Descartes: A Biography

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 Descartes: A Biography

the projected journey. ‘I will just tell you that...Ihavedecided to embark

onthe journey to which I was invited by the recent letters, although

initially I was more opposed to it than you could imagine.’Even when

the decision was made in principle, it still remained to agree on a suitable

time to travel and, especially, to plan his return to the United Provinces

within a relatively short time. Since Picot had provided a suitable valet

onhis last journey to Paris, he renewed that request, asking if he could

borrow the services of Picot’s current valet, whom he had spotted during

the Paris visit. Henry Schluter was a German who (according to Baillet)

knew some Latin, French, and Flemish in addition to his native language,

and he had attended college for a period. Picot had no objection to lending

him to Descartes for a period of six months to a year.

Meantime, Chanut arrived in The Hague on the end of May,on

his way to Paris.He planned to report to the regent on his diplomatic

work in Sweden, to get new instructions for co-operation between Sweden

and France, and he obviously envisaged returning to Stockholm sometime

during the year, since his wife and family had remained there. Descartes

had tipped off a number of people to watch out for Chanut’s arrival and

to alert him so that he would not miss the opportunity of discussing his

ownplans with someone who had extensive experience of living among

‘the rocks and the ice’. It is not clear whether they met in The Hague or

in Egmond, but, whatever the venue, the two exiled Frenchmen managed

to discuss their apparently shared destiny. Descartes wrote to Elizabeth, a

week later, to say that he was relieved by Chanut’s account of life in Sweden.

However, the reluctant traveller seems to have been still hoping to escape

his fate if Queen Christina failed to confirm that she required his services.

Despite the earlier decision, therefore, he decided not to leave immediately

buttoawait confirmation of the original invitation from Stockholm.

I persist in the plan to go to Sweden, on condition that the queen continues to show that

she wants me to go there. Mr. Chanut...when passing through here eight days ago

onhis way to France, spoke to me so positively about this marvelleous queen that the

journey there no longer seems as long or as troublesome as it did previously. However,

I shall not depart until I receive once more some news from that country, and I shall

try to wait for Mr. Chanut’s return so that I can travel with him, for I hope that they

will send him back to Sweden.

This ambivalence continued for three months. Meantime, Descartes

also thought of another excuse for not going to Sweden – it might reflect