Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - X
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Chap. X.
TORDENSKJOLD.
141
cries Tordenskiold; so he sends a flag of truce on board
requesting the English captain to lend him some that he
might continue the battle, or, if he would not, begging
him to come on board and receive the respect due to so
gallant an enemy. The Englishman declined, so they
drank to each other from their respective vessels, and
cheers rose from the Danes as the captains raised their
glasses, vociferously returned by the delighted British
sailors.
In 1716 Peter exchanged by a patent of nobility the
plebeian patronymic of Wessel for the higher-sounding
appellation of Tordenskiold (or Thundershield), and was
later named Admiral.
After the peace of Frederiksborg he visited
Germany ; and having called to account a certain Colonel
Stahl, a sharper, who had fleeced one of his countrymen
at cards, by inflicting on him a sound thrashing, he was
afterwards induced to give him satisfaction. The
morning of the duel Tordenskiold rose cool and careless
as ever; in vain his servant implored him to take a
sword of greater strength than the small rapier he wore
by his side: he refused. The duel took place, and,
unaccustomed to the finesse of a fencer, he fell, pierced
by the rapier of his adversary, in the 29th year of his
age. He was the Danish Bayard of his century—“ sans
peur,” and I believe also “ sans reproche.”
“ For Denmark thunders Tordenskiold.
Let each to heaven commend his soul and die.”
Far be it from me to treat with disrespect the memory
of his brother Admiral, illustrious Juel; but Juel was
a man of noble parentage, and suffered in early life
none of those difficulties our hero so bravely overcame;
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
