Thomas L. Harris. Juvenile Depravity and Crime in Our City. New York: Charles B. Norton, 1850.
Thomas Lake Harris was known throughout his life as a dabbler in myriad belief systems, including Swedenborgianism, utopianism, and spiritualism. In this sermon, preached at the Independent Christian Congregation in Broadway, Harris takes a very down-to-earth approach to juvenile delinquency, rightly attributing it to impoverished circumstances and bad parenting. This pamphlet also features a reprint of Chief of Police George Matsell’s report to the Mayor regarding children and crime. He cites the “incredible” number of 2,955 children engaged in loitering, pilfering, and worse, and characterized some of them as dock thieves, street sweepers, peddler-prostitutes, and “baggage smashers.”
