1776 ARCHIBALD BONAR. Early Letter by Horatius & Andrew Bonar's Grand-Uncle when a Theology Student.

A very rare 2pp ALSO by Reverend Archibald Bonar (1753–1816), dating to November 21, 1776.

Archibald Bonar was a prominent Church of Scotland evangelical minister who was licensed to preach in 1775 and ordained at Newburn in Fife in 1777, later serving the parish of Cramond near Edinburgh. He was the fifth son of the Reverend John Bonar of Perth (1721–1761). The Bonar family stands as one of the most remarkable religious lineages in Scottish history, producing generations of influential churchmen, most famously Archibald’s nephews and grand-nephews, Horatius Bonar (the prolific nineteenth-century hymn writer) and Andrew Bonar (biographer of Robert Murray M'Cheyne and leader in the 1843 Free Church Disruption).

Bonar’s correspondence offers an intimate window into the vibrant evangelical network operating in Scotland during the height of the Scottish Enlightenment. The mid-to-late 1770s was a period of intense theological and intellectual debate in Edinburgh and surrounding presbyteries. While Enlightenment philosophers like David Hume, who died in August 1776, just three months before this letter was penned, were questioning orthodox doctrine, young evangelical ministers like Archibald Bonar were actively corresponding, sharing sermon drafts, discussing pastoral calls, and fortifying evangelical piety across Scottish parishes.

Letters written by Archibald Bonar during this precise formative period, between his licensure in 1775 and his formal ordination at Newburn in early 1777, are particularly interesting. They reveal the practical mechanics of how young Scottish divines navigated patronage, maintained personal spiritual discipline, and exchanged theological counsel amidst the political and intellectual turbulence of the Revolutionary era.

Addressed to "Rev. Mr. Moodie," i.e. Rev. William Moodie (1759–1812), who became one of the most prominent Scottish churchmen and academics of his generation, eventually serving as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1799, Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages at the University of Edinburgh, and minister of St. Andrew's Church in Edinburgh.

In November 1776, both Archibald Bonar and William Moodie were young theological students at the University of Edinburgh and moving within the same tight-knit network of Scottish divinity students, tutors, and probationers. During the late 1770s, before receiving their official parish calls, both men worked as tutors for wealthy noble and landed families, Bonar as tutor to the family of David, Earl of Leven, and Moodie to the family of James Oswald of Dunnikier.

2pp in a very good state of preservation with remnants of the original wax seal.