Descartes: A Biography

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 Descartes: A Biography

Later in the summer, Elizabeth thought that the situation in England

and Germany seemed to be moving toward a ‘crisis’, and she was unable

to make any immediate decisions about the future.After his return to

Holland, Descartes wrote to Elizabeth to confirm that he had followed

through on his intuitions and had returned to the tranquility of northern

Holland.

Formypart, thank God, I accomplished what I had to do in France. Although I do

not regret having gone there, I am much happier now that I have left it again. I met no

onethere whose situation was such that I would envy them, and those who seemed to

be most influential appeared to me most pitiable. I could not have gone there at a time

that would better have helped me realize the happiness of a tranquil and retired life,

and the richness of the most mediocre fortunes.

Descartes had not clarified in advance of his visit why he felt obliged

to travel to Paris in May. The confusion about his royal pension

and the allusion in a subsequent letter to Chanut to a visit that he was

‘commanded to undertake’ hardly explain the urgency or necessity of the

travel. On previous occasions he had used such trips to visit his relatives in

Brittany and to finalize legal arrangements about property. His maternal

uncle, Ren ́e Brochard, died at the beginning of August, leaving his estate

to his wife and children. Descartes also had an interest in this will, and

he authorized Picot to act on his behalf, even to the extent of intercept-

ing letters from Brittany and Poitou that concerned his financial affairs

and making decisions without forwarding them to Egmond unless it was

absolutely necessary.Disputes about the distribution of the estate con-

tinued for some time, because Descartes’ brother, Pierre, claimed a bigger

share than his legal entitlement. Pierre also offered to represent Descartes

in the negotiations about the will in which he had a competing interest.

This prompted the younger sibling to complain to Picot that Pierre had

played the same trick when distributing their father’s estate years ear-

lier. On this occasion, even an otherworldly but somewhat impoverished

philosopher could not ‘accept a loss rather than plead his case’ (v.). It

prompted him to quip to Picot that Pierre’s objection was ‘like that of a wolf

which complains that a sheep commits some injury to the wolf by fleeing,

when it fears it is about to be eaten’.Descartes seems to have planned

his customary trip to Brittany to visit his relatives, and perhaps even to

resolve problems about his inheritance. However, he cancelled those plans

abruptly following the night of the barricades, and he left Paris suddenly

onAugust.The wisdom of his decision was confirmed, on his return