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The F R A M E of the Government of the Province of _Pensilvania_ in
_America_: Together with certain L A W S agreed upon in _England_.
By the Governor and divers Freemen of the aforesaid Province. To
be further explained and continued there, by the first
Provincial Council that shall he held, if they see meet.
The P R E F A C E.
_W H E N the great and wise G O D had 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._
_T H I S the 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 of
G O D. The Powers that be are ordained of G O D: Whosoever therefore
resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance of G O D. 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 of G O D to thee for good.--Wherefore ye must
needs be subject, not only for Wrath, but for Conscience sake.
_T h i s settles 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, had_ Adam _never fell, and will
continue among Men on Earth under the highest Attainments they may
arrive at, by the coming of the blessed_ Second Adam, _the L O R D from
Heaven. Thus much of Government in general, as to its Rise and End._
_F O R particular_ Frames _and_ Models, _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 of_ Monarchy,
Aristocracy, _and_ Democracy, _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_.
_BUT_ Lastly, _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 the_ Jewish _and_ Roman
_States. 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 to G O D and good Conscience to Men) to the best of our Skill,
contrived and composed the_ F R A M E and L A W S of 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 hope_ G O D _will please to make the Lot of this of_
Pensilvania. _Amen._
William Penn.
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_The_ F R A M E, &c.
T O A L L P E O P L E, To whom these Presents shall come. W H E R E A S
King _C H A R L E S the Second_, by his Letters Patents, under the
great Seal of _England_, for the Consideration therein mentioned, hath
been graciously pleased to give and grant unto me _William Penn_ (by the
Name of _William Penn_, Esq; Son and Heir of Sir _William Penn_
deceased) and to my Heirs and Assigns for ever, all that Tract of Land,
or Province called _Pensilvania_, in _America_, with divers great
Powers, Preheminences, Royalties. Jurisdictions, and Authorities,
necessary for the Well-being and Government thereof: N O W K N O W Y E,
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 said
_William Penn_ have 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 of _Pensilvania_ for ever.