GUTHRIE, THOMAS (1803-73). An eminent Scottish pulpit orator and philanthropist. He was born July 12, 1803, at Brechin, Forfarshire, where his father was a merchant and banker. Tie went through the curriculum for the ministry at the University of Edinburgh, and devoted two additional winters to the study of chemistry, natural history, and anatomy. 'Meanwhile he was licensed as a preacher by the presbytery of Brechin in 1825. He subsequently spent six months in Paris, studying comparative anatomy, chemistry, and natural philosophy. Returning tc Scotland, for two years he conducted the affairs of n bank agency in Brechin. In 1830 he became minister of Arbirlot, in his native county; and in 1837 was appointed one of the ministers of Old Greyfriars Parish in Edinburgh. In 1843 Guthrie joined the Free Church, and for a long series of years continued to minister to the large and influential congregation of Free Saint John's in Edinburgh. He came forward in 1847 as the advocate of ragged schools (q.v.), the first of which he himself established. He
also earnestly exerted himself, in many ways, in opposition to intemperance and other prevailing N ices. He retired from the ministry on account of his health in 1864, and from that time until his death in Saint Leonard's-on-the-Sea, February 24, 1873, he was editor of the Sunday Magazine. Guthrie possessed great rhetorical talent, and his style was remarkable for the abundance and variety of the illustrations he used. His most important published works" are: The Gospel in Ezekiel, a series of discourses (1855) ; The Way to Life, a volume of sermons (1862) ; A Plea for Drunkards and Against Drunkenness, a pamphlet (1851) ; A Plea for Ragged Schools, a pamphlet (1847), followed by a second and a third plea (1848 and 1849), the latter with the former re published under the title of Reed-Time and Har vest of Ragged Schools (1860) ; The City: Its Sins and Sorrows (1857). His Autobiography and Memoir was published by his sons (London, For his life, consult Smeaton (Lon don, 1900).