bekijk - digitale bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse letteren

317
are enriched with such a solid sweetnes, pithy brevity, numerous, melodious,
luschious straines and raptures, and embrodered with such an unbeleeved artifice,
and fringed with such choyse greeke and latine sentences, that all the Muses and
Graces seemed to hold your quill, while you penn'd them. Mee thinkes, I heare the
very twang of Apollo his harmonious harp in them. I see Heaven in your Bibel-stof,
Paradise in your Voorhout, invaluable treasure in your Kostelick Mal, living and lively
personages in your Zedeprinten, via lactea, the milky way, in your Van Als, seraphicall
passages in your Godsdienst, holidays in your Daghwerck, beames of radiating light
in your Oogentroost, the Thessalian Tempe in your Hofwyck, fleet, smooth Helicon
in your Sneldicht, Homers gold chain let down in your Langdicht, originals in your
Vertaelingen, Michael de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, his inimitable wit
in your Spaensche Wysheti. Bee pleas'd to accept my expression of my high content
and unexpressible delight in reading your elaborate, yet flowing and evenspun poesy,
in this distick:
Primum laetitiae signum clamare, secundum
Plaudere; vox ego sum, carmina bina manus.
Joy first a cry and then applause commands;
I am the voyce, these verses are my hands.
But I gild gold, or rather bring alloy to your purer mettle. The diamonds dust should
cut the diamond, and no Muse can characterize you, but your owne. Your lordship
did mee the undeserved honour to owne mee at Maldeghem in Flanders a little afore
't Sass was taken in 1) , when you were my hearer in coronel Cromwell 2) his quarter
on I. Corint. 13, 9: wee know but in part. Though nor I, nor mine are worthy to live
in your memory, I requested your lordship's kinsman Sir Sweers 3) to present my
humbe service to your lordship. A worthy lady of late favour'd mee with the best
modern English poeme that I have seen, entitled Theophila, or Lords sacrifice, a
divine poem; rich it is, high and much valued, written by E. Benslows Esquire 4) , in
a thin folio. If you have it not, your lordship may command the use of it, and also of
..... Amsterdam, March 3, 1659.
5604. Aan W. Price 5)
. (K.A.)
Ik dank u zeer voor het gunstige oordeel, door u over mijne Nederlandsche gedichten
uitgesproken. Als mijne Latijnsche verzen niet in uwe handen zijn, zal ik ze u
toezenden 6) , om nog eens uw geduld op de proef te stellen. Wat een mooie en
geleerde preek was die van u te Maldeghem. 17 March 1659.
5605. A. Rusius 7)
. (L.B.)
Door de curatoren der Leidsche Universiteit ben ik tot professor in de rechten
benoemd op eene jaarwedde van ƒ 1000. Voor een groot deel heb ik dat aan u te
1) Dus in Augustus 1644. Price was toen blijkbaar veldprediker.
2) Zie II, blz. 82.
3) Waarschijnlijk Jacob Suerius; zie I, blz. 354.
4) Dit Engelsche gedicht schijnt weinig opgang te hebben gemaakt, want de naam van den
dichter is thans geheel onbekend.
5) Zie No. 5603.
6) Den 12 den April schreef Huygens het versje: Ad Wilh. Price, Past. Eccles. Anglic Amstelod.
cum Momentis (vgl. Gedichten, VI, blz. 258).
7) Zie No. 5587.
Constantijn Huygens, Briefwisseling. Deel 5: 1649-1663