MEMOIRS
OF
The Life and Labours
OF THE
REV. SAMUEL MARSDEN,
OF PARAMATTA,
SENIOR CHAPLAIN OF NEW SOUTH WALES;
AND OF HIS EARLY CONNEXION WITH THE MISSIONS TO NEW ZEALAND AND TAHITI.
EDITED BY THE
Rev. J. B. MARSDEN, m.a.,
AUTHOR OF “THE HISTORY OF THE EARLY AND LATER PURITANS,” ETC. ETC.
LONDON:
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY;
56, PATERNOSTER ROW; 65, ST. PAUL’S CHURCHYARD;
AND 164, PICCADILLY:
AND SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS.
Revd. Samuel Marsden
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
The Editor would make his kind acknowledgments to the Church Missionary and London Missionary Societies for the free use of the hitherto unpublished correspondence of Mr. Samuel Marsden in their hands; and to J. S. Nicholas, Esq., who accompanied Mr. Marsden on his first visit to New Zealand, for the use of a valuable manuscript account of his residence in New South Wales, containing much information respecting Mr. Marsden. He has also had before him a manuscript life of Mr. Marsden by Lieut. Sadleir of Paramatta, from which several extracts are made. And lastly, he would acknowledge the courtesy of those surviving friends who have placed in his hands Mr. Marsden’s autograph letters to themselves or deceased members of their families. From these several sources the work has been chiefly compiled.
The Editor may be permitted to add, that the similarity of his name having led to the general conclusion (which however is incorrect) that he was related to Mr. Samuel Marsden, he has been repeatedly urged to publish his life. At length this request being renewed by the Religious Tract Society, into whose hands some valuable papers and documents had fallen, he was induced to comply with their wishes, under the conviction that the facts and incidents, as well as the moral grandeur, of Mr. Marsden’s life, were too important to be suffered to lie any longer in comparative obscurity. There are ample materials for a much larger volume; but of course the Editor has been obliged to select what appeared to be most suitable for general usefulness.