Hymn Writers of the Church

Bonar, Horatius, a distinguished Presbyterian divine, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, December 19, 1808; and was educated at the high school and University of Edinburgh. He was ordained in 1837, and became a minister of the Established Church of Scotland at Kelso. At the Disruption in 1843 he became one of the founders of the Free Church of Scotland. The University of Aberdeen gave him the doctorate in 1853. In 1866 he became the minister of the Chalmers Memorial Church, in Edinburgh. Dr. Bonar died July 31, 1889. He was a voluminous writer of sacred poetry, and more than one hundred of his hymns are in common use. He published the following books, in which most of his hymns are found: Songs of the Wilderness, 1843-44; The Bible Hymn Book, 1845; Hymns Original and Selected, 1846; Hymns of Faith and Hope, first series, 1857 (second series, 1864; third series, 1867); Hymns of the 393 Nativity, 1879; Communion Hymns, 1881. Dr. Bonar was an able, pious man and a sweet singer, though as a premillenarian some of his poems are plaintive and sad almost to pessimism. Twelve of his hymns are found in this book. He died July 31, 1889.