s a child;
but I cannot write them for others to read. Even _small_ children are
sometimes _great_ critics. At any rate, I shall not venture at
story-telling here.

You have all read some portions of the book we call the Bible. But do
you know who wrote the Bible? at what time it was written? or anything
of the men by whom it was composed? It was not written by any one man,
at one time, and by him sent out to all men in every part of the world;
but by various persons, in different ages, and first addressed to
particular churches or people. I will not attempt, in this article, to
furnish you with an account of all the individuals, Moses, David,
Isaiah, Paul, John, and others, who wrote portions of the sacred volume;
but I will try to give you some sketches of _the four Evangelists,_
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who wrote the four _gospels_, or Lives of
Jesus, to which their names are now attached. And,

1st, of MATTHEW, by whom the _first_ gospel was composed. He was
called, also, Levi. He was a Jew, born in the province of Galilee. We
suppose that from his youth he was familiar with the worship of the
synagogue and temple, and educated strictly in the religion of Moses. He
filled the office of a publican, was a collector of taxes from the Jews,
to which place he was appointed by the Romans, who, in his day, ruled
over Judea. While engaged in these duties, he became acquainted with the
preaching, miracles, and character of Jesus, the despised Nazarene, and
left all,--his business, friends, home,--to follow him. He journeyed
with Jesus in his ministry, and, after his Master went up to heaven, he
left his own land to preach the gospel among the Gentiles. Some people
suppose that he was a martyr, but this is not well established. Matthew
wrote his gospel either in Hebrew or Greek, (some say both,) about 1800
years since,--very soon after his Master had finished the labors of his
mission, and returned unto his Father. I said, I think, that this man
left all; made many sacrifices to become Jesus' disciple. But we do not
find this in _his_ book. With other virtues, he was an _humble_ man,
quite too modest to praise himself. Luke, in his narrative, mentions
this fact concerning Matthew. Modesty is a rare virtue; an ornament to
the aged, and very beautiful in the young. But I will tell you,

2d, of Mark, sometimes called John, and once, John Mark, in the New
Testament. Very little is known concerning this man. He was probabl