_already_ established, and
he only carried out the errors of his predecessor. Forty years of
remorseless persecutions against his best subjects, without asking
himself why! Of all the weaknesses of his reign, this was the most
odious and the most guilty; his hand was most literally weary of signing
cruel edicts against the Protestants of his kingdom, without even
reading them, and which obedience to his mandates had to transcribe in
letters of fire and blood, on the remotest parts of his realm.

Let us return to the Frenchmen of Ulster, who for some time after their
emigration used their own language, until a consultation was held to
determine whether this, or the English or Dutch, should be adopted in
the families. As the latter was generally spoken in the neighboring
places,--Kingston, Poughkeepsie and Newburgh,--and also at the schools
and churches, it was decided to speak Dutch only to their children and
servants. Having for a while, however, continued the use of their native
tongue, some of the Huguenot descendants in the Paltz still write their
names as their French ancestors wrote them more than two centuries ago.
Dubois, Bevier, Deyeau, Le Fevre, Hasbroque, are well-known instances.

_Petronella_ was once an admired name among the Huguenot ladies, and
became almost extinct in Ulster at one time. The last was said to have
been Petronella Hasbroque, a lady distinguished for remarkable traits of
character. Judge Hasbroque, of Kingston, the father of the former
President of Rutger's College, was very anxious that his son would give
this name to one of his daughters. In case of compliance, a handsome
marriage portion was also promised; but the parents declined the
generous offer, whether from a dislike to the name, or a belief that the
property would be theirs, at any rate, some day, is not known. A
granddaughter, however, of a second generation, named her first-born
Petronella, and thus gratifying the desire of her near kinsman, secured
a marriage portion for the heir, and preserved the much-admired name
from oblivion--certainly three important results.

It was a well-known and distinguished trait of the New Paltz Huguenots,
that but few intermarriages have taken place among their own families
(_Walloon_); they differed in this respect from all other French
Protestants who emigrated to America and mingled with the other
population by matrimonial alliances. In Kingston, Poughkeepsie, and
other neighborhoods, near b