22 HISTORY OP 



His request being duly considered by the King, by 

 the Privy Council, and by the Lords of the Comnaittee 

 of Trade and Plantations ; and Lord North, Chief Jus- 

 tice; and Sir William Jones, the Attorney General, 

 having been consulted, William Penn obtained, amidst 

 great opposition, a royal charter from Charles IL bearing 

 date, Westminster, March 4, 1681. 



Having been, by virtue of this charter, constituted sole 

 proprietary of Pennsylvania, he made sales of lands to 

 adventurers, called Jirst purchasers, who embarked 

 some at London, others at Bristol, in 1681, for America, 

 and arrived, " at the place where Chester now stands, on 

 the 11th of December." Among these was William 

 Markham, a relative of the proprietary, whom he had 

 appointed deputy governor^ and certain commissioners, 

 with plenary powers, and instructions to confer with the 

 Indians, respecting their lands, and to confirm with them 

 a league of peace. From these instructions, to the 

 deputy governor and to the commissioners, it will be seen, 

 the examples set by the New England States, by Calvert, 

 Williams, by the Swedes, Carteret and others to pur- 

 chase the right of soil from the Morigines-, were 

 honorably followed by Penn, notwithstanding the principle 

 which had obtained among European nations, " to wrest 

 the soil by force^^ from the people to whom it naturally 

 belonged. It needs scarce repetition, in this place, to state, 

 ^it has been erroneously supposed that Markham, or 

 Penn, was the first man ivho purchased lands from th6 

 Aboriginal Americans! !^^ 



Markham, in obedience to his instructions, held a treaty 

 in June, 1682, with the Indians, and purchased lands 

 from them, as appears from a deed, dated July 15, 1682, 

 signed by Idquahon, lannottowe, Idquoqueywon, Sa- 

 hoppe, for himself and OkoiUchon, Swampisse, Na- 



