vania according to the bounds and degree of northern latitude as expressed in our letters patent, &c.," went to Maryland in order to settle as quickly as might be the controversy respecting the boundary line between the two provinces. Markham also took with him a letter from William Penn to Lord Baltimore, urging the prompt adjustment of the vexatious dispute. The lord proprietary of Maryland received Penn's representative with marked kindness; and as the latter was suffering from indisposition, induced by the intensely warm weather, Baltimore invited Markham to his house on the Patuxent River, where the latter became dangerously ill, and for nearly a month was incapable of being moved. On his recovery he determined to return to Pennsylvania, but before his departure Baltimore and he arranged to meet at Upland on the 16th of October following, where observations should then be taken to ascertain precisely where the fortieth degree of northern latitude was, and thus adjust the disputed point of territorial boundaries. Markham also promised to borrow from Col. Lewis Morris, of New York, the necessary instruments for making the astronomical observations. Unexpected, the passage of the vessel up Chesapeake Bay to its head was long and tedious, so that much of the time Markham had intended for his journey to New York was thereby consumed. Hense, from the head of the bay, he addressed a letter to Lord Baltimore, Sept. 25, 1681, requesting that the meeting should be deferred until the 26th of the same month. When the Deputy Governor reached Upland he was again taken ill, and thereupon he wrote to Lord Baltimore, this time informing him that his physical condition was such that it would be impossible for him to attend to the adjustment of the boundary line until the following spring. This letter was forwarded, but before it reached its destination Markham received a communication from Lord Baltimore, dated Oct. 10, 1681, in which the latter stated that he could not come to Upland that year "for fear of the frost," which might intercept navigation, but inasmuch as the king's wishes in this matter have not been complied with, his lordship would place on Markham the responsibility of not meeting that year. In the mean while both parties to the controversy maintained that his adversary was trespassing on his domain, and so convinced was William Penn that this was the case, that on Sept. 16, 1681, he addressed letters to six of the most extensive land-owners in Maryland, whose possessions were located within the debatable territory, stating that he had no doubts that their estates were within his provinces, under his grant from the crown, and notified them to pay no taxes or assessments in obedience to any order of the lord proprietary or laws of Maryland. This claim on the part of Penn caused many of the residents of the latter colony to resist the public levies, and so general was this sentiment in Baltimore and Cecil Counties that the military was ordered to assist the sheriffs in collecting the taxes. Lord Baltimore, in his account of the difficulty respecting the boundaries, states that one of Penn's commissioners, William Haige, a Quaker, had taken astronomical observations at the head of the bay (Chesapeake), and that he was very much dissatisfied at the result he obtained. Haige afterward went to Patuxent, where, in an interview with Baltimore, the latter charged him with having "taken some observations at Elk river, for his private satisfaction," which Haige acknowledged he had done, but said the instrument he had used was so small that nothing decisive could be arrived at.

The winter of 1681 passed without any definite action being had until May 14, 1682, when Lord Baltimore wrote to Markham, desiring to meet him at Augustine Herman's plantation¹ on June 10th, to adjust boundaries. Markham, who was compelled to meet the Indians, to make payment for lands he had purchased from them, could not meet the Maryland commissioners at the time Baltimore had designated, since the Indians had deferred their annual hunt, nor was he ready, inasmuch that he was unable to procure the use of Col. Morris' instrument until he had personally visited New York and entered security for its safe return. For the latter purpose he went to New York on the 26th of May, 1682, and before he started he sent a message to Lord Baltimore, apprising of his journey thither, and requested that the proposed meeting might be deferred until his return. Baltimore, however, dispatched commissioners to represent him at the time fixed by him, and by them sent a letter to Markham, stating that they were fully qualified to act in his behalf, and trusting that they would be met by parties similarly commissioned on the part of Penn. The Maryland commissioners, when they reached Herman's plantation, feigned to be surprised at not meeting Markham's representatives, and on the day designated by Baltimore (June 10, 1682) addressed a letter to Markham, which was delivered to the Deputy Governor, then in New York, by George Goforth. In the communication the writers requested Markham to send the instrument he had promised to borrow from Col. Morris, as also to dispatch duly qualified persons to meet with them. The Maryland commissioners tarried several days at Herman's, ostensibly to await the coming of Markham's representatives, but in the mean while employed themselves in making astronomical observations.²

² Extract of a letter to the Lord Baltimore from the commissioners appointed by his lordship to settle the bounds between Maryland and Pennsylvania, June 17, 1682, published in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. vi. p. 418, note:
Wee have taken three several observations & in all of them have not differed two minutes & wee find Mr. Augustine Herman's house to lye in the latitude of 39d & 45m so that your lordship has 15m. yet from hence due North which will go not farr short of Upland & this differs very little from their own observations lately taken as wee are credibly informed wee have used oue endeavors in letting all here know of your Lordship's Desire to have the bounds determined & all seem much satisfied with your Lordship's proceedings much blaming Mr. Markham that after so many flourishes he should bee thus backward; Wee question but ye Lines will fall to answer yor Lordship's expectations & our true endeavors shall not be wanting to give your Lordship satisfaction."