goodness, told in plain, unvarnished English, he will
not be disappointed.
   When I received from the gifted author the record
of his ' travel's history," I intended to write his Life,
but death came and found us, not him, unprepared;
and so, under the constraint of other and pressing
duties, my purpose was reluctantly abandoned. Be-
sides, upon examination it was found that with a few
changes and additions here and there, these memo-
randa, as they came from the hand of their author,
could, under the circumstances, appear in that form
and do him no discredit.
   Such is my admiration of this noble man, and such
my deference to what I am sure must be the desire of
his friends, that I have preferred to let him tell in sim-
ple phrase the strange story of his struggles and tri-
umphs; and if its perusal should give the reader half
the pleasure it has been to me to prepare it for the
press, I shall not have labored in vain. The book is
intended to be a Memornal Volume, and especially one
to encourage young men who, under adverse circum-
stances, are striving to qualify themselves to preach
the gospel. Bro. Allen was always in warm and loving
sympathy with these-so much so, that he was rightly
called the young preacher's friend.
   It is a pleasure to say that such is the veneration of
the publishers, The Guide Printing and Publishing
Company, for the memory of our deceased brother,



vi.  



PREFACE.