spread a report of his being ill. Two soldiers carried the chest: one of
them, finding it heavier than usual, said, There must be an Arminian in
it: this was a kind of proverb that had lately come into use. Grotius'
wife, who was present, answered with great coldness, There are indeed
Arminian books in it. The chest was brought down on a ladder, with great
difficulty. The soldier insisted on its being opened, to see what was in
it; he even went and informed the Commandant's wife that the weight of
the chest gave him reason to think there was something suspicious
contained in it, and that it would be proper to have it opened. She
would not; whether it was that she was willing to wink at the thing, or
through negligence: she told him that Grotius' wife had assured her
there was nothing but books in it; and that they might carry it to the
boat. It is affirmed that a soldier's wife who was present, said there
was more than one example of prisoners making their escape in boxes. The
chest however was put into the boat, and Grotius' maid, who was in the
secret, had orders to go with it to Gorcum, and put it into a house
there. When it came to Gorcum, they wanted to put it on a sledge; but
the maid telling the boatman there were some brittle things in it, and
begging of him to take care how it was carried, it was put on a horse,
and brought by two chairmen to David Dazelaer's, a friend of Grotius,
and brother-in-law to Erpenius, having married his sister[112]. When
every body was gone, the maid opened the chest. Grotius had felt no
inconvenience in it, though its length was not above three feet and a
half. He got out, dressed himself like a mason, with a rule and a
trowel, and went by Dazelaer's back-door, through the market-place to
the gate that leads to the river, and stept into a boat which carried
him to Valvic in Brabant. At this place he made himself known to some
Arminians; and hired a carriage to Antwerp, taking the necessary
precautions not to be known by the way: it was not the Spaniards he
feared, for there was then a truce between them and the United