In 1839, under the influence of Rev
Alexander Duff, Smith was ordained by the
Church of Scotland and travelled to
Calcutta in
India, as a missionary, teaching mathematics and physics in the schools. From 1840 he suggested the use of female missionaries, because male missionaries were not permitted to speak to the Indian females. At the
Disruption of 1843 Smith left the established church and joined the Free Church of Scotland. The Free Church set up its own mission in Calcutta and Smith transferred to this new building. From 1851 to 1857 he was editor of the
Calcutta Review and
Calcutta Christian Observer. In 1840 he proposed the establishment of what would become known as the
zenana missions, and his scheme was later implemented in the 1850s by
John Fordyce. When the
Indian Mutiny broke out in 1857, Smith acted as the chaplain of the
42nd Highlanders (Black Watch) at Calcutta, accompanying the regiment when it was on active service. Smith resigned his post in Calcutta in 1858 due to ill-health (claims of
cholera are perhaps exaggerated). He returned to Scotland in 1859 when he was recovered enough to travel and settled in
Edinburgh to do mission work in the poorest parishes. The following year he became minister of the Free Cowgatehead Mission Church. He then lived in a modest flat at 4 Keir Street, south of the Grassmarket. In 1880 he was appointed Professor of Evangelistic Theology at
New College, Edinburgh, a role in which he continued until 1893. His new-found wealth allowed him to purchase a large villa in the
Grange district at 10 Mansionhouse Road. In 1891 he succeeded
Rev Thomas Brown as
Moderator of the General Assembly, the highest position in the Free Church. He received two honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh, a Doctor of Divinity (DD) in 1867 and a Doctor of Laws (LLD) in 1900. He died at home 28 Hatton Place in Edinburgh on 26 May 1906. He is buried in the
Grange Cemetery. ==Publications==