at Columb, St Dennis, and Truro, and the enemy took his quarters at
Bodmin, posting his horse at the passes from Padstow on the north, to
Wadebridge, Lostwithiel, and Fowey, spreading so from sea to sea,
that now breaking through was impossible. There was no more room for
counsel; for unless we had ships to carry us off, we had nothing to do
but when we were fallen upon, to defend ourselves, and sell victory as
dear as we could to the enemies.

The Prince of Wales seeing the distress we were in, and loth to
fall into the enemy's hands, ships himself on board some vessels at
Falmouth, with about 400 lords and gentlemen. And as I had no command
here to oblige my attendance, I was once going to make one, but my
comrades, whom I had been the principal occasion of bringing hither,
began to take it ill, that I would leave them, and so I resolved we
would take our fate together.

While thus we had nothing before us but a soldier's death, a fair
field, and a strong enemy, and people began to look one upon another,
the soldiers asked how their officers looked, and the officers asked
how their soldiers looked, and every day we expected to be our last,
when unexpectedly the enemy's general sent a trumpet to Truro to my
Lord Hopton, with a very handsome gentlemanlike offer:--

That since the general could not be ignorant of his present condition,
and that the place he was in could not afford him subsistence or
defence; and especially considering that the state of our affairs were
such, that if we should escape from thence we could not remove to
our advantage, he had thought good to let us know, that if we would
deliver up our horses and arms, he would, for avoiding the effusion of
Christian blood, or the putting any unsoldierly extremities upon us,