overthrew King James and put William III. on the throne. So the sights
and sounds of rejoicing over the birth of a prince were scarcely over,
when the news came that James was no longer King, and New York was soon
in a state of confusion.

In what had been New England before the provinces were united, the
people hated Andros. They arrested him. And as they had never been in
favor of uniting New England and New York, they restored their old
officers and disunited the two provinces, Andros was sent a prisoner to
England to give an account of his doings to King William, and New York
was left without a Governor. The men who had served under King James
insisted that they remain in charge of the province until King William
sent new officers to replace them. But most of them wanted to have all
who had had anything to do with King James put out of office at once. So
those who wanted this change took charge of the city, and chose as their
leader a citizen named Jacob Leisler. More than twenty years before,
this Jacob Leisler had come from Holland as a soldier of the West India
Company. He had left the service and had become a wealthy merchant. He
had a rude manner, and but little education. He looked upon as an enemy,
and as an enemy of King William, every man who did not think as he did.

The mass of the people now gathered around Leisler and became known as
the Leislerian party. They selected a number of citizens, calling them
the Committee of Safety, and the committee gave Leisler power to see
that peace was preserved. Those who were opposed to Leisler, but who,
just as strongly as he, favored King William, were called the
anti-Leislerian party. These last were headed by Francis Nicholson, who
had watched over the colony for Governor Andros. Nicholson finding that
he had few followers, sailed for England.