[2] Cornelis de Witt, a Dutch 17th century statesman, was forced to sign the act for the restoration of the stadtholderate.
Loving his country better than he did his disciple, the master had, by the Perpetual Edict, extinguished the hope which the young Prince might have entertained of one day becoming Stadtholder.
But God laughs at the presumption of man, who wants to raise and prostrate the powers on earth without consulting the King above; and the fickleness and caprice of the Dutch combined with the terror inspired by Louis XIV., in repealing the Perpetual Edict, and re-establishing the office of Stadtholder in favour of William of Orange, for whom the hand of Providence had traced out ulterior destinies on the hidden map of the future.The Grand Pensionary bowed before the will of his fellow citizens; Cornelius de Witt, however, was more obstinate, and notwithstanding all the threats of death from the Orangist rabble, who besieged him in his house at Dort, he stoutly refused to sign the act by which the office of Stadtholder was restored.
Moved by the tears and entreaties of his wife, he at last complied, only adding to his signature the two letters V. C. (Vi Coactus), notifying thereby that he only yielded to force.
[6]In Merrick v. Warden, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Merrick claimed his "guilty plea was involuntary because at the time he entered into it, he signaled that he was acting under duress by putting the initials “V.C.” before his signature on the Memorandum of Understanding which embodies the plea agreement in the case.