c CUNYB/Clarke December, :
Thoughts of Retirement There followed another letter from Chanut (March) to indicate that
the queen would like to have Descartes travel north in April, and that she
guaranteed to have him back in Egmond before the winter if the Swedish
climate proved to be too harsh for him. By this stage, the importunate
queen began to show signs of accommodating the requirements of the
philosopher, who was surely not obliged to respond to any of her demands.
Descartes meantime replied to the earlier invitation with two letters to
Chanut, one that he would be free to show to the queen and one in which
Descartes expressed his true feelings. He was reluctant to make a short
visit to Sweden, he said, for fear that it would not satisfy the queen, and he
was especially reluctant to spend the winter in Stockholm. This alternative
plan would suit him best for various reasons.Iwould realize the following benefit – which I acknowledge is significant for a man
who is no longer young and whom a twenty-year seclusion has rendered completely
unaccustomed to fatigue – namely, that it would not be necessary for me to embark
onmytravels at the beginning of Spring or at the end of Autumn. I could also use the
most secure and most convenient season which, I believe, will be towards the middle
of Summer. Besides, I hope in the mean time to have the leisure to finalize a number
of projects that are important to me.In this letter, which could be shown to the queen, Descartes makes it
very clear that he plans to remain in Egmond until he receives further
instructions by letter from Chanut. While Descartes was awaiting such
confirmation, Admiral Herman Fleming turned up and his invitation had
to be graciously declined.
In another letter of the same day, which was confidential to Chanut,
Descartes was more honest about his reservations. ‘I shall give you, if I
may, the trouble of reading two of my letters on this occasion. For, assuming
that you may possibly wish to show the other one to the Queen of Sweden,
Ihavereserved for this one what I thought she does not need to see, namely,
that I have much more difficulty in deciding to take this journey than I
would have imagined myself ’ (v.). One reason was that few people
understood his philosophy, even those with ‘an excellent mind and a great
desire for knowledge’. Christina, as a relatively young woman with little
formal education, might fall into that category. The second reason was that,
if the queen understood his opinions, they might not seem as attractive or
innovative as she might have expected. He was hinting diplomatically that