We announce this morning with unalloyed satisfaction that the Hon. J. L. M. Curry, LL. D., has been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain.

The President could not possibly have made a better selection. Certainly he could have made none that would have pleased a greater number of the best people in the United States. Owing to his services in Congress and as General Agent of the Peabody Educational Fund, and to other circumstances which it is not necessary here to mention, Dr. Curry's abilities are known to more persons than are those of any other public man in the Union; and all who know the man will approve the appointment.

Dr. Curry is apparently in the prime of life, though really not inuch under sixty years of age; and his intellectual powers seem never to have ceased growing in strength. Thirty years ago he was a member of the national House of Representatives, and was then pronounced by Horace Greeley to be among the most promising, if not the most promising, of all the young and rising statesmen in the South; and this at a time when Southern statesmanship was at high water mark, and Southern statesmen, it is not too much to say, ruled the whole land.

Dr. Curry has never ceased to be a student. He is a profound constitutional lawyer, is thoroughly familiar with the history of his own and other countries, is one of the finest orators in America, is a ripe scholar, and, withal, one of the most unassuming of men. His versatility of talents amounts to genius; and yet we may say that he is peculiarly equipped for the special duties which he has been selected to perform. Having profound respect for other people's opinions, knowing that there are two sides to every question, and possessing the ability to appreciate the force of arguments addressed to his understanding whatever his previous inclinations may have been, familiar with international law as also with the laws of his own country, self-poised, anxious to be just to all persons and consequently to all nations, he cannot but be a successful diplomatist.

In the name, then, of Alabama, his native State; of Virginia, his adopted State; of the South, and of the united States, we return thanks to President Cleveland for the honor he has conferred upon a man of whom it may be said, if of any statesman living, that he is absolutely "without fear and without reproach.'

"He can't be wrong whose life is in the right."

-Richmond Dispatch.

Had Mr. Cleveland searched the country over he could not have found a gentleman better qualified in every way to serve our government in Spain than Dr. Curry; for the new Ambassador is not only a man of culture; he is not only a man of broad experience in statecraft; he is not only a high type of the American citizen, but he is a man of singular tact and prudence, a wise counsellor, and a fearless defender of American institutions.-The State.

-We feel that an apology is due to our readers for the late appearance of this number of the JOURNAL. Circumstances over which we had no control caused its publication to be deferred from day to day till this late date was reached. We can confidently promise improvement for the future and hope soon to issue our paper on the first of each month.

-STATE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.-At a meeting held during the Peabody Normal at Staunton a State Teachers' Associatian was organized by electing the fol lowing officers: Superintendent H. S. Roller, of Augusta, President; Superintendent E. T. Broyles, of Page, Vice-President; G. W. Hoenshel, of Frederick, Recording Secretary; M. W. Bucher, of Augusta, Corresponding Secretary; W. B. Carr, of Loudoun, Treasurer. The time and place of holding the next meeting will be determined by the Executive Committee.

Notes.

THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION, 1885.-The 41st annual meeting will be held on Friday and Saturday, November 27th and 28th, at the Girls' High School, West Newton Street, Boston. President, Ray Greene Huling, Fitchburg. Secretary, J. W. MacDonald, Stoneham. Presidents of Sections—Primary, Hon. John W. Dickinson, Newton; Grammar, Edwin T. Horne, Boston; High, Alfred S. Roe, Worcester.

Among attractive books for the Christmas season published by O. Ditson & Co., will be a low priced and handsome volume entitled "Christmas Songs."

Educators, who believe in the value of the Kindergarten system, will welcome Miss Kate Douglas Wiggins" Kindergarten Chimes," recently published. Its hundred pages contain eighty-seven pretty and beautiful songs, admirably suited to this system.

The senior partner in the great publishing house of Oliver Ditson & Co. (Mr. Oliver Ditson), has recently celebrated his seventy-fourth birthday. The foundations of this house were laid in 1835, and Mr. Ditson, who has been identified with its growth from the beginning, takes as active an interest in its affairs as ever. He is a rare example of the physical and mental vigor which may accompany the closest application to business.

The current number of The University (24th October) contains a second timely and original paper on Elective Studies and National Culture, by Professor George H. Howison, of the University of California. The Professor institutes a full comparison between the American and the German educational systems, and shows beyond dispute that of true university education this country has scarcely more than a single instance, our so-called universities really corresponding to the German secondary schools. The University Company, Chicago. $2.50 per annum.

Gen. Beauregard has arranged to write a series of articles on the War between the States for the North American Review, beginning with January, 1886. 1. The Shiloh Campaign. 2. The Defence of Charleston. 3. Drury's Bluff Campaign, and 4. The Defence of Petersburg.

Publishers' Notes.

Messrs. D. C. Heath & Co. announce for publication October, 26th, "Shepard's Elements of Descriptive and Qualitative Inorganic Chemistry." A text-book for beginners. The distinctive features are: Experimental and Inductive methods: the union of Descriptive and Qualitative Chemistry, thus allowing these kindred branches to supplement and illustrate each other; a practical course of Laboratory Work illustrating the general principles of the science and their application; a fair presentation of chemical theories, and a conciseness confining the work to the required limits.

The November number of the Southern Bivouac will contain an exceedingly graphic article detailing the movements of Lee's Army from the time he crossed the Potomac to the night before the battle of Gettysburg. The writer, William H.

Swallow, was formerly Assistant Adjutant-General of the Army of Northern Virginia. He presents some new facts concerning the orders under which General Stuart was marching, and contends that Lee's original plan was to march direct to Harrisburg, where the army was to be concentrated, and it was with this understanding that Stuart separated from his main army and moved through Hanover towards Carlisle.

The Teachers' Institute and the Practical Teacher have united, and are to be published hereafter under the combined name: Teachers' Institute and Practical Teacher, by E. L. Kellogg & Co., of New York. Col. Parker was moved to this step by the fact that by joining, far more might be accomplished for education. Col. Parker is to continue the series of lessons that began in the Practical Teacher. In fact, there is to be a number of pages edited exclusively by him, he having been secured as editor thereof. This combination will be found in the path of educational progress.

Tate's Philosophy of Education, announced some time since, by E. L. Kellogg & Co., of New York, is now on the press. It has been carefully revised and annotated by E. E. Sheib, of the Louisiana State Normal School. The Reading Circles of Illinois and Minnesota have already adopted it.

Messrs. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, announce for early publication Bibliography of Church History, by John A. Fisher. Price 25 cents.

Messrs. Ginn & Co., Boston, will publish soon Wentworth's Series of Mathematics, embracing Wentworth & Reed's First Steps in Numbers, Price: Teachers' edition, 90 cents; Pupils' edition, 30 cents; and Wentworth's Grammar School Arithmetic, Introduction price, 75 cents; Scott's Talisman, edited by Dwight Holbrook, in the series of Classics for Children; Introduction to the Language and Verse of Homer, by Prof. T. D. Seymour, of Yale, price, by mail, 65 cents Bacchantes of Euripides (Beckwith), and Thucydides, I (Morris), VI (White); A Handbook of Poetics, by F. B. Gummere, Ph. D., price, by mail, $1.10.

October Treasure- Trove displays some original and interesting features. Among those specially interesting is an article by Superintendent W. J. Ballard relating to physical exercise for young people, entitled The H. H. C."; "An Interesting Family," by Mary E. Tousey; "Stories from History," by Irving J. Roemer; "Lives of Great Men," by Hazel Shepard; and "Birds and their Habits," by S. C. Wheat. A strong short story, "Tom," by J. L. Harbour; "What is a Failure," by Wolstan Dixey; and the page of select recitations and department for "The Little Ones," greatly adds to the value of the magazine, which is at once entertaining and helpful. In the November number of Treasure-Trove begins a series of historical stories by Prof. John Monteith, formerly State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Missouri. These are very spicy and entertaining. The magazine is illustrated and has 36 pages. The price is only one dollar a year. Published by E. L. Kellogg & Co., New York. White's Oral Lessons in Number has been recently adopted in the schools of Boston, Mass.

Important changes will be made in Lippincott's Magazine with the issue for January, 1886.

The Magazines.

CONTENTS OF ST. NICHOLAS for October-Frontispiece; "Friends or Foes?" War with the Little Redskins; An Animal Painter, picture; A Garden of Girls, second story-Peggy's Garden, Celia Thaxter illustrated; Jingles, illustrated; The Griffin and the Minor Canon, Frank R. Stockton, three illustrations; October, verses, full-page illustration; His One Fault (concluded), J. T Trowbridge; The Wise Old Man, verses, illustrated: The Knowing Little Fish, verses, illustrated; Honey-Hunters, illustrated; When Mamma was a Little Girl; Historic Girls, IV, Pulcheria of Constantinople; The Brownies at School, poem, Palmer Cox, illustrated; How Science Won the Game; From Bach to Wagner, VII, Mendelssohn; Answered Riddle, Jingles; Driven Back to Eden (concluded), E. P. Roe; Teaching Tabby and the Kittens, Picture; Those Clever Greeks, with diagrams and illustrations; The Race, poem, iliustrated; Among the Lawmakers chapter XXVI; The Circus Clown's Dream, verses, full-page illustration and tail-piece; Jack-in-the-Pulpit, illustrated; For Very Little Folk, The Patient Cat, illustrated, full-page illustration.

THE OCTOBER CENTURY. In the October Century, the space commonly taken up with the War Series has been devoted to articles and illustrations relating in a timely and important way to the life and services of General Grant. "Riverside Park," the resting-place of General Grant, is the subject of a paper by W. A. Stiles, which is illustrated with several drawings. Other illustrated articles are Lieutenant Schwatka's second and concluding paper on his explorations in Alaska. Mrs Lizzie W. Champney's description of "The Haunts of American Artists," profusely illustrated with pictures of country studios, and Mr. Howell's "Tuscan Cities," illustrated with numerous etchings by Pennell. A portrait of the late Samuel Bowles, the famous editor of the "Springfield Republican," is the frontispiece of the number. His career is described by George S. Merriam, in a paper entitled “A Study in Independent Journalism."

THE SOUTHERN BIVOUAC for October begins with the second article on Ante-Bellum Charleston, by Paul Hamilton Hayne. This paper is devoted to a sketch of the life and career of William Gil more Simms, and is accompanied with portraits of Legare, Simins, and of Robert Y. Hayne, and a view of Simms' residence," Woodlands." The most interesting war paper in this issue, and one of the most interesting that has appeared anywhere, is the correspondence between General Braxton Bragg and his commanders after his retreat from Murfreesboro, General Bragg was criticised for making the retreat after that battle instead of advancing, and in order to justify himself he requested his subordinates to state, in reply to his letter, if they had not, every one of them, recommended the retreat. In addition, he desired also to know if he still had the confidence of his army. This letter, with the replies, is contained in the October Bivouac.

The October number of the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW contains twenty-three articles by as many different contributors-among whom are au English Cardinal, an American Admiral, two American Major-Generals, two American ex-Ministers to European Courts, an American Artist, a N. Y. Assemblyman, an ex-United States Senator, the Mayor of New York, an ex-Governor of New York, two distinguished American Men of Letters, and a famous American Financier.-Manning, Ammen, Ben. Butler, Fitz John Porter, Elihu B. Washburne, Wm Waldorf Astor, (his first appearance in literature), J. B. Eustis, of Louisiana, Wm R. Grace, of New York, Theodore Roosevelt, Horatio Seymour, E. P. Whipple, Charles T. Congdon, Dorman B Eaton, and some oth rs less known. There is also a very characteristic private letter from General Grant to his father, written from Milliken's Bend, just a few days before he started in the Vicksburg Campaign. It is contributed by Col. Fred Grant POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY-Contents for October: New Chapters in the Warfare of Science, I. The Doctrine of Comets, by A. D. White; The White Ant, a theory, illustrated; The Early Study of Plants, by Eliza A. Youmans; On the Solar Corona; The Relations of Railway Managers and Employees, conclude 1; Tommasi-Crudeli on Malarious Countries and their Reclamation; The Energy of Li e Evolution and how it has Acted, by Prof. Edward D. Cope, illustrated; "The Metaphysical Society," a reminiscence; A Study of Recent Earthquakes; The Trading Rat; Tissue-Selection in the Genesis of Disease; Sketch of Professor H. A. Newton, with portrait: Editor's Table, Official Science at Washington; Literary Notices; l'opular Miscellany; Notes.

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY for October. Contents: The Princess Cassamassima, Book first, IVVII, Henry James; The first Abbé Galant; Tacita, J. B. Kenyon: Childhood in English Literature and Art, II, Horace E. Scudder; A Country Gentleman, XXX-XXXIII. M. O. W. Oliphant: The First Guest, Helen Gray Cone; The Ogre of Ha Ha Bay, Octave Thanet; The New Portfolio, XIXXXI, Oliver Wendell Holmes; "Upon the Tree-Top," Olive Thorne Miller; On Horseback, IV. Charles Dudley Warner: Recent American Fiction; Hunting Trips of a Ranchman; The Congo Free State; The Contributors' Club; Books of the Month.

Our paper is issued at so late a date that all the November magazines have come to hand with full and interesting tables of contents. THE CENTURY, THE ATLANTIC, LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE, THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW, THE SOUTHERN BIVOUAC, THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, ST. NICHOLAS, OUR LITTLE ONE AND THE NURSERY.

OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT.

R. R. FARR, Superintendent Public Instruction, Editor.

[The Journal is sent to every County Superintendent and District Clerk, and must be carefully preserved by them as public property and transmitted to their successors in office.]

Comparative Statements.

The annual reports for year ending July 31st, 1885, have all been received except Franklin county, and tables one and two have been published, from these we make the following comparison with last year's statistics: