naturally married the daughter of a baker.

All of Mr. Harmen Gerritsz's customers called him Harmen, and when they
wished to be exact they spoke of him as Harmen van Ryn--that is to say,
Harmen of the 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.