Terrified,
or corrupted, the gaoler obeyed their behests. On gaining admittance
they rushed to an upper room, where they found their victims,
who had throughout the whole of the tumult maintained the greatest
composure. The bailiff, reduced to a state of extreme debility by the
torture, was reclining on his bed; his brother was seated near him,
reading the Bible. They forced them to rise and follow them 'to the
place,' as they said, 'where criminals were executed'.
"Having taken a tender leave of each other, they began to descend the
stairs, Cornelius de Witt leaning on his brother for support. They had
not advanced above two or three paces when a heavy blow on the head
from behind precipitated the former to the bottom. He was then dragged
a short distance towards the street, trampled under foot, and beaten
to death. Meanwhile, John de Witt, after receiving a severe wound
on the head with the butt-end of a musket, was brought by Verhoef,
bleeding and bare-headed, before the furious multitude. One Van
Soenen immediately thrust a pike into his face, while another of the
miscreants shot him in the neck, exclaiming as he fell, 'There goes
down the Perpetual Edict'. Raising himself on his knees, the sufferer
lifted up his hands and eyes to heaven in deep and earnest prayer.
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