once among the leaders of the party that afterwards
formed the Free Church, and his influence in bringing about the
Disruption of 1843 was inferior only to that of Thomas Chalmers. Great
as was his popularity as a preacher, it was in the arena of
ecclesiastical debate that his ability chiefly showed itself, and
probably no other single man had from first to last so large a share in
shaping the constitution and guiding the policy of the Free Church. He
took his stand on two principles: the right of the people to choose
their ministers, and the independence of the church in things spiritual.
On his advice Hugh Miller was appointed editor of the _Witness_, the
powerful Free Church organ. He was actively engaged at one time or other
in nearly all the various schemes of the church, but special mention
should be made of his services on the education committee, of which he
was convener from 1846 to 1863, and in the unsuccessful negotiations for
union among the non-established Presbyterian denominations of Scotland,
which were carried on during the years 1863-1873. In the Assembly of
1861 he filled the moderator's chair.

As a theologian the position of Candlish was perhaps inferior to that
which he held as a preacher and ecclesiastic, but it was not
inconsiderable. So early as 1841 his reputation in this department was
sufficient to secure for him the government nomination to the newly
founded chair of Biblical criticism in the university of Edinburgh.
Owing to the opposition of Lord Aberdeen, however, the presentation was
cancelled. In 1847 Candlish, who had received the degree of D.D. from
Princeton, New Jersey, in 1841, was chosen by the Assembly of the Free
Church to succeed Chalmers in the chair of divinity in the New College,
Edinburgh. After partially fulfilling the duties of the office for one
session, he was led to resume the charge of St George's, the clergyman
who had been chosen by the congregation as his successor having died
before entering on his work. In 1862 he succeeded William Cunningham as
principal of New College with the understanding that he should still
retain his position as minister of St George's. He died on the 19th of
October 1873.

Though his greatest power was not displayed through the press, Candlish
made a number of contributions to theological literature. In 1842 he
published the first volume of his _Contributions towards the Exposition
of the Book of Genesis_, a work which was completed in