"the keepers of the liberty of England by authority of parliament;" new
commissions were issued to the judges, sheriffs, and magistrates; and in
lieu of the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, was required an engagement
to be true to the commonwealth of England. Of the

[Footnote 1: Journals, Feb. 7, 13, 14, 15, 19, 22. Whitelock, 378, 382,
383. The amended oath is in Walker, part ii. 130.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1649. Feb. 17.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1649. Feb. 22.]

judges, six resigned; the other six consented to retain their situations,
if parliament would issue a proclamation declaratory of its intention to
maintain the fundamental laws of the kingdom. The condition was accepted
and fulfilled;[1] the courts proceeded to hear and determine causes after
the ancient manner; and the great body of the people scarcely felt the
important change which had been made in the government of the country. For
several years past the supreme authority had been administered in the name
of the king by the two houses at Westminster, with the aid of the committee
at Derby House; now the same authority was equally administered in the name
of the people by one house only, and with the advice of a council of state.

The merit or demerit of thus erecting a commonwealth on the ruins of the
monarchy chiefly belongs to Cromwell, Ireton, Bradshaw, and Marten, who by
their superior influence guided and controlled the opinions and passions of
their associates in the senate and the army. After the king's death they
derived much valuable aid from the talents of Vane,[2] Whitelock, and St.
John; and a feeble lustre was shed on their cause by the accession of the
five peers