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We have still several of his letters written from Louvestein, which acquaint us in what manner he spent his time. He gave Vossius an account of his studies.
He, therefore, on his own authority, arrested the six deputies of Holland, in the same way that his uncle Maurice had seized on Barneveldt, Grotius, and the others; and they were immediately conveyed to the castle of Louvestein.
William Grotius, as well as his brother, had a turn for theological studies: he wrote something in verse on the Decalogue, which Grotius mentions in a letter dated from his prison at Louvestein, November 1, 1620. "I have read with pleasure, he says, what you have done on the Decalogue: the maxims are excellent, and the verses easy." William had his brother's confidence during his whole life.
We have mentioned that their confinement took place on the 20th of August 1618, and that they were removed from the Hague, the original place of their imprisonment, to the Castle of Louvestein. On the 19th November, the States General, at the instigation of Prince Maurice, nominated twenty-six commissioners for their trial.
One of the soldiers, observing that it was uncommonly heavy, insisted on its being opened, and its contents examined; but, by the address of the maid, his scruples were removed, and the chest was lodged in the boat. The passage from Louvestein to Gorcum took a considerable time. The length of the chest did not exceed three feet and a half.
The same sentence was passed on Hoogerbetz; but the house of the latter was assigned to him for his imprisonment. On the 6th of June, Grotius was taken to Louvestein. It lies near Gorcum, in South Holland, at the point of the island formed by the Vaal and the Meuse.
His wife however was wholly employed in contriving how to set him at liberty. He had been permitted to borrow books of his friends, and when he had done with them, they were carried back in a chest with his foul linen, which was sent to Gorcum, a town near Louvestein, to be washed.
Grotius' father asked permission to see his son; but was denied. They consented to admit his wife into Louvestein, but if she came out, she was not to be suffered to go back. In the sequel it was granted her that she might come abroad twice a week. Grotius became now more sensible than ever of the advantages men derive from a love of the Sciences.
He put her into close confinement; but in a few days, an order of the States General set her at liberty, and permitted her to carry with her every thing at Louvestein, which belonged to her. It is impossible to think without pleasure of the meeting of Grotius and his heroic wife.
Though the Dutch, during his exile, had expressed towards him more civility and friendship than he had received from any other foreign power, the Louvestein or aristocratic faction, which at this time ruled the commonwealth, had fallen into close union with France; and could that party be subdued, he might hope that his nephew, the young prince of Orange, would be reinstated in the authority possessed by his ancestors, and would bring the states to a dependence under England.
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