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Untitled Article
ttand at the bottom of a page for 500 / . or if such society shall be constituted within three years after iny death s this sum shall be paid out of my estate /' In a pamphlet published by
William Bradford , one of the judges of the supreme court of Pennsylvania , there is a concise explanation of the origin , plan , and progress of the Pennsylvania
society . He says , < 6 The distresses of the prisoners , and ihe disorders in the prisons of Philadelphia had long engaged the sympathetic attention of the inhabi - tants . —Occasional relief was often
afforded ; but the magnitude of the sufferings and disorders at length induced the attempt of forming a society , under the title of the Philadelphia Societyfor AL levia / ing the Miseries of Public
Prisons , It soon became large and respectable ^ and from subscri ptions and donations , early possessed funds equal to its object . " The constitution is short , and may prove useful : I have annexed it to this communication .
They appointed a committee of six members to visit the prisons : furnish bread when necessary ; clothe the naked ; accommodate differences ; discharge those
confined for small debts ; and generally to mitigate the sufferings inseparable from such places of con . iinement . At the time they visited , the disorders out , of prison
equally attracted their attention , and excited a more "particular inquiry into tin * causes of these complicated evils . They were well assured that the funds of the
society would be distributed to little effect , unless some means were used to discover the cause and to remedy the evil . A firm con-
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viction was soon produced , that the severity of the laws , with the disgraceful mode of carry ing them inUr effect , joined to a want of government in the prison ; the admission of all kinds of
characters to a free communication with the prisoners , the unlimited nse of spiriruons liquors , the indiscrim . inate mixture of all descriptions of prisoners , without regard to
character , sex , or condition , and idleness in the house , were amongst the principal causes of the evils complained of : to remedy which , the society , in conjuction with
the corporation , made an application to the legislature for an alteration in the penal system ; to place the prison under the inspection of some of the citizens ; to
erect solitary cells ; and to form a plan for its government . This was complied with , and inspectors were directed to be chosen ; who were impowered , with the approbation of the mayor , two
aldermen , and two judges of the supreme court , or two of the judges of the common pleas of Philadelphia county , to make rules and regulations for the government of all convicts confined in the said
prison , &c . The first care of the inspectors was to remove the debtors into another house , entirely distinct from the convicts' prison ; to put a stop to all improper
outdoor communications ; to separate the sexes ; to suppress the use 01 spirituous liquors of all kinds ; to introduce a system of labour , suited to their situation , trades , and
strength , to frame a plan of goveminent for the house , and directions for the officers , which i * hereto annexed ; and generally introduce order , decency , economy and industry .
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388 On the Punishment of Death *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1811, page 388, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2418/page/4/
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