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frequently taken to distant parts of the country for this purpose , without , however , neglecting the duties of his charge . He was p articularly strict in keeping up public warship in his cku * ch » ana was seldom absent on the Sabbath . The keenness ami
intemperate zeal abo&t trifles which often appeared ia ecclesiastical courts , indJiced him , in a great measure , to absent himself ; for it was his settled opinion , that the ministers of religion , by servility to the rich and great , and by making * themselves the tools of potitical faction , degrade their office aiicj their characters in the estimation of
tkeir flocks , and consequentl y diminish the extent of their own usefulness . "In his new charge at Colinton , Mr . Fleming continued to indulge his taste for elegant literature ; and while in vigorous health , he often devoted ei g ht or nine hours in the day to study . His desire of knowledge was insatiable , and his reading unwearied to the last . He understood Latin and French
remarkably well $ and some of the best authors in these languages , as well as the classical writers of our own , were tike constant companions of his leisure hours . In French literature , Vesrtot , Feneloc , Xte Sage , Rochefoucauld , ( whose moral maxims he
constantly perused , ) Raynal and S € ty > were his favourite writers ; Cicero , Sallust , Horace , Lucan , and particularly Juvenal , the greatest part of wh < i&e Satires he had completely by heart , among the Latins ^ « In our own literature , he put' a high value on the works of Adam , Smith and Samuel
Johnson ; and Shakespeare , Addison , Pope , Crabbc and Campbell , were hi& frequent companions , * ' In th ^ beginning of t&e year 1 & 18 , be suffered by a stroke of the palsy , which very much debilitated him , and was , indeed * the pause of bias death ; for although he lived , nearly five years afterwards , he never recovered
complete health , either of body oar mind . In . this condition , he once attempted to address the congregation * t the time of the Sacrament , but was uifftble to proceed ; he <* mtinued , hov ^ ever , to perfbrai - the office * < rf . marriage and iMiptifiiB untU about a year before hte death , when he found 4 t neceJMB $ * y to & $ l * t , area , from , tl |< i e «« wti « H * ifecwtfed £ te tltase . occasions . But bi §* iaiif&w $ «
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stiff sufficiently collected to be mud affected by finding that he was mm altogether useless in the discharge &f hid ministerial duties ; to- the last , however , it remained perfectly sound * although his power of expression by words became gradually tess : but the same benevolence of disposition which characterised him in health , neve ?
deserted him , as was manifest to his friends , by his . appearance when he could no ( eager articulate . He died of pure exhaustion , with hardly any struggle , on the 23 rd of January , 1823 , in the seventy-third year of his age , and was by his own desire , buried in the family sepulchre at Ratfagate .
" Mr , Fleming indicated strongly , by his appearance , the ideas which attach to his character - > he was Indifferent about dress * excepting as te cleanliness , and used bo more of the clerical habit than a black coat oa
Sunday , and the Geneva band when ia the pulpit . Yet , notwithstanding the plainness , and even occasional negligence of his dress , his appearance and personal manners were free from vulgarity , and always bespoke the raan of education and refinement of minrk
Simplear mnnditiis was his motto , and extended from his person to the frwgaKty of bis domestic arrafigeineflts . * But however frugal he might be in his own pecuniary disbursements ,
he was nobly generous on proper ee * casions , and by hid judicious economy , was enabled to give more assistance to others , by lending money , soifl © - times to his great loss > than any other man in the same rank of life , lie
attached much Importance to the science of political economy , not fh > m any selfisn or party motive , but from a pure and lvnieafc regwd to the interests of his feflow-men ^ H < s vVm well versed in this srfenee , and considered the study of it of so nntcfr
importance to mankind , thkt he made an eventual bequest of a considerable part of his fortune , to esfcaWish Vtofeasorships for teaching it . in the Colleges of Edinburgh ana Glasgow . " The education of youth was also a fkvdurite object with him , and he left a legacy for keeping a certftm number 5 f ** p € H ! $ U 9 Unr * in -4 m Pf ' cUiaks ^ h ool o £ C *> lin * ow ^ c ^ eawttW ' alao to the paritihrlibrary the tertian der of his valuaWe coiketk ^ oi bo ^*'
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582 Afomvir of the late Rev . John Fleming * of Crmigv , Minister ef Volinton .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1823, page 582, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1789/page/22/
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