bridle of the fury of the barbarians, so that they may not do us so much harm.
The sea also has another thing, which, as so principal a creature, represents to us on one part the meekness, and on another the indignation and wrath of the Creator. For what thing is meeker than the sea when it is quiet and free of winds, which we are accustomed to call a ladies’ sea, or when with a temperate air it softly curls, and sends its gentle waves toward the bank, one succeeding another with a sweet noise, and
the one following the reach of the other, until they break upon the beach? In this, then, it represents to us the softness and meekness of the Creator toward the good. But when it is combated by strong winds, and lifts its fearful waves to the clouds, and the more it lifts them to the height, so much the more profoundly it uncovers the abysses, with which it lifts and lowers the poor navigators, powerfully whipping the sides of the great ships (when men are placed in mortal sadness, their forces and lives already surrendered), then it declares to us the fury of divine wrath, and the greatness of the power that can raise and quiet such tempests when it pleases him. Which the Royal Prophet counts among the greatnesses of God, saying: “You, Lord, have lordship over the sea, and you can tame the fury of its waves. Yours are the heavens, and yours the earth, and you created the roundness of it, with all that it embraces within itself, and the sea and the north wind that lifts it, you fabricated it.”
There remains for us another excellence of the sea, so great that the mind and the pen fear to undertake it. For what words suffice, I do not say to explain, but to count by their names (if they had them) the differences of fishes that there are in this element? What understanding, what wisdom was that which could invent, I do not now say so many species, but so many differences of figures of fishes of such different bodies, some very small, others of incredible greatness and, between these two extremes, another thousand differences of greater and lesser? For he is the one who created the whale, and created the frog, and did not labor more in the fabric of that fish so great than in that of this so small one. There are some craftsmen who cut with shears in silk or in paper a thousand differences of figures and chimeras in the manner that they wish, because the paper and the silk obey the will and mind of the cutter. Therefore what cutter was that so excellent who knew how to cut and trace so many differences of figures as we see in the fishes of the sea, giving to all their properties and natures so diverse? For he who cuts with shears does no more than form a figure, without giving it more than what it represents. But this sovereign Cutter together with the figure gave soul, and life, and senses, and movement, and skills to seek their sustenance, and offensive and defensive arms for their conserving and above all this so great a fecundity to conserve their species, that if we had not seen it, it would be totally incredible. For who will count the eggs that a shad has, or a hake in roe, or any other fish? Therefore from each little egg of these is raised a fish as great as that from which it came, however great it may be. Water alone as a soft mother, by power of the Creator, receives it in its lap, and raises it until bringing it to its perfection. Therefore what thing is more admirable? For since divine providence created this fishery for the sustenance of men, and those who must fish do not see the fishes in the water in the manner that hunters see game on the earth or in the air, he ordered that the fecundity and multiplication of the fishes should be so great, that the earth should be packed with them so that, wherever the net should fall, it would find what to seize. Many and almost innumerable are the species of birds and of animals that there are on the earth, but without comparison there are more that are in the sea, though it seems that this element was not disposed to receive dwellers that would populate it, nor to give them the pastures that we see on the earth, so that they might sustain them.
Therefore what shall I say of the differences of shellfish that the sea gives us? What of the variety of the figures with which many imitate the animals of the earth? For there are fishes that have the figure of a horse, others of a dog, others of a wolf, and others of a calf, and others of a lamb. And
so that nothing should be lacking to imitate, others have our figure, which they call sea-men. And beyond this, what shall I say of the shells from which fine scarlet is made, which is the ornament of kings? What of the other shells, and scallops, and figures of large and small snails, fabricated in a thousand manners, whiter than snow, and with this with spots of diverse colors, sown through all of them? Oh admirable wisdom of the Creator! How magnified are your works, Lord! All are made with supreme wisdom, and not only the earth, but also the sea, is full of your marvels. Therefore what shall I say of the strange powers and forces of fishes? The little fish that they call tardanaos makes a great ship stop, although it goes under full sail. Therefore how powerful is that Lord who, with so small an instrument, works so great a thing! A smaller fish is the sardine, and this supplies the sea and the earth, because it is common pasture of the greater fishes, and also is so of men. For which reason it is usually said of it that it goes more by land than by sea, traveling from some parts to others for our sustenance.
Nor is the sweetness and flavor that the Creator placed even more in fishes than in meats less to be considered, and thus anciently they served for the delights of princes. For which Saint Ambrose exclaims here, saying: “Woe is me, before man were created delights, before him abundance, mother of our luxury, than nature; first the temptation of man, than the creation of man!” But the Creator did not do this for temptation but for refreshment and provision of men, showing in this that he treated them as cherished children, so that the sweetness and taste of these foods might incite them to love and praise the Creator, who prepared this table and so sweet a banquet for them. But many men have so little discourse that, the creatures inviting them to praise the giver of all these goods, they in such manner feed and soak themselves in them, that it does not pass through their thought to give him thanks, and at least to say: The Creator made this for me, without owing it to me.