Horatius Bonar

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Horatius Bonar (1808 - 1889) was a Scottish churchman and poet.

The son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Exise for Scotland, he was born and educated in Edinburgh. He entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland, and settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the time of the Disruption of 1843, and in 1867 was moved to Edinburgh. In 1853 he was earned the Doctor of Divinity degree at Aberdeen. In 1883, he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He was a voluminous and highly popular author, and in addition to many books and tracts wrote a number of hymns, many of which, e.g., "I heard the voice of Jesus say" and "Blessing and Honor and Glory and Power," became known all over the English-speaking world. A selection of these was published as Hymns of Faith and Hope (3 series). His last volume of poetry was My Old Letters.

His brother Andrew Bonar was also a well-known Christian writer and minister of the Free Church of Scotland.

This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.