The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1872-12-15
COLUMBIA4.a S. G..
Sunday Morning. December ID. 1872.
Lib.

LID.
Harvard University conferred the de.
gree of LID. upon President Grant, at
the commencement in June Last, in re-
cognition Of his distinguished public
services, both In war and peace. The
diploma has recently been transmitted
to President Grant by Chas. w. Elliott,
President of Harvard. In acknowledg-
ing it. Gen. Grant is profuse in thanks
for "this mark of their approval OF my
<h;s) efforts to ssr:s cc- beloved country.
both in time of war and in time of
peace" He will "ever hold in high es-
teem the parchment" go.
We like the candor Of Prof. Elliott,
who thus states specifically for what the
diploma was conferred. AS O scholar,
he could not pretend that the degree vas
ia any sense the reward of scholarship;
for, distinguished as President Grant
may have been in "peaoe and war, there
are some trophies which he cannot claim.
He is no scholar. He has never burnt
the midnight oil, and the world cannot
be said to have received any illumination
from his mind upon any of the great
subjects which interest it. Gen. Grant
has bis merits, but power as thinker.
force as q writer, grace and effect as q
public speaker, cannot be included
amongst them. His literary claims to
the honors OF Harvard are small-ridicu-
aously small. It is not creditable to
Harvard that she thus bestows her high
est literary distinction upon one who is
Bo notoriously unfit to receive it; that
her President has to state explicitly that
It is upon grounds other than literary
that it has been conferred. But only
upon such Literary or scientific merit,
well known and widely recognized, could
it have been properly bestowed. A
sword from the militia, gold snuff.bo1
from the council, or vote OF thanks
from the s'solid" men of Boston, would
have been the right thing. But litera-
ture has her own realm, science her own
ephere, and they rigidly guard the por.
tals which admit into their domain.
Whoever seeks admission must wear
their laurels upon his brow.
Major Jack Downing relates that when
General Jackson received similar tri-
butte from some college, he asked him to
quote Latin in honor of the occasion.
The General promptly and effectively
brought out ':E plnri6us unum." We
suppose General Grant could do as much
upon pinch, and 80 may rely upon the
precedent. At any rate. he accepts, as
usual. with thanks. In view of the fact
that General Crane once followed the
ignoble pursuit OF tanning leather ai
Galena, Ohio, the mischievous might in
terpret L. L. D. (as was once before
done) to mean Learned Leather Dresser,
and explain the fondpess expressed for
the ''parchwent." alias sheep-skin, as
arising from pleasing reminiscence OF
the tannery. We close with suggestion
to Harvard. II the overseers are look.
ing out for any moro deserving sons OF
Ohio, to dignity with their titular dis
tinctions, we beg to suggest the name OF
r. K. SCOTT. He can no more, or hardly
as rightfully, claim literary eminence;
but he has "been prominently associated
with the rise and progress of free go.
vernment in South Carolina during the
aast seven years." We think Harvard
ought to come down to that.