It had only one fault, and
that was that it had no sea coast.
In a new country where there were no roads, and where communication
inland was difficult that was a great drawback. So Penn persuaded
the Duke of York to give him that part of his province on which the
Swedes had settled and which the Dutch had taken from the Swedes,
on the west shores of Delaware Bay. Later this formed the State
of Delaware, but in the meantime it was governed as a part of
Pennsylvania.
Everything thus being settled, and the charter being granted, Penn
drew up a form of government for his colony, chose his cousin,
William Markham, as Governor, and sent him off in the autumn of
1681 with three shiploads of settlers.
With Markham, Penn sent a kindly letter to the Swedes of Delaware,
telling them that he was now their Governor. "I hope you will not
be troubled at the change," he said, "for you are now fixed at the
mercy of no Governor who comes to make his fortune. 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."
Penn also sent a letter to the Indians.
"There is a great God," he said, "that hath made the world and
all things therein, to Whom you, and I, and all people, owe their
being. This great God hath written His law in our hearts, by which
we are taught and commanded to love and help, and do good to one
another.
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