... for England, leaving Captain .n chief authority. To Brockholls, therefore, Marknam delivered the King's declaration, and from him received a WILL CHAPTER I. WILLIAM PENN, PROPRIETOR, 1681–93. ILLIAM MARKHAM, Deputy Governor, June, 1681, to October, 1682.-Not being in readiness to depart for his newly acquired possessions, Penn dispatched his kinsman, William Markham, armed with the authority of Deputy Governor, to take formal possession, and rule until his arrival. By the hands of Markham, Penn addressed a letter to the colonists upon the Delaware, advising them of the transfer of authority, and promising most liberal terms. "You are now fixed," he says, "at the mercy of no governor who comes to make his fortunes great. You shall be governed by laws of your own making, and live a free, and, if you will, a sober and industrious people. I shall not usurp the right of any, or oppress his person. In short, whatever sober and free men can reasonably desire for the security and improvement of their own happiness, I shall heartily comply with." The King also published his declaration, making public the grant and its extent, and directing obedience of the inhabitants to the Proprietor and his deputies. Markham's commission was given on the 6th of March, two days after the date of the charter, and he immediately started for the province. He proceeded directly to New York to inform the Governor, who then held sway upon the Delaware, of the King's pleasure. Andros, having been previously called to account for some official mismanagement by an agent of the Duke of York, John Levin, had departed for England, leaving Captain Anthony Brockholls in chief authority. To Brockholls, therefore, Markham delivered the King's declaration, and from him received a letter addressed to the justices and other magistrates acting within the limits of the new grant, informing them that the King's patent to William Penn had been shown him by Markham, and been entered in the official records of his government, returning them thanks for their good service, and requesting that they transfer their allegiance to the new proprietor. With this letter, which was dated New York, June 21st, 1681, Markham proceeded immediately to the Delaware, where he was kindly received and his authority unhesitatingly accepted. He was empowered, by his commission, to call a council of nine, over whom he was to preside. The attestation of these councillors, which was dated August 3d, was in these words: "Wee do hereby bind ourselves by our hands and seales, that wee neither act nor advise, nor consent, unto anything that shall not be according to our own consciences the best for ye true and well Government of the said Province." Two of these councillors did not write their own names. Markham also brought a letter, addressed to Lord Baltimore, with reference to the settlement of the boundary between the two provinces. On receipt of this, Lord Baltimore came to Upland to confer with Markham upon this subject, when it was ascertained by an observation then taken, that Upland, the heart of the colony, was twelve miles south of the forty-first degree of latitude; whereas, the charter of King Charles fixed the southern boundary of Pennsylvania at "the beginning of the fortieth degree, or at the end of the thirty-ninth." This would have included the city of Baltimore, and even the site of the present city of Washington. Ignorance of the geography, on the part of the royal secretaries, had occasioned confusion in drawing the charters, and consequently Markham could settle nothing. This attempt at an amicable composition was the beginning of a controversy which was maintained with much spirit for many years, and until after the death of Penn. It was finally agreed, much in the interest of Maryland, to adopt the segment of a circle |