The superior talents and virtues of De Wit made him on this occasion
the chief object of envy, and exposed him to the utmost rage of popular
prejudice. Four assassins, actuated by no other motive than mistaken
zeal, had assaulted him in the streets; and after giving him many
wounds, had left him for dead. One of them was punished: the others were
never questioned for the crime. His brother Cornelius, who had behaved
with prudence and courage on board the fleet, was obliged by sickness
to come ashore; and he was now confined to his house at Dort. Some
assassins broke in upon him; and it was with the utmost difficulty that
his family and servants could repel their violence. At Amsterdam,
the house of the brave De Ruyter, the sole resource of the distressed
commonwealth, was surrounded by the enraged populace; and his wife and
children were for some time exposed to the most imminent danger.
One Tichelaer, a barber, a man noted for infamy, accused Cornelius de
Wit of endeavoring by bribes to engage him in the design of poisoning
the prince of Orange. The accusation, though attended with the most
improbable, and even absurd circumstances, was greedily received by
the credulous multitude; and Cornelius was cited before a court of
judicature.
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