_Bibles for the Prisoners._—In addition to establishing the Library, it was at the same time agreed that the convicts and other prisoners should be supplied with Bibles and Testaments, and a Committee was appointed to report on their distribution and its results. _Digest of Penal Laws._—In 1810, the subject of a general improvement of prison discipline throughout the State was taken up, and a Committee was appointed to prepare a suitable memorial; but soon after, Jared Ingersoll, then Attorney General of the State, was commissioned to prepare a digest of its penal laws, and the suggestions of the Society were made to him. _Sundry Abuses Revealed._—“In January, 1814, the Grand Jury of Bucks County presented the scanty allowance to poor debtors, as a subject deserving the attention of the public authorities. Fourteen cents a day only were allowed for provision, clothing, bedding and fuel, and even this niggardly allowance was withheld from the debtor until the creditor received notice of his commitment. For some days, therefore, they might be exposed to extreme suffering, unless the jailor or some kind friend afforded them relief. The rations of convicts were one pound of bread a day, and six cents’ worth of fuel, and one extra blanket in extreme weather. The subjection of persons committed for trial to the same fare as convicts, was also presented as a reproach to the community. It was, moreover, urged, that the manner and amount of the jailor’s compensation should be such as to remove from him all temptation to benefit himself at the expense of his prisoner. This position, which the Society assumed many years before, is one which the most obvious principles of justice warrant. It extends to magistrates and arresting officers, as well as jailors. To none of them should there be offered the slightest temptation to distress or annoy those in custody, for the sake of profit to themselves.” _Measures to Obviate Them._—Resulting from the facts and suggestions thus developed, measures were soon adopted by the Society for ascertaining the condition of penal institutions in other States, and steps were taken towards memorializing our own Legislature in behalf of desired improvements; but definite action on the subject was prevented, by various circumstances, until January, 1818, at which time a memorial was adopted, setting forth “the crowded state of the Philadelphia Prison, and the impracticability of reaching the true end of all penal discipline therein, and urging the erection of penitentiaries in suitable parts of the Commonwealth, for the more effectual _separation and employment_ of prisoners, and so proving the superiority of that system.”