The author of this article describes the unique historical source, Sermons for Prisons. To which are Added Prayers for the Use of Prisoners in Solitary Confinement(1790) by John Brewster, the Vicar of Durham (England). The author analyzes the content of Sermons in the context of penal reform in the United Kingdom, launched in connection with the adoption of the Penitentiary Act of 1779. The main content of the prison reforms was the transition from the practice of retributive punishment to the system of penal correction. Religion was declared the primary resource of penal correction, and this led to the first statement of the social institute of prison chaplains in the UK. Brewster’s Sermons for Prisons probably became the earliest printed edition of this kind. In his sermons, Brewster preached to prisoners to consider imprisonment as an opportunity to review their life and to realize the vicious nature of their behavior. He viewed their confinement as a chance for the blessings of the Gospel on the one hand, and for reconciliation on the other.

Key words: 18th century Britain, English Protestantism, prison chaplains, prison reforms, sermons for prisons.

References

1. Brewster J.  (1790), Sermons for prisons. To which are added prayers for the use of prisoners in solitary confinement. Stockton: R. Christopher.
2. Memoirs of the public and private life of John Howard, the philanthropist – Compiled from His Own Diary in the Possession of His Family (1823) / вy J. Baldwin Brown. 2 th ed. London.
3. Conversations with prisoners (1870), 4th ed. SPb., 120 p.