Roger Sheaffe, whom they met accidentally; but the general took
little or no notice of the nephew of one to whom he was under much
obligation, and whose fall had been his rise. It is true that Sir Roger
Sheaffe was also about to solicit an ensigncy for his own nephew; but
sure we are, that had Sir Isaac Brock met the nephew of a gallant
predecessor under similar circumstances, he would have presented him to
the commander-in-chief, and urged his claims with all the warmth of
companionship and gratitude. And is it not painful to think, that a
nephew of Sir Roger Sheaffe obtained that _without_ purchase, which was
withheld from the nephew of Sir Isaac Brock, even _by_ purchase--and
that nephew of as noble a spirit as ever breathed? Being thus cruelly
disappointed, young Tupper spent two or three years in Catalonia, of
which province a relative, P.C. Tupper, was British consul (see p. 73);
and "the young Englishman" received the public thanks of the
municipality of Barcelona, for having boldly exposed his life to
extinguish a conflagration which threatened to destroy a whole barrier
of the city. Here his vanity was constantly excited by exclamations in
the streets, on the manly beauty of his person. The profession of arms
continuing his ruling passion, he embarked at Guernsey late in 1821 for
Rio de Janeiro, whence he proceeded to Buenos Ayres, and thence over
land to Chile, then struggling for her independence of Spain. His family
was averse to his joining the patriot cause, as it was then termed, and
he arrived at Santiago a mere soldier of fortune--without, we believe, a
single letter of introduction to those in authority. But his appearance
and manners, and a perfect knowledge of three languages, English,
French, and Spanish, all of which he spoke fluently, soon procured him
friends and active military employment. He rose rapidly, and his deeds
have been compared to those of the far-famed Sir William Wallace.

In a necessarily brief notice, it is, however, quite impossible to
detail the services of young Tupper in the land of his unhappy adoption;
and it must, therefore, suffice to say that he displayed the greatest
talent and bravery, first against the Spaniards, and, after their
subjugation, in the civil wars which ensued. He was drawn into the
latter, when, in 1829, part of the troops, under General Prieto,
attempted to subvert the existing authorities, because, as he wrote, he
"considered that no free government or