The Ordway new era., 1912-02-02

Hess LOT blDllChI ART. IL inspired Hli.
He became convinced that the subject
and the spirit Of great painting
could be given a dramatic setting and
made to do the work he. with indiHer.
ent success. had sought to do In the
pulpit.
He saw a picture one day In which
was a figure OF young shepherd and
some sheep. 1t was entitled David
Watching His Fathers Flocks on the
David was familiar to him. He had
read It and preached from 1t. He set
about to make n stage character Of 1t
and succeeded. He called the play
THE Shepherd King" Others aided
him. but It was his thought
Considered Play Taught Lesson.
II do not know II the dramatic pos
sibilities Of the character of David
have ever occurred to a playwright or
an author BEFORE" he conflded to
friends who knew Of his ambitions.
but to me the story from dramatic
point Of view Is intensely interesting
There Is every known passion that
can enter into stage portrayal
love. envy. hatred. malice. Jealousy.
Joy and courage are all set forth In
the story OF David. It teaches a les
son such as I have tried to teach.
For three seasons he played David
in THE Shepherd King" 1t was
profitable In a money way. and to him
satisfaction. for he felt that he
could SO interpret the Bible character
as to make It a portrayal worthy OF
one who had started out In life to
preach the gospel.
In the booking Of the play he had
the opportunity OF appearing more
than once In cities where. under other
conditions. he had appealed to the
people.
On the occasion OF his professional
appearance in the opera house at
Troy he was warmly received by
members OF his former congregation.
In Scranton old parishioners came by
his invitation to the stage and dined
with him amid scenes showing the
country Of David. He told them he
had transferred his ministry to the
stage.
Defended His Course.
"I beg of you not to upbraid me for
doing this" he said. "for the inspira.
tion which came to me when ! stood
alone in my pulpit and preached to
you is still my inspiration In the
drama. and am quite certain that my
success, which is now of larger meas.
ure than 1t used to be. Is productive
of even greater good than 1t used to
be-"
When he was at the height OF his
tage success and his purse was well
filled. Lorimer lived In fine hotel
apartments. In which his taste for the
artistic In furniture. art and draperies
was seen in many rare examples. HIS
library was valued at that time at
not less that $4,000. and no volume
on his shelves was priced so highly
as the Bible. book-marked at the text
of his last sermon. which he kept for
daily reading.
The dark days came to Lorimer the
second time in his life when he got
into q legal controversy over the
rights OF the play In which he had
successfully starred. The play was
withdrawn from the stage and. not
withstandlng his best efforts. he could
not again secure employment In
role such as he had come to believe
he was fitted by nature to interpret.
Planned Return to Pulpit.
Then, for time. reduced in cir.
cumstances and forced to withdraw
from the society OF those who enjoy
ed his fair weather companionship.
Lorimer thought he again heard the
call of the pulpit. He spoke to one
or two of his friends about 1t and
they discouraged him. saying that
having abandoned the pulpit for the
stage the church folk would not be
likely to accept him again. With that
he abandoned the idea and set about