d by the judge, Barneveldt,
and Grotius. The prince carried the day; Barneveldt was executed, and
Grotius imprisoned in this castle, where he was kept nearly two years.
He was very strictly guarded at first; but his wife, finding that the
vigilance of the sentinels was relaxed, devised a scheme for effecting
his liberation. The books, papers, and linen of the prisoner were
conveyed to him in a large box, which the guards, having so often
searched in vain for contraband articles, at last neglected to examine.
The box, and the carelessness of the soldiers, suggested to the wife of
Grotius the means of getting her husband out of the castle.

"She prepared the chest by boring some holes in it, for the admission of
the air, and took her servant-girl into her confidence. The box was
conveyed to the apartment of Grotius, and the project explained to him.
He did not relish the idea of being shut up in a chest, and rolled about
in a boat; but his wife's entreaties prevailed over his scruples. It was
pretended that the box was filled with books which the learned man had
borrowed in Gorcum, the town which you see on the other side of the
river.

"The chest, containing the philosopher, was conveyed by the soldiers
down to the boat, in charge of the servant-girl. When one of them
complained of its weight, the man said it was the Arminian books which
were so heavy; for Grotius was an Arminian in his theology. The soldier
suggested that it was the Arminian himself; but this was intended as a
joke, and the box was tumbled into the boat. The servant made a signal
with her handkerchief to her mistress, who was looking out of the
window, to indicate that all was right.

"When the boat reached Gorcum, the box was conveyed to the house of a
friend of Grotius, of whom it was presumed that he had borrowed the
books. The servant-girl told him that her master was in the box, and
begged his assistance; but he was so terrified, in view of the
consequences, that he refused to have anything to do with the matter.
His wife, however, had more pluck in the service of a friend, and,
having sent all her domestics out of the house on various errands, she
opened the box, and released the philosopher from durance vile.

"Grotius, who had suffered no serious inconvenience from his confinement
in the box, which was only three and a half feet long, was disguised as
a mason, and, with a rule and trowel in his hand, was conducted to a
boat, and sent into Be