Admitting that the fortieth parallel apparently ran right through
Philadelphia, he proposed that Baltimore move his colony one-half a
degree south.

The effect of this proposition, if accepted by Baltimore, would have
placed Maryland's northern boundary at about its present location and
its southern boundary below the Potomac and deep into Virginia. When
Baltimore suggested that Virginia might object, Penn intimated that his
influence with the Duke of York in London might be helpful. Baltimore
refused and the conference ended. But Penn was persistent and a later
meeting was arranged with Baltimore, this time at New Castle. Penn
pointed out that his prime consideration was not for land but for access
to the sea. He wanted to guarantee his title to Philadelphia and the
approach to it through the Delaware River. He also wanted a supple-
mental seaport to the Interior of his province through the Chesapeake
Bay. He offered Baltimore all southern Pennsylvania west of the Phil-
adelphia area in exchange for a port on the Susquehanna. Under the
proposal, Maryland would own all the land below the fortieth parallel,
about 25 miles south of Harrisburg, but Pennsylvania would own a sea-
port in Maryland, with guaranteed access to the sea by way of Chesa-
peake Bay and the Susquehanna River, which at that time was navigable
in the area under discussion. But Baltimore again turned Penn down
and claimed all his original grant.

The controversy then moved to England. In 1685 the Privy Council
of England handed down a compromise decision. It divided the Eastern
Shore peninsula in half, from Cape Henlopen north to parallel forty.
The eastern half, including Philadelphia and the Delaware counties,
was awarded to William Penn; the western part went to Lord Baltimore.
The decision was based on the doctrine of "absolute necessity, " to pro-
tect Penn's settlement at Philadelphia.

Penn was satisfied with this verdict and had the King ratify it
immediately. It gave Maryland her present boundaries and, in addition,
southern Pennsylvania west of Coatesville, and Delaware south of Cape
Henlopen. But Baltimore denounced the decision as confiscating his
lands and stealing from him Philadelphia and Delaware. He refused to
abide by the King's order to divide the lands. There the matter rested
for nearly 50 more years.

In 1732 Charles, the fifth Lord Baltimore, met the three surviving
sons of William Penn and signed an agreement which all parties thought
was a final settlement of the matter. Maryland abandoned all claims
to Delaware from Cape Henlopen northward. The Maryland-Pennsyl-

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