The title of Doctor of Divinity conferred upon Henry Ward Beecher by Amherst College, at the late Commencement, is rejected by Mr. Beecher, in a note addressed to the Board of Trustees, under due date of ‘Peekskill, August 21st’’ He very sensible remarks: “Gentlemen, I have been duly notified that at the last meeting of the Board of Trustees, the title Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon me. It would certainly give me pleasure should any respectable institution bear such a testimony of good-will. But that AMHERST COLLEGE , MY own mother, should so kindly remember a son, is a peculiar gratification. …… I greatly prefer the simplicity of that name which my mother uttered over me in the holy hour of infant consecration and baptism. May I be permitted, without seeming to undervalue your kindness, to return it to your hands; that I may to the end of my life be, as thus far ;I have been, simply HENRY WARD BEECHER
(Liberator, Sept 7, 1860, pg 3)
