Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-11-17
wAs On. n,ooss rNsULrsDs
Getting ~ the True lnwsrdness OF the Recent
Harvard Inc,dent.

Every Harvard graduate who cherishes
the good name of his university, would De
pained to think that the celebration OF It's
had been marred by an intentiona |
offenpe 10 a man ~ Justly eminent and so
widely respected at pr. McCosh, the presi-
dent of Princeton college. That pr. McCosh
believed such an otiense ~ have been given
is unhsppily certain, but pr. Holmes insists
that nothing OF the sort was intended OF
can fairly be inferred from the passage OF his
poem objected to- Let US see what the facts
are, and whether they may not bear 3 cou-
struction entirely consistent with the duties
Of hospitality which Harvard University un-
doubtedly owed Its guests
DIR. McCosh was present 10y invitation at
the commemorative eNerci-es In his othcA
capacity of president Oi Princeton college, |
That he supposed himself and the inst'tu-
tiun of which he is the head, 20 have been |
insulted, is clear from the fact that he lett the |
ball as soon as possible alter the reading ot |
the poem. and, without attending the ban. |
auet to which also he had been invited, re- |
turned to Princeton, whence he addressed |
letter OF polite remnE STRANGE 70 President
Eliot We may be sure that he did not pre-
sumo TO take 10 task the Harvard authorities
for emitting 10 confer any honor upon
Princeton in their long degree llst,
although the omission would ualuratiN
be a disappointment II he mentonei the
slight at all, 1t was doubtless only Tor the
what he took for a disparagng slluSion to
Princeton in Or. Holmes poem reflected the
opinions of the faculty and corporation. ne
understood the theology OF Princeton 10 pe
aimed al in the following eight lines, which
he deemed, under the circumstances strange
ly caustiC and vituperatiVe. The lines WhlCh
we here append follow a eU.ogy OF harNards
recent innovations in the form Of All almost
complete elective system and Of uou-comPul-
| sorry attendance al prayers-lnnoVauous
which many Harvard graduates disapprore
| of, and which Princeton has firmly declined
| to adopt
"o'er Princeton's sands the far reflection steal.
Where mighty Edwards stamped his iron heel
| Nay on the hill where old beliefs were bound
Fast as If styH had gtrt them nine times round,
| II the whole church Of Calvin Is on fire
Wen may they ass for hat 80 TTs4gy "H'ns
| Now, one can easily understand that as
these lines were read or spoken, an sutior
| might reasonably think them au applicable
| to Princeton, which Is, indeed, the only col
| lege or seminary specified by name in the
| four couplets But Or. Holmes, in 4 note tC
| the Boston Post, points cut that the only
| reference to Princeton in his poem was q
| recognition of its memorable association with
the strongest intellect produced on this side
| of the Atlantic in the eighteenth Ceutury-a
| reference comprised in the following two
| lines
"o'sr Princeton's sands the far reflections steal
| Where mighty Edwards stamped his iron heel.
Thesuthor's assertion is Conclusively borne
out by a careful inspeC ton OF the passage &c
| which exception was taken, and since he has
had an opportunity OF seeing it in print, We
! have no doubt that this is manifest to Dr.
| McCosh. To say nothing of the long stop
| after "heel." 1t is obvious that Princeton :
| ''sands" cannot be identified with the ''hllI'
| at which the rather severe structures in the
| following six lines are directed. That "hIll,'
| as he will al once perceive Is the eninenCe
| on which stands the AndOver theological
IT, - h,E. .
| by Prot. Smyth srd his colleagues, VINO are
| about to be tried for heresy, that the poet has
| in mind when he speaks of ''suCh = light
that trembling souls inquire il the whole
church of Calvin Is on fire. That III $
| slusiou to the movement toward liberal lsm
at AndOyer expressed the feeling OF the
Harvard authorities is unquestiOnable, be.
cause President lot had just conferred on
Prof Smyth the degree OF doctor Of divinity.
| But this, If a reflection at all, was not cast on
Princeton or DR.. McCosh, but on those
trustees Of AndOver who are ealing to account
Prof Smyth and some of his fellow teachers,
| While II turns out thai the brief mission
| to Princeton in DR.. Holmes poem was moth,
| ing IL not hattering-ior Harvard had nc
president in the last century 50 ulustrlou-
| as Edwards-t is curious fact that Mr.,
| Lowell, the orator OF the day, placed him,
self squsrely on the ground occupied by DR..
| McCosh in relation 10 the elective system
| and the educational value OF Greek. 1t was
the orators duty 10 speak on this opinion on
question OF 90 mucn moment, though be
must bRvef felt 1t an ungrsCiOus ana uuplsas
ant thing even TO hint 5 criticism and hest
tate dislike OF a course deli iberaEely ken by
his alma mater. \ at, while Mr.. L0Wel's
language was in torn and tone uneNgeptIOn,
| able on the score OF courtesy and GgfeTeICe
It's purport was unmstaBa able, and should
| have convinced Dr. NcCgsh that many HaT
| ward alumni of weight and distinction ap
prove Of the position unswerylDgIy main
tsined by the president OF Princeton touch
ing the elective system aud the compulsory
study of Greek.
Harvard college made DR.. McCOsh a doctor
OF laws eighteen years ago, and her sons are
well aware that by that sns hou0red hersel
| quite as much as the recipient ot c0nyeu
tional title. She could not Insult him with
out impeaching her own discernuent anC
her own dignity. Even while smartiu.
under what he considered an atfrOnL Dr.
McCosh scknowl ged that he COusidere,
DR.. Holmes the chief offender in the mater
de will now own as frankly that here, too
he was mistaken. 1t was through a uisun
derstsnding OF the meaning OF words sp1keI
which, printed, could not be miscon
suusd-thst he Imputed TO their author Al
| intention OF wOunding a CistIQgul- leC
scholar and hOnOred guest
DR.. Holmes Explains His Poem.
Letter to the Editor of the Boston Post
SIR The only reference 10 Princeton II
my poem was in these two lines, which wer
| written and read and exactly a. they ar
| found in the printed copy published will
The Atlantic Monthly.
Ger Princeton's sands the tar reflections -tes
Where mighty Edwards stamped uis IRON heel
The " stars " in the newspaper copies OF ex
tracts were only to separate the indepsnden
, | paragraphs, unless some OF The papers MAJ
have seen ut TO strike out lines for which
. they had no room or which they choose 4
leave out for rea.Ons of their own.
| cannot believe that the excellent anC
, venerable president OF Princeton would tax,
: otense at the suggestion thata ray, or the r.
Election OF ray, from Hsrvard whicl
lighted the first torch in the wilderness, auC
has certainly been one Of the centres OF illu
mination for two centuries and a halt hs
blended with the other lights, which max
Princeton brilliantly conspicuous among ou
I educational institutions. Ihe &" sands" q
New Jersey were only a geological remin
iscence OF a recent visit to that state, and IN
reference 10 Edwards was intended 10 typit
! the profound impress which that extrsordi
! nary man left on the Intellectual world il
which he moved and over which he stil
, exerts commanding influence. Your