Far down the ages now,
Her journey well nigh done,
The pilgrim Church pursues her way,
And longs to reach her crown.
No wider is the gate,
No broader is the way,
No smoother is the ancient path
That leads to light and day.
No feebler is the foe,
No slacker grows the fight,
Nor less the need of armor tried,
Of shield and helmet bright.
Thus onward still we press,
Through evil and through good,
Through pain, or poverty, or want,
Through peril or through blood.
Still faithful to our God,
And to our Captain true,
We follow where He leads the way,
The kingdom still in view.
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The son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Excise for Scotland, he was born and educated in Edinburgh. He comes from a long line of ministers who have served a total of 364 years in the Church of Scotland. One of eleven children, his brothers John James and Andrew Alexander were also ministers of the Free Church of Scotland. He had married Jane Catherine Lundie in 1843 and five of their young children died in succession. Towards the end of their lives, one of their surviving daughters was left a widow with five small children and she returned to live with her parents. Bonar's wife, Jane, died in 1876. He is buried in the Canongate Kirkyard.
In 1853 Bonar earned the Doctor of Divinity degree at the University of Aberdeen.
He entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland. At first he was put in charge of mission work at St. John's parish in Leith and settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the time of the Disruption of 1843, and in 1867 was moved to Edinburgh to take over the Chalmers Memorial Church (named after his teacher at college, Dr. Thomas Chalmers). In 1883, he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.