5: Norman Macleod, by the Rev. Archibald Fleming, D.D.
The fifth figure in this series is to be discussed this afternoon by the Rev. Archibald Fleming, Minister of St. Columba's (Church of Scotland), Pont Street, London—a speaker whose voice has been familiar to listeners since the earlier days of broadcasting.
The Norman Macleod he is to speak about was a son of a Norman Macleod and grandson of another, both Scottish divines. He was bom at Campbeltown, Argyllshire, where his father was parish minister in 1812, and twelve years later went to school at Morven where his grandfather was minister.
He went to Glasgow College and then to Edinburgh where he studied divinity under Chalmers and Welsh. A three years' tutorship was obtained for him by Chalmers, and he returned I to Glasgow College again. 1838 saw him parish minister of Loudoun, Ayrshire, where he crowded the church with his preaching.
But it was as minister of the Barony parish, Glasgow, that his greatest work was done. He established the first congregational penny savings bank, opened refreshment rooms for working men, and generally laboured for the poor. He was soon acclaimed one of the most eloquent preachers in Scotland, and was praised by Queen Victoria in Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands. In 1860 Good Words was established in London with Macleod as editor and won instant success. Six years later he visited Egypt and Palestine, and India in the following year. He died in Glasgow in 1872.
(Scottish National)