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stern dissenters opposed the Churchmen and those
who had gathered round the royal governor, among the
Dutch, also, the humbler class of people had not amalgamated with ‘the gentlemen of figure.’
From the first, feudal distinctions had existed among the emigrants from
Holland.
In assuming power,
Leisler rested chiefly for his support upon the less educated classes of the
Dutch, and English dissenters were not heartily his friends.
The large
Dutch landholders, many of the
English merchants, the friends to the Anglican Church, the cabal that had grown up round the royal governors, were his wary and unrelenting opponents.
But his greatest weakness was in himself.
Too restless to obey, and too passionate to command, as a Presbyterian,
Leisler was averse to the Church of England; as a man of middling fortunes, to the aristocracy; while, as a Dutchman and a Calvinist, he was an enthusiast for William of
Orange.
Destitute of equanimity, his failure was inevitable.
The Protestant insurgents had, immediately after the revolution in New England, taken possession of the fort in New York.
A few companies of militia, from the first, sided with Leisler openly, and nearly five hundred men in arms soon joined him. Their declaration, published to the world, avows their pur-
poses: ‘As soon as the bearer of orders from the prince of
Orange shall have let us see his power, then, without delay, we do intend to obey, not the orders only, but also the bearer thereof.’
A committee of safety of ten assumed the task of
reorganizing the government, and
Jacob Leisler received their commission to command the fort of New York.
Of this he gained possession without a struggle.
An address to King William was forwarded, and a letter
