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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1898)
VALE ALUMNI WEEKLY a cee Soul. and he pitied rather than hated: his enemies. Upon more than one ©ccasion which we now recall he actu- ally protected them, so profound was his belief that they knew not what they did. He was far more apt, in the over- Powering love of his joke, to turn his batteries of fun and humor upon his triends, and with them enjoy a mild discomfiture which had neither’ malice mor sting in it. His most severe pas- Sages in recent years were with Charles A. Dana of the Sun. Each knew the other’s touch and parry, and softened the hardest blow with the elixir of acknowledged respect. We shall never torget the softness of Mr. Dana’s voice when he referred once in con- vention lovingly to “Isaac.” He was of course best known for his wit, which was as pure and undefiled as ever sprang from a sweet and cling- ing nature. It was wit because it was based upon good humor, which is but another expression for loving kindness. It was wit because he hated humbug and false pretense. .We never knew a man so intolerant of sham and so little in control when it confronted him. It was wit because he loved human beings in mass and never wearied of watching them come and go, stumble and fall, rise and run on, forever working out the problem of human existence, which so readily unfolds itself to the calm and patient student of it. He saw and knew the seriousness of it all and chuckled over its amusing phases, often- times puncturing the false alarm of it with a delicate and convulsing turn of the pen. He was not the greatest man who ever lived, for like the rest of us he had his weaknesses and limitations, but there are a few of us who thought he was one of the sweetest and to whom his memory will remain an in- spiration and encouragement. The world is brighter and lighter for his having been in it. There will be no hatchets buried with im. He died at peace with the world. He had earned his rest and he has received it. [From the Hartford Courant.] Mr. Bromley has been for some time a iertible sufferer from neuritis, and although his physicians said that re- covery was possible, he had not had much expectation of that himself. Re- cently he asked to be taken to Norwich, giving among other reasons for the change, that it was “nearer the family lot.” He had been at the Backus Hospital, where every possible atten- tion was given him, but nothing could stop his intense pain, and death comes to him as relief from suffering that he has said seemed more than could be borne. His son, Major Isaac Bromley of the “Consolidated” road, has his summer home nearby, and preparations had been made to take him there as soon as his condition would justify the removal. But the hoped-for recovery did not come, and the sick man’s suffer- ing has ceased. He has amused and entertained us and he will be remem- bered for his wit and humor; but he has done more and better than this.. He has struck hard and telling blows for the right, and he has made people not only smile but also think. a> & &> = wer Mr. Bromley’s Life. [From the New York Tribune.] Isaac Hill Bromley was born in Nor- wich, Conn., on March 6, 1833. He en- tered Yale College in 1849, but left the institution at the beginning of the Junior year. He received the honorary degree of A.M. from his Alma Mater in 1868. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1854. He was clerk of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1856 and 1857 and of the State Senate in 1858. In December of the latter year he established the Norwich Morning Bulletin. He served as cap- tain in the 18th Connecticut Volunteers in 1862, and was then detailed as pro- vost-marshal for two years. In 1866 he was a member for Norwich of the Connecticut Legislature. In the Spring of 1868 he left the Norwich Morning Bulletin to become editor and part proprietor of the Hartiord - Evening Post, continuing that relation until 1872, when he dif- fered with his partners upon political questions and sold out his interest in the paper. He was then for a short time on the editorial staff of the New York Sun. ae In February, 1873, he joined the edi- torial staff of the Tribune, and continued with this newspaper for ten years. In 1883 he became editor of the Commercial ‘Advertiser, but as he had previously been appointed a government director of the Union Pacific Railroad he was obliged to relinquish his editorial work. He held this office until 1884, when he took editorial charge of the Rochester Post-Express, remaining with that paper through the Presidential canvass of that ear. Then Mr. Bromley again entered the service of the Union Pacific Railroad, and was appointed assistant to the presi- dent, holding that place until October, 1891, when he rejoined the Tribune staff, and continued in active service as an editorial writer until a few months ago. “He was a member of the Union League Club and the Loyal Legion of New York, and of Sedgwick Post No. 1, Grand Army of the Republic of Nor- wich. His wife, who survives him, was Miss Adelaide Roath, of Norwich. Their son, Isaac Bromley, of New Haven, is advertising agent of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Rail- road. A brother, George T. Bromley of San* Francisco, and a sister, Mrs. John R. Babcock, of Chicago, survive him. Mr. Bromley was one of the best- known members of the Union League Club, with which he had been connected for twenty-one years, having been elected to membership in 1877. For the last two years he had been a mem- ber of the Committee on Political Re- form. Mr. Bromley often visited the club-house, where his genial ways and clever talk made him exceptionally wel- come. The news of his death reached the club-house yesterday afternoon, and the sad intelligence was at once posted on the bulletin-board. -So many of the members of the club are out of town that only a few of them were present at the club-house yesterday, but among those who learned of Mr. Bromley’s death the expression of deep regret was general. Chauncey M. Depew, who knew Mr. Bromley intimately, in speaking of him last night, said: “I am shocked by the death of Bromley, ‘Ike,’ as we. Yale men always affectionately called him. I have known him intimately for over a quarter of a century. For forty years he had been the life and wit of Yale alumni gatherings. At such meetings there was a classic flavor to his humor possessed by no other man in. the country. His genial personality en- deared him to those who’ knew and loved him. Old-time readers of the Tribune will keenly miss those articles of Bromley which, with restless ridi- cule, destroyed the enemy, or with un- equalled wit and humor, unmasked frauds and charlatans in politics or so- ciety. He was a most conscientious journalist, and no personal relations interfered with -what--he felt -was a public duty. He was fond of President Arthur, and in a social way they im- mensely enjoyed each other, and he said to me, in his sort of mournful manner, one day: ‘I wish Arthur would not persist in getting in front of my gun.” It is unfortunate that most of his work must share the fate of all contributions to the daily press. I hope some discriminating friend with sympathetic spirit will gather his writ- ings, both prose and poetry, and from the selections give the world a book. Such a work, properly edited, would rescue much which ought to be pre- served. For neither Charles Lamb nor Thackeray ever did anything better than some of these efforts of dear old ‘Ike’ Bromley.” The funeral services were held on Sunday, August 14, at the Central Bap- tist Church of Norwich, and were con- ducted by the Rev. Leonard Woolsey Bacon. The members of the family present were Mr. Bromley’s widow and his ohly son, Isaac Bromley, of New Haven, with his wife and their three young children. The pallbearers were six members of Mr. Bromley’s class at Yale—the Class of namely, General Edward Harland, of Norwich;. Henry R. Bond, of New London; Judge Lynde A. Catlin, of Pomfret; ex-Lieut.-Governor Henry C. Robinson, of Hartford; Edmund C. Stedman and Sherman W. Knevals, of New York. The attendance of many prominent Fifty-Three—. citizens of Connecticut testified to the respect in which Mr. Bromley has been held in this State. Among these were Senator Hawley, Lieutenant-Governor Dewell, ex-Lieutenant-Governor Mer- win, the Hon. N. D. Sperry, Dean Francis Wayland of the Yale Law School, Charles H. Clark, editor of the Hartiord Courant, Colonel Norris G. [Continued on roth page.] ELDER SWAN ON INSURANCE. The famous revivalist of Connecticut, of fifty years ago, conceived of the new fad of life insurance as a heinous sin, against which he thundered from the pulpit or convention platform. It was to him a sign of a lack of faith, and one of the “snares of a perverse generation.’ In one of his sermons he represented John the Baptist as answering the question as to where he was going, by replying that he had rested on the Jewish religious faith for all these years and yet had been sorely troubled, and he was now going to Jerusalem to get his life insured. Elder Swan pictured the horrible effect on the new religion if any such illustra- tion of a lack of faith had been allowed: This incident is interesting as indicating, even by a false conception of it, the ethical side of insurance. As Mr. Woodward says in his history of “Insurance in Connecticut,” in quoting this incident: “Prejudice yielded to enlightened dis- cussion, and the act condemned by the good Elder as a sin is now rated one of the duties.’’ There is no question that most men reckon life insurance as a duty, and there is also no doubt that it may be made a very pleasant and attrac- tive duty. If you doubt this you may inquire of the PHOENIX MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY - OF HARTFORD, CONN. JONATHAN B. BUNCE, President. JOHN M. HOLCOMBE, Vice-Pres. CHARLES H. LAWRENCE, Sec’y. YALE’S HOUSEWARMING Is a process gone through with every September. A new set of men are in charge of the undergrad- uate life, new Freshmen are to be handled, new officers begin their work of registration, and the whole place is opened up anew. Many graduates and friends come to assist in the ceremonies. They go as by instinct to MOSELEY’S NEW HAVEN HOUSE. BEST ROOMS AT LOWEST PRICES. --WARNER HALL — (Opposite Vanderbilt.) 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[I could not have got these up to date facts and figures in that way. “IT simply send to Romeike for Press Clippings. ‘‘Day by day he sent me editorials and original articles collected from thou- sands of newspapers and periodicals which are read in his offices, and I only had to arrange the material.” ROMEIKE’S Press Cutting Bureau will send you all newspaper clippings which may appear about you, your friends, or any subject on which you want to be ‘‘ up to date.” A large force in my New York office reads 650 daily papers and over 2,000 weeklies and magazines ; in fact, every paper of importance published in the United States, for 5,000 subscribers, and through the European Bureaus, all the leading papers in the civilized globe. Clippings found for subscribers are pasted on slips giving name and date of paper, and are mailed day by day. Write for circulars and terms. HENRY ROMEIKE, 139 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. Branches: London. “Paris, Berlin. Sidney. 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