Constantijn Huygens to Mary II Stuart (future Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland)

Only three letters survive from Constantijn Huygens to Mary Stuart, the daughter of James II and herself the future queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. In January 1687, when this particular letter was written, Mary and her husband Willem were both still living in the Dutch Republic.

The letter accompanies a poem Constantijn composed for Mary. He dismisses the poem as a ‘trifle’ that he had been able to write only by taking costus, a medicinal plant thought to offer temporary relief from the symptoms of gout. The poem consists of nine stanzas and begins with the glorification of the beauty of the earth and the sun. Constantijn praises the famous painters who immortalized on canvas the triumphs of the house of Orange [Oranje] and he declares Mary's beauty to be comparable only with the finest and most brilliant star. He expresses also his admiration for 'La Grande' Britain and for Mary's royal lineage. After the eighth stanza the eulogies end somewhat abruptly and Constantijn asks for God's blessing. In the final stanza, Constantijn explains that he must finish his poem, calling the ode a mere mental exercise, a musing, that was written during periods of respite between attacks of gout.

This letter turned out to be the last Constantijn ever wrote; he died on 28 March at the age of ninety.

Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag

KA 41 (1687), nr. 434

January 1687

French

The Hague

Unknown

Draft

À Son Altesse Royale,
Madame,
Ce n'est icy, Madame, qu'un morceau de poême qui devoit servir d'entrée à un plus grand récit, dans lequel on verrait au sujet de vostre personne royale un grand nombre de ces véritez que V. A. a tant de peine à se laisser dire. Mais en somme, c'est tout ce que le costi a pu gaigner sur la goutte, se divertissant aux dépens d'un malade de 90 ans, comme il ne paroit que trop dans ma conclusion abrupte et précipitée. V.A. ne devoit jamais avoir veu la bagatelle, mais il m'a falu obéir.