Enlightened Penal Reformers Despised Catholicism As Ignorant and Superstitious

Penal reformers were elite, enlightenment figures who regarded Catholic practices as benighted and barbaric.

Jonas Hanway’s Rise to Philanthropic Prominence

Jonas Hanway failed as a merchant, but did very well as a writer and philanthropist.

English philanthropist Jonas Hanway was the most prominent early advocate of suppressing prisoners’ communication.

With his book, Solitude in Imprisonment, Hanway made a large push for public attention with a much greater focus than his previous efforts.

Hanway wrote with a keen sense for attracting public attention, and later, for influencing public policy.

Jonas Hanway challenged oppressive gender norms and helped to break down the barriers against men using umbrellas.

Jonas Hanway articulated concerns about criminal learning and criminal contagion with the phrase “evil communication” drawn from 1 Cor. 15:33.

Jonas Hanway exemplifies a public intellectual within the public sphere’s paradigmatic period.

“Evil communication” (singular communication) has little semantic difference from “evil communications” (plural communications).

Fox preached taciturnity for everyone and founded the Quakers. Revered philanthropist Hanway advocated suppressing prisoners’ communication.

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Hanway was widely known and admired for his contribution to penal policy.

In 1775, Hanway urged an investigation of prisons. Howard had already done such work and testified to the House of Commons about it.