Before
Weinsberg surrendered to its besiegers, the women of the place
asked permission of the captors to remove their valuables. The
permission was granted, and shortly after, the women were seen
issuing from the gates carrying their husbands on their shoulders.
Lord Nithsdale owed his escape from prison to the address of his
wife, who changed garments with him, sending him forth in her
stead, and herself remaining prisoner,--an example which was
successfully repeated by Madame de Lavalette.
But the most remarkable instance of the release of a husband
through the devotion of a wife, was that of the celebrated
Grotius. He had lain for nearly twenty months in the strong
fortress of Loevestein, near Gorcum, having been condemned by the
government of the United Provinces to perpetual imprisonment. His
wife, having been allowed to share his cell, greatly relieved his
solitude. She was permitted to go into the town twice a week, and
bring her husband books, of which he required a large number to
enable him to prosecute his studies. At length a large chest was
required to hold them. This the sentries at first examined with
great strictness, but, finding that it only contained books
(amongst others Arminian books) and linen, they at length gave up
the search, and it was allowed to pass out and in as a matter of
course. This led Grotius' wife to conceive the idea of releasing
him; and she persuaded him one day to deposit himself in the chest
instead of the outgoing books.
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