The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-26


 by environment and teaching. | There are four ways in which lit- eraturs Is taught" he said, the his tortcal. or graveyard method, the bie- | graphical or gossip method the socio- | logical method and the philological method. The latter, he thought par ticulariy cruel--literary vivissction as 1t were--and cited the barbarity of us- ing Milton's noble verses for a lesson | in parsing, He deprecated any meth cd of instruction that emphasizes the | whence instead Of the what. He pleaded for 8 separation in the students mind of the author from his | works.
 What we read goes into our sys- tem." Prot. Guthrie declared, and de- plored the character of literature that has no nutrition in 1t. What Is a elassicr' he asked, and answered that 1t was a work that would not die.
 Why do we read a book" he asked and gave six reasons. First. to grat- fly curiosity; second. because of a sem sational excitement. & thrill; third, be- cause of a satisfaction of behoiding ourselves reflected as in a mirror; fourth, on account of opinions ex- pressed in the book. doctrinai or phiio- sophical; fifth. because of caricaturing and local color; sixth, because the book has been so skilfully advertised.
 For these reasons we read. but to re-read the same book we must feel that the author has the mastery of his material, has made the proper disposi- ton of 1t, and Is lord of 1t. We must feel his mastery of construction or technique, of style and language"
 He declared that the canons of criti- cism () grasp Of stun, (2) compost ton, l3) construction. CD style, (5l modernity. (0 symbolic suggestivsness were not all applicable with equal ease or certainty.
 Professor Guthrie urged his hearers to the importance Of being at their best in the matter of mental activity when attempting to read the great masterpieces of literature. He said in substance that 1t was a great injustice to the author to read hts works under inauspicious mental or physical condi- tions and expect to place a. just esti- mate upon their worth. He believed that the tired mind of the over worked business man was not In 6 condition to appreciate the great classics and that they did themselves and theS authors both great injustice in struggling to get at the best In the book or poem un- der such circumstanees.
 We must have ourselves. all of our best selves. focused at the point. was
  importance of his point.
 He spoke Interestingly of the rights of the individual and of the relative ages of the reader, saying that ther0 were classics for the young that adults might enjoy, but adults shonld not ex- pect the immature mind of iRexpari- ence, uncontemplative youth to have a full appreciation of classics suited to the adult.
 Professor Guthrie was heartily ap- plauded at the conclusion of his ad- dress.
 He will speak to the girls of the High School at o'clock tomorrow and give the second Of his lectures at a:s0 o'clock tomorrow afternoon to the club women. His subject at the latter hour will be Keates.
 SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACH
 FRS ASSOCIATION The Montgomery Teachers Associa- ton, which suspended its msetings du- ring the Torrey meeting. will hold its regular weekly meeting at the Y. W. c. A. parlors at 3:30 o'clock this after noon.
 FIVE HUNDRED CLUB
 ENTERTAINED. The Five Hundred Club was highly entertained Thursday afternoon by Mrs. Sutherland Noble. The homo was beautifully decorated with spring flowers. The Easter idea prevailed. An Easter rabbit, flled with colored candy eGks was placed upon each table to