228 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

were unceiled, showing overhead the broad, heavy oak beams, upon which the upper, or garret floor was laid. The fireplaces were usually very large, generally extending, without jambs, to a width sufficient to accommodate the whole family with seats near the fire. The chimneys were capacious, and in them the meat was hung for roasting, or to be “cured” by smoking. The jambs, when the fireplace had any, were usually set around with glazed earthenware tiles, imported from Holland, representing scenes and Scriptural subjects, which formed a never-failing source of amusement and instruction to the children, who frequently gained their first Bible instruction from these tile-pictures, aided by the explanations of the elder members of the family. Some of these tiles were of a sort of porcelain or china, with bright-colored pictures of birds and flowers; but these were only found in the houses of the better classes, and were comparatively rare,—those in ordinary use being of a blue delft ware.

Frequently the barns were quite closely connected to the dwelling houses.

Previous to the English conquest of the Netherlands, the domestic habits and customs of the Dutch were simple and somewhat democratic in their character. The Fatherland was a republic, and the accident of family descent, that element which prevailed so greatly in the formation of English society, could not be recognized, or its distinctions claimed by her colonists in the New World; for it was within the recollection of the older citizens that all had come hither in search of fortune, and had brought little with them in the beginning. Some, indeed, through industry or peculiar sagacity, had attained positions of wealth, and consequently of increased influence, yet it might justly be said of the Dutch community, that its social circles were open to all of good character, without regard to business pursuits, or any factitious considerations. Rich and poor mingled together with a freedom and a heartiness of enjoyment which can hardly be expected to exist, except in the formative stage of society—and which, in the natural course of events, could not last long. The advent, however, of the English, many of whom possessed high social connections at home, with all their corresponding habits, etc., infused a change into the social life of the colony, and neces-