as well as the county generally, both in the way of trade and travelling.*

Ecclesiastical State.— Ayr has been a collegiate charge since the days of Queen Mary, who made provision for a second minister. As to the junction of Alloway parish, there is almost nothing distinctly known, in regard to the mode or the terms by which it was effected; there being little or nothing mentioned about it in the records of the town about that time, nor in those of the kirk-session. We have already stated that it took place about the end of the seventeenth century, and that the stipend, amounting only to L. 32, with the teind all exhausted, was divided equally betwixt the two ministers of Ayr. The glebe was annexed to the second charge, for no other reason that can be discovered, than that the first living had been previously provided with one. This glebe was feued along with the lands of Alloway, by the magistrates, with the consent of the presbytery, and yields only the yearly sum of L. 3, 6s. 8d. there having been no more than the statutory extent. No provision seems to have been made, as in some other junctions of a similar kind, for having divine service performed at Alloway, and indeed there was little cause, the distance from Ayr to where the old church stands being little more than two miles. The same reason as to distance, however, would apply still more forcibly as to the union of Monkton and Prestwick, when it was stipulated to have public worship performed at the latter place every third Sabbath, though the distance betwixt them is scarcely a mile. But the case was very different with respect to Ayr, where the magistrates were the only party having power in the matter; whereas in the other case, there were different bodies to treat with. But, in fact, it is impossible to say whether there had been any thing of this kind stipulated for or not, as the decree of annexation by the Court of Teinds has either been lost, or purposely withheld, since no such deed could ever be made forthcoming. We have heard that the Ayr ministers continued to preach in Alloway, every third Sabbath, for some time after the union of the parishes; but whether this was voluntary, or by positive stipulation, cannot now be ascertained. If the latter had been the case, it is not likely that the practice could have been so easily relinquished. For a long period after the junction, the old church of Ayr seems to have been perfectly adequate to accommodate the whole population of the

The Bill has been passed by the House of Commons, and is now in progress through the Upper House, since the above was written.

two parishes. But towards the end of the last century, the want of church room began to be seriously felt, there having been very few Dissenters in the place, and hardly any dissenting places of worship. Before the new church was built, the demand for sittings in the old church became so great, that a single pew would cost a sum that would be considered extravagant at the present day. What added to their value, and the difficulty of obtaining seat room was, that the galleries had become appropriated to different corporations, to which they continue to belong at this day. Hence the demand for pews was such, in the disposable part of the church, that the most of them were purchased as private property by the more wealthy classes, and still continue to be so held. Accordingly, many who, from these causes, could not procure accommodation in their own parish church, were under the necessity of obtaining it in the church of Newton-upon-Ayr, or elsewhere; to which they have mostly since adhered, when otherwise they would in all probability have continued to receive instruction from their own parish ministers.

The magistrates committed two material errors in regard to the building of the new church, the consequences of which have continued to be seriously felt ever since. The first was, their not having erected it at an earlier period, in order to supply timeously the existing wants of the people for seats, and thus prevent them from seeking them elsewhere. The second consisted in their not allowing or soliciting the proprietors of land to bear their share in the expense, which, it is said, they would willingly have done, in order to provide suitable church accommodation for their tenantry. Ayr, in this respect, differs from all other parishes in Scotland that have landed districts, and it is owing, perhaps, to the magistrates having been once the sole proprietors. Not a single tenant on any of the estates into which the parish has been now subdivided, can claim seats for himself and family, as belonging to his farm, and not a landlord has it in his power to serve his tenantry with seat room in the same church with himself, in return for the stipend which is paid to their parish ministers. There is thus a want of those most sacred of all ties betwixt them that can bind men together, both as public bodies and as individuals. There is no lack of unoccupied seats in the new church; they may be had by such as choose to pay for them; and yet, the proprietors of land, who certainly have no disinclination to accommodate their farmers in this respect, are put out of the way of doing so, from having no right

of property in the building. In the old church, the seats are all let or nearly so, and in some parts belonging to incorporated bodies, which have been lately repaired, there are more demands for sittings than can be supplied. The attendance here is always numerous and respectable. It was built in 1654, and the new church in 1810. Both are capable of accommodating from 2000 to 2500 sitters, and there are about 1000 communicants or upwards at each sacrament,-this ordinance being dispensed twice a-year. There is no want of church accommodation at present in the parish, and a considerable number of sittings have been set apart for the poor by the magistrates, some entirely gratis, and others at such low rates as to make them easily accessible to the most indigent.

There is a meeting house in this parish, belonging to the Relief body of Dissenters, another to the Moravians, and a third to the Methodists; but the congregations of the two last are small, and that of the Relief is made up of people from six or eight parishes. There are various other Dissenters who have places of worship on the other side of the river, and numbers belonging to them in the parish of Ayr. The following tables, the result of a survey made in 1836, will exhibit in one distinct view, the population belonging to the Established Church, and also to the Dissenting denominations. No. 1.-Abstract of the Population, &c. &c. of the Royal Burgh of Ayr, within the Toll-bars-1836.

No. II-Abstract of Population and Religious Denominations,

with the number of individuals belonging to each, in the parish

No. III.-Abstract of the number of Communicants belonging to

the Establishment, in the parish of Ayr, and the parish churches in which they do communicate.

The stipend of the first charge consists of eight chalders and a-half, half meal, and half bear, and one-half chalder for communion elements. The incumbent has, besides, the half of the yearly interest of L. 1000, bequeathed to the two ministers of Ayr, by John Fergusson, Esq. of Doonholm, and the half of the stipend of Alloway, amounting to L. 16 odds yearly. He has a comfortable manse, which was built a few years ago, after a long and tedious litigation with the magistrates and heritors to obtain it, which cost a very large amount of expenses, and which was decided ultimately in his favour by the House of Lords. The stipend of the second minister is made up partly of the old stipend of the second charge, partly of a sum from the Government Bounty, and partly of an allowance from the magistrates for extra service, and the half of the above-mentioned bequest, together with L. 46, 13s. 4d. in lieu of a manse and glebe. The ordinary collections at the church doors amount to upwards of L. 100 annually; and the extraordinary, to nearly as much, including contributions made every winter for coals to the poor, and money received for them at the two sacraments. The ordinary collections are diminishing gradually every year, in consequence of the high rate of assessment. There are a Bible, Missionary, Tract, Temperance, Sabbath School, and Female Benevolent Society in the town; but the amount of their funds, individually or collectively, cannot easily be ascertained. We have occasional collections in the parish churches for objects of Christian benevolence, such as the General Assembly's Schools in the Highlands, the Church of Scotland Mission in India, and additional Church accommodation, which may increase our extraordinary collections to a larger sum annually than we have stated it above; but the former is regular, the latter only contingent. Our churches are both situated in the town, and are convenient enough for the great body of the people, though some miles distant from the furthest boundary of the parish.

Education-Academy.-There are few places better provided. with the means of education than Ayr. In 1798, the parochial

schools of the burgh were formed into an academy, and a charter obtained from the King, uniting the managers and directors into one body corporate, with power to enact laws for their own regulation. What formed the germ of this institution was the sum of L. 1000, which was bequeathed for behoof of the public teachers of Ayr, by Mr Fergusson of Doonholm, already mentioned. A considerable sum additional was obtained by subscriptions from the town, the heritors, and various wealthy individuals in the county and elsewhere, every L. 50 constituting the contributor a director of the academy. By means of these sums, a handsome building was erected for teachers' apartments, and a fund formed for the payment of their salaries, and the support of the seminary. Its success has fully equalled the most sanguine expectations that were formed of it. It has secured a reputation not surpassed by that of any other institution of the kind in Scotland. The teaching department is conducted by a rector, and five other principal teachers, besides an assistant in the English school. The rector has a salary of L. 100 a year; the other masters have small salaries, the highest not exceeding L. 22, and depend chiefly for their emoluments on fees from their pupils. These fees vary from five shillings to a guinea a quarter, but few of the branches taught exceed half a guinea, and the most common are only charged at the lowest rate we have named. The following is a list of the branches of education in the different departments, viz. mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry, geography, natural history, English composition, modern languages, Latin and Greek, writing and drawing, arithmetic, book-keeping, and navigation, and English, English grammar, and history. The numbers that attend the academy in the course of each year average about 500, and this average has continued pretty uniform for many years back, notwithstanding that similar institutions have greatly increased throughout the country, and even in towns not far distant. The teachers are gentlemen of distinguished talents and attainments,-they live and act together in great harmony; and the seminary, being under a liberal system of management, has generally continued, since its commencement, in a prosperous and efficient state. It has been of great benefit to the town in different ways,--for instance, by attracting families to reside in it for education, and by transfusing a spirit of intelligence and enlightened thinking among its inhabitants.

There are about a dozen of other schools in the parish besides