"Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many genera. tions."-Deut. xxxii. 7. OF ALEXANDER GARDNER, PAISLEY; AND 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. PREFACE. THIS volume is a sequel to one that last year was published under the same title. Both volumes consist of lectures which, in a shorter form, were given in Mauchline in the spring of 1884, with the view of exhibiting the Church life and Church rule that prevailed in the parish in days gone by. Last year's volume comprised half of the lectures embraced in the course referred to, and the other half of the lectures are now published in this volume. The first volume was published at the request of some parishioners; and the favour with which it was received by the press and public has emboldened me to venture on this second publication. Four of the lectures published in this volume are on subjects of general interest, but it may be said that the subjects of the other two lectures are scarcely of that character. I trust, however, that these two lectures, written principally for the entertainment of parishioners, will nevertheless be found to have a wider bearing and interest than their parochial title indicates. The book abounds in quotations from Kirk-Session and Presbytery records, and most of these quotations are taken from records that are unpublished. The manuscript records I have consulted and gleaned from are the Registers of the Presbyteries of Ayr and Irvine, and the Registers of the KirkSessions of Mauchline, Galston, Kilmarnock, Fenwick (16451699), and Rothesay (1658-1662). To the custodians of these !י |