The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1873-12-17
TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF THE REV.
DR.. CANDLISH.


loss since the death of DR.. Chalmers, to be
compared with what she has experienced in
the recent death of DR.. Candlish. The tri-
butes paid to his memory by those of his
brethren who have long known and honored
him, and who looked up to him as a guide
and counsellor, attest not merely his intel
ectual superiority, but his noble and gener
Gus spirit and his Christian worth. Among
them, numerous as they have been, we select
only the testimony Of the Rev. DR.. Wilson OF
Dundee. He said:
To see DR.. Candlish in the bosom of his
family, sustaining at once, as he long did,
the relation of son, and husband, and broth
er, and father, one would have said that his
home was the peculiar sphere in which not
only his greatest earthly happiness was found,
but in which the rich endowments of his ma
ture were unfolded with singular grace and
attractiveness. The entire simplicity of his
nature drew children to him, and he was
among them as child. In nothing more
strikingly than in this did he seem to me TO
reflect the image of Him who took the little
children in His arms and blessed them.
need not speak here of his gifts and pow
er as preacher of the gospel. 1 can only
say for myself that never heard any preach
er who moved my nature so deeply. 1t was
not merely the clear-Sig htedness and intel
lectual vigor, the subtle discernment Of the
most delicate shades of meaning, the exc
getcal tact with which he seized and un-
folded the subject matter of his text so as to
make it almost a fresh revelation nor was it
merely the force and fervor with which his
thoughts were expressed, the glow of elo-
quence and the deep pathos to which his
voice was so peculiarly fitted to give utter
ance; it was all these and more; it was that
his whole heart and mind were thrown into
his theme, and he stood before us as an am
bassador for Christ, beseeching men to be re-
conciled to God, having come forth as from
the presence of Christ, and all aglow with
that love which Christ inspires. 1t was
ths, believe, which gave such a unison be-
tween his preaching and his prayers. 1t is
very difficult to say which of them was the
most impresSively powerful.
The fruits of his preaching have yet to be
ascertained. The Lord placed him in such
position here, that it was not his own con-
gregation, nor this city only, that profted by
it, but widely over many lands was the seed
sown by him scattered, and is already yield
ing plentiful fruit. Much has been said of
his more public labors in the service of the
Church. 1t is only those who have been
infinitely conversant with its manifold affairs
that can form an adequate estimate of these
During the past thirty five years, and more
and more, there lay upon him the care of all
the churches His hand was in every move
ment; his counsel asked and given in every
perplexity. In all departments of the
Church affairs his services were available,
and rendered with heartiness and efficiency
and ripe wisdom as if one of them only
had been his entire business. Missions to
the heather and e the Jews, education, all
the home enterprises of the Church-which
of them have not greatly prOfted alike by
his practical sagacity and by the energizing
power which he infused into them5 His
wonderful versatility and alacrity have some
times been spoken of to his disadvantage
Alas how ungrateful men are to the Lord for
His best gifts. Surely it was token of His
singular favor to the Church that He should
lend to her, at such time, minister of
such rare endOwments, of such equipoise of
mind, of such aptitude for all that needed to
be done--not a man of one faculty only, but
man who proved himself capable of serving
her efficiently in all her work and labor of
love.
1t followed from the fact of his manifold
endowments that no man in his generation
very few, indeed, in any generation--has
filled 80 large space in our recent ecclesi
astical history. Alike in guiding the coun-
sells of the Church and in the arena of open
conflict DIR. Candlish held the foremost place.
None who have heard him can ever forget
his power as a great orator. His speeches
are fresh in the memory of both friends
and foes, and did noble service to the
causes which he espoused. He, and many
who were near him, and beside him, lived
through stormy time, and were engaged in
conflict which reused many stormy pas.
sions, and he was always in the hottest of
the strife; and to him, more than to any
other who contends in such warfare, it is
due to say that he never uttered word
which needed to be recalled. There was no
malice or bitterness in his speech. He was
always and everywhere magnanimOuS, noble,
unselGSh. He was man not seeking his
own things, but the things of Christ; and
this kept him calm amid the widest storm.
He was like John, indeed, son of thunder,
but he was at the same time an apostle of
love. 1t has been said that he was not al
ways consistent in the views which he advo-
Gated. l apprehend that the same thing
might be truly alleged of every man who
has taken prominent part in public affairs,
and who at the same time has his eyes open
to see the horizon to which he is advancing.