To the Memory Of the Reverend Mr John Bonar.
Magnum sui desiderium moriens reliquit.
Hor.
By all the wise admir'd, the good esteem'd,
For what he really was, not barely seem'd;
Form'd upon Virtue's amiable plan,
An honest, upright, candid, worthy man;
Whose conduct not ev'n Slander e'er pursu'd,
Which still the brighter shone, the nearer view'd;
Though plac'd in public life, where, to espy
Each word, each act, is center'd ev'ry eye;
Where trivial slips and blemishes arise
To grossest faults in the stern censor's eyes:
Thus Bonar liv'd; and to life's period brought,
Died, as an humble, modest Christian ought.
O reader, now howe'er your views aspire,
May you with equal dignity retire.
