The doge of Venice, accompanied by the senators, in the greatest pomp,
marries the sea every year.
Those who judge of institutions by their appearance only, think this
ceremony an indecent and extravagant vanity; they imagine that the
Venetians annually solemnize this festival, because they believe
themselves to be masters of the sea. But the wedding of the sea is
performed with the most noble intentions.
The sea is the symbol of the republic: of which the doge is the first
magistrate, but not the master; nor do the Venetians wish that he should
become so. Among the barriers to his domination, they rank this custom,
which reminds him that he has no more authority over the republic, which
he governs with the senate, than he has over the sea, notwithstanding
the marriage he is obliged to celebrate with her. The ceremony
symbolizes the limits of his power, and the nature of his obligations.
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