It was agreed that Virginia should "be in due obedience and subjection to the Commonwealth of England." But following this one vital provision came a series of concessions to the colony. The surrender was to be considered voluntary and not forced by conquest, the Assembly was to be continued, pardon was granted for words and writings denouncing Parliament, Virginia was to be "free from all taxes, customs, and impositions whatsoever," a provision which Parliament might with profit have remembered over a century later when they were debating the Stamp Act. The recognized principle that within the colony the Assembly alone had the right to tax was now for the first time guaranteed.[33] Then followed two provisions in which the commissioners stretched their instructions to the limit. There can be no doubt that it was Claiborne who was largely responsible for the promise that "Virginia shall have and enjoy the ancient bounds and limits granted by the charters of the former Kings," for this meant that Maryland would once more become a part of Virginia. But it remained to be seen whether Parliament would ratify so drastic a measure. And when it was stipulated that the colony should have "free trade as the people of England do to all places and with all nations according to the laws of that Commonwealth," it was obvious that there would be strenuous opposition from the merchants of London and Bristol. Having affixed their signatures to these articles, the commissioners hastened on to Maryland to demand the surrender of that colony. But before sailing they called for election for a new House of Burgesses. With Berkeley no longer in power to urge the return of staunch loyalists, and with Virginia submissive to the Commonwealth, the personnel of the House was greatly changed. When they met at Jamestown on April 30, 1652, one recognized only six familiar faces.[34] In the meanwhile, Bennett and Claiborne, who had returned from Maryland, sat with them in what was in reality a constitutional convention. Their first act was to elect Bennett Governor for one year. Thus, by one of those strange turns of the wheel of fortune, this ardent Puritan who a few years before had been driven into exile because of his religious beliefs, was placed at the head of the government. Had he been a man of Sir John Harvey's disposition, he might now have taken his revenge. But there is no evidence that he bore malice against Berkeley and the former members of the Council.