Ecclesfield, May 9. 1850.
* * * * *
Your correspondent "JARLZBERG" (No. 24. p. 385.) inquires for the
origin of the Evangelistic symbols. The four living creatures, in
Ezekiel, i. 10., and Revelations, iv. 7., were interpreted from
the earliest times to represent the four Gospels. Why the angel is
attributed to St. Matthew, the lion to St. Mark, and so on, is another
question: but their order in Ezekiel corresponds with the order of
the Gospels as we have them. Durandus would probably furnish some
information. The fabulous legend of the lion savours of a later
origin. Some valuable remarks on the subject, and a list of references
to early writers, will be found in Dr. Wordsworth's _Lectures on the
Canon of Scripture_ (Lect. VI. p. 151.), and his _Lectures on the
Apocalypse_ (Lect. IV. pp. 116, 117.)