_Mrs. Harley._ In the evening I will, my dear; but at present, I wish to give you a short account of the contents of the books contained in the sacred volumes. As yet you have only read detached parts of them, and before you proceed to a more general perusal, it may be useful to have some distinct idea of the whole. The account I shall give you I have chiefly extracted from Dr. Prettyman's Elements of Christian Theology. All the books of the Bible were originally written in Hebrew, excepting a few passages towards the conclusion of the volume, which appear in the Chaldee tongue. The English translation used in all our churches was begun and completed in the reign of James the first. The five first books of the Bible are, Genesis, which begins with an account of the creation of the world, and ends with the death of Joseph. Exodus, which relates the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt; their bondage in that country, deliverance by Moses, and the promulgation of the law. Leviticus, which describes the offices and duties of the Levites and priests. Numbers, which contains an account of the numbering of the people in the wilderness when a very miraculous increase was found to have taken place since the arrival of Jacob and his family in Egypt. Deuteronomy, which contains a repetition of the civil and moral law, and ends with the death of Moses. These five books are called the Pentateuch, and were written by Moses. They contain the history of 2552 years and a half. Joshua, contains an account of the conquest and division of Canaan among the twelve tribes, and ends with the death of Joshua. This book is supposed to have been written by himself, excepting the last few verses, which were added by one of his successors. Judges gives an account of the Jewish history from the death of Moses to that of Sampson. It was most probably written by Samuel. Ruth contains the history of the person of that name, a native of Moab: she married Boaz an Israelite, and was the great grandmother of David. This book is generally ascribed to Samuel. The first book of Samuel completes the government of the Judges, and relates the appointment of Saul to be king of Israel, the rejection of his family, and the anointing of David. The second book of Samuel continues the history of David after the death of Saul. Most probably, Samuel wrote the first 24 chapters of the first book, and the prophets Gad and Nathan the remainder of it, and all the second. The first book of Kings commences with an account of the death of David, and continues to that of Jehosaphat. The second book of Kings continues the history of the kings of Judah and Israel to the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. These books were probably compiled by Ezra, from the records which were kept both at Jerusalem and Samaria of all public transactions.