Hals tells us that, after the rout of the Roundheads, 'it was resolved by Essex's council that he should desert his army, and, privately by night, in a boat, go down the river to Fowey, and from thence take ship for Plymouth; which expedient was accordingly put in execution, and the General Essex, the Lord Robartes, and some others, the next day got into Plymouth, being the 31st August, 1644. On the same day Sir William Balfour, with two thousand five hundred of the Parliament horse, with divers officers, viz., Colonel Nicholas Boscawen, his Lieutenant Colonel James Hals, of Merther, Henry Courtenay, of St. Bennet's in Lanyvet, _Colonel John Seyntaubyn, of Clowans_, and his Lieutenant Colonel Braddon, Colonel Carter, and several other officers and gentlemen of quality, early in the morning forced their passage over St. Winnow, Boconnock, and Braddock Downs, though the body of the King's army, which lay encamped on the heath in those places, maugre all opposition to the contrary; from thence they rode to Leskeard, from thence to Saltash Passage, and from thence to Plymouth safely the same day, amidst their own garrison and confederates.' Whether from conviction, or from a wish to be well with either party in the State--whichever might succeed--it seems pretty clear that another member of the family, Thomas, espoused the cause of the Royalists. His monument in Crowan Church so describes him; and in the spring of 1882 I saw, on the walls of the principal staircase at Clowance, his portrait--hard, but apparently faithful--in Cavalier costume. Of the second baronet I find nothing to note, except that he was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1705. But the third[133] Sir John St. Aubyn, the sturdy little Cornish baronet--of whom Walpole said, 'all these men (his opponents in Parliament) have their price except him'--claims more of our attention than, perhaps, any other member of the family. He was born on 27th September, 1696, and we get a glimpse of his early life, when at Exeter College, Oxford, in the following extract from a letter written by his friend and fellow-collegian, Borlase, in 1772, to a lady in London. The MS. is amongst that collection at Castle Horneck, which formed the subject of an interesting article[134] in the _Quarterly Review_, vol. 139; and the following extract describes the homeward journey of the two young fellows. A hundred years ago this must have been a somewhat formidable undertaking; and we almost regret that the chronicler did not furnish us with more details than he has done: