Maryland/Pennsylvania history

[Paul Mackin]

A while back someone suggested trotting out The Sot-Weed Factor in preparation
for M&E. So I did here and quote from p. 102-3. Lord Baltimore is speaking.
" . . . In 1681, to settle a private dept, King Charles grants a large area north of
 Maryland to Willian Penn--may his Quaker fat be redered in the fires of hell!--and immediately I'm put to't to defend my northern border against his smooth
deceits and machinations. 'Twas laid out in my charter that Maryland's
north boundary is Latitude Forty, and to mark that parallel I had long since caused  a blockhouse to be built for the Susquehannoughs.  Penn agreed with me that his boundary should run north of the blockhous but when his grant appeared no mention at all was made of't. Instead there was a string of nonsense fit to muddle any templar, and to insure his scheme  Penn sent out a lying surveyor with a crooked sextant to take his  observations. The upshot of't was, he declared his southern boundary to be eight miles south of my blockhouse and resorted to every evasion and subterfuge to avoid conferring with me on this outrage. When finally we treed
him and proposed a mutual observation, he pled a broken sextant; and when our own instrument showed the line in its true location, he accused me of subverting the King's authority. So concerned was he that the boundary fall where he wished, he proposed a devil's bag of tricks to gain it. Meaure north from the Capes, he says, at the short measure of sixty miles to the degree: lower your south border by thirty miles, he says, and snatch  land from the Virginians; measure two degrees noth from Watkins Point,  he says. Then I ask him, 'Why this measuring and land-snatching?
Why not take sextant in hand and find the fortieth parallel for good and all?'  At last he agrees, but only on condition that should the line fall north of where he wants it, I must sell him the difference at a 'gentleman's price.'"

Elsewhere thoughout the book Barth's idea of 17-18th Century English is a riot.
Wonder what Pynchon will do with the King's tongue.

				P.