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
[Footnote 1: Journals, Feb. 8. Yet neither this declaration nor the
frequent remonstrances of the lawyers could prevent the house from usurping
the office of the judges, or from inflicting illegal punishments. Thus,
for example, on the report of a committee, detailing the discovery of a
conspiracy to extort money by a false charge of delinquency, the house,
without hearing the accused, or sending them before a court of justice,
proceeded to inflict on some the penalties of the pillory, fine, and
imprisonment, and adjudged Mrs. Samford, as the principal, to be whipped
the next day from Newgate to the Old Exchange, and to be kept to hard
labour for three months.--Journals, 1650, Feb. 2, Aug. 13.]
[Footnote 2: Immediately after Pride's purge, Vane, disgusted at the
intolerance of his own party, left London, and retired to Raby Castle; he
was now induced to rejoin them, and resumed his seat on Feb.
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