02513cam a22003013u 4500 76354 UtSlPG 20260610134751.0 m cr n 260607r20251869utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d UtSlPG en iso639-1 PZ Leslie, Madeline, 1815-1893 The breach of trust Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2025 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Attributed to Madeline Leslie. Release date is 2025-06-22 The Breach of Trust; or, The Professor and Possessor of Piety by Madeline Leslie is a moral domestic novel written in the late 19th century. It contrasts hollow “professions” of religion with genuine Christian character through the fortunes of siblings Helen and Frank Edmond, who fall under the guardianship of the vain, self-promoting merchant Monson P. Tracy. The story probes hypocrisy, charity, and fiduciary abuse, set against New England parsonage life and a tender, emerging attachment within the pastor’s family. The opening of the novel introduces Monson P. Tracy, a self-assured “professor of religion” who craves public praise yet withholds kindness, and contrasts him with his dying benefactor, the truly pious Roswell Edmond, who entrusts his children to Tracy’s care. A retrospective traces Tracy’s rise from destitute boy aided by Edmond to ambitious merchant, while the present follows Helen’s growing alarm at Tracy’s hypocrisy and his son Roswell’s calculated pursuit, alongside her compassion for a poor seamstress, Sarah Barrows, whom Tracy had wronged. With help from allies like the pastor Mr. Knowles and the merchant McKinstry, Helen raises funds to rescue Sarah, rebuffs Tracy’s interference in her visitors, and ultimately rejects Roswell’s proposal, after which she and Frank resettle near their country home. There they find calmer footing under the pastor’s wing, deepen ties with his son Frederic, take up study and charity among mill families, and the section closes on a dramatic rescue as Frederic saves Helen from a mad dog. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: Boston: D. Lothrop Company, 1869 Piety -- Juvenile fiction https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76354 117079 117079