OF THE LIFE OF DAVID MARKS, " MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL; EDITED BY MRS. MARILLA MARKS. "Say not I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I DOVER, N. H.: PUBLISHED BY THE FREE-WILL BAPTIST PRINTING ESTAB- WILLIAM BURR, PRINTER. 1846. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by MARILLA MARKS, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of New Hampshire. PREFACE. BX6379 Immediately after the decease of Mr. Marks, many highly esteemed friends, whose opinions have deservedly great weight in the church, repeatedly expressed the conviction that the cause of Christ demanded the publication of his biography. In deference to their judgment, and in accordance with their earnest request, this work is now submitted to the Christian public. In the year 1831, the subject of these Memoirs was persuaded by several friends, who had examined his Journal, to publish a 'Narrative' of his labors in the ministry, especially as those labors were intimately connected with the progress of the Free-will Baptist denomination in the west. An edition of two thousand copies was issued, which was nearly all sold in New England within nine months after its publication. He was afterwards often solicited by friends at the west to publish another edition for the supply of the western Free-will Baptist churches, but he felt so much delicacy on the subject, that he could never be induced to listen to their importunities. For nearly two years and a half after the publication of his "Narrative," he kept a regular Journal, as in former years. After this period, on account of the close occupancy of his time with immense labors, he only made occasional entries. His "Narrative," as written by himself, occupies the first twenty-three chapters of the present work in an abridged form. The remainder consists of the occasional entries in his Journal; extracts from his correspondence, and from such other documents as could be collected; and a brief history of his labors during the intervening spaces has been written by the editress from memory. From the nature of the materials, the latter part of the biography does not give so much detail in a connected form, as would be found in a regular Journal; but the exemplification of his character in its several parts, as well as the mere outline of his labors, being one of the objects designed in this work, it is hoped that the latter part will not be found less inter M270207 |