Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-21
BY SHIRLEY OIL YMPIUS

lZed intellect.
True, he acts, and acts well,
but it is because of his intellect
and the paths into which it led
him that he laid off the stole for
the mask.
From the pulpit to the stage is
a distance which may be imag-
ined with difficulty; but once was
it ever estimated and that by Mr..
Davis himself. And he should
know! Said Mr.. Davis to the
writer some years ago. 1T was
but two blocks from my church
in Oakland to the theater, yet it
took me ten years to cover the
ground" That he has finally
made the journey with eminent
success and no regrets was evil
denced to me when he and held a
conversation in his dressing room
at the Orpheum while he was pre-
pairing to present his sketch, his
dramatization, and incidentally an
Improvement, of Oscar Wilde's
psychological study, THE Picture
of Dorian Gray"
To tell the story of Edwards
Davis is to tabulate a process OF
mental development. His is the
story of an intellectual Gallahad,
who, when he became sure OF
himself, sure that, according to
his understanding, he had mas
tered the problems of life, struck
out on the path of mental, moral
and political fearlessness and
never deviated, never looked
back, never regretted. Some day
Edwards Davis will be reckoned
a hero because he was willing to
sacrifice the worlds good opinion
of him in order that he might be
free himself and free others from
intellectual bondage.
Some sixteen years ago Mr..
Davis became full-fedged
clergyman. His education was
thorough and included course in
an eastern theological seminary.
For four years following his ordi-
nation he was pastor of the Cen
trail Christian church, Oakland.
Eloquent. educated, magnetic,
fearless and forceful, Mr.. Davis
leaped with a bound to the first
rank of preachers. Undoubtedly
he was the most popular and
most talked of minister on the
Pacific coast. Whatever may
have been said of his theology
and his means of attracting peo-
pie to church, he never preached
to empty benches. The IS. R. O:
sign was hung out at every serv-
ice, and the crowds who attended
never went away disappointed.
Always did Mr.. Davis furnish an
intellectual treat, for he never
then lacked ideas, nor does he
lack them now.
But the time came when his
ideas outgrew his church. Dog
ma was swept away by research.
He determined to leave his pulpit,
and leave he did, although at the
very moment he made his final
decision he received three calls
to various pastorates, each paying
handsomely. His decision was
irrevocable. He could no longer
subscribe to the tenets of any
church. He became an individual
ist. He struck out for himself.
He went upon the stage, and
there he has remained. Because
he possessed that grim determi-
nation, that fighting spirit which
made him the most talked about
minister, he has succeeded. Today
he has reached the goal of sue
cess and has gathered the prize
of victory.
In an interview some years ago
] asked Mr. Davis why he had
forsaken the pulpit, and he re-
piled: I'D rather be true to a
mask than false to crown" :"
Somehow that epigram lodged in
my brain, and as the years have
gone by has been of infinite ben
eft to me. From that chance re-
mark I decided that it is better to
be true to ones self and better to
have an ideal which may not be
regarded so very highly by the
world at large than to make the
world believe one has lofty ideal
and fall short of it. In other
words, that insincerity is crime
against ones self and against so
ciety at large.
l had not seen Mr.. Davis in