The Rev. Alexander Gregory of
Anstruther has noted some reminiscences of Dr. Candlish, embracing the
period at which we have now arrived, although extending before and after it. I
record them here, at the beginning of 1844, almost entire, as I have received
them.
Memorials of Robert Smith Candlish D.D. by Wm. Wilson
D.D."I first became acquainted with Dr. Candlish in the winter
of 1840-41, when I was attending the lectures of
Dr. Chalmers during my last
session at the Divinity Hall. As I was a stranger in Edinburgh, Dr. Candlish
most kindly gave me permission to sit in his family pew any time I wished to
worship in his church, and although I usually heard the venerable Dr. Gordon of
the High Church, I often availed myself of the privilege, which I valued
highly, of hearing the younger and more energetic minister of St. George's.
Dr. Candlish allowed me also to see him not unfrequently in private,
when the new views regarding faith, the atonement, the work of the Spirit and
election, sometimes formed topics of conversation. On this subject I remember
he spoke strongly in favour of the fiducial' element in faith, - making
use of that expression, - and regarding the difficulties connected with God's
sovereignty, the liberty of man, and the freeness of the gospel, his remark
was, "The question is, Where to place the
nodus?"
In the summer
of 1841, I was one of six students in Divinity who were examined by the
Presbytery of Edinburgh with a view to being licensed to preach the gospel. Dr.
Gordon and Dr. Candlish were among the examiners; and a very slight
circumstance, which attracted my notice even amidst the anxieties of an
examination, still dwells in my memory as characteristic of the two men. The
room at one side was entered by what are called folding-doors. Dr. Candlish had
entered by opening one of the folds, but on trying to shut it, he failed. In
his quick nervous way he tried again and again, increasing the energy of his
efforts at every attempt, - in vain. At last he gave it up, whereupon Dr.
Gordon rose from his seat with his usual modest dignity, and advancing slowly
towards the door, raised one of hands and pressed with it the higher part of
the refractory fold, while with the other he shut the door at once in the
quietest manner, and then slowly and with the utmost gravity returned to his
seat.
"The examination was partly in writing, and extended over two
days. This was quite new, being intended to make the Presbytery's discharge of
this duty more of a reality than it formerly been, and indeed forming the germ
which, in the end developed into our Examination-Board system. We were the
first set of students examined on the improved method, which Dr. Candlish was
understood to have suggested. At all events took a leading part in the
examination; and he was a capital examiner; there was none of the haste and
impatience of folding-door incident; all was calmness, deliberation, and
considerate allowance for us, while he was at the same time both suggestive and
appreciative. He and the other examiners seemed take the most lively interest
in their work ; and, if I may judge by my own feelings, we on our part enjoyed
it thoroughly. One of the six students was my old school-fellow at the Elgin
Academy, George Innes, who afterwards became the Free Church Minister of
Canobie, and I may say the martyr of Canobie. He and I belonged to the north of
Scotland, and had previously studied at Aberdeen; the other four belonged to
the south; and it is a curious circumstance that George and I, who were at
first regared as Moderates, were the only two out of the six who came out in
the Disruption; the other four, who were professed Evangelicals, stayed in.
After I was licensed I had much kindness from Dr. Candlish - kindness
which continued for a course of years, and of which I cherish a lively and
grateful recollection. The first Sabbath in which I officiated in Edinburgh, I
preached by his request in his Church, - Old St. George's. He took a great
interest in my settlement in Roxburgh Church: he introduced me to my flock,
preaching from 2 Cor. v. 11. His solemn and earnest tones still sound in my
ears, and I remember that the last words of his address to the congregation, in
kind consideration for me, were these -
Let no man despise his youth. He
came all the way from his home in the north side of Edinburgh to my
session-house in the south side, on a dark night, to be present with me at my
first meeting with young communicants, and, to commence the work of examining
and instructing them.
I remember two walks which I had with him about
that time, one in the country in company with Dr. Gordon, and another down
Leith Walk in company with Dr. Cunningham. On both occasions the chief subject
of conversation was the impending
Disruption; and
he showed the greatest interest about the removal of any difficulties which
occurred to me in regard to those final steps which the non-intrusion party
were taking preparatory to that event. On the day on which it at length took
place, I had the privilege of walking up alone with him from the hall at
Canonmills, after we had signed the Deed of Demission, to his own house; and he
expressed to me in earnest terms the relief and happiness he felt at that
termination to the long controversy in which his talents and eloquence had done
so noble service, and his joyful anticipation of the great blessing which it
would be to Scotland by the free preaching of the gospel in every part of the
country.
After the Disruption Dr. Candlish thought that, owing to the
great demand which there was for ministers, I ought to accept a call from some
congregation which was larger than the one which I had in Edinburgh, and he
made great efforts to bring me over to his opinion. But when he saw that I was
decided against leaving my congregation in their difficulties, he acted in the
most generous manner. I could understand your chivalry,' he said to me
one day, if there was a plethora of preachers'; and with no other
reflection on me than that, he exerted himself in every way to help me in what
he knew to be a great struggle. He preached at the opening of my new church; he
more than once preached an evening sermon for some special purpose; and he
stirred up in his own congregation such a lively interest in my church and
school, that large sums were again and again most kindly contributed by them
towards reducing our debt and defraying our school expenses. Dr. Candlish
delighted in doing kindnesses. His generous nature led him to yield readily to
requests for his services, and it has been said that sometimes, in consequence
of this, he made more engagements than he could fufill. He gave me many
promises of help in a variety of ways, but never one which he did not
keep.
Speaking of the generosity of his nature, I was often struck by
the quickness and heartiness with which it responded to any appeal made to it;
it awoke and kindled at the slightest touch. At the time of the temporary
coldness between him and Dr Cunningham, Dr. Candlish and I happened to address
a meeting in St. Andrews, on the subject of education, I think. I had not seen
Dr. Candlish for some time; and in the course of my speech: I ventured to
remark on the beautiful sight which we had all once enjoyed so much, of our two
great champions standing aud fighting side by aide, and the joy which it would
give us to see them standing side by side again as of old. I spoke first, Dr.
Candlish followed, and in the very first words which he uttered he referred to
the sentiments which I had expressed, and declared his cordial concurrence in
them. On a different occasion, the same thing appeared in another way. In one
of the most eloquent speech of his later years in the General Assembly he was
very severe on one or two parties on the other side of the debate. When he sat
down, happening to be next him I took the liberty of remarking on the exceeding
severity of his speech, which, in other respects, I liked extremely. At once he
responded, by saying eagerly, t he would not have been so hard on them had it
not been for a certain circumstance which he mentioned.
"Admirable
practical logician," Professor Macdougal whispered to me at the close of one of
Dr. Candlish's early speeches, to which we had been listening while standing in
the crowd. And while Dr. Candlish surpassed most men in unravelling
sophistries, conducting a subtle argument in a powerfully convincing manner he
was distinguished also by a spirituality of mind, which, at the same time that
his genius lighted up every subject which it touched, gave to his eloquence,
both in speeches and sermons, a lofty tone and a peculiar power. Associated
with him for many years in the Education Committee, of which he was convener, I
had opportunities of seeing how this quality appeared in business matters for
which I thought he had a peculiar talent. He always offered a short prayer at
the commencement of our meetings, as is usual in such cases; and however brief
that opening prayer was,the expression the godly upbringing of the young'
was almost invariably in it, uttered in tones of impressive earnestness, as
indicating the great object of the educational efforts of our Church. A most
earnest and devoted spirit was also visible in all his deliberations and plans
connected with education; and the patience with which he persevered for years,
working that scheme amidst the greatest difficulties and discouragements, never
bating heart or hope, was most wonderfnl - a patience which I believe was
inspired and sustained by his high aims, and by a conviction that great and
sacred interests were involved.
I had the misfortune once to differ
from him in that committee. I thought there was some danger of too large a part
of our funds going to the higher class of schools, including Normal Schools, in
proportion to what was paid to the teachers of common schools over the country.
In consequence of this he wrote a letter to me on the subject, which was
distinguished by the finest feeling, while vigorously arguing his view of the
matter. I need not say that we continued to co-operate in the most cordial
manner in the work of the committee. Some years after, when I had less active
connection with it, a circular was sent to ministers requesting their special
services in aid of the scheme. The copy sent to me came from Dr. Candlish's own
hand, with this bit of pleasantry in it - For auld lang syne you must
help in this,' written by him on the top of the page.
A pleasing candour
sometimes delighted me in Dr. Candlish. Coming to the word solicitous' on
one occasion, he said to me, Do you know that's a word I always feel
inclined to write with a double l?' I said, So do I; and do you know the
reason? No, he said. I replied; I think I can tell you. The edition
of Virgil which I used had the corresponding word in Latin spelt with two l s;
and I have no doubt it was the same with yours. He was amused with this
classical explanation of a faulty orthography.
Though he was not a man
of great height or large build, yet Dr. Candlish had a strong physique. When I
took hold of the upper part of his arm I found its girth surprisingly great and
square and muscular; it felt like a solid bar of iron. A strong nervous system
and an iron frame sustained his irrepressible energy. I remember once he met
with a slight accident, which injured a foot. On going to see him I found him
stretched on a sofa, but partially sitting up. There was nothing like a murmur
or complaint - the very opposite of that. But both body and mind seemed to
chafe against the irksome restraint imposed by the pained foot, which he could
not venture to move from one spot and which consequently tied him to the sofa.
I could compare him to nothing but a chained eagle.
On one occasion he
astonished me in another way. By invitation I spent a pleasant time with him at
North Berwick in the summer of 1851, and, along with part of his family and
some friends, we paid a visit to the Bass Rock. Landing on its south side, we
ascended the slope, looking into the cells of the persecuted Covenanters on our
way, till we came to the summit, across which we walked to the north side of
the great crag, where it descended perpendicularly to the sea. I advanced
towards the edge. On this Dr. Candlish said, You don' t mean to go there;
I couldn't do that;' and drawing back, he looked on with some alarm, while I,
with the huge sea-birds whirling and screaming about me, on the brink of the
precipice looking down to the weltering deep hundreds of feet below. It was
certainly a discovery to me that I could do anything which he shrank from, who
seemed to have nerve and self-possession equal to any daring. And he no doubt
had a strong head; yet perhaps, after all, it was a piece of fool-hardiness to
make such a use of it.
With great capacity for work, Dr. Candlish had
also a versatility of mind which turned with lively and sanguine interest the
most unlikely subjects of speculation. This appeared not only in connection
with such writings as those of Morell and Maurice but also on the first
excitement occasioned by biology and mesmerism some years ago. He read
everything he could find on subject, and thoroughly informed himself upon it.
Happening to dine with him one day at that time, and sitting near him at table,
he expressed to me in a very earnest manner his sense the importance of the
experiments which had been made, and on the possibility of these yet throwing
light on some of the mysteries of mind and spirit. Dr. Cunningham was one of
the company, and, on Dr. Candlish trying to draw him into conversation on that
subject, I was amused at the way in which the difference between the two men
appeared. Dr. Cunningham scarcely responded to Dr. Candlish's remark. It was
plain he had not given a thought to the subject. Taken up with what was solid
and clearly ascertained, like the accurate and deeply-read theologian which he
was, he almost seemed offended at being supposed to know or care anything about
such a matter. What was a subject of the keenest interest to the one was an
object of something like contempt to the other. So very differently constituted
were these two powerful minds.
Dr. Candlish was kind enough to preach at
the opening of my new church at Anstruther in 1859. His visit recalled a former
one on the eve of the Disruption, when the object of his coming was to deliver
an address on the non-intrusion controversy. In consequence of an accident in
Largo Bay, which put his life in danger for a short time, he came to Anstruther
in a very weak state. His bedroom, to which he was confined, was incurably
smoky, so that he was nearly suffocated; as he jocularly said, he was in danger
from water at Largo and from fire at Anstruther. In his visit to me in 1859
everything went well. He preached eloquently from Isaiah ii. 5, 8, dwelling
chiefly on the Divine righteousness in awful majesty going before God 's
salvation; and when a heavy calamity, a few months afterwards, fell upon a part
of our community, and prepared the way for a great religious awakening, his
solemn and powerful words were recalled to mind, and seemed to us, looking
back, like the unfolding of a prophet's roll.
One of the last times I
saw him was at the Perth Railway Station, when he told me he was passing from
Aberdeen to Crieff on visits to members of his family. I had occasion to
inquire about a Bible Class in connection with his congregation for two of my
sons who were then in Edinburgh. He took the greatest pains to give the desired
information, hurrying after me a great way along the platform to add something
which he had forgotten at first. His thoughtful and loving interest in those
nearest to himself as a father sometimes appeared in unexpected ways for one so
engrossed with work of all kinds. Speaking of the best season for ministers
holidays, he told me more than once that he preferred the later months of
autumn for going to the country with his family, because, he said - and he
seemed to attach great importance to it - the shorter day secured the gathering
of the family together for some time each evening.
I have referred to
his spirituality of mind. It seemed to me to have increased with his advancing
years. I was much struck with the evidence of this in the last public prayer
which I heard him offer. Every passage of Scripture bearing on the particular
subject of supplication appeared to be present to his thoughts, giving form and
expression to his fervent petitions in the most devout, appropriate, and
beautiful manner.
He was a fine spirit, unique in many respects, and his
genius, wisdom, zeal, and eloquence have left us a large legacy of good, and a
large debt of gratitude and responsibility.