Morning journal and courier., 1885-12-18
FRIENDLY TRIBUTES.
About a Hartford Pastor And Hart
 fMrd Church.

ford Church.
 Said New Haven man yesterday, "Hart ford is justly proud of Rev. Joseph H Twichell, and all living Yale graduates hk to have speech from him whenever there an opportunity for one. He pleased the boys,' in worthy sense of the phr ase
 when he was at Yale, and gave svidenc of that shining ability as talksr when il college which distinguishes him to-day ant has always made it pleasure for his Hart ford congregation to listen to him. He i. also one of the ornaments to the clerica force in the Yale corporation. His twenti eth anniversary as pastor of the Asylum Hill Congregational church, Hartford, was very appropriately celebrated Tuesday eve ming, and I notice in yesterdays Hartford Courant a fine tribute of affectioate regard to him from the celebrated author, Charles Dudley Warner, who in the course of sai6 tribute said:'
 ''But what I wish to speak particularly ot is the literary quality of his sermons The first one heard struck me for the felicity oi its language, the admirable choice of words to express his meaning. He was always con else, perfectly clear, and this was intellectu ally great satisfaction, but he also had 2 fine pathos allied closely to shade of humor which went straight to the heart. I do not mean to say that he always preached great sermons; nobody is always at bis best. But I never heard one that did not show a knowledge of the human heart, and that did not seem to be preached out of experience and careful thinking The sermons were usually not bookish, but had the reality of warm human life. nev- CT had any fancy for rhetorical sermons or for swelling periods in the pulpit. In my experience one very soon tires-gets deadly tired-of that sort of preaching. Mr. Twichells preaching has been to me always fresh, always new surprise power, in depth, in grasp, in these twenty years, and the admirable literary qual- ity of simplicity and felicity of language that ingiy. But thiEf i haf 6ff ,,r ,riRansd correspond @ preaching twenty years to one congregation A man, commonly, we should say, would preach himself out by that time. I an per. fectly sure that if he had nbsonn t1- oas>ae' -vor whom I love that I have not got sense enough to know it.
 Somebody should have told him this to his face and not let the congregation silently submit to his imputations. I have no desire to praise him, but this is an occasion when one may indulge his angry passions a little and say to a mans face what he has been saying for years behind his back.
 I have confined myself to the one point of MT. Twichsll's depreciation of his own ser mons. If I were writing of him gene rally I should have much more to say Heaven does not give us such a man very often, as a friend, as pastor, as a citizen to the young, to the aged. heaven, in short, does not often send us a real man. We ought to thank God that Hartford has him. Such men are the jewels of city, it's safety at home, it's honor abroad We have been very fortunate here in a long line of great men in the pulpit, but I think no generation was ever more fortunate than this one. MT. Twichell and his people have twenty very fruitful years to look back upon For the honor of Hartford and their own good, may they have twenty more as satisfactory in the future"
 The growth and prosperity of MT. Twit- chells church under her fostering care has been something remarkable. In this con nection few facts about the parish will be interesting. In the nineteen years of the society's existence ending January 1st, 1885, the membership of the church increased from 143 to 175. The average yearly admis sions during that time were 40, the average yearly deaths 5, and the average dismis- sals by letter 12. The Sabbath school num- bers 473. During the time mentioned the society built its church edifce, costing with the steeple, $130,0O0, and paid interest on nearly $50, 900 of this cost for several years until the debt was paid. During this time the parish has contributed to charities $199, 225. .55, and legacies by members of the parish, which have been paid, have amount ed to S55, ,415. .40-a total given to charities of S254. 64O. S5; over a quarter of 8 million dol lars. The society has been liberal, mean time, in it's appropriations for the ordinary parochial expenses. The record is indeed q good one