Rhine, for his mill was near the river. "Out West," even
now, if you call a man Mister, he will probably inquire what it is you
have against him.

Mr. and Mrs. Harmen lived in the mill, and as years went by were blessed
with a nice little family of six children. The fifth child is the only
one that especially interests us. They named him Rembrandt.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Ryn, he called himself when he entered at the
grammar-school at Leyden, aged fourteen. His father's first name being
Harmen, he simply took that, and discarded the Gerrit entirely, according
to the custom of the time. In fact, all our Johnsons are the sons of
John, and the names Peterson, Thompson and Wilson, in feudal times, had
their due and proper significance. Then when we find names with a final
ending of "s," such as Robbins, Larkins and Perkins, we are to understand
that the owner is the son of his father. And so we find Rembrandt
Harmenszoon in his later years writing his name Harmensz and then simply
Harmens.

Mynheer Harmen Gerritszoon's windmill ground exceeding small, and the
product found a ready market. There were no servants in the miller's
family--everybody worked at the business. In Holland people are
industrious. The leisurely ways of the Dutch can, I think, safely be
ascribed to their environment, and here is an argument Buckle might have
inserted in his great book, but did not, and so I will write it down.

There are windmills in Holland (I trust the fact need not longer be
concealed) and these windmills are used for every possible mechanical
purpose. Now the wind blows only a part of the time--except in
Chicago--and there may be whole days when not a windmill turns in all
Holland. The men go out in the morning and take due note of the wind, and
if there is an absolute calm many of them go back to bed. I have known
the wind to die down during the day and the whole force of a windmill
troop off to a picnic, as a matter of course. So the elements in Holland
set man the example--he will not rush himself to death when not even the
wind does.

Then another thing: Holland has many canals. Farmers load their hay on
canal-boats and take it to the barn, women go to market in boats, lovers
sail, seemingly, right across the fields--canals everywhere.

Traveling by canal is not rapid transit. So the people of Holland have
plenty of precedent for moving at a moderate speed. There are no
mountains in Holland, so water never runs; it may