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 probably born in Judea, and, it is supposed, was converted to Christianity by the preaching of the ardent, zealous Peter.  At one time, he was the companion of Paul and Barnabas; but, when a quarrel sprang up between these men, each went his way.  Christians quarrelled then sometimes as well, or as bad, as in our days.  Chiefly, Mark travelled with Peter, as he went forth among Jews and Gentiles, and aided him in his arduous toils.  He went, at last, to Egypt, where he planted churches, and where, also, he died.  Mark was not an apostle; neither did he attend on the ministry of Jesus.  Do you ask, how, then, could he write a correct account