been constantly with Christ until his crucifixion, of which event he was doubtless a witness; as he was also of the resurrection and ascension of his Lord. On the day of Pentecost, he was presentwith his brethren, and partook of the rich spiritual endowments, which were then bestowed on the apostles. But, afterwards, there is no explicit mention of him in the New Testament. In his own catalogue of the Twelve, his name occupies the eighth place, as it does in the Acts; but in the lists of the apostles, contained in the gospels of Luke and Mark, it occupies the seventh place.

There is an almost total obscurity, resting on the history of this Apostle and Evangelist. The scene of his labours, after he left Judea, seems to have been in regions, of which we possess very little accurate information to this day. But whether he had Parthia and Persia, or Ethiopia, for the field of his apostolical labours, the ancients are not agreed. It is by no means impossible that he should have preached the gospel,and planted churches, in each of these countries. The historian Socrates in his distribution of the apostles among the countries of the globe, assigns Ethiopia to Matthew, Parthia to Thomas, and India to Bartholo

mew.

The testimony of EUSEBIUS is as follows; "This then was the state of the Jews, but the apostles and disciples of our Lord, being dispersed abroad,

preached in the whole world, Thomas in Parthia; Andrew in Sythia; John in Asia, who having lived there a long time, died at Ephesus. Pe. ter preached to the dispersed Jews, in Pontus, Galatia, Bythinia, Cappadocia, and Asia; at length, coming to Rome, he was there crucified, with his head turned down towards the earth, at his own request. Paul also died a martyr at Rome, as we are informed by Origen, in the third Tome of his work on Genesis." But Eusebius makes no mention of the apostle Mathew; nor does JEROME, in his account of Illustrious Men.

CLEMENT of Alexandria mentions a circumstance of this apostle's mode of life, but nothing more; he says, "That he was accustomed to use a very spare diet, eating vegetables, but no flesh."

CHRYSOSTOM, in one of his Homilies, gives the character of Matthew, but furnishes us with no facts.

It is probable, therefore, that very little was known in the West, respecting the lives, labours, and death," of those apostles who travelled far to the East. None of them, it is probable, ever returned; and there existed no regular channels for the communication of intelligence, from those distant regions. The honour of martyrdom has been given to them all, and the thing is not improbable, but there are no authentic records, from which we can derive any certain information on this subject. The Fathers, whose writings have come down to us, seem

to have been as much in the dark as we are, respecting the preaching and death, of the majority of the apostles. There are, it is true, traditions in Ethiopia and the East, in regard to some of them, but they are too uncertain to deserve any serious consideration.

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SECTION IV.

TESTIMONIES TO MATTHEW'S

GOSPEL-TIME OF

PUBLICATION-LANGUAGE IN WHICH IT WAS ORI

GINALLY COMPOSED.

But while we know so little of the apostolical labours of the Evangelist Matthew, it is pleasing to find that the testimonies respecting the genuineness of his gospel, are so early and full. To these we will now direct our attention.

PAPIAS, bishop of Hierapolis, who was acquainted with the apostle John, expressly mentions Matthew's gospel; and asserts, "That he wrote the divine oracles in Hebrew."

IRENEUS, bishop of Lyons, who was born in Asia, and was acquainted with Pòlycarp, the disciple of the apostle John, gives the following testimony; "Matthew, then among the Jews, wrote a gospel in their language, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome . . And after their decease, Mark, also the disciple of Peter, delivered to us the things which had been preached by Peter; and Luke, the companion of Paul, put down in a book, the gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, who leaned on his Lord's breast, published a gospel for the inhabitants of Asia.”

In another place he says, "The gospel of Matthew was delivered to the Jews."

ORIGEN, who was born in the second century, and wrote and flourished, in the beginning of the third, has left us the following testimony, "According to the traditions received by me, the first gospel was written by Matthew, once a publican, afterwards a disciple of Jesus Christ, who delivered it to the Jewish believers, composed in the Hebrew language."

And in another place he says, "Matthew wrote for the Hebrews."

EUSEBIUS, who lived about a hundred years later than Origen, informs us, that, "Matthew having first preached the gospel to the Hebrews, when about to go to other people, delivered to them, in their own language, the gospel written by himself; by that supplying the want of his presence with them, whom he was about to leave."

In the Synopsis, which has been ascribed to ATHANASIUS, it is said, "Matthew wrote his gospel in the Hebrew, and published it at Jerusalem."

CYRIL of Jerusalem testifies, "That Mathew wrote in Hebrew."

EPIPHANIUS says the same, and adds, "Matthew wrote first, and Mark soon after him, being a follower of Peter at Rome."

GREGORY NAZIANZEN, "That Matthew wrote for the Hebrews."

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