1. INprimis, That he the said Colonell Nathaniel Fiennes, did suddenly apprehend, imprison, & remove Colo­nell Thomas Essex, late Governour of the said City and Castle from his government there, upon pretence that hee intended to deliver up the same (not then fully fortified, or sufficiently provided to withstand any long siege) into the hands of the common enemies of the Kingdome and Par­liament; contrary to the trust reposed in him▪ and that hereupon, hee the said Col. Fiennes obtained the govern­ment of the said City and Castle for himselfe, and under­tooke to defend and keep the same, to the uttermost extre­mity against the said enemy, for the use of the King and Parliament, and not to surrender the said City and Castle, or either of them to the said enemies, or to any other per­son whatsoever, without the previous consent and order of the Parliament.

[Page 6]2. Item, That the said Colonel, soone after hee be­came Governour of the said City and Castle, did by Mar­tiall law, apprehend, condemne and execute some chiefe Citizens thereof; Namely, Master Yeomans, Master Butcher, and others, onely for intending to deliver up the same to Prince Rupert, when he came first before Bristoll (not then fully fortified and stored) though they did not actually sur­render the same.

3. Item, That he the said Colonel did put the Parlia­ment, Kingdome, Country and City, to a vast expence in fortifying and furnishing it, and the Castle thereof with Forts[?], Sconce, Canons, Ammunition, Arms, Victualls, Provision of all sorts, and with Garrisons sufficiently able to defend and maintain the same for Three moneths space or more, against all the power of the Enemies, that might or did come against the same; and did likewise promise and undertake to divers Gentlemen and Inhabitants there­of, to defend the same for so long space or more, in case they should be besieged.

4. Item, That he the said Colonell, notwithstanding the said premisses, when the enemy came before the said City and Castle, with no extraordinary Forces or Am­munition able to force the same, and besieged them not above foure dayes at the most, did before ever the enemy had taken any of the out Forts, or Sconces about the same; or had made so much as the least battery or assault upon the walls of the said City or Cast [...]e, or any myne or breach into any of the Forts thereof, contrary to his former trust, promises, duty, and the honour of a Soul­dier, most dishonourably, cowardly, and traiterously de­livered up the said City and Castle, with all the priso­ners, [Page 7] Canons, Ammunition, Artillery, Armes, Milita­ry Provisions, Magazines, Victualls therein, and the very Colours too, without, and against the consent of the Parliament, or his Excellency their Generall, into the hands and power of Prince Rupert, and other common enemies of the Kingdome and Parliament, to the extra­ordinary great danger, dishonour, losse and prejudice of the whole Kingdome and Parliament, the evill examples of other Governours and Townes, the losse of most of the Westerne parts of England, and great incouraging, in­riching, and strengthening of the said enemies, both by Land and Sea, and that upon very dishonourable Ar­ticles, to which hee was no wayes necessitated, and had no care to see them punctually performed by the enemy, when complaint thereof was made to him for reliefe, to the great prejudice and impoverishing of the Inhabitants and Garrison sou diers there.

5. Item, That the said Colonell, without the privity or consent of any Councell of Warre, did of his owne head, send out for a parley with the enemy, when the Of­ficers and souldiers advised and perswaded the contrary, and would have repulsed the enemies, and defended the said City and Castle to the utmost, that the surrendering up of the same was principally occasioned by earnest per­swasion, advice, and cowardice of the said Governour, contrary to his trust and duty to keepe the same: And that the said Governour, when as the Councell of warre una­nimously voted upon the parley, that it was neither safe, nor honorable for them to depart the Towne, unlesse they might march thence with halfe their Armes at least, and with their Colours; thereupon, after some private con­ference with Colonell Ierrard, one of the enemies Com­manders, [Page 8] in the Garden, without the privity, and contrary to the Vote of the said Councell, did make & insert the last Article, that they should leave all their Canon and Am­munition, with their Armes and colours behinde them, and returning to them out of the Garden, told them plainly, that they must now deliver up all to the ene­my, but what was expressed in the Articles, he then pro­duced, and leave their Armes and colours behind them, to the said councells and fouldiers great discontent. And whereas by those very Articles, the said Town and castle were not to be delivered up till nine of the clocke the next morning, nor the enemies to enter them, till the souldiers, and other Gentlemen were marched out, the said Governour was so over hasty to surrender up the same, that hee delivered them up to the enemy above one houre, or more, before the houre agreed on; and suffered the enemies to enter and possesse them before the souldiers were marched out, whereby many of the soul­diers were pillaged in the castle and towne, and divers of the Inhabitants best affected to the Parliament, plun­dered before the houre of surrender came, to their great losse and undoing.

6. Item, That he the said Colonell, during the foure dayes siege of the said City and castle, did not give any such incouragement to the souldiers and Officers (who bravely defended the same, and slew neere one thousand of the enemies best men, by his own printed Relation, with the losse onely of eight persons) which much discouraged them, as his duty and place requi­red, and they expected; and that when a small number of the enemies, not two hundred (who gave themselves for lost,) had entred the Line of Commumication [Page 9] at the weakest place, which vvas worst guarded; On Wed­nesday morning the 26. of Iuly last (being bravely re­pulsed by the Souldiers with great losse in all places else) he the said Colonell for two houres space or more (du­ring which time no more Enemies entred or approached the said Breach) both neglected and refused to com­mand or incourage the Officers and Souldiers, who offered to beate them out in due time, as he was advised and pressed to do by Captain Bagnall, Livetenant Colo­nell Damson, and divers others, who would have underta­ken that service; and instead of incountering the said Enemies (against whom the very women offered to go on with their children to dead the Canon, if the Souldiers were afraid, rather then the City and Castle should be yeelded) called off the Souldiers and Officers from the Line and Out-workes (that the Enemies might the better enter them without resistance) upon pain of death, much against their wills, who should and would have hindered and repulsed the Enemies, and discouraged and hindred such as were forwards to have cut them off, sounding a parly when the Enemies were so beaten that they threw down their Armes, and ready for quarter, insomuch that divers of the Souldiers and Inhabitants, cryed out they were betrayed, and some of the Souldiers brake their Armes in discontent, swearing they would serve the Par­liament no more.

7. Item, That the said Governour, notwithstanding his promises to defend the said City and Castle, and dis­pute it to the last, had yet a reall intention to deliver up the same to the Enemy before ever they were Besieged by them, and no thought at all to defend it to the utter­most, or till it might be relieved by his Excellency, as [Page 10] appeares by the premised Articles, by the said Gover­nours refusall to send the Prisoners formerly taken out of the said Castle, before the Enemy approached, when moved to it, saying to Sir William Waller and others, that he would detain those prisoners still there, to make his owne Conditions and Composition the better with the Enemie, if they came before it, by his commanding Ma­ster Hassard the Master Gunner there, to lay aside a Reserve of Thirty Barrells of Powder, with Match and Bullet an­swerable, to which when he was reduced, he would then Treat with the Enemy, (which he did before he was redu­ced to this large Reserve) by other speeches to the like ef­fect, And by his moving Sir William Waller to depart from Bristoll, before it was besieged, who otherwise would have adventured his life in its defence.

8. Item, That he the said Governour, when he sur­rendred the said Castle to the Enemy, had at least sixty Barrells of Powder therein (besides what was in the Ci­ty and Forts) being ten more then were in Gloucester when it was first besieged, Five hundred Canon shot, fifty great Granadoes, fourteen hundred weight of Match or more, great store of Musket Bullets, and Tin to make more, A Match-maker, a Bullet-maker, with materialls to make Match and Bullets, and all manner of provisions and Victuals, sufficient to maintain one Thousand men for three or four moneths space at least, Eleven Canons there­in Mounted, (besides 44. Canons mounted in the City and Forts) All which were surrendred to the Enemy before any Battery or assault made against the said Castle (though he had men more then enough by his own relati­on to defend it) contrary to his promise made to divers Inhabitants of the said City, best affected to the Parlia­ment, [Page 11] to defend the same to the uttermost, and to dis­pute every foot thereof with the Enemy, and to keep it, or to lay his bones therein; who thereupon sent in their Estates, with provisions for them and their families, for three moneths or more, into the said Castle, where the said Colonell promised to secure and defend the same, most of which their Estates, were there seized on by the Enemy to their undoing, By reason the said Colonell admitted the Enemies into the said Castle, and delivered up the keyes thereof unto them, before the houre agreed on in the Articles, such was his extraordinary haste, to quit the same.

9. Item, That the said Colonell, to aggravate this his dishonourable action, hath presumed to justifie the same, not onely before the Honourable House of Commons, by word of mouth, but likewise before the whole King­dome and world in Printed Relations and Letters, where­in he hath laid an extraordinary great Blemish both upon the Honourable Houses of Parliament, and his Excellen­cy the Earle of Essex, their Lord Generall, by publishing in Print, That had he Manfully held out the said City and Castle to the last, yet he could not have expected a­ny relief from them in six or eight weekes space at the least, when as Glocester since Besieged with a far greater force then Bristoll was, yet relieved by them in lesse then halfe the time (as Bristoll doubtlesse might and would have beene) and held out a full mone [...]hs siege or more, as Bristoll might have done, though he the said colo­nell to adde to his former offence, and hinder or antici­pate the Relief of Glocester, that it might be lost as Bristoll was, gave out in speeches to some Members of the house of Commons and others, and namely to [Page 12] Master Samuel Browne, and Master Iohn Sedgwick, that he would lose his head, or be hanged, if Glocester could or would hold out three dayes siege, if the Enemy once came before it, or words to the like effect.

10 Item, That the said city and castle were so coward­ly and unworthily delivered up to the enemies, that they have since published in print, and given out in speeches that the said Colonell Fines did bestow the same upon his Majesty, that they were delivered up to them beyond their expectation, and that they could not have taken the same, had it been defended by the Governour, who eventually at least if not intentionally, did but strongly fortifie, and plentifully store the same, with all manner of provisions to make it Tenable, at the Kingdoms and the Countreys extraordinary expence, to render up the same to the Enemies with great advantage to them, and far more prejudice and dammage to the Commonwealth, as soon as it was made defensible.