Motley John L. Peter the Great

London; Edinburg; New York: T.Nelson and Sons, 1887. — 128 p.OXE day, in the year 1697, the great Duke of Marlborough happened to be in the village of Saardam. He visited the dockyard of one Mynheer
Calf, a rich shipbuilder, and was struck with the appearance of a journeyman at work there. He was a large, powerful man, dressed in a red
woollen shirt and duck trowsers, with a sailor's hat, and was seated, with an adze in his hand, upon a rough log of timber which lay on the ground. The man's features were bold and regular ; his darkbrown hair fell in natural curls about his neck ; his complexion was strong and ruddy, with veins somewhat distended, indicating an ardent temperament and more luxurious habits than comported with his station ; and his dark, keen eye glanced from one object to another with remarkable restlessness. He was engaged in earnest conversation with some strangers, whose remarks he occasionally interrupted, while he rapidly addressed them in a guttural but not unmusical voice. As he became occasionally excited in conversation, his features twitched convulsively, the blood rushed to his forehead, his arms were tossed about with extreme violence of gesticulation, and he seemed constantly upon the point of giving way to some explosion of passion, or else of falling into a fit. His companions, however, did not appear in the least alarmed by his vehemence, although they seemed to treat him with remarkable deference ; and after a short time his distorted features would resume their symmetry and agreeable expression, his momentary frenzy would subside, and a bright smile would light up his whole countenance. The duke inquired the name of this workman, and was told it was one Pieter Baas, a foreign journeyman of remarkable mechanical abilities and great industry.