St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1890-01-25
Amen at the Wrong Time.


| 1t is good to be earnest and devout in
all religious duties, but the following
incident may go to show that, with this
as With all others, there is II time:
Not long ago some plain aud well
| we'll meaning citiZens OF one of the par
| lstes OF Lnn.ssaDa had been brought to
| serious reflection apua the subject OF
| religion by the efficient servlees ut d
Jealous minister of the Gosnei.. He
had concluded his iabors and gune to
another par1 Of bis circuit. The deep
interest he had aroused pr0Isnte1 these
new converts To call prayer meeting.
There was Il large attendance, and after
one or two had offered prayer, third
;:r fourth was called upon. He began
to invoke the Divine i4eIcy upon those
in attendance, and was proceeding very
we'll and with becoming solemnity, j,
when, unexpectedly to hlms one OF his
fellow -worshippers uttered the usual
Amen in very audible and distinguish
able voice. Why it was, no one present
seemed able to understand, but as soon
as it was said il confused the praying
brother. aad be found himself unable
to recapture the tllonghthe WAS giving
expression to. He paused for q moment
endeavoring to regain it, but unable 10
do SO, the evil one gained The ascendancy
over him and yielding to his dominion
be arose from his knees and inquired
who had said amen while he was pray
inge No one readily responded, and
every one being startled by this sudden
may well be imagined what consterna-
tion followed. The brother was not to
be deferred from ascertaiDing who had
said Amen. The brethren attempted to
appease his Indignation by assuring him
that no harm was meant, that it was
usual to say amen in token of approval
of expressions falling from the lips of
speakers engaged in Divine worship.
All this did not satisfy the brother, who
by this time had the old Adam so
aroused IN him that he vociferously de-
clared be could whip the s. of a b-h
that had said Amen while he Eae pray
ing. As some of the audience knew
who it was, the individual justly con-
cluded that brother L. would find him
out sooner or later and, therefore, re-
solved to faTpigl, the information called
for. A fight ensued In which several of
the friends of both parties took a hand.
Some blood was shed and the crowd dis
persed, but without recoDciling the bel
ligerents. Bro. L. and the author of
the Objectionable amen met some time
after and exchanged shots, by Which
one was wounded. Information was
given to prosecuting officer who placed |
the matter before the Grand Jury. A
bill of Indictment was returned into |
the 18th judicial DISTRICT Court. The
parties were arrested, arraianel and |
tried for shooting with intent to kill aud |
murder, and one was convicted OF q mi |
nor offense. The trial occupied several |
days, many witnesses were brought in |
from remote section Of the parish of |
R., and the parish put to Q heavy ex-
pense, and all because the brother, in |
his inexperienced zeal, bad said amen at |
The wrong time.
Whether another prayer meeting was
ever held where this uEtigely utterance
vas given the writer is not informed, /
,ut, il so, it may be well imagined the
were more guarded than
lie unfortunate brother had been.
e. N. G.