The Maid of Maiden Lane | Page 2

Lane,
a very handsome residence--an old house even in the days of
Washington, for Peter Van Clyffe had built it early in the century as a
bridal present to his daughter when she married Philip Moran, a lawyer
who grew to eminence among colonial judges. The great linden trees
which shaded the garden had been planted by Van Clyffe; so also had
the high hedges of cut boxwood, and the wonderful sweet briar, which
covered the porch and framed all the windows filling the open rooms in
summer time with the airs of Paradise. On all these lovely things the
old Dutchman had stamped his memory, so that, even to the third
generation, he was remembered with an affection, that every springtime
renewed.
One afternoon in April, 1791, two men were standing talking opposite
to the entrance gates of this pleasant place. They were Captain Joris
Van Heemskirk, a member of the Congress then sitting in Federal Hall,
Broad Street, and Jacobus Van Ariens, a wealthy citizen, and a deacon
in the Dutch Church. Van Heemskirk had helped to free his own
country and was now eager to force the centuries and abolish all
monarchies. Consequently, he believed in France; the tragedies she had
been enacting in the holy name of Liberty, though they had saddened,
had, hitherto, not discouraged him. He only pitied the more men who
were trying to work out their social salvation, without faith in either
God or man. But the news received that morning had almost killed his
hopes for the spread of republican ideas in Europe,
"Van Ariens," he said warmly, "this treatment of King Louis and his
family is hardly to be believed. It is too much, and too far. If King

George had been our prisoner we should have behaved towards him
with humanity. After this, no one can foresee what may happen in
France."
"That is the truth, my friend," answered Van Ariens. "The good
Domine thinks that any one who can do so might also understand the
Revelations. The French have gone mad. They are tigers, sir, and I care
not whether tigers walk on four feet or on two. WE won our freedom
without massacres."
"WE had Washington and Franklin, and other good and wise leaders
who feared God and loved men."
"So I said to the Count de Moustier but one hour ago. But I did not
speak to him of the Almighty, because he is an atheist. Yet if we were
prudent and merciful it was because we are religious. When men are
irreligious, the Lord forsakes them; and if bloodshed and bankruptcy
follow it is not to be wondered at."
"That is true, Van Ariens; and it is also the policy of England to let
France destroy herself." "Well, then, if France likes the policy of
England, it is her own affair. But I am angry at France; she has stabbed
Liberty in Europe for one thousand years. A French Republic! Bah!
France is yet fit for nothing but a despotism. I wish the Assembly had
more control--"
"The Assembly!" cried Van Heemskirk scornfully. "I wish that
Catherine of Russia were now Queen of France in the place of that poor
Marie Antoinette. Catherine would make Frenchmen write a different
page in history. As to Paris, I think, then, the devil never sowed a
million crimes in more fruitful ground."
"Look now, Captain, I am but a tanner and currier, as you know, but I
have had experiences; and I do not believe in the future of a people
who are without a God and without a religion."
"Well, so it is, Van Ariens. I will now be silent, and wait for the echo;
but I fear that God has not yet said 'Let there be peace.' I saw you last

night at Mr. Hamilton's with your son and daughter. You made a noble
entrance."
"Well, then, the truth is the truth. My Arenta is worth looking at; and as
for Rem, he was not made in a day. There are generations of Zealand
sailors behind him; and, to be sure, you may see the ocean in his grey
eyes and fresh open face. God is good, who gives us boys and girls to
sit so near our hearts."
"And such a fair, free city for a home!" said Van Heemskirk as he
looked up and down the sunshiny street. New York is not perfect, but
we love her. Right or wrong, we love her; just as we love our mother,
and our little children."
"That, also, is what the Domine says," answered Van Ariens; "and yet,
he likes not that New York favours the French so much. When Liberty
has no God, and no Sabbath day, and no heaven, and no hell, the
Domine is not in