CHAPTER CLXVIII.

NE-PLUS-ULTRA-WHALE-FISHING. AN OPINION OF CAPTAIN SCORESBY'S. THE DOCTOR DENIES THAT ALL CREATURES WERE MADE FOR THE USE OF MAN. THE CONTRARY DEMONSTRATED IN PRACTICE BY BELLARMINE.

Sequar quo vocas, omnibus enim rebus omnibusque sermonibus, aliquid salutare miscendum est.

SENECA.             

The hardiest of Captain Scoresby's sailors would never, methinks have ventured upon a manner of catching the whale used by the Indians in Florida, which Sir Richard Hawkins says is worthy to be considered, inasmuch as the barbarous people have found out so great a secret, by the industry and diligence of one man, to kill so great, and huge a monster. Let not the reader think meanly of an able and judicious, as well as brave adventurous and unfortunate man, because he believed what he thus relates:

“The Indian discovering a whale, procureth two round billets of wood, sharpened both at one end, and so binding them together with a cord, casteth himself with them into the sea, and swimmeth towards the whale. If he come to him the whale escapeth not; for he placeth himself upon his neck; and altho' the whale goeth to the bottom, he must of force rise presently to breathe, for which nature hath given him two great holes in the top of his head by which every time that he breatheth, he spouteth out a great quantity of water; the Indian forsaketh not his hold, but riseth with him, and thrusteth in a log into one of his spouters, and with the other knocketh it in so fast, that by no means the whale can get it out: that fastened, at another opportunity, he thrusteth in the second log into the other spouter, and with all the force he can, keepeth it in. The whale not being able to breathe swimmeth presently ashore, and the Indian a cock-horse upon him!” Hawkins says that many Spaniards had discoursed to him upon this subject, who had been eye-witnesses of it!

“Most other animals when attacked,” says Captain Scoresby, “instinctively pursue a conduct which is generally the best calculated to secure their escape; but not so the whale. Were it to remain on the surface after being harpooned, to press steadily forward in one direction, and to exert the wonderful strength that it possesses; or were it to await the attacks of its enemies, and repel them by well-timed flourishes of its tremendous tail, it would often victoriously dispute the field with man whose strength and bulk scarcely exceed a nine hundredth part of its own. But like the rest of the lower animals, it was designed by Him who ‘created great whales,’ and every living creature that moveth to be subject to man; and therefore when attacked by him, it perishes by its simplicity.”

Captain Scoresby now holds a commission in the spiritual service as a fisher of men,—a commission which I verily believe has been most properly applied for and worthily bestowed. Whether this extraordinary change in life has produced any change in his opinion upon this subject I know not; or whether he still thinks that whales were made subject to man, in order that man might slaughter them for the sake of their blubber and their whalebone.

Nevertheless it was a foolish wish of mine that gas-lights might supersede the use of train-oil; foolish because a little foresight might have made me apprehend that oil-gas might supersede coal-gas; and a little reflection would have shown that tho' collieries are much more necessary than the Greenland fishery can be pretended to be, far greater evil is connected with them, and that this evil is without any incidental good. For the Greenland fishery unquestionably makes the best seamen; and a good seaman, good in the moral and religious, as well as in the nautical sense of the word, is one of the highest characters that this world's rough discipline can produce. Aye, says an old Lieutenant, living frugally upon his poor half-pay, aye that he is, by ——.

But it was not otherwise a foolish wish; for that the whale was made for the use of man in any such way as the whalers take for granted, I am very far from believing.

All creatures animate and inanimate, are constituent parts of one great system; and so far dependent upon each other, and in a certain sense each made for all. The whale is a link in the chain, and the largest that has yet been found, for no one has yet caught a Kraken.

Cicero makes Crassus the orator commend the ancient philosophy which taught that all things were thus connected:—mihi quidem veteres illi, majus quiddam animo complexi, multo plus etiam vidisse videntur, quam quantum nostrorum ingeniorum acies intueri potest; qui omnia hæc, que supra et subter, unum esse, et unâ vi atque unâ consensione naturæ constricta esse dixerunt. Nullum est enim genus rerum quod aut avulsum a cæteris per seipsum constare, aut, quo cætera si careant, vim suam atque æternitatem conservare possint. He expresses a doubt indeed that hæc major esse ratio videtur, quam ut hominum possit sensu, aut cogitatione, comprehendi: and with the proper reserve of such a doubt, our Philosopher gave a qualified assent to the opinion, restricting it however religiously to the inferior and visible creation: but as to the notion that all things were made for the use of man, in the sense that vulgar men believe, this he considered to be as presumptuous and as absurd as the converse of the proposition which Pope puts into the mouth of the pampered Goose. “The monstrous faith of many made for one,” might seem reasonable and religious when compared with such a supposition.

“Made for thy use,” the Doctor would say, “tyrant that thou art, and weak as thou art tyrannical! Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind him with his band in the furrow; or will he harrow the vallies after thee? Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook, will he make a covenant with thee, wilt thou take him for a servant! Wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? Shall thy companions make a banquet of him? Shall they part him among the merchants? Made for thy use,—when so many may seem to have been made for thy punishment and humiliation!”

There is a use indeed in these, but few men are so ready to acknowledge, and act upon it as Bellarmine was, who being far more indulgent to musquitos and other small deer than to heretics, allowed them free right of pasture upon his corporal domains. He thought they were created to afford exercise for our patience, and moreover that it is unjust for us to interrupt them in their enjoyment here, when we consider that they have no other paradise to expect. Yet when the Cardinal Controversialist gave breakfast, dinner, or supper of this kind, he was far from partaking any sympathetic pleasure in the happiness which he imparted; for it is related of him that at one time he was so terribly bitten a bestiolis quibusdam nequam ac damnificis, (it is not necessary to enquire of what species) as earnestly to pray that if there were any torments in Hell itself so dreadful as what he was then enduring, the Lord would be pleased not to send him there, for he should not be able to bear it.

What could the Cardinal then have thought of those Convents that were said to have an apartment or dungeon into which the Friars every day during the warm season, brushed or shook the fleas from their habits thro' an aperture above (being the only entrance) and where whenever a frail brother was convicted of breaking the most fragile of his vows, he was let down naked and with his hands tied! This earthly Purgatory was called la Pulciara, that is the Fleaery, and there the culprit was left till it was deemed that he had suffered punishment enough in this life for his offence.

    Io tengo omai per infallibil cosa,
    Che sian per nostro mal nati gl'insetti
    Per renderci la vita aspra e nojosa.
Certo in quei primi giorni benedetti
    Ne gli orti del piacer non abitaro
    Questi sozzi e molesti animaletti;
Ne' con gli altri animali a paro a paro
    Per saper come avessero a chiamarsi
    Al cospetto d'Adam si presentaro:

*              *               *               *               *

Nacquero dunque sol per nostro male
    Queste malnate bestie, e fur prodotte
    In pena de la colpa originate.

*              *               *               *               *

E come l'uomo a sospirar ridutto
    Per l'interno sconcerto de gli affetti
    Pravi, germoglia miserabil frutto;
Cosè la terra fra suoi varj effetti
    Pel reo fermento, onde bollir si sente,
    Da se produce i velenosi insetti.
Infin, da la materia putrescente,
    Nascon l'abbominevoli bestiuole,
    Ed è questa per me cosa evidente.
So che nol voglion le moderne scuole;
    Ma ciò che monta? In simile argomento
    E'lecito a ciascun dir ciò che vuole. 1

1 CORDARA.