RECEIVING THE TRUTH.
Mrs. Le Pla was a French lady, who came over to England in the younger part of her life, with much of the vivacity for which the French nation has been remarkable. She was particularly under the eye of a grave, Pharisaic lady, by whom she was persuaded to go to church, but the dull manner in which the clergyman performed his office disgusted her so much, that she withheld her attention, and fell asleep. At this, her English friend was exceedingly angry, and reproved her sharply.
On another Lord's Day her friend took her to hear Dr. F——, but his excessive action provoked her to such a degree that she burst into a loud laugh, and she was desired to walk out of the place of worship, where she had certainly shown too little regard for the Divine Being and His worshippers.
On returning home, she was very properly and severely remonstrated with, at which she was much hurt. She replied, in broken English, "What can I do, madam? I go to church to please you, and there I fall asleep. I go to meeting, and there I laugh; and to tell you the truth, I begin to think my own religion is not the right religion, for that teaches me to worship images, and God says, 'Thou shalt not make any graven image.' If, therefore, madam, I go to any place of worship, it shall be to hear a Mr. Whitefield, for I have heard great things of him."
"Well," said her English friend, "we will inquire where he preaches."
The good man was then dead. The ladies therefore went to the Tabernacle, Moorfields. Mr. T. Knight was the preacher, and the native of France, enraptured, cried out—
"This is the good and right doctrine! Here I will attend."
"Yes," said the prudent, self-righteous lady, "it is my opinion that they believe in predestination here, and you cannot think it right that God made any of His creatures to be damned?"