USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church of Hartford, Connecticut, March 21 to 28, 1915 > Part 6
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church relations. There was ever being disclosed to us the symbolic and dynamic power of a strong church in a community. It stands for the Chris- tian ideal. Its members are in honor bound to illustrate the verities to which it is pledged. Its tendency and influence must be positive. It exerts an attractive force regarding honesty, justice, fidel- ity, mercy, piety, and a repellent force regarding their opposites. All this applies to every church. But some churches have the form of spiritual mag- nets and yet the magnetic property is not there; they are magnets wound with the wire of induction through which no current flows. Mr. Twichell's chief concern was to maintain that electric stream of energy about and in our church magnet that should give it potency. How he did this we need not try to say. No one came within our magnetic field without becoming conscious of the force he transmitted.
As pastor, he dealt with us mostly one by one. Have we not marveled at the breadth and readi- ness of his sympathy? Have we not been startled by the sharpness of his intuition and his close ap- praisal of motive? Was he not quick to kindle to our enthusiasms, to grasp our difficulties and burdens, to bend to our weakness, to pursue us when we went astray, to reach out a strong hand when darkness closed over us, to bring healing for our bitterest wounds? What a wealth of testimony might here be marshaled if one after another were to say what was done for him-the quiet, simple words on the street, in office or shop, at home, which
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turned the whole drift of our wills back into the higher ranges of duty and destiny; the homely warmth of Christ-like tenderness at times of per- sonal or domestic crisis, whether of rejoicing or of bereavement; the outlay of heart that we might shun the supreme loss and seize the supreme op- portunity; the patience with our petulance or folly, the ingenuity in transforming our passion or self-will, the persistence in conquering our reluc- tance before the heavenly call. It was in these tens of thousands of daily contacts that we came to know his heart, to feel his vigor, to catch his spirit. "Pastor" means "shepherd." "The good shepherd knoweth his own, and his own know him; he call- eth his sheep by name, and leadeth them out; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."
Finally, a rapid word of Mr. Twichell as a pub- lic man. He was always a foremost citizen, with genial good-will for neighbors and fellow-towns- men, with prompt support of every enterprise that made for true welfare, with sterling courage in facing evil, personal or corporate, and with an in- spiring, old-fashioned pride in the body politic. He was drawn into a multitude of organizations, charitable, educational, reformative. His com- manding voice was incessantly sought on anni- versary and civic occasions. And the sphere of his action and repute was not at all confined to Hart- ford. The connection of his early life with the Civil War, his loyalty as an alumnus of Yale Uni- versity, and his growing fame as lecturer, preacher and writer-all these built up a vast constituency, [9] ]
scattered through many States and embracing many classes of admirers, especially in church and college circles. All this added luster to our his- tory as a church, for wherever he went and what- ever he did he was always proud to be known as first of all our pastor.
To-day it is the crown of our rejoicing that he is present among us. Not every man is spared to see the fruit of his labors. Not every leader is worthy to listen to the music of his followers' ap- plause or the poetry of their affection. But to-day we are telling the story of our history as it is. And of that history, in God's good providence, Joseph Hopkins Twichell was set to be verily the heart and the soul.
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AN APPRECIATION FROM AN INTIMATE FRIEND
REV. EDWIN POND PARKER, D.D.
Permit me to preface my remarks on this occa- sion by offering to this church a threefold cordial congratulation-first, upon its growth and fruit- fulness during the fifty years of its existence ; sec- . ond, upon its present prosperity; and, third, upon the bright promise of its future and further accom- plishments, grounded in its favorable situation, in its large, intelligent and harmonious membership, and in its acquisition of a minister whose gifts and graces render him a most suitable, as well as ac- ceptable, shepherd of such a flock and fold.
Three things have made me feel a special inter- est in the welfare of this church. During a period of several years, the Second Church, the Park Church and the Asylum Hill Church, whose min- isters, if not their congregations, were then in re- lations of especial sympathy, maintained special united services at Christmas and Easter.
Again, when the westward flow of people from down-town got under way, the Second Church from time to time dismissed to your communion so many of its choice members as might have made of themselves a church respectable in numbers and of excellent quality. I acted as a kind of official re- cruiting-agent for this church, and as a constant contributor to its active forces.
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But the principal thing was, of course, the im- mediate intimacy that sprang up between your minister and myself, so that all his interests be- came, in a measure, intermingled with mine. How close, tender, and precious that long and uninter- rupted intimacy has been, sanctified by the grace of Dr. Bushnell's paternal kindness, enriched by Dr. Burton's brotherly affection, and intimately associated with many other noble friendships, the memory of which is a priceless possession, need not, could not here be told. As I revert to those earlier years of our ministry here and recall the fair and bright memory of our mutual friends and associates, almost all of whom have "gone into the world of light," it seems as though Mr. Twichell and I were then living in a land of high altitude, amid lofty surroundings, and in a mountain air and alpine splendor.
Let me now lift a corner of the curtain which veils the stage and scene upon which your first minister made his initial appearance. Happily for him and for you, he came here at a time and in circumstances most favorable. Hartford was a freer place, as regards religious thought and utter- ance, after the great war. Theological contentions had considerably abated. The watchmen on the walls of orthodoxy had so far relaxed their vigi- lance that candidates for the Gospel ministry were less severely scrutinized than formerly. It was no longer a misfortune for a young minister to enjoy the favor of Dr. Bushnell, nor a detriment to be known as his disciple.
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Among the founders of this church were many who had been brought up under Dr. Bushnell's re- ligious tuition, and who were not likely to put up with either severe internal restrictions or external interferences. In planting a church out here, almost in the countryside, with room all around them, the founders seemed to have left all the old dry-bones of contention down in Main Street, and, all unconsciously perhaps, to have taken an im- portant step in the way of new freedom and prog- ress. There was that air about this church, and that spirit within it, from the first.
At a time and in circumstances so propitious, Mr. Twichell came here as one remarkably fitted for the place by nature, education, and grace-one might say, as of God predestinated to it and provi- dentially prepared for it. Passing lightly now such qualifications as intellectual vigor, spiritual earnestness, and qualities both sterling and win- some that inspired respect and confidence, I note particularly his invaluable experience as an army chaplain. In that war service and ministry his scholastic education was both completed and modi- fied. In it he became so rooted and grounded in the great truths that underlie all formulated dog- mas, that he felt little or no interest in the latter and let them pretty much alone, regarding and making use of those vital truths which pertain to conduct and character, and which his experience in the army had taught him were of supreme im- portance. In that same army ministry he had come to know human minds and hearts and their [ 95 ]
needs as few young men can know them, and as they could in no other school be learned. So his key of truth fitted the lock of need here, and, in his use of it, was a kind of pass-key to all doors of all minds and hearts.
Indisposed to speculation; indifferent to dispu- tations; neutral among contending parties, but em- bracing them all in the arms of his fellowship; with his eyes in the front of his head and the win- dows of his mind wide open to the light; holding his truth both in wisdom and in love, and having it in hand for nobler uses than that of controversy; his attitude, utterances, and actions were such that no one could suspect the fundamental soundness of his indoctrination. So he began and so he continued a ministry here which, upheld within his church and untroubled from without, gradually became remarkable for its plenteous and good fruits.
It should be said here that Dr. Twichell's min- istry was untroubled from without partly because it was so splendidly upheld within this church. Great as is the indebtedness of the church to him, its minister, he would be foremost in owning his considerable indebtedness to the church. Some- where on the walls of Winchester Cathedral is the following inscription : "This Work Made William Wyckam." He made the work, and the work made him. So it has been in the edification of this church.
One day Mr. Warner said to me, "Do you know what a rich, choice style of discourse Twichell has [ 96 ]
developed?" Another day he said, "Twichell is preaching great sermons." Some of you recall those sermons, their elevation of thought, their breadth of view, their wealth of illustration, their glow and warmth of feeling, their grasp and grip also, and the full-diapasoned, rhythmic, resound- ing diction of them, and-something else, difficult to describe, due to personality. Most preachers make their sermons. A few, like Mr. Twichell, give birth to them.
In one of his sermons Theodore Parker describes a preacher whom he does not name, saying, sub- stantially, "He gives us seeds of future life for our gardens. After hearing him the world seems not so low, nor man so mean, heaven looks higher and nearer, wrong appears more shameful, but the wrongdoer not so hopeless. Men seem friend- lier and God dearer. We are cheered with new faith, vigor and courage. It is as if we had halted a while in our desert march at the springs and palm-groves of Elim, to fare on our journey, grate- ful and gladsome." Better than any words of mine could do, those words describe Mr. Twich- ell's preaching. To use a quaint old theological phrase, it had the merit of both condignity and congruity-of worth and fitness. It was not the product of a jobber, nor even of a mere craftsman, but of an artist, and yet artless in its simplicity and genuineness. He could handle the homeliest incidents not only without the slightest sacrifice of dignity and decency, but so as to make his fabric beautiful with them. Brimful of fervor, senti- [ 97 ]
ment, and feeling, his preaching never suggested the sentimentalist, nor the sensationalist, nor-it need not be said-the modern acrobat and mounte- bank.
I am aware that in speaking soberly and truth- fully concerning Mr. Twichell I run the risk of offending his too sensitive modesty. Nevertheless, I must continue a little way further. Passing all his remarkable pastoral gifts and service, also all his more public discourses, addresses, speeches and writings, some characteristics of the man himself must be briefly sketched. Who that has known Mr. Twichell does not first of all think of that big, breezy, strong and yet tender human-heartedness that contagious spirit of lovingkindness which made him the brotherliest of souls, and beloved as falls to the lot of few men in this world to be be- loved.
The late Mr. Lecky, in the preface to his "His- tory of European Morals," describes a certain person in the following words :
"The inimitable grace and tact of his conversation, coruscat- ing with the happiest anecdotes, and the brightest and yet the gentlest humor; the admirable harmony and sympathy of his mind and character, so free from all disproportion, eccentricity, and exaggeration ; his fervent love of truth, his wide tolerance, his large, generous and masculine judgments of men and things ; his almost intuitive perception of the good that is latent in each opposing party; his disdain for the noisy triumphs and the fleet- ing popularity of mere sectarian strife; his keen and hopeful insight into the progressive movements of his time; his rare power of winning the confidence and reading the thoughts of the youngest about him."
That paragraph, taken with the sentence pre- ceding it, is a portrait as conformable to Mr. [98 ]
Twichell's inner manhood as the portrait on yonder wall is conformable to the lineaments of his face and figure. It was that manliness that somehow made its way into and made itself felt in his preaching and other Gospel ministrations, and crowned all their other effectiveness.
I cannot, should not, conclude without paying once more my humble tribute of devout homage and affection to the noble woman upon whom, for so many years, he, in the honor of whom and of his ministry we are assembled, so constantly, con- fidently and fondly leaned for counsel, comfort and support, with the happiest results. I have no skill to depict her, nor any adequate likeness of her. to present. But what
"Reason firm and temperate will, Endurance, foresight, strength and skill,"
what devotion, force and courage were combined within the frail and almost delicate, but untiring, physical frame of that gentle and gracious lady, by whose sudden and, as it seemed to us, untimely summons hence not only her husband and his household, but this church and a large circle of the society of Hartford suffered an incurable be- reavement. It would be unpardonable to overlook the great part which she had in her husband's whole ministry, as in his whole personal life. In writing of some such woman, Wordsworth said that in dying she left
"The memory of what has been
And never more will be."
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In grateful, loving commemoration of Mrs. Twichell I would change that too sad couplet, and have it read :
"In memory of what has been And evermore will be."
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HECKMAN
BINDERY, INC. Bound-To-Please®
MAR 05
N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962
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