THE PUBLIC REBUKE.

ANECDOTE OF JUDGE WHITE.

THE late lamented Judge Hugh L. White, of Tennessee, became conspicuous, at a very early period of life, as a jurist and a statesman. He fixed his permanent home near Knoxville, amidst the scenes of his youthful sports, and the companions of his boyish days. Rarely has a young man, continuing in his own country and among his own kindred, so soon attained such literary and political preeminence. From his youth, the judge was characterized by profound reverence for the ordinances of the gospel. He was a regular attendant at the house of worship. And while he was a Presbyterian, that being the church of his fathers, and the church of his choice, he was benevolent and generous towards other branches of the great Christian family. He gave to the Methodist church at Knoxville the ground on which their house of worship was built; and occasionally he would appear in the congregation, and join with them in their worship.

Now, in those days, there was a notable presiding elder in that region, called Father Axley, a pious, laborious, uncompromising preacher of the gospel, who considered it his duty to rebuke Sin wherever it should presume to lift up its deformed head within the limits of his district. And while Father Axley was a man

of respectable talents, undoubted piety, and great ministerial fidelity, he had, moreover, a spice of humor, oddity, and drollery about him, that rarely failed to impart a characteristic tinge to his performances. The consequence was, that amusing anecdotes of the sayings and doings of Father Axley abounded throughout the country.

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On a certain day, a number of lawyers and literary men were together in the town of Knoxville, and the conversation turned on the subject of preaching and preachers. One and another had expressed his opinion of the performances of this and that pulpit orator. length, Judge White spoke up-"Well, gentlemen, on this subject each man is, of course, entitled to his own opinion; but I must confess, that Father Axley brought me to a sense of my evil deeds - at least a portion of them - more effectually than any preacher I have ever heard." At this, every eye and ear was turned; for Judge White was known never to speak lightly on religious subjects, and, moreover, he was habitually cautious and respectful in his remarks concerning religious men. The company now expressed the most urgent desire that the judge would give the particulars, and expectation stood on tiptoe.

"I went up," said the judge, "one evening, to the Methodist church. A sermon was preached by a clergyman with whom I was not acquainted; but Father Axley was in the pulpit. At the close of the sermon, he arose, and said to the congregation, 'I am not going to detain you by delivering an exhortation. I have risen simply to administer a rebuke for improper conduct, which I have observed here to-night.' This, of course, waked up the entire assembly; and the still

ness was most profound, while Axley stood and looked, for two or three seconds, over the congregation. Then, stretching out his large, long arm, and pointing with his finger steadily in one direction, 'Now,' said he, 'I calculate that those two young men, who were talking and laughing in that corner of the house, while the brother was preaching, think that I'm going to talk about them. Well, it is true that it looks very bad, when well-dressed young men, who you would suppose, from their appearance, belonged to some genteel, respectable family, come to the house of God, and, instead of reverencing the majesty of Him that dwelleth therein, or attending to the message of his everlasting love, get together in one corner of the house,' (his finger all this time pointing straight and steady as the aim of a rifleman,) ' and there, through the whole solemn service, keep talking, tittering, laughing, giggling thus annoying the minister, disturbing the congregation, and sinning against God. I'm sorry for the young men. I'm sorry for their parents. sorry they have done so to-night. I hope they'll never do so again. But, however, that's not the thing that I was going to talk about. It is another matter, and so important, that I thought it would be wrong to suffer the congregation to depart without administering a suitable rebuke. Now,' said he, stretching his huge arm, and pointing in another direction, 'perhaps that man, who was asleep on the bench out there, while the brother was preaching, thinks that I am going to talk about him. Well, I must confess, it looks very bad for a man to come into a worshipping assembly, and, instead of taking his seat like others, and listening to the blessed gospel, carelessly stretch himself out on

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a bench, and go to sleep! It is not only a proof of great insensibility with regard to the obligations which we owe to our Creator and Redeemer, but it shows a want of genteel breeding. It shows that the poor man has been so unfortunate in his bringing up, as not to have been taught good manners. He doesn't know what is polite and respectful in a worshipping assembly, among whom he comes to mingle. I'm sorry for the poor man. I'm sorry for the family to which he belongs. I'm sorry he did not know better. I hope he will never do so again. But, however, that is not Thus Father Axley

what I was going to talk about.' went on, for some time, 'boxing the compass,' and hitting a number of persons and things that he was 'not going to talk about,' and hitting them hard, till the attention and curiosity of the audience were raised to the highest pitch, when, finally, he remarked, 'The thing of which I was going to talk, is chewing tobacco. Now, I do hope, when any gentleman comes here to church, who can't keep from chewing tobacco during the hours of public worship, that he will just take his hat, and put it before him, and spit in his hat. You know we are Methodists. You all know that our custom is to kneel when we pray. Now, any gentleman may see, in a moment, how exceedingly inconvenient it must be for a well-dressed Methodist lady to be compelled to kneel down in a great puddle of tobacco-spit!

"Now," said Judge White, "at this very time, I had in my mouth an uncommonly large quid of tobacco. Axley's singular manner and train of remark had strongly arrested my attention. While he was striking to the right and left, hitting those 'things' that he was not going to talk about, my curiosity was roused, and

conjecture was busy to find out what he could be aiming at. I was chewing my huge quid with uncommon rapidity, and spitting, and looking up at the preacher, to catch every word and every gesture; and when, at last, he pounced on the 'tobacco,' behold, there I had a great puddle of tobacco-spit! I quietly slipped the quid out of my mouth, and dashed it as far as I could under the seats, resolving never again to be found chewing tobacco in a Methodist church.