LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. '?KnM Cliiip.. Copyright No. Shelf....ilD.._^ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The Ian Maclaren Year-Book .-S:^ Qa -^Oe." 3anWaelarE ye/qi^BooK 4)odd:flleQd*§:Co]i]paiip :^ 5^ n^ nT^ <^ — V TWO COPIES RECEIVED Copyright, i8q4, i8qj, i8gb, i8q7, By Dodd, Mead and Company, Copyright, iSqs, i8gb, By John Watson. ?antijrrsttg ^irrss : John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. DRUMTOCHTY in its length, which was eight miles, and its breadth, which was four, lay in his hand ; besides a glen behind, unknown to the world, which in the night time he visited at the risk of life, for the way tliereto was across the big moor with its peat holes and treacherous bogs. And he held the land eastwards towards Muirtown so far as the Drumtochty post travelled every day, and could carry word that the doctor was wanted. He did his best for the need of every man, woman, and child in this wild, straggling dis- trict, year in, year out, in the snow and in the heat, in the dark and in the light, without rest, and without holiday for forty years. A Doctor of tlie Old School. HE could not make townspeople understand the unutterable satisfaction of the country minister, who even from old age and great cities looks back with fond regret to his first parish on the slope of the Grampians. Some kindly host wrestles with him to stay a few days more in civilisation, and pledges him to run up whenever he wearies of his exile, and the ungrateful rustic can hardly conceal the joy of his escape. He shudders on the way to the station at the drip of the dirty sleet and the rags of the shivering poor, and the restless faces of the men and the unceasing roar of the traffic. Where he is going the white snow is falling gently on the road, a cart full of sweet-smelling roots is moving on velvet, the driver stops to exchange views with a farmer who has been feeding his sheep, within the humblest cottage the fire is burning clearly. With every mile northwards the Glenman's heart lifts ; and as he lands on his far-away little station, he draws a deep breath of the clean, wholesome air. It is a long walk through the snow, but there is a kindly, couthy smell from the woods, and at sight of the squares of light in his home, weari- ness departs from a Drumtochty man. /Caie Carnegie. January i THE world had its own idea of blessedness. Blessed is the man who is always right. Blessed is the man who is satisfied with himself. Blessed is the man who is strong. Blessed is the man who rules. Blessed is the man who is rich. Blessed is the man who is popular. Blessed is the man who enjoys life. These are the beatitudes of sight and this present world. It comes with a shock and opens a new realm of thought, that not one of these men entered Jesus' mind when He treated of blessedness. The Mind of Die Master. January i ""OLESSED," said Jesus, " is the man who JZ) thinks lowly of himself; who has passed through great trials ; who gives in and endures ; who longs for perfection ; who carries a tender heart ; who has a passion for holiness ; who sweetens human life ; who dares to be true to conscience." What a conception of character ! Blessed are the humble, the peni- tents, the victims, the mystics, the philanthro- pists, the saints, the mediators, the confessors. For the first time a halo rests on gentleness, patience, kindness, and sanctity, and the eight men of the beatitudes divide the kingdom of God. Tlie Mind of the Master. January 3 ON the first Sabbath of the year the people were in the second verse of the Hundredth Psahn, when Milton, with his family, came into the kirk and took possession of their pew. Hillocks maintained an unobtrusive but vigi- lant watch, and had no fault to find this time with Milton. The doctor preached on the Law of Love, as he had a way of doing at the beginning of each year, and was quite unguarded in his eulogium of brotherly kind- ness, but Milton did not seem to find anything wrong in the sermon. Four times — Hillocks kept close to facts — he nodded in grave ap- proval, and once, when the doctor insisted with great force that love did more than every power to make men good, Milton was evidently carried, and blew his nose needlessly. TJie Days of A uld Lang Syne. January 4 " "\7'OU Ml not leave without breakin' bread ; X it ' s little we hae, but we can offer ye oat- cake an' milk in token o' oor loyalty." And then Bell brought the elements of Scottish food ; and when Marjorie's lips moved in prayer as they ate, it seemed to Carnegie and his daughter like a sacrament. So the two went from the fellowship of the poor to their ancient house. Kate Carnegie. January 5 JESUS nowhere commanded that one cling to His Cross, He everywhere commanded that one carry His Cross, and out of this daily crucifixion has been born the most beautiful sainthood from St. Paul to St. Francis, from A Kempis to George Herbert. For " there is no salvation of the soul nor hope of everlasting life but in the Cross." Ttie Mind of the Master. January 6 THAT minister who receives a body of people more or less cast down, and wearied in the great battle of the soul, and sends them forth full of good cheer and enthu- siasm, has done his work and deserved well of his people. He has shown himself a true shepherd, and he had not done this service without knowing both the Will of God and the life of man, without draining a wide water- shed of experience — from high hills where the soul has been alone with God, and from deep valleys where the soul has tasted the agonies of life — into the stream that shall be the motive power of many lives on the plains beneath. The Cure of Sauls. January 7 CERTAINLY it must be useful for prac- tical men, whose life-work is to be preaching, to compare notes on the various methods of preparation, believing that as the blessing of the Divine Spirit will only rest on the outcome of hard, honest work, the more thorough and skilful that work is, the more likely is it to be crowned with prosperity. TJte Cure of Sotds. January 8 NEXT Sabbath the kirkyard was thrown into a state approaching excitement by Jamie Soutar, who, in the course of some remarks on the prospects of harvest, casually mentioned that Burnbrae had been refused his lease, and would be leaving Dmmtochty at Martinmas. "What for?" said Drumsheugh sharply; while Hillocks, who had been offering his box to Whinnie, remained with outstretched arm. " Naethin' that ye wud expeck, but juist some bit differ wi' the new factor aboot leavin' his kirk an' jining the lave o' us in the Auld Kirk. Noo, if it hed been ower a cattle reed ye cud hae understude it, but for a man — " "Nae mair o' yir havers, Jamie," broke in Drumsheugh, "and keep yir tongue aff Burn- brae ; man, ye gied me a fricht." The Days of Auld Lang Syne. January 9 WHEN one is richly endowed and carefully trained, and has come to the zenith of his power, his sudden removal seems a reflec- tion on the economy of God's kingdom. Why call this man to the choir celestial when he is so much needed in active service ? According to Jesus, he has not sunk into inaction, so much subtracted from the forces of righteousness. He has gone where the fetters of this body of humiliation and embarrassment of adverse cir- cumstances shall be no longer felt. We must not think of him as withdrawn from the field ; we must imagine him as in the van of battle. We must follow him, our friend, with hope and a high heart. xke Mind of the Master. January 10 No man knew what the minister of Kilbogie might not ask — he was only perfectly certain that it would be beyond his knowledge ; but as Saunderson always gave the answer himself in the end, and imputed it to the stu- dent, anxiety was reduced to a minimum. Saunderson, indeed, was In the custom of pass- ing all candidates and reporting them as mar- vels of erudition, whose only fault was a becoming modesty — which, however, had not concealed from his keen eye hidden treasures of learning. ^^^^ Camest