berty,
and in the defense of it resolute and courageous. Therefore, when
unable longer to endure his despotic rule, he was seized, imprisoned and
afterward sent to England as has been stated. The government was, in the
meantime, vested in a committee of safety, of which Mr. Bradstreet was
chosen president.

Already, information of the popular uprising in England for the Prince
of Orange had reached New York and was stirring the blood of the
progenitors of the old Knickerbockers, who longed to have their own
beloved prince with them. On receiving news of the arrest of the
detested Andros, several captains of the New York militia convened
themselves to concert measures in favor of the Prince of Orange. Among
them was Jacob Leisler, Adelpha's father, who was most active of all. He
was a man of wealth and considerable esteem among the people, but
destitute of the qualifications essential to such an enterprise. His
son-in-law, Milborne, a shrewd Englishman, directed all his councils,
while Leisler as absolutely influenced the other officers.

The first thing they contrived was to seize the garrison of New York;
and the custom, at that time, of guarding it every night by militia gave
Leisler a fine opportunity of executing the design. He entered it with
forty-nine men and determined to hold it till the whole militia should
join him. Colonel Dougan, who was about to leave the province, then lay
embarked in the bay, having a little before resigned the government to
Francis Nicholson, the lieutenant-governor. The council, civil officers
and magistrates of the city were against Leisler, and therefore many of
his friends were at first fearful of espousing a cause opposed by so
many noted gentlemen. For this reason, Leisler's first declaration in
favor of the Prince of Orange was subscribed by only a few among several
companies of the train-bands. While the people, for four successive
days, were in the utmost perplexity to determine what party to choose,
being solicited by Leisler on the one hand and threatened by the
lieutenant-governor on the other, the town was alarmed with a report
that three ships were coming up with orders from the Prince of Orange.
This report, though false, served to further the interests of Leisler;
for on that day, June 3d, 1689, his party was augmented by the addition
of six captains and four hundred men in New York and a company of
seventy men from East Chester, who all subscribed a second declaration,