ng
the day, and to have rallied his battalion several times. Having
dismounted to encourage his men, he was unable, in the _melee_ when all
was lost, to find his horse; and the accounts of the manner of his death
are so contradictory, that it is impossible to reconcile them. All
agree, however, in stating that he was particularly sought after, and
that orders were given to shew him no quarter. Certain it is that he was
overtaken, and "sacrificed to the fears of Prieto, who justly considered
him the sword and buckler of the irresolute and vacillating Freire." He
was pronounced by an English traveller, as "the handsomest man he had
ever seen in either hemisphere," and undoubtedly his tall, athletic, and
beautifully proportioned person, his almost Herculean strength, the
elegance of his manners, and his impetuous valour in battle, gave the
impression rather of a royal knight of chivalry, than of a republican
soldier.[171] The influence and popularity which in a few short years he
acquired in his adopted country, by his own unaided exertions, and under
the many disadvantages of being a stranger in a strange land, best prove
that his talents were of the first order, and that he was no common
character. And that fraternal affection may not be supposed to have
dictated this eulogium, the following impartial testimonies of its
correctness are appended, in justice to the memory of one whom a
combination of cruel circumstances drove to a distant land to shed that
blood, and to yield that life, winch he had in vain sought to devote to
his own country.

An English gentleman, of ancient family, and author of travels in South
America, who knew Colonel Tupper intimately, thus wrote of him:

"He was certainly one of the finest fellows I ever knew--one
of those beings whose meteor-like flame traverses our path,
and leaves an imperishable recollection of its brilliancy....
I have often held him up as an example to be followed of
scrupulous exactness, and of a probity, I fear, alas! too
uncompromising in these corrupt times."

The American _charge d'affaires_ and consul-general in Chile, said, in a
letter to Captain P.P. King, then of his majesty's ship Adventure, both
strangers to the family:

"The heroism displayed by Tupper surpassed the prowess of any
individual that I ever heard of in battle; but, poor fellow!
he was horribly dealt with after getting away with another
officer. A party