Relation of the Prosecution of Nathaniel Fiennes, Trial proceedings · Floating text 1 – Letter 2
A True and full RELATION OF THE Proſecution, Araignment, Triall, and Condemnation, OF NATHANIEL FIENNES, Late Colonell and Governour of the City and Caſtle of BRISTOLL: Before a Counſell of VVar held at Saint Albanes, during nine daies ſpace in December laſt, touching his Cowardly, Vnworthy, and Traitorly ſurrendring of the ſaid City and Caſtle to the Enemy, before he was necesſitated thereto; not one of the out-Forts thereof being ſo much as taken, nor the City or Caſtle walls once battered or aſſaulted by the Enemies, who beſieged it not full three whole dayes.
NATHANIEL FIENNES having unexpectedly, if not ambitiouſly procured the Government, and moſt cowardly, unworthily quitted the poſſeſſion of the famous City and Caſtle of Briſtoll, (the chieſe Magazine and Bulwark in the weſtern parts) by ſurrendring them beyond all expectation to the enemy, when no waies neceſſitated thereunto, was yet of that tranſcendent boldneſſe as to juſtifie this his Ignoble Act; Firſt by a ſolemn premeditated Speech in the Houſe of Commons, after that by a printed Relation, and a Letter to his Excellency; and the better to evade a Parliamentary Tryall for that fatall Blow he had given to the whole Kingdome, in the yeelding up of Briſtoll (which ſadded the hearts of all, exaſperated the ſpirits of ſome well-affected to the Parliament and Republique;) he cunningly deſired in the cloſe of his Speech and Relation,*Page 13. that the truth of his Narration might be examined in a Counſell of Warre, and he either cleared or condemned thereby: To which purpoſe he obtained an Order of the ſaid Houſe, when as yet he had no other Accuſer but his owne conſcience, which (if we beleeve the Proverb) is a thouſand witneſſe: This his unexpected audaciouſneſſe to juſtifie an action ſo univerſally condemned by the ſuffrages of all ſorts of men, provoked Mr. Prynne (after ſome diligent inquiry into the truth of this diſguiſed buſineſſe) in his booke entituled, Romes Maſter-piece, (printed by Authority of a Committee of Parliament) pag. 35. to ſtile that action (formerly cenſured in ſundry printed Mercuries both at London and Oxford) The moſt cowardly and unworthy ſurrender of Briſtoll, a fit inlet for the Malignant Welch Papiſts, and Iriſh Rebells (lately landed there in great multitudes) to cut all our throates: and withall obliged Mr. Walker in point of duty, as a Deputy Lieutenant and Committee of Parliament in thoſe parts, to publiſh in print, An Anſwer in confutation of the ſaid Relation, thereby to vindicate the Truth, and let the Parliament ſee, they had not employed ſuch a man as would palliardiſe Lies, and become a pander unto Falſhood.
Now had Fiennes beyond his expectation gotten two adverſaries whom he muſt needs ſeemingly call into the Liſt, leſt (before the Counſell of Warre) he might be thought to fight only with his own ſhadow: preſuming therefore more upon the ſtrength of his friends then goodneſſe of his Cauſe, he reſolved to make theſe two Gentlemen the ſubject of his Triumph; he had loſt one victory for his Country, but would gain another for himſelfe, and lead Truth captive; ſhe ſhould have been the Trophy to his Victory as well as Briſtoll was to the Cavalliers, and he ſhould ſtill be reputed a Man of Honour: The better to compaſſe this Conqueſt, the buſines was projected by him in manner following.
Mr. Prynne muſt be privately dealt withall by Mr. Sprigge, the Lord Sayes Sollicitor, to retract his former Paſſage, as ſcandalous and diſhonourable to Colonell Fiennes, and his Noble Family, though neither of them are named or perſonated in in it; which he refuſed to doe,*By Mr. Sprig Mr. Beck, and others. adviſing Col. Fiennes, as his friend, to reſt quiet, for feare he loſt his head, and ſubjected himſelfe to a legall as well as a popular cenſure; aſſuring him, that if the buſineſſe came to a publike examination, if he underſtood any Law or Martiall Diſcipline, it could not but prove capitall to him.
Mr. Prynne continuing thus inflexible, proteſting he would never betray the truth, his Country, or the Honour of the Parliament, which had licenſed his Maſter-piece, to palliate an unworthy action in any his deareſt friends; and Mr. Walker being too ſtout to recant thoſe Truths he had publiſhed in his Reply; there was now no other remedy left this man of Armes to preſerve his Head and Honour (now at ſtake) but theſe enſuing policies.
Firſt, he endeavours all he could to take off, and diſingage the Parliament from any avowed publique proſecution and examination of this unworthy ſurrender; to keepe his Perſon exempted from all reſtraints, to continue himſelfe a Member of the Houſe, and have free recourſe thereto without the leaſt ſuſpention, the better to buoy up his ſunck Reputation, and deterre his Proſecutors from articling, all Witneſſes from appearing againſt him, remaining ſtill a Member; which appeares by his ſubſequent exceptions to our Impeachment preſented to the Houſe, as an high breach of Priviledge, equall to that of the five Members.
Nex, ſince Mr. Prynne and Mr. Walker had loſt the beſt part of their Eſtates in the loſſe of Briſtol, it was contrived that the buſineſſe ſhould be made as troubleſome, as chargeable in the proſecution to them and their witneſſes as could be, notwithſtanding they were engaged not out of any private intereſt, but only for the publique; that ſo the trouble and expence of the very Triall might foreſtall it: And therefore, upon the humble Petition of Nathaniell Fiennes, and his Officers, to his Excellency, Mr. Prynne and Mr. Walker by the enſuing publique Proclamation (poſted up both at Weſtminſter and the Exchange) were commanded to appeare before a Councell of War to be held in the *The head quarter was then at Windſor, but his Excellency with moſt of his officers, forces in London.Army (a place indefinite) upon the 19. of October 1643. there to juſtifie what they had publiſhed or could alleadge againſt the ſaid Colonell Fiemes, or any of his Officers, concerning the ſurrender of Briſtoll.
WHereas upon the humble Petition of Colonell Nathaniell Fiennes, late Governour of Briſtoll, and divers of his Officers, I have appointed the nineteenth of this inſtant month of October being Thurſday, to receive an account concerning the ſurrender of the City of Briſtoll at a Counſell of War to be held in the Army: and whereas Mr. Clement Walker, and Mr. William Prynne have publiſhed ſeverall things in print tending to the diſhonour of the ſaid Colonell Nathaniell Fienne; late Governour of Briſtoll, touching the ſurrender of that place; they the ſaid Clement Walker, and William Prynne, and all others who can ſhew any thing wherein the ſaid Col. Nathaniell Fiennes then Governour of Briſtoll, or any of his Officers, have done any thing in that action contrary to the rules of warre, and honour of ſouldiers, are required to appeare at the ſaid Counſell of warre to give in their informations.
ESSEX.
Before this Proclamation was firſt paſted up at Weſtminſter, Maſter Walker by practiſe and procurement of the Colonell (as he had cauſe to ſuſpect; and the ſequell evidenced) for ſome miſconſtruction made of a clauſe in his Anſwer to Col. Fiennes Relation, was queſtioned in the Houſe of Peers, where this originall complaint was ſo ſoone waved by falling upon ſome collaterall words (ſuppoſed to be ſpoken to Maſter Baker the Meſſenger, but denyed by Mr. Walker) for which Maſter Walker was ſuddenly fined and ſent priſoner to the Tower; as many conceived the firſt quarrell was not ſo much Cauſa data, as quaeſita, of purpoſe to diſable his proſecution of the cauſe. Whereupon Colonell Fiennes having gained this advantage, to ſhew his valour in trampling upon an impriſoned Antagoniſt ſtript both off his liberty and eſtate (as his brother Iohn did his, in cutting off Major Woods finger when two men held him faſt) ſets forth a Reply to Mr. Walkers Anſwer of his Relation, ſo fraught with lies, a baſe lye, and ſuch like uneivill ignoble language in the Margin, (where all the lies were concentred) as better became an Oyſter-woman at Billinſgate, then a Souldier or man of Honour, and loſt him exceedingly in all wiſe mens opinions: Not contented herewith, he likewiſe cauſed a ſcandalous Paper to be printed and diſperſed about the ſtreets, intituled: The true cauſes of the commitment of Maſter Clement Walker to the Tower; and then poſting up the forementioned Proclamation at Weſtminſter Hall gate and the Exchange, ſome two or three daies after, to wit, on the 13. of October about night he ſent his foot-boy to the Tower to M. Walker, with a Copy of it (without any ſeal, or ſubſcription of his Excellencies name, or other Summons) incloſed in this Note.
SIR,
I Have ſent you a Copy of my Lord Generalls Proclamation concerning the Counſell of Warre that is to be held on Thurſday next concerning Briſtoll, I underſtand you are in reſtraint by Order of the Lords Houſe, not for your booke which you writ in anſwer to my Relation, for that is referred by the Houſe of Commons to a Counſell of War, (where I expect you ſhould be to juſtifie what you have therein publiſhed to my diſhonour;) but for words ſpoken by you againſt a Peere, againſt the whole Houſe of Peers; yet ſo ſoone as the Lords Houſe ſits, I will procure the Houſe to be moved, that you may have your liberty in ſuch a manner as that you may be at the Counſell of War, and make good there what you have publiſhed againſt me, if you can.
Nathaniel Fiennes.
By this Writing it evidently appeared, that Maſter Walkers commitment, was a meer plot of Col. Fiennes to ſuppreſſe or ſurpriſe a tryall, and make this proſecutor cry peccavi, elſe he durſt not ſo confidently undertake the procurement of his liberty in this manner.
Maſter Walker upon this Summons Petitioned the Lords for his enlargement day after day, to proſecute this buſineſſe at the Counſell of Warre, and had ſeverall expreſſe Orders for his releaſe upon ſecurity, ſo as he ſhould render himſelf priſoner againe ſo ſoone as the tryall was ended: Yet notwithſtanding the buſineſſe was ſo carried, that divers weeks elapſed before he could obtain his liberty upon baile (the Lords Orders being not only quarrelled, but contemned by thoſe who were to bail him) although he had by this firſt Summons but five daies time allowed him to procure his freedome, draw his Articles of Impeachment, ſeek out, mannage his witneſſes, and be ready for a Tryall, a thing impoſſible to be done in ſo ſhort a ſpace. Nor had M. Prynne any fairer warning, or more legall Summons, this inſuing Paper without ſeale, name, or date (with a Copy of the Proclamation incloſed) about nine of the clock the ſame night being delivered him in the darke by Col. Fiennes his foot-boy under Lincolns Inne Chappell, inſtead of a citation.
SIR,
I Have ſent you a Copy of the Lord Generals Proclamation concerning a Counſell of War to be held concerning the ſurrender of Briſtol, where I expect you ſhould be, according as by the Proclamation you are required to be, to juſtifie what you have publiſhed concerning it, that it was cowardly and unworthily delivered up, and withall I deſire you to read the 1, 2. and 7. verſes of the 23. chapter of Exodus.
Which Paper when Mr. Prynne had read, he imagining Colonell Fiennes to be as unskilfull in legall proceedings as he had ſhewed himſelfe in Millitary affaires, penned and ſent him this inſuing Letter, to put him into a formall ſpeedy way of triall, and beat him out of his meere vapouring Paper bravadoes.