Alexander, Dr. Bonar wrote his songs for children;
but they are so profound and intensely spiritual in their very simplicity
they will always satisfy the most mature Christian mind. No matter how
old we become, our hearts will ever be stirred as we sing the tender
words:

I long to be like Jesus,
Meek, loving, lowly, mild;
I long to be like Jesus,
The Father's holy Child.
I long to be with Jesus,
Amid the heavenly throng,
To sing with saints His praises,
To learn the angels' song.

The subjective, emotional element is strongly present in the hymns of
Bonar. In this respect there is a striking resemblance to the hymns of
the great German writer, Benjamin Schmolck. Both use the name "Jesus"
freely, and both become daringly intimate, yet the hymns of neither are
weak or sentimental.

In Bonar we behold the strange anomaly of a man with a strong physique
and powerful intellect combined with the gentle, sympathetic nature of a
woman and the simple, confiding faith of a child. The warmth and
sincerity of his personal faith in Christ may be seen reflected in all
his hymns. "I try to fill my hymns with the love and light of Christ," he
once said, and certainly he has drawn many souls to the Saviour by the
tenderness of their appeal.

Bonar is ever pointing in his hymns to Christ as an all-sufficient
Saviour, dwelling in simple language on the blessings of the Atonement
and the willingness of God to accept all who come to Him through Christ.
In these days of modernistic teachings when practically all stress is
placed on "living the Christ-life" while the meritorious work of Christ
on behalf of the sinner is largely ignored and forgotten, it would be
salutary for the Church to listen anew to such words as these:

Upon a Life I have not lived,
Upon a Death I did not die,
Another's Life; Another's Death:
I stake my whole eternity.

Not on the tears which I have shed;
Not on the sorrows I have known:
Another's tears; Another's griefs:
On them I rest, on them alone.

Jesus, O Son of God, I build
On what Thy cross has done for me;
There both my death and life I read;
My guilt, my pardon there I see.

Lord, I believe; O deal with me
As one who has Thy Word believed!
I take the gift, Lord, look on me
As one who has Thy gift received.

Bonar was born in Edinburgh, December 19, 1808. His father was a