By Writ of Privy Seal,
PIGOTT.
WHENthe great and wiseGODhad made the World, of all his Creatures it pleased him to chuse Man his Deputy to rule it; and to fit him for so great a Charge and Trust, he did not only qualify him with Skill and Power, but with Integrity to use them justly. This native Goodness was equally his Honour and his Happiness; and whilst he stood here, all went well; there was no need of coercive or compulsive Means; the Precept of divine Love and Truth in his Bosom was the Guide and Keeper of his Innocency. But Lust prevailing against Duty, made a lamentable Breach upon it; and the Law, that had before no Power over him, took place upon him and his disobedient Posterity, that such as would not live conformable to the holy Law within, should fall under the Reproof and Correction of the just Law without, in a judicial Administration.
THISthe Apostle teaches in divers of his Epistles:The Law (says he) was added because of Transgression:In another Place, Knowing that the Law was not made for the righteous Man; but for the disobedient and ungodly, for Sinners, for unholy and prophane, for Murderers, for Whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with Mankind, and for Men-stealers, for Liars, for perjured Persons, &c.But this is not all, he opens and carries the Matter of Government a little further:Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers; for there is no Power but ofGOD. The Powers that be are ordained ofGOD: Whosoever therefore resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance ofGOD. For Rulers are not a Terror to good Works, but to evil: Wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have Praise of the same.—He is the Minister ofGODto thee for good.—Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for Wrath, but for Conscience sake.
Thissettles the divine Right of Government beyond Exception, and that for two Ends: First to terrify evil Doers; Secondly to cherish those that do well; which gives Government a Life beyond Corruption, and makes it as durable in the Word, as good Men shall be. So that Government seems to me a Part of Religion itself, a Thing sacred in its Institution and End. For if it does not directly remove the Cause, it crushes the Effects of Evil, and is as such (though a lower yet) an Emanation of the same divine Power, that is both Author and Object of pure Religion; the Difference lying here, that the one is more free and mental, the other more corporal and compulsive in its Operations: But that is only to evil Doers; Government itself being otherwise as capable of Kindness, Goodness, and Charity, as a more private Society. They weakly err, that think there is no other Use of Government than Correction, which is the coarsest Part of it: Daily Experience tells us, that the Care and Regulation of many other Affairs, more soft and daily necessary, make up much the greatest Part of Government; and which must have followed the Peopling of the World, hadAdamnever fell, and will continue among Men on Earth under the highest Attainments they may arrive at, by the coming of the blessedSecond Adam,theLORDfrom Heaven. Thus much of Government in general, as to its Rise and End.
FORparticularFramesandModels,it will become me to say little; and comparatively I will say nothing. My Reasons are:First,That the Age is too nice and difficult for it; there being nothing the Wits of Men are more busy and divided upon. 'Tis true, they seem to agree in the End,to wit,Happiness; but in the Means they differ, as to divine, so to this human Felicity; and the Cause is much the same, not always Want of Light and Knowledge, but Want of Using them rightly. Men side with their Passions against their Reason, and their sinister Interests have so strong a Biass upon their Minds, that they lean to them against the good of the things they know.
Secondly,I do not find a Model in the World, that Time, Place, and some singular Emergencies have not necessarily altered; nor is it easy to frame a civil Government, that shall serve all Places alike.
Thirdly,I know what is said by the several Admirers ofMonarchy, Aristocracy,andDemocracy,which are the Rule of one, a few, and many, and are the three common Ideas of Government, when Men discourse on that Subject. But I chuse to solve the Controversy with this small Distinction, and it belongs to all three:Any Government is free to the People under it (whatever be the Frame) where the Laws rule, and the People are a Party to those Laws;and more than this is Tyranny, Oligarchy, or Confusion.
BUTLastly,when all is said, there is hardly one Frame of Government in the World so ill designed by its first Founders, that in good Hands would not do well enough; and Story tells us, the best in ill ones can do nothing that is great or good; Witness theJewishandRomanStates. Governments, like Clocks, go from the Motion Men give them; and as Governments are made and moved by Men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore Governments rather depend upon Men, than Men upon Governments. Let Men be good, and the Government can't be bad; if it be ill, they will cure it. But if Men be bad, let the Government be never so good, they will endeavour to warp and spoil it to their Turn.
I know some say, Let us have good Laws, and no matter for the Men that execute them: But let them consider, That though good Laws do well, good Men do better: For good Laws may want good Men, and be abolished or evaded by ill Men; but good Men will never want good Laws, nor suffer ill ones. 'Tis true, good Laws have some awe upon ill Ministers, but that is where they have no Power to escape or abolish them, and the People are generally wise and good: But a loose and depraved People (which is to the Question) love Laws and an Administration like themselves. That therefore which makes a good Constitution, must keep it,viz.Men of Wisdom and Virtue, Qualities, that because they descend not with worldly Inheritances, must be carefully propagated by a virtuous Education of Youth; for which After-Ages will owe more to the Care and Prudence of Founders and the successive Magistracy, than to their Parents for their private Patrimonies.
THESE Considerations of the Weight of Government, and the nice and various Opinions about it, made it uneasy to me to think of publishing the ensuing Frame and conditional Laws, foreseeing, both the Censures they will meet with from Men of differing Humours and Engagements, and the Occasion they may give of Discourse beyond my Design.
BUT next to the Power of Necessity, (which is a Solicitor that will take no Denial) this induced me to a Compliance, that we have (with Reverence toGODand good Conscience to Men) to the best of our Skill, contrived and composed theFRAMEandLAWSof this Government,to the great End of all Government, viz. To support Power in Reverence with the People, and to secure the People from the Abuse of Power;that they may be free by their just Obedience, and the Magistrates honourable for their just Administration: For Liberty without Obedience is Confusion, and Obedience without Liberty is Slavery. To carry this Evenness is partly owing to the Constitution, and partly to the Magistracy: Where either of these fail, Government will be subject to Convulsions; but where both are wanting, it must be totally subverted: Then where both meet, the Government is like to endure. Which I humbly pray, and hopeGODwill please to make the Lot of this ofPensilvania.Amen.
William Penn.
TO ALL PEOPLE, To whom these Presents shall come.WHEREASKingCHARLESthe Second, by his Letters Patents, under the great Seal ofEngland, for the Consideration therein mentioned, hath been graciously pleased to give and grant unto meWilliam Penn(by the Name ofWilliam Penn, Esq; Son and Heir of SirWilliam Penndeceased) and to my Heirs and Assigns for ever, all that Tract of Land, or Province calledPensilvania, inAmerica, with divers great Powers, Preheminences, Royalties. Jurisdictions, and Authorities, necessary for the Well-being and Government thereof:NOW KNOW YE, That for the Well-being and Government of the said Province, and for the Encouragement of all the Freemen and Planters that may be therein concerned, in Pursuance of the Powers afore-mentioned, I the saidWilliam Pennhave declared, granted and confirmed, and by these Presents, for me, my Heirs and Assigns, do declare, grant and confirm unto all the Freemen, Planters and Adventurers, of, in and to the said Province, these Liberties, Franchises, and Properties, to be held, enjoyed and kept by the Freemen, Planters and Inhabitants of the said Province ofPensilvaniafor ever.
THATthe Government of this Province shall, according the Powers of the Patent, consist of the Governor and Freemen of the said Province, in Form of a Provincial Council and General Assembly, by whom all Laws shall be made, Officers chosen, and publick Affairs transacted, as is hereafter respectively declared.That is to say,
THATthe Freemen of the said Province shall on the twentieth Day of the twelfth Month, which shall be in this present YearOne Thousand Six Hundred Eighty and Two, meet and assemble in some fit Place, of which timely Notice shall be beforehand given by the Governor or his Deputy, and then and there shall chuse out of themselvesSeventy-twoPersons of most Note for their Wisdom, Virtue and Ability, who shall meet on the tenth Day of the first Month next ensuing, and always be called and act as the provincial Council of the said Province.
THATat the first Choice of such provincial Council, one third part of the said provincial Council shall be chosen to serve for three Years then next ensuing, one third part for two Years then next ensuing, and one third part for one Year then next following such Election, and no longer; and that the said third part shall go out accordingly: And on the twentieth Day of the twelfth Month as aforesaid, yearly for ever afterward, the Freemen of the said Province shall in like Manner meet and assemble together, and then chuseTwenty-fourPersons, being one third of the said Number, to serve in provincial Council for three Years: It being intended, that one third part of the whole provincial Council (always consisting, and to consist of seventy-two Persons, as aforesaid) falling off yearly, it shall be yearly supplied by such new yearly Elections, as aforesaid; and that no one Person shall continue therein longer than three Years: And in case any Member shall decease before the last Election during his Time, that then at the next Election ensuing his Decease, another shall be chosen to supply his Place for the remaining Time he was to have served, and no longer.
THATafter the first seven Years, every one of the said third parts that goeth yearly off, shall be uncapable of being chosen again for one whole Year following: That so all may be fitted for Government, and have Experience of the Care and Burden of it.
THATthe provincial Council in all Cases and Matters of Moment, as their arguing upon Bills to be past into Laws, erecting Courts of Justice, giving Judgment upon Criminals impeached, and Choice of Officers, in such Manner as is herein after-mentioned; not less than two-thirds of the whole provincial Council shall make aQuorum; and that the Consent not Approbation of two-thirds of suchQuorumshall be had in all such Cases and Matters of Moment. And moreover, that in all Cases and Matters of lesser Moment, twenty-four Members of the said provincial Council shall make aQuorum, the Majority of which twenty-four shall and may always determine in such Cases and Causes of lesser Moment.
THATin this provincial Council the Governor, or his Deputy, shall or may always preside, and have a treble Voice; and the said provincial Council shall always continue, and sit upon its own Adjournments and Committees.
THATthe Governor and provincial Council shall prepare and propose to the general Assembly hereafter mentioned, all Bills, which they shall at any Time think fit to be passed into Laws within the said Province; which Bills shall be published and affixed to the most noted Places in the inhabited Parts thereof, thirty Days before the Meeting of the general Assembly, in order to the passing them into Laws, or rejecting of them, as the general Assembly shall see meet.
THATthe Governor and provincial Council shall take care, that all Laws, Statutes and Ordinances, which shall at any Time be made within the said Province, be duly and diligently executed.
THATthe Governor and provincial Council shall at all Times have the Care of the Peace and Safety of the Province, and that nothing be by any Person attempted to the Subversion of this Frame of Government.
THATthe Governor and provincial Council shall at all Times settle and order the Situation of all Cities, Ports, and Market-Towns in every County, modelling therein all publick Buildings, Streets, and Market-Places, and shall appoint all necessary Roads and Highways in the Province.
THATthe Governor and provincial Council shall at all Times have Power to inspect the Management of the publick Treasury, and punish those who shall convert any Part thereof to any other Use, than what hath been agreed upon by the Governor, provincial Council, and general Assembly.
THATthe Governor and provincial Council shall erect and order all publick Schools, and encourage and reward the Authors of useful Sciences and laudable Inventions in the said Province.
THATfor the better Management of the Powers and Trust aforesaid, the provincial Council shall from time to time divide itself into four distinct and proper Committees, for the more easy Administration of the Affairs of the Province, which divides the Seventy-two into four Eighteens, every one of which Eighteens shall consist of six out of each of the three Orders or yearly Elections, each of which shall have a distinct Portion of Business, as followeth:First, a Committee of Plantations, to situate and settle Cities, Ports, and Market-Towns, and Highways, and to hear and decide all Suits and Controversies relating to Plantations.Secondly, a Committee of Justice and Safety, to secure the Peace of the Province, and punish the Male-Administration of those who subvert Justice to the Prejudice of the publick or private Interest.Thirdly, a Committee of Trade and Treasury, who shall regulate all Trade and Commerce according to Law, encourage Manufacture and Country-Growth, and defray the publick Charge of the Province. AndFourthly, a Committee of Manners, Education, and Arts, that all wicked and scandalous Living may be prevented, and that Youth may be successively trained up in Virtue and useful Knowledge and Arts: TheQuorumof each of which Committees being six,that is, two out of each of the three Orders or yearly Elections, as aforesaid, make a constant and standing Council ofTwenty-four, which will have the Power of the provincial Council, being theQuorumof it, in all Cases not excepted in the fifth Article; and in the said Committees and standing Council of the Province, the Governor or his Deputy shall or may preside, as aforesaid; and in the Absence of the Governor or his Deputy, if no one is by either of them appointed, the said Committees or Council shall appoint a President for that Time, and not otherwise; and what shall be resolved at such Committees, shall be reported to the said Council of the Province, and shall be by them resolved and confirmed before the same shall be put in Execution; and that these respective Committees shall not sit at one and the same Time, except in Cases of Necessity.
AND, to the End that all Laws prepared by the Governor and provincial Council aforesaid, may yet have the more full Concurrence of the Freemen of the Province, it is declared, granted, and confirmed, That at the Time and Place or Places for the Choice of a provincial Council as aforesaid, the said Freemen shall yearly chuse Members to serve in a general Assembly as their Representatives, not exceeding two hundred Persons, who shall yearly meet from the twentieth Day of the second Month, which shall be in the YearOne Thousand Six Hundred Eighty and Threefollowing, in the capital Town or City of the said Province, where during eight Days the several Members may freely confer with one another; and, if any of them see meet, with a Committee of the provincial Council (consisting of three out of each of the four Committees aforesaid, being twelve in all) which shall be at that Time, purposely appointed to receive from any of them Proposals for the Alterations or Amendment of any of the said proposed and promulgated Bills: And on the ninth Day from their so meeting, the said general Assembly, after Reading over the proposed Bills by the Clerk of the provincial Council, and the Occasions and Motives for them being opened by the Governor or his Deputy, shall give their Affirmative or Negative, which to them seemeth best, in such Manner as herein after is express'd. But not less than two-thirds shall make aQuorumin the Passing of Laws, and Choice of such Officers as are by them to be chosen.
THATthe Laws so prepared and proposed as aforesaid, that are assented to by the general Assembly, shall be enrolled as Laws of the Province, with this Stile:By the Governor, with the Assent and Approbation of the Freemen in provincial Council and general Assembly.
THAT, for the better Establishment of the Government and Laws of this Province, and to the End there may be an universal Satisfaction in the Laying of the Fundamentals thereof; the general Assembly shall, or may for the first Year, consist of all the Freemen of and in the said Province, and ever after it shall be yearly chosen as aforesaid; which Number of two hundred shall be enlarged as the Country shall encrease in People, so as it do not exceed five hundred at any Time: The Appointment and Proportioning or which, as also the Laying and Methodizing of the Choice of the provincial Council and general Assembly in future Times, most equally to the Divisions of the Hundreds and Counties, which the Country shall hereafter be divided into, shall be in the Power of the provincial Council to propose, and the general Assembly to resolve.
THATthe Governor and the provincial Council shall erect from time to time standing Courts of Justice, in such Places and Number as they shall judge convenient for the good Government of the said Province. And that the provincial Council shall on the thirteenth Day of the first Month yearly, elect and present to the Governor or his Deputy, a double Number of Persons, to serve for Judges, Treasurers, Masters of Rolls, within the said Province for the Year next ensuing; and the Freemen of the said Province in the County-Courts, when they shall be erected, and till then in the general Assembly, shall on the three and twentieth Day of the second Month yearly, elect and present to the Governor or his Deputy, a double Number of Persons to serve for Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and Coroners, for the Year next ensuing; out of which respective Elections and Presentments, the Governor or his Deputy shall nominate and commissionate the proper Number for each Office the third Day after the said Presentments; or else the first named in such Presentment for each Office, shall stand and serve for that Office the Year ensuing.
BUTforasmuch as the present Condition of the Province requires some immediate Settlement, and admits not of so quick a Revolution of Officers; and to the End the said Province may, with all convenient Speed, be well ordered and settled, IWilliam Penndo therefore think fit to nominate and appoint such Persons for Judges, Treasurers, Masters of the Rolls, Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and Coroners, as are most fitly qualified for those Employments; to whom I shall make and grant Commissions for the said Officers, respectively, to hold to them to whom the same shall be granted, for so long Time as every such Person shall well behave himself in the Office or Place to him respectively granted, and no longer. And upon the Decease or Displacing of any of the said Officers, the succeeding Officer or Officers shall be chosen as aforesaid.
THATthe general Assembly shall continue so long as may be needful to impeach Criminals fit to be there impeached, to pass Bills into Laws that they shall think fit to pass into Laws, and till such Time as the Governor and provincial Council shall declare that they have nothing further to propose unto them for their Assent and Approbation: And that Declaration shall be a Dismiss to the general Assembly for that time; which general Assembly shall be notwithstanding capable of assembling together upon the Summons of the provincial Council, at any Time during that Year, if the said provincial Council shall see Occasion for their so assembling.
THATall the Elections of Members or Representatives of the People to serve in provincial Council and general Assembly, and all Questions to be determined by both or either of them, that relate to passing of Bills into Laws, to the Choice of Officers, to Impeachments made by the general Assembly, and Judgment of Criminals upon such Impeachments by the provincial Council, and to all other Cases by them respectively judged of Importance, shall be resolved and determined by the Ballot; and unless on sudden and indispensible Occasions, no Business in provincial Council, or its respective Committees, shall be finally determined the same Day that it is moved.
THATat all times, when, and so often as it shall happen that the Governor shall or may be an Infant under the Age of one and twenty Years, and no Guardians or Commissioners are appointed in Writing by the Father of the said Infant, or that such Guardians or Commissioners shall be deceased; that during such Minority, the provincial Council shall from Time to Time, as they shall see meet, constitute and appoint Guardians or Commissioners, not exceeding three; one of which three shall preside as Deputy and chief Guardian, during such Minority, and shall have, and execute, with the Consent of the other two, all the Power of a Governor, in all the publick Affairs and Concerns of the said Province.
THATas often as any Day of the Month mentioned in any Article of this Charter, shall fall upon the first Day of the Week, commonly calledthe Lord's Day, the Business appointed for that Day shall be deferred till the next Day, unless in case of Emergency.
THATno Act, Law, or Ordinance whatsoever, shall at any time hereafter be made or done by the Governor of this Province, his Heirs or Assigns, or by the Freemen in the provincial Council, or the general Assembly, to alter, change or diminish the Form or Effect of this Charter, or any Part or Clause thereof, or contrary to the true Intent and Meaning thereof, without the Consent of the Governor, his Heirs or Assigns, and six Parts of seven of the said Freemen in provincial Council and general Assembly.
AND LASTLY, That I the saidWilliam Penn, for myself, my Heirs and Assigns, have solemnly declared, granted, and confirmed, and do hereby solemnly declare, grant, and confirm, That neither I, my Heirs nor Assigns, shall procure or do any Thing or Things, whereby the Liberties in this Charter contained and expressed shall be infringed or broken; and if any Thing be procured by any Person or Persons contrary to these Premisses, it shall be held of no Force or Effect.IN WITNESSwhereof, I the saidWilliam Pennhave unto this present Charter of Liberties set my Hand and broad Seal, thisfive and twentiethDay of the second Month, vulgarly calledApril, in the Year of ourLORDOne Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty-two.
William Penn.
THATthe Charter of Liberties, declared, granted, and confirmed thefive and twentiethDay of the second Month, calledApril, 1682, before divers Witnesses, byWilliam Penn, Governor and chief Proprietor ofPensilvania, to all the Freemen and Planters of the said Province; is hereby declared and approved, and shall be for ever held for Fundamental in the Government thereof, according to the Limitations mentioned in the said Charter.
THATevery Inhabitant in the said Province, that is or shall be a Purchaser of one hundred Acres of Land, or upwards, his Heirs and Assigns, and every Person who shall have paid his Passage, and taken up one hundred Acres of Land at one Penny an Acre, and have cultivated ten Acres thereof; and every Person that hath been a Servant or Bondsman, and is free by his Service, that shall have taken up his fifty Acres of Land, and cultivated twenty thereof; and every Inhabitant, Artificer, or other Resident in the said Province, that pays Scot and Lot to the Governments shall be deemed and accounted a Freeman of the said Province: And every such Person shall and may be capable of electing, or being elected Representatives of the People in provincial Council or general Assembly in the said Province.
THATall Elections of Members, or Representatives of the People and Freemen of the Province ofPensilvania, to serve in provincial Council or general Assembly to be held within the said Province, shall be free and voluntary: And that the Elector, that shall receive any Reward or Gift, in Meat, Drink, Monies, or otherwise, shall forfeit his Right to elect; and such Person as shall directly or indirectly give, promise, or bestow any such Reward as aforesaid, to be elected, shall forfeit his Election, and be thereby incapable to serve as aforesaid: And the provincial Council and general Assembly shall be the sole Judges of the Regularity or Irregularity of the Elections of their own respective Members.
THATno Money or Goods shall be raised upon, or paid by any of the People of this Province by way of publick Tax, Custom, or Contribution, but by a Law for that Purpose made; and whosoever shall levy, collect, or pay any Money or Goods contrary thereunto, shall be held a publick Enemy to the Province, and a Betrayer of the Liberties of the People thereof.
THATall Courts shall be open, and Justice shall neither be sold, denied, nor delayed.
THATin all Courts, all Persons of all Persuasions may freely appear in their own Way, and according to their own Manner, and there personally plead their own Cause themselves; or if unable, by their Friend: And the first Process shall be the Exhibition of the Complaint in Court, fourteen Days before the Trial; and that the Party complained against may be fitted for the same, he or she shall be summoned, no less than ten Days before, and a Copy of the Complaint delivered him or her, at his or her Dwelling-house. But before the Complaint of any Person be received, he shall solemnly declare in Court, That he believes in his Conscience his Cause is just.
THATall Pleadings, Processes, and Records in Court shall be short, and inEnglish, and in an ordinary and plain Character, that they may be understood, and Justice speedily administred.
THATall Trials shall be by twelve Men, and as near as may be, Peers or Equals, and of the Neighbourhood, and Men without just Exception in Cases of Life, there shall be first twenty-four returned by the Sheriffs for a Grand Inquest, of whom twelve at least shall find the Complaint to be true; and then the twelve Men, or Peers, to be likewise returned by the Sheriff, shall have the final Judgment. But reasonable Challenges shall be always admitted against the said twelve Men, or any of them.
THATall Fees in all Cases shall be moderate, and settled by the provincial Council and general Assembly, and be hung up in a Table in every respective Court; and whosoever shall be convicted of taking more, shall pay two-fold, and be dismissed his Employment, one Moiety of which shall go to the Party wronged.
THATall Prisons shall be Work-houses for Felons, Vagrants, and loose and idle Persons; whereof one shall be in every County.
THATall Prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient Sureties, unless for capital Offences, where the Proof is evident, or the Presumption great.
THATall Persons wrongfully imprisoned or prosecuted at Law, shall have double Damages against the Informer or Prosecutor.
THATall Prisons shall be free as to Fees, Food, and Lodging.
THATall Lands and Goods shall be liable to pay Debts, except where there is legal Issue, and then all the Goods, and one third of the Land only.
THATall Wills in Writing attested by two Witnesses, shall be of the same Force, as to Lands, as other Conveyances, being legally proved within forty Days, either within or without the said Province.
THATseven Years quiet Possession shall give an unquestionable Right, except in Cases of Infants, Lunaticks, married Women, or Persons beyond the Seas.
THATall Briberies and Extortions whatsoever, shall be severely punished.
THATall Fines shall be moderate, and saving Mens Contenements, Merchandize, or Wainage.
THATall Marriages (not forbidden by the Law of God, as to Nearness of Blood and Affinity by Marriage) shall be encouraged; but the Parents or Guardians shall be first consulted, and the Marriage shall be published before it be solemnized; and it shall be solemnized by taking one another as Husband and Wife, before credible Witnesses, and a Certificate of the whole, under the Hands of Parties and Witnesses, shall be brought to the proper Register of that County, and shall be registred in his Office.
ANDto prevent Frauds and vexatious Suits within the said Province, that all Charters, Gifts, Grants, and Conveyances of Land, (except Leases for a Year or under) and all Bills, Bonds, and Specialties abovefive Pounds, and not under three Months, made in the said Province, shall be enrolled or registred in the publick Enrolment-Office of the said Province, within the Space of two Months next after the Making thereof, else to be void in Law. And all Deeds, Grants, and Conveyances of Land (except as aforesaid) within the said Province, and made out of the said Province, shall be enrolled or registred as aforesaid, within six Months next after the Making thereof, and settling and constituting an Enrolment-Office or Registry within the said Province, else to be void in Law against all Persons whatsoever.
THATall Defacers or Corrupters of Charters, Gifts, Grants, Bonds, Bills, Wills, Contracts, and Conveyances, or that shall deface or falsify any Enrolment, Registry or Record within this Province, shall make double Satisfaction for the same; half whereof shall go to the Party wronged, and they shall be dismissed of all Places of Trust, and be publickly disgraced as false Men.
THATthere shall be a Register for Births, Marriages, Burials, Wills, and Letters of Administration, distinct from the other Registry.
THATthere shall be a Register for all Servants, where their Names, Time, Wages, and Days of Payment shall be registred.
THATall Lands and Goods of Felons shall be liable to make Satisfaction to the Party wronged twice the Value; and for Want of Lands or Goods, the Felons shall be Bondmen to work in the common Prison or Work-house, or otherwise, till the Party injured be satisfied.
THATthe Estates of capital Offenders, as Traitors and Murderers, shall go one third to the next of kin to the Sufferer, and the Remainder to the next of kin to the Criminal.
THATall Witnesses, coming or called to testify their Knowledge in or to any Matter or Thing in any Court, or before any lawful Authority within the said Province, shall there give or deliver in their Evidence or Testimony by solemnly promising to speak the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth, to the Matter or Thing in Question. And in case any Person so called to Evidence, shall be convicted of wilful Falshood, such Person shall suffer and undergo such Damage or Penalty, as the Person or Persons against whom he or she bore false Witness, did or should undergo; and shall also make Satisfaction to the Party wronged, and be publickly exposed as a false Witness, never to be credited in any Court, or before any Magistrate in the said Province.
ANDto the end that all Officers chosen to serve within this Province, may with more Care and Diligence answer the Trust reposed in them, it is agreed, That no such Person shall enjoy more than one publick Office at one Time.
THATall Children within this Province of the Age of twelve Years, shall be taught some useful Trade or Skill, to the end none may be idle, but the Poor may work to live, and the Rich, if they become poor, may not want.
THATServants be not kept longer than their Time, and such as are careful, be both justly and kindly used in their Service, and put in fitting Equipage at the Expiration thereof, according to Custom.
THATall scandalous and malicious Reporters, Backbiters, Defamers, and Spreaders of false News, whether against Magistrates or private Persons, shall be accordingly severely punished, as Enemies to the Peace and Concord of this Province.
THATfor the Encouragement of the Planters and Traders in this Province, who are incorporated into a Society, the Patent granted to them byWilliam Penn, Governor of the said Province, is hereby ratified and confirmed.
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THATall Factors or Correspondents in the said Province, wronging their Employers, shall make Satisfaction and one third over, to their said Employers: And in case of the Death of any such Factor or Correspondent, the Committee of Trade shall take care to secure so much of the deceased Party's Estate, as belongs to his said respective Employers.
THATall Treasurers, Judges, Masters of the Rolls, Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and other Officers and Persons whatsoever, relating to Courts or Trials of Causes, or any other Service in the Government; and all Members elected to serve in provincial Council and general Assembly, and all that have Right to elect such Members, shall be such as profess Faith in Jesus Christ, and that are not convicted of ill Fame, or unsober and dishonest Conversation, and that are oftwenty-oneYears of Age at least; and that all such so qualified, shall be capable of the said several Employments and Privileges as aforesaid.
THATall Persons living in this Province, who confess and acknowledge the one Almighty and Eternal God, to be the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the World; and that hold themselves obliged in Conscience to live peaceably and justly in civil Society, shall in no Ways be molested or prejudiced for their religious Persuasion or Practice in Matters of Faith and Worship, nor shall they be compell'd at any Time to frequent or maintain any religious Worship, Place or Ministry whatever.
THATaccording to the good Example of the primitive Christians, and the Ease of the Creation, everyfirstDay of the Week, called the Lord's Day, People shall abstain from their common daily Labour, that they may the better dispose themselves to worship God according to their Understandings.
THATas a careless and corrupt Administration of Justice draws the Wrath of God upon Magistrates, so the Wildness and Looseness of the People provoke the Indignation of God against a Country: Therefore, That all such Offences against God, as Swearing, Cursing, Lying, prophane Talking, Drunkenness, Drinking of Healths, obscene Words, Incest, Sodomy, Rapes, Whoredom, Fornication, and other Uncleanness (not to be repeated) all Treasons, Misprisions, Murders, Duels, Felony, Sedition, Maims, forcible Entries, and other Violences, to the Persons and Estates of the Inhabitants within this Province. All Prizes, Stage-plays, Cards, Dice, Maygames, Gamesters, Masques, Revels, Bull-baitings, Cock-fightings, Bear-baitings, and the like, which excite the People to Rudeness, Cruelty, Looseness, and Irreligion, shall be respectively discouraged and severely punish'd, according to the Appointment of the Governor and Freemen in provincial Council and general Assembly; as also all Proceedings contrary to these Laws, that are not here made expresly penal.
THATa Copy of these Laws shall be hung up in the provincial Council, and in publick Courts of Justice: And that they shall be read yearly at the Opening of every provincial Council and general Assembly, and Court of Justice; and their Assent shall be testified, by their standing up after the Reading thereof.
THATthere shall be at no time any Alteration of any of these Laws, without the Consent of the Governor, his Heirs or Assigns, and six Parts of seven of the Freemen, met in provincial Council and general Assembly.
THATall other Matters and Things not herein provided for, which shall and may concern the publick Justice, Peace or Safety of the said Province; and the raising and imposing Taxes, Customs, Duties, or other Charges whatsoever, shall be and are hereby referred to the Order, Prudence and Determination of the Governor and Freemen in provincial Council and general Assembly, to be held from time to time in the said Province.
Signed and Sealed by the Governor and Freemen aforesaid, thefifthDay of thethirdMonth, calledMay,One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty-Two.
Signed and Sealed by the Governor and Freemen aforesaid, thefifthDay of thethirdMonth, calledMay,One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty-Two.
THATso soon as it pleaseth God, that the abovesaid Persons arrive there, a certain Quantity of Land or Ground Plat, shall be laid out for a large Town or City, in the most convenient Place upon the River for Health and Navigation; and every Purchaser and Adventurer, shall by Lot have so much Land therein as will answer to the Proportion which he hath bought or taken up upon Rent: But it is to be noted, that the Surveyors shall consider what Roads or Highways will be necessary to the Cities, Towns, or thro' the Lands. Great Roads from City to City shall not contain less thanfortyFoot in Breadth, and shall be first laid out and declared to be for Highways, before the Dividend of Acres be laid out for the Purchaser; and the like Observation to be had for the Streets in the Towns and Cities, that there may be convenient Roads and Streets preserved, not to be incroached upon by any Planter or Builder, that none may build irregularly to the Damage of another.In this, Custom governs.
THATthe Land in the Town be laid out together after the Proportion often thousandAcres of the whole Country, that is,two hundredAcres if the Place will bear it: However, that the Proportion be by Lot, and entire, so as those that desire to be together, especially those that are by the Catalogue laid together, may be so laid together both in the Town and Country.
THATwhen the Country-Lots are laid out, every Purchaser, fromone thousandtoten thousandAcres, or more, not to have aboveone thousandAcres together, unless inthreeYears they plant a Family upon everythousandAcres; but that all such as purchase together, lie together; and is as many as comply with this Condition, that the whole be laid out together.
THATwhere any Number of Purchasers, more or less, whose Number of Acres amounts tofiveorten thousandAcres, desire to sit together in a Lot or Township, they shall have their Lot or Township cast together, in such Places as have convenient Harbours or navigable Rivers attending it, if such can be found; and in case any one or more Purchasers plant not according to Agreement in this Concession, to the Prejudice of others of the same Township, upon Complaint thereof made to the Governor or his Deputy, with Assistance, they may award (if they see Cause) that the complaining Purchaser may, paying the Survey-Money, and Purchase-Money, and Interest thereof, be entitled, inrolled and lawfully invested in the Lands so not seated.
THATthe Proportion of Lands that shall be laid out in the first great Town or City, for every Purchaser, shall be after the Proportion oftenAcres for everyfive hundredAcres purchased, if the Place will allow it.
THATnotwithstanding there be no mention made, in the several Deeds made to the Purchasers, yet the saidWilliam Penndoes accord and declare, that all Rivers, Rivulets, Woods and Underwoods, Waters, Water-courses, Quarries, Mines and Minerals (except Mines Royal) shall be freely and fully enjoyed, and wholly by the Purchasers, into whose Lot they fall.
THATfor everyfiftyAcres that shall be allotted to a Servant at the End of his Service, his Quit-Rent shall betwo Shillings per Annum, and the Master or Owner of the Servant, when he shall take up the otherfiftyAcres, his Quit-Rent shall befour Shillingsby the Year, or if the Master of the Servant (by Reason in the Indentures he is so obliged to do) allot out to the ServantfiftyAcres in his own Division, the said Master shall have on Demand allotted him, from the Governor, theone hundredAcres at the chief Rent ofsix Shillings per Annum.
ANDfor the Encouragement of such as are ingenious and willing to search out Gold and Silver Mines in this Province, it is hereby agreed, that they have Liberty to bore and dig in any Man's Property, fully paying the Damage done; and in case a Discovery should be made, that the Discoverer have onefifth, the Owner of the Soil (if not the Discoverer) atenthPart, the Governortwo fifths, and the rest to the publick Treasury, saving to the King the Share reserved by Patent.
INeveryhundred thousandAcres, the Governor and Proprietary, by Lot, reservethtento himself, what shall lie but in one Place.
THATevery Man shall be bound to plant or man so much of his Share of Land as shall be set out and surveyed, withinthreeYears after it is so set out and surveyed, or else it shall be lawful for new Comers to be settled thereupon, paying to them their Survey-Money, and they go up higher for their Shares.
THEREshall be no buying and selling, be it with anIndian, or one among another, of any Goods to be exported, but what shall be performed in publick Market, when such Places shall be set apart or erected, where they shall pass the publick Stamp or Mark. If bad Ware, and prized as good, or deceitful in Proportion or Weight, to forfeit the Value as if good and full Weight and Proportion, to the publick Treasury of the Province, whether it be the Merchandize of theIndian, or that of the Planters.
AND FORASMUCHas it is usual with the Planters, to over-reach the poor Natives of the Country in Trade, by Goods not being good of the Kind, or debased with Mixtures, with which they are sensibly aggrieved, it is agreed, whatever is sold to theIndians, in Consideration of their Furs, shall be sold in the Market-Place, and there suffer the Test, whether good or bad; if good, to pass; if not good, not to be sold for good, that the Natives may not be abused nor provoked.
THATno Man shall by any Ways or Means, in Word or Deed, affront or wrong anyIndian, but he shall incur the same Penalty of the Law, as if he had committed it against his Fellow-Planter; and if anyIndianshall abuse, in Word or Deed, any Planter of this Province, that he shall not be his own Judge upon theIndian, but he shall make his Complaint to the Governor of the Province, or his Lieutenant or Deputy, or some inferior Magistrate near him, who shall, to the utmost of his Power, take Care with the King of the saidIndian, that all reasonable Satisfaction be made to the said injured Planter.
THATall Differences between the Planters and the Natives, shall also be ended bytwelveMen, that is, bysixPlanters andsixNatives, that so we may live friendly together as much as in us lieth, preventing all Occasions of Heart-burnings and Mischief.
THATtheIndiansshall have Liberty to do all Things relating to the Improvement of their Ground, and providing Sustenance for their Families, that any of the Planters shall enjoy.
THATthe Laws as to Slanders, Drunkenness, Swearing, Cursing, Pride in Apparel, Trespasses, Distresses, Replevins, Weights and Measures, shall be the same as inEngland, till altered by Law in this Province.
THATall shall mark their Hogs, Sheep and other Cattle, and what are not marked withinthreeMonths after it is in their Possession, be it young or old, it shall be forfeited to the Governor, that so People may be compelled to avoid the Occasions of much Strife between Planters.
THATin clearing the Ground, Care be taken to leave one Acre of Trees for everyfiveAcres clear'd, especially to preserve Oak and Mulberries for Silk and Shipping.
THATall Ship-Masters shall give an Account of their Countries, Names, Ships, Owners, Freights and Passengers, to an Officer to be appointed for that Purpose, which shall be registred withintwoDays after their Arrival; and if they shall refuse so to do, that then none presume to trade with them, upon Forfeiture thereof; and that such Masters be looked upon, as having an evil Intention to the Province.
THATno Person leave the Province, without Publication being made thereof, in the Market-Place,threeWeeks before, and a Certificate from some Justice of the Peace, of his Clearness with his Neighbours, and those he hath dealt withal, so far as such an Assurance can be attained and given: And if any Master of a Ship shall, contrary hereunto, receive and carry away any Person, that hath not given that publick Notice, the said Master shall be liable to all Debts owing by the said Person, so secretly transported from the Province.Lastly, that these are to be added to, or corrected, by and with the Consent of the Parties hereunto subscribed.
William Penn;