ming took occasion of a passage in the apostolic letter to ask whether he might attend. The pope explained, through Archbishop (now Cardinal) Manning, that his presence was not admissible.
Cumming relieved his hard labours in the pulpit and with the pen by brief holidays and a weekly excursion to a cottage near Tunbridge Wells. Here he amused himself with bee-keeping. His letters to the ‘Times,’ signed a ‘Beemaster,’ attracted much notice, and were the basis of a work called ‘Bee-keeping,’ published in 1864.
In 1876 Cumming's health began to decline, and on 21 July 1879 he sent in his resignation. A sum of 3,000l. was raised by his admirers, which brought an annuity of 300l. His wife died 1 Sept. 1879. His mind was already weakened, and he died 5 July 1881. He was buried at Kensal Green. He received the honorary degree of D.D. from Edinburgh in 1844. A list of more than a hundred publications of various kinds is given in Cumming's life.
Among them are:
- ‘Lectures for the Times, or an Exposition of Tridentine and Tractarian Popery,’ 1844.
- ‘Is Christianity from God?’ a manual of christian evidence, 1847 (11 editions).
- ‘Apocalyptic Sketches’ (3 series), 1848–50.
- ‘Prophetic Studies, or Lectures on the Book of Daniel,’ 1850.
- ‘Signs of the Times, or Present, Past, and Future,’ 1854.
- ‘The Great Tribulation, or Things coming on the Earth,’ 1859.
- ‘Popular Lectures on the “Essays and Reviews,”’ 1861.
- ‘The Millennial Rest, or the World as it will be,’ 1862.
- ‘Moses Right, and Bishop Colenso Wrong,’ 1863.
- ‘Driftwood, Seawood, and Fallen Leaves,’ 2 vols. of essays, 1863.
- ‘The Destiny of the Nations,’ 1864.
- ‘Ritualism the Highway to Rome,’ 1867.
- ‘The Sounding of the Last Trumpet, or the Last Woe,’ 1867.
- ‘The Seventh Vial, or the Time of Trouble Begun,’ 1870.
- ‘The Fall of Babylon, foreshadowed in her Teachings, in History, and in Prophecy,’ 1870.
[In Memoriam, the Rev. John Cumming, D.D., F.R.S.E. (printed for private distribution), n. d.]
CUMMING, JOSEPH GEORGE (1812–1868), geologist and divine, was born on 15 Feb. 1812 at Matlock, Derbyshire. He was educated at Oakham grammar school, where he was remarkable for his grave earnestness, scarcely ever indulging in games. He was, however, fond of wrestling, and was a great walker, especially visiting Derbyshire and collecting fossil remains. He gained exhibitions at Oakham and proceeded to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was senior optime in 1834. He was ordained in 1835 to the curacy of his uncle, James Cumming [q. v.], professor of chemistry at Cambridge, and rector of North Runcton, Norfolk. In 1838 he was appointed classical master of the West Riding proprietary school, and in 1841 he became vice-principal of King William's College in the Isle of Man. Cumming remained in the Isle of Man for fifteen years, and studied the geology and antiquarian remains of the district with great care. In 1848 he published ‘The Isle of Man: its History, Physical, Ecclesiastical, Civil, and Legendary.’ In this volume he has dealt largely with the mythical tales, succinctly recording the history of the island, and carefully examining all the interesting geological phenomena. The lithological character of the island and the disturbances which have produced the subsidence of some geological formations, and the emergence of others, are carefully and accurately described.
Cumming was appointed in 1856 to the mastership of King Edward's grammar school, Lichfield. In 1858 he became warden and professor of classical literature and geology in Queen's College, Birmingham. In 1862 he was presented by the lord chancellor to the rectory of Mellis, Suffolk, which he exchanged in 1867 for the vicarage of St. John's, Bethnal Green.
Cumming married in 1838 Agnes, daughter of Mr. Peckham, by whom he had a family of four sons and two daughters, who survived him. He became a fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1846, and he published some papers in the journal of that society. He died quite suddenly on 21 Sept. 1868.
[Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 1849; Cambridge Calendar; Walford's Men of the Time, 1862; New Philosophical Magazine, 1869; Journal of the Archæological Institute.]
CUMMING, ROUALEYN GEORGE GORDON- (1820–1866), the African lion hunter, second son of Sir William Gordon Gordon-Cumming, second baronet of Altyre and Gordonstown, was born on 15 March 1820. He was educated at Eton, but even in his boyhood was distinguished more for his love of sport, especially salmon-fishing and deer-stalking, than for anything else. He entered the East India Company's service as a cornet in the Madras cavalry in 1838, and on his way had his first experience of sport in South Africa; but the climate of the East did not agree with him, and in 1840 he resigned his commission. He then returned to Scotland, and devoted himself to
