Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-08-21
Master Fred-A Mothers Trial.

Deacon and Mrs. Chase were strict and
reverent members Of ar evangelical church,
in a secluded New England village, and kept
unbroken and undiluted the strong old faith
OF the Puritans "Sister Chase, as the good
Deacons grave wife was called in the church,
was a devout earnest praying woman, who
was also ready at every call of duty, and kept
her lamp always trimmed and burning.
With meek and conscientious fidelity she
also soughtto train up her children in theway
they should 90, not emitting the occasional
application of Solomon's prescription; yet
many a confession she made upon bended
knees, and many a tear shed in the night
hours over her own short comings and the
departure of her family from the path of rect-
tude. But with this laboring and praying
mother there was one stereotyped style Of
goodness, and it was to produce this in all
under her charge that she labored. Servants
and children alike were expected TO become
passive, unquestiOning, tame spirited recipi-
ents OF her theology, or they were in the "gall
Of bitterness and the bonds Of iniquity.' No
matter if nature had made a fiery impetuous
Peter, grace must made him a docile unde-
monstrative John. Good Mrs. Chase under
stood duty better than she did human nature,
but sometimes her ignorance Of the one led
her into a misinterpretation of the other
She had four children, two meek, submissive
girls, and two boys, one of whom was too
Young as yet to be the object or cause ofmuch
anxiety, the other; with whom our story has
most to do, fiery, impetuous fun-loying
school-boy of ten years, rejoicing in mischief
and not repenting very effectually, except
when he felt that he had given pain to one he
loved ard he loved as he did everything else
with an C7limuS.
With this boy, this erratic, willful, Master
Fred, LAY Sister Chase ssorest trouble. "Where
could he have got such nature ?" she asked
herself in perpleXity. Certainly not from
me; and if it wele in their father, why have
not the other children inherited it?' Mrs
Chase was a firm believer in total deprayity;
if she had ever been skeptical on that point,
she would have been restored to soundness
after a short experience in managing Fred
When the boys erratic propensities began to
manifest themselves in his babyhood, his
mother was puzzled, for the young tyrant
weuld lie awake when all Christian babies
ought to be asleep; he would scream from no
conceivable cause, and manage to fight strong
battles with those two red fists of his, when
he should have quietly submitted to his morn
ing abIutions. As soon as he grew large
enough to run about the house, which was
earlier than any other child of the family, he
was "into everything" nothing could be kept
safe from his depredations unless out Of his
reach, and the quiet, nicely kept furniture Of
the Chase domicil received more scratches,
dents, and belaborings generally, than during
the entire previous period ofits household use.
A ofnolrnA hTr
wholesome discipline; but what was keptun-
der in one place would crop out in another.
At church he was the severest of trials for
sitting still was a virtue which refused to be
engrafted upon Fred, though it was natural
to his sisters. At family prayers, while the
rest listened to the service, Fred described
diagrams on the carpet with the toe of his
shoe, or rummaged with one hand among the
promiscuous collection which he carried in
his pocket or planned the next chesnuting
excursion, and was off with whOOp and
bound as soon as his father had said Amen
Not one deliberate act of malice, or violence,
or mischief, did Fred plan or execute, but he
was boiling over with animal spirits, which
must find vent somehow; and the perpetual
air of eonstraint about the family, the subdued
tone and the sOlemnity of his mothers ap-
pesls to him to repent and give his heart TO
Christ only drove him to the opposite ex-
reme. In vain did she tell him, when his
merriment became unbearable, that the
laughter of fools was like the cracking OF
thorns under pot he hated the author OF
those words, because he somehow felt, though
be could not say it, that mirth was part OF
his nature, and could not and would not be
ignored. In vain did she tell him that the
" way Of the transgressOr is hard, and that
she feared he was "in the broad road to death"
the only hard way for him was the way OF
precision, and grave, steady application. If
she had told him these were the ways Of trans
gressOrs, he would have fully believed her.
The good mother had in her heart con-
secrated this first-born son to God, and her
fondest hope was to see him minister of the
Gospel. She used to take him alone into her
room, and read to him and pray with him,
and weep over his want of interest VIXEN he
would break into the story Of young Samuel
OF Timothy with What time is it mother?-
Mayn't go pretty sOon?" By the time he
was ten or eleven years ofage he had begun
to consider himself as asOrt OfreprObate, given
over" it was of no use for hin to try to be
good as be could see, and yet be didn't see
l
couldn't be as mother wanted him to be, and
he supposed be was an awful sinner, fgr he
had always been told that he was'-<and he
began to do from pervUrsity what he
had formerly done simply from excess
of spirits and of merriment About
| this time the church to which Mrs.
Chase belonged had a new minister
not very young, nor very attractive at first
| sight. His predecessor, cold, grave man,
who preached sound doctrine, but took no
| personal interest in the youth of his flock,
had been rather a dread to Master Fred, to
/ whom he looked like a perpetual exclama-
ton point, in view of his misdeeds: but the
new minister, who came to stay at Deacon
/ Chases while the parsonage was painted,
was entirely a different sort Of man. Fred
| eyed him askance, and came very reluctantly
to be introduced TO him; but there was some
thing kindly in the minister's manner, as he
said to him, after the first salutations "Was
it you | saw feeding the rabbits this morn
ing 2"
Fred colored with glow of conscious
pleasure as be said, "Yes sir" and added,
| timidly, ~ tanned them myself"
"Ahl" said the minister, 81 should like
to visit them with you by and by"
Fred hardly felt satisfied in his own mind
as to the propriety ofa ministers taking an in
I terest in rabbits; they were worldly concerns
/ be supposed, and he had got the idea that
! everything which was not religious was sinful.
However, he led the way triumphantly when
the minister was ready to visit the rabbits, and
could not help feeling kindly leaning to-
wards the man who could be in his company
H. WrrfHk kI4-~N - :