240 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

White (De Witt), Black (Swart), and Brown (Broom), but not, according to my recollection, the names of Blue, Yellow, and Red, which exist here.

“Allied to the subject of family names is that of family arms. It was not until the present monarchical regime that they were regulated by government. Before the independence of the country, titles, it is true, were conferred by the dukes of Burgundy and of Hainault, by the Elector of Bavaria, by the House of Austria, and by the counts of Holland, all of whom had dominion in some or other of the provinces; but family devices were not regulated. Of older date than these were the nobility of Friesland, which continues to this day, and whose members, discarding the modern names of count and baron, adhere to the ancient title of ‘Jonkcher,’ and their arms constitute a considerable number. In the time of the Republic no titles were conferred, and the citizens were prohibited from receiving any such from foreign powers, unless by consent of the States-General. The old nobility were, during its existence,protected in their estates and titles, but lost political caste as a privileged class. The States-General, on several occasions, granted to various ambassadors of the Republic of Venice, with which they were assiduous to cultivate a friendly intercourse, the right to quarter the arms of the United Provinces upon their own. On one occasion they decreed to one of these distinguished persons the right to quarter the lion, from the arms of the Republic, on his own; and in another instance, half the lion: but they gave no title or right of arms to Dutch citizens. The number of those, therefore, who were entitled to these family symbols in Holland, at the time of the settlement of the New Netherlands, was very few; and there are not half a dozen bearing the name of any of those who settled in our country. Some of their names have since been ennobled under the monarchy. When Louis Bonaparte ascended the throne of Holland, he promulgated a decree establishing a nobility as a part of the State, and an heraldic college; but the measure did not meet the approbation of Napoleon, and it was soon after abandoned. On the establishment of the present dynasty, after the downfall of Napoleon, this measure was renewed, and titles and houses anddecorations have been scattered broadcast over the land; although