Lieutenant Tupper commanded the launch, and although severely wounded in three places, he stood up the whole time, and retained the command of her until he returned to the ship. The bullet, which proved fatal, entered his right breast, and was extracted from under the skin over the false ribs. He lingered until the 26th June, when he breathed his last, in a state of delirium, on board the Sybille, at Malta, where his remains were interred, and a monument was erected to his memory by his captain and messmates. In person he was rather above the middle height, with a pleasing and intelligent countenance; and when his brother Charles and he were midshipmen together in the Victory, in the Baltic, they were designated on board as the handsome brothers.[170]
The surgeon of the Sybille, in a letter to the family in Guernsey, wrote of Lieutenant Tupper:
“When I first saw him
he was firm and cool. He asked me to
give my opinion without reserve,
and knowing him to be
possessed of
great fortitude, I told him that the wound in the
chest was of a most dangerous nature, but not
necessarily fatal. He had by this time
lost a great deal of blood, but the internal hemorrhage,
though the most alarming, was slight. He remained
so low for three days, that it was expected he would
have sunk, though he still continued collected and
firm. On the fourth day he rallied, his pulse
became more distinct, and he evidently encouraged hopes.
Need I say that I felt myself incapable of destroying
them—indeed I was not altogether without
hope myself. The principal danger was from hemorrhage
upon the separation of the sloughs, and my fears were
fatally verified, for on the 25th, at noon, it commenced
and increased internally, until his lungs could no
longer perform their functions, and he died at about
three o’clock on the morning of the 26th.
During the whole time he was resigned, evincing the
greatest strength of mind. As it was with unfeigned
sorrow that I saw a fine and gallant young man fall
a victim to such a cause, so it was with admiration
that I witnessed his heroic bearing when the excitement
was past, and hope itself was almost fled. I have
seen many support their firmness amidst danger and
death, but it belongs to few to sustain it during
protracted suffering, which is indeed a trial often
too severe for the bravest, but through which your
lamented brother came with a spirit and resignation
which reflected lustre upon himself and family, and
endeared him to all his shipmates.”
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 164: Eldest son of N. Gosselin, Esq., jurat, one of the clerks of the council to Queen Elizabeth, by his wife, a daughter of Lewis Lempriere, Esq., bailiff of Jersey—and grandson of Hilary Gosselin, bailiff of Guernsey in four reigns, Henry the Eighth to Elizabeth.]
[Footnote 165: Viz. two sons—Daniel, married Catherine, daughter of John Tupper, Esq., jurat; and John, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Brock, Esq.—and three daughters, Emilia, wife of Sir P. De Havilland, bailiff; Elizabeth, wife of W. Le Marchant, Esq.; and Margaret, wife of I. Carey, Esq.]