c CUNYB/Clarke December, :
Thoughts of Retirement communicator between scholars, some of whom had no other means of
sharing information.
There was closure in a different sense to the long-running mutual
antipathy between Descartes and Pierre Gassendi during the Paris visit.
These were two very different personalities whose philosophical perspec-
tives made a meeting of minds difficult. However, they had at least two
things in common – an abiding interest in new discoveries in natural phi-
losophy and, at least officially, a common allegiance to the Catholic Church.
Ayoung priest named Cesar d’Estr ́ ees arranged for the two protagonists ́
to meet during Descartes’ stay in Paris. The initial visit by Gassendi was
reciprocated by a return visit from Descartes in the course of which,
according to Baillet, the two philosophers ‘renewed their protestations of
eternal friendship with the greatest sincerity’.There is no evidence of
any further communication between Descartes and Gassendi, who was to
outlive his compatriot by five years.
Descartes’ correspondence with Princess Elizabeth during this period
was, as usual, more revealing about his personal plans and his concerns
about the political instability he was witnessing and, on her part, about
the possibility of returning to The Hague if the war were concluded.
Elizabeth told him in June about further health problems – on this occa-
sion, a swelling in her arm that resulted from a surgeon cutting a nerve
in the course of blood-letting.Elizabeth was watching carefully the
way in which the parliamentary forces were conducting their campaign
against Charles I in England, and the unfolding of military events in
Germany. Hope for the former and despair about the latter were equally
relevant to the prospects for her return to Holland. Descartes’ reply shows
that he felt likewise at the mercy of uncontrollable events in France.
In his case, however, the immediate reaction was flight, and a return to
Egmond.
Theparlement[of Paris] together with the other sovereign courts assemble every day
atpresent to deliberate about certain decisions that they claim should be made about
the management of finances. This is happening with the Queen’s permission, so that
it seems as if the whole affair will drag out for a long time, though it is difficult to
imagine how it will conclude....However, while waiting for a resolution, I would be
better off taking myself to a country which is already at peace and, if these storms fail
to clear soon, I plan to return to Egmond in six weeks or two months, and to remain
there until the situation in France calms down. In the mean time, holding to my plans,
with one foot in one country and the other in another, I find that my condition is very
happy insofar as it is free.