Part 17
T H A T all Elections of Members, or Representatives of the People and Freemen of the Province of _Pensilvania_, 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.
IV.
T H A T no 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.
V.
T H A T all Courts shall be open, and Justice shall neither be sold, denied, nor delayed.
VI.
T H A T in 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.
VII.
T H A T all Pleadings, Processes, and Records in Court shall be short, and in _English_, and in an ordinary and plain Character, that they may be understood, and Justice speedily administred.
VIII.
T H A T all 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.
IX.
T H A T all 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.
X.
T H A T all Prisons shall be Work-houses for Felons, Vagrants, and loose and idle Persons; whereof one shall be in every County.
XI.
T H A T all Prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient Sureties, unless for capital Offences, where the Proof is evident, or the Presumption great.
XII.
T H A T all Persons wrongfully imprisoned or prosecuted at Law, shall have double Damages against the Informer or Prosecutor.
XIII.
T H A T all Prisons shall be free as to Fees, Food, and Lodging.
XIV.
T H A T all 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.
XV.
T H A T all 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.
XVI.
T H A T seven Years quiet Possession shall give an unquestionable Right, except in Cases of Infants, Lunaticks, married Women, or Persons beyond the Seas.
XVII.
T H A T all Briberies and Extortions whatsoever, shall be severely punished.
XVIII.
T H A T all Fines shall be moderate, and saving Mens Contenements, Merchandize, or Wainage.
XIX.
T H A T all 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.
XX.
A N D to 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 above _five 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.
XXI.
T H A T all 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.
XXII.
T H A T there shall be a Register for Births, Marriages, Burials, Wills, and Letters of Administration, distinct from the other Registry.
XXIII.
T H A T there shall be a Register for all Servants, where their Names, Time, Wages, and Days of Payment shall be registred.
XXIV.
T H A T all 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.
XXV.
T H A T the 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.
XXVI.
T H A T all 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.
XXVII.
A N D to 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.
XXVIII.
T H A T all 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.
XXIX.
T H A T Servants 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.
XXX.
T H A T all 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.
XXXI.
T H A T for the Encouragement of the Planters and Traders in this Province, who are incorporated into a Society, the Patent granted to them by _William Penn_, Governor of the said Province, is hereby ratified and confirmed.
XXXII.
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XXXIII.
T H A T all 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.
XXXIV.
T H A T all 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 of _twenty-one_ Years of Age at least; and that all such so qualified, shall be capable of the said several Employments and Privileges as aforesaid.
XXXV.
T H A T all 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.
XXXVI.
T H A T according to the good Example of the primitive Christians, and the Ease of the Creation, every _first_ Day 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.
XXXVII.
T H A T as 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.
XXXVIII.
T H A T a 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.
XXXIX.
T H A T there 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.
XL.
T H A T all 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, the_ fifth _Day of the_ third _Month, called_ May, _One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty-Two._
* * * * *
_Certain_ Conditions or Concessions _agreed upon by_ William Penn, _Proprietor and Governor of the Province of_ Pensilvania, _and those who are the Adventurers and Purchasers in the same Province, the_ Eleventh _of_ July, _One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty-one._
F I R S T.
T H A T so 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 than _forty_ Foot 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_.
II.
T H A T the Land in the Town be laid out together after the Proportion of _ten thousand_ Acres of the whole Country, that is, _two hundred_ Acres 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.
III.
T H A T when the Country-Lots are laid out, every Purchaser, from _one thousand_ to _ten thousand_ Acres, or more, not to have above _one thousand_ Acres together, unless in _three_ Years they plant a Family upon every _thousand_ Acres; 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.
IV.
T H A T where any Number of Purchasers, more or less, whose Number of Acres amounts to _five_ or _ten thousand_ Acres, 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.
V.
T H A T the Proportion of Lands that shall be laid out in the first great Town or City, for every Purchaser, shall be after the Proportion of _ten_ Acres for every _five hundred_ Acres purchased, if the Place will allow it.
VI.
T H A T notwithstanding there be no mention made, in the several Deeds made to the Purchasers, yet the said _William Penn_ does 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.
VII.
T H A T for every _fifty_ Acres that shall be allotted to a Servant at the End of his Service, his Quit-Rent shall be _two Shillings per Annum_, and the Master or Owner of the Servant, when he shall take up the other _fifty_ Acres, his Quit-Rent shall be _four Shillings_ by the Year, or if the Master of the Servant (by Reason in the Indentures he is so obliged to do) allot out to the Servant _fifty_ Acres in his own Division, the said Master shall have on Demand allotted him, from the Governor, the _one hundred_ Acres at the chief Rent of _six Shillings per Annum_.
VIII.
A N D for 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 one _fifth_, the Owner of the Soil (if not the Discoverer) a _tenth_ Part, the Governor _two fifths_, and the rest to the publick Treasury, saving to the King the Share reserved by Patent.
IX.
I N every _hundred thousand_ Acres, the Governor and Proprietary, by Lot, reserveth _ten_ to himself, what shall lie but in one Place.
X.
T H A T every Man shall be bound to plant or man so much of his Share of Land as shall be set out and surveyed, within _three_ Years 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.
XI.
T H E R E shall be no buying and selling, be it with an _Indian_, 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 the _Indian_, or that of the Planters.
XII.
A N D F O R A S M U C H as 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 the _Indians_, 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.
XIII.
T H A T no Man shall by any Ways or Means, in Word or Deed, affront or wrong any _Indian_, but he shall incur the same Penalty of the Law, as if he had committed it against his Fellow-Planter; and if any _Indian_ shall abuse, in Word or Deed, any Planter of this Province, that he shall not be his own Judge upon the _Indian_, 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 said _Indian_, that all reasonable Satisfaction be made to the said injured Planter.
XIV.
T H A T all Differences between the Planters and the Natives, shall also be ended by _twelve_ Men, that is, by _six_ Planters and _six_ Natives, that so we may live friendly together as much as in us lieth, preventing all Occasions of Heart-burnings and Mischief.
XV.
T H A T the _Indians_ shall 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.
XVI.
T H A T the Laws as to Slanders, Drunkenness, Swearing, Cursing, Pride in Apparel, Trespasses, Distresses, Replevins, Weights and Measures, shall be the same as in _England_, till altered by Law in this Province.
XVII.
T H A T all shall mark their Hogs, Sheep and other Cattle, and what are not marked within _three_ Months 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.
XVIII.
T H A T in clearing the Ground, Care be taken to leave one Acre of Trees for every _five_ Acres clear'd, especially to preserve Oak and Mulberries for Silk and Shipping.
XIX.
T H A T all 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 within _two_ Days 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.
XX.
T H A T no Person leave the Province, without Publication being made thereof, in the Market-Place, _three_ Weeks 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;
_Sealed and delivered in the Presence of_
William Boelham, Harbert Springet, Thomas Prudyard.
_Sealed and delivered in the Presence of all the Proprietors who have hereunto subscribed, except_ Thomas Farrinborrough _and_ John Goodson, _in the Presence of_
Hugh Chamberlen, R. Murray, Harbert Springet, Humphry South, Thomas Barker, Samuel Jobson, John-Joseph Moore, William Powel, Richard Davie, Griffith Jones, Hugh Lambe, Thomas Farrinborrough, John Goodson.
* * * * *
_An_ A C T _of_ Settlement, _made at_ Chester, 1682.
W H E R E A S William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of the Province of _Pensylvania_, and Territories thereunto belonging, hath, out of his great Kindness and Goodness to the Inhabitants thereof, been favourably pleased to give and grant unto them a Charter of Liberties and Privileges, dated the _twenty-fifth_ Day of the _second_ Month, _One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty-two_: By which Charter it is said, the Government shall consist of the Governor and Freemen of the said Province, in the Form of a provincial Council and general Assembly; and that the provincial Council shall consist of _seventy-two_ Members, to be chosen by the Freemen; and that the general Assembly may, the _first_ Year, consist of the whole Body of the Freeholders, and ever after of an elected Number, not exceeding _two hundred_ Persons, without the Consent of the provincial Council and general Assembly: And such Assembly to sit yearly on the _twentieth_ Day of the _third_ Month, as in the _first, second, third, sixth, fourteenth_ and _sixteenth_ Articles of the Charter, Reference being thereunto had, doth more at large appear.
A N D F O R A S M U C H as this Charter was the _first_ of those probationary Laws, that were agreed to and made by and between the Proprietary, and Governor, and Freemen in _England_, that were Purchasers in this Province, which said Laws, in the whole and in every Part thereof, were to be submitted to the Explanation and Confirmation of the _first_ provincial Council and general Assembly that was to be held in this Province, as by the Title and _first_ Law of the said Agreement, doth plainly appear.