acquaintance of Baron Bunsen. Throughout 1852–3 he was preparing an essay on ‘Theism’ in competition for the open Burnett prize at Aberdeen.
In May 1854 Tulloch was presented by the crown to the post of principal and primarius professor of theology in St. Mary's College, St. Andrews, his appointment owing something to the strong commendation of Bunsen. His inaugural address at the beginning of the winter session discussed the ‘Theological Tendencies of the Age’ with freshness, breadth, and freedom. In January 1855 the adjudicators on the Burnett essay—Baden-Powell, Henry Rogers, and Isaac Taylor—awarded the first prize, among 208 competitors, to the Rev. R. A. Thompson, Newcastle, who apparently was not further distinguished; while the second, which carried with it 600l., was assigned to Tulloch.
Although his college work was exacting at the outset, Tulloch's energetic habits speedily engaged him on various cognate issues, one of which was university reform, a subject with which he was concerned throughout his career. In July 1858 he went to Paris, by appointment of the general assembly, to establish a presbyterian church in the interests of Scottish residents. In the autumn, prompted by his interest in German literature and speculation, he visited Heidelberg and Cologne, returning in December by way of Paris. In 1859 the university commissioners increased his modest income of 300l. to 490l. In those days Scottish audiences appreciated lectures on great themes, and at the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution in 1859 Tulloch delivered a course on Luther and other leaders of the reformation. In the same year he was appointed one of her majesty's chaplains for Scotland. In 1861, along with Mr. Smith of North Leith, as representing the endowment committee of the church of Scotland, he visited remote highland churches, writing graphic letters on his experience (ib. p. 150). In 1862 he was appointed depute-clerk of the general assembly, and about the same time he became editor of the ‘Church of Scotland Missionary Record,’ which he conducted for several years. Persistent illness in 1863 led Tulloch to spend the greater part of that and the next year in foreign travel in Eastern Europe and in Germany.
In the following years Tulloch was actively interested in controversies concerning Sabbath observance and ‘innovations’ in the church service, and in educational questions affecting Scotland. When the Scottish education bill passed at the close of the session of 1872 he was made a Scottish commissioner. In 1874 he visited London to urge the appointment of a professor of education at St. Andrews, and in the long vacation he went for change to the United States and Canada. His letters thence are marked by keen observation and good-natured criticism (ib. pp. 208–303). At New York he delivered to a representative audience a comprehensive address on ‘Scotland as it is’ (ib. p. 301).
On his return from America Principal Tulloch's attention was straightway given to the bill for the abolition of patronage in the church of Scotland, which was passed in 1874. In 1875 he was appointed chief clerk of the general assembly, and from that time onward—Dr. Norman Macleod [q. v.] having died in 1872—he was the most prominent churchman in Scotland. His stately presence, natural eloquence, genial demeanour, and resonant voice secured attention for his strong common-sense and his enlightened opinions. Two questions that now absorbed much of his time and strength were the futile proposal to disestablish the church of Scotland, which he stoutly opposed, and the affiliation of a college in Dundee to St. Andrews University. In 1878 he was appointed moderator of the general assembly of the church of Scotland, a post held for a year, and the highest to which a Scottish churchman can attain. He conducted the business with dignity and skill, and his closing address—a plea for lofty Christian aims and ideals—was published, and ran through four editions in the year. Combating disestablishment, he prepared a statement of a proposed ‘Scottish Association for the Maintenance of National Religion.’ On 30 Nov. 1878, under the auspices of Dean Stanley, he conducted services in Westminster Abbey. In 1879 Glasgow University conferred on Tulloch the honorary degree of LL.D., and in the summer of the same year he undertook the editorship of ‘Fraser's Magazine,’ holding the post for a year and a half. From December 1880 to April 1881 he was seriously ill (ib. pp. 369–373), but a visit to Torquay restored his health.
In May 1882 Tulloch delivered to the general assembly a great speech on church defence, which was widely circulated as a pamphlet. On 4 June he succeeded Dr. Macleod of Morven as dean of the chapel royal and dean of the Thistle, the queen, who had previously shown him many marks of confidence, intimating in her own hand the appointment ‘as a mark of her high esteem and regard for him.’ In the general assembly of 1883 he delivered an admirable speech on the report of the church interests committee. In the same year he gave a
