Marley tells Scrooge that he will be visited by three Ghosts the first as the clock strikes one in the morning
At mid night
Jacob Marley. Marley foretells of 3 others who will help Scrooge
Marley tells Scrooge to expect three more spirits to visit him that night.
Marley's ghost, the first of four, visits Ebenezer Scrooge.
To warn Scrooge to change his ways and be nicer or kinder to other people, or else Scrooge would end up like Marley(lonely and hated).
Marley was very much like Scrooge in life. However, Marley having suffered seven years of torment in the after life sees that that Scrooge is also destined for everlasting torment after his death and he seeks to redeem himself if only slightly by warning his friend Ebenezer
When Jacob Marley came to visit Scrooge didn't believe that it was really Marley. So Marley showed Scrooge if he didn't change his ways that Scrooge would bear himself in chains of his wrong doing.
Scrooge's dead business partner was Jacob Marley. He was the 1st ghost to visit Scrooge.
The sign above the counting house in "A Christmas Carol" reads "Scrooge and Marley." It signifies the business partnership between Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley, two greedy and miserly characters in the novella.
Marley foretold three ghost would visit and all three did
Scrooge reacted with shock and disbelief when Marley's ghost first appeared to him. He initially thought it was a hallucination brought on by his own guilt and fear. However, as Marley began to explain his purpose and warn Scrooge about his own fate, he gradually accepted the reality of the situation.
He was a good business man and a good friend to Scrooge