472 132-133 .......... ..40-41, 473-474, 566 Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, 186 National Educational Association...92-95, 135-136 tional Exhibit..... -374-383, 517-518 MONEY can be earned at our NEW line of work, rapidly and honorably, by those of either sex, young or old, and in their own localities, wherever they live. Any one can à do the work. Easy to learn. We furnish everything. We start you. No risk. You can devote your spare moments, or all your time to the work. This is an entirely new lead,and brings wonderful success to every worker. Beginners are earning from $25 to $50 per week and upwards, and more after a little experience. We can furnish you the employment a teach you FREE. No space to explain here. Full Information EE. TRUE & CO., AUGUSTA, MAINE. 169 TEACHERS WANTED! Send stamps for FREE REGISTRATION Plan and American College Directory Supplement. AMERICAN TEACHERS' BUREAU, Evans Buildings, St. Louis. Venable's Arithmetics, Maury's Geographies, and Holmes' United States History. JOSEPH GILLOTT'S THE MOST PERFECT OF PENS. FOR FINE WRITING, Nos. 303, 604, and Ladies', 170. FOR BROAD WRITING, Nos. 294, 389, and Stub FOR GENERAL WRITING, Nos. 404, 332, 390, and JOSEPH GILLOTT & SONS, 91 John Street, N. Y. HENRY HOE, Sole Agent. All over this old Commonwealth of ours is arising a cloud of prophets who proclaim with one voice, "Virginia is entering upon an era of industrial and material progress unexampled in her history." "Amen," say I. I believe in the vision of these seers. I think they have read correctly the signs of the times. And if this prediction is to be verified, does not the public school have its part to perform in bringing it to pass? I think it safe to lay down this axiom, that without general intelligence there can be no general prosperity. A prosperity that would inure to the benefit of a few, already at ease, is not a good thing, and is not to be struggled for. If Virginians are to reap the benefits of increased activities within our borders, they must have a fair and equal showing with their most favored competitors; and this can only be possible when, as a mass, they are equally educated. And where should suggestions for the improvement of our State system of education originate, if not with the teacher? Who knows better the average of intelligence than he? Who should be better prepared to point out defects or omissions in the system? I do not mean the teacher as an individual, however great his experience or ability, but the teacher as an aggregation, such as a State Association would present. It is clearly our paramount duty to see to it that it shall be through no fault or failure on our part if Virginia should be left behind in the great .march of industrial, material, and social progress. The legislature has originated and put into operation a system of public instruction for the children of the State, and has committed it to the hands of the teachers for its practical use. The work was well and nobly done; it was laid down on broad and enduring principles; but in a scheme so far-reaching and so complex, human foresight could not be expected to anticipate every emergency, or to legislate for a condition of things that did not then exist. In its practical workings they have a right to expect suggestions from us who run the machine. Where changes occur in the conditions, or where improvements might be made in the existing order of affairs, it is our duty to speak. Not as one man, but as a united corps. Certainly few thoughtful teachers, who have been long in the service, have failed to note material points in which revised legislation is desirable. Let us, then, every one of us, meet in Lynchburg next summer, discuss and mature our plans, go before our State Assembly, and ask for what we want, and we will get it. Other Southern States are moving-the whole South is moving; why should Virginia lag behind? ONE OF THE EXECUTIVE Committee. [For the JOURNAL.] Don't Marry Your Cousin. She may be ever so sweet and charming, and you may be madly in love with her; or he may be as brave and true and handsome as General R. E. Lee, but don't tie yourself to her or him unless you are willing to run the risk of perpetuating a race of imbeciles and congenital idiots. You may answer, "Ah! that does not follow as a matter of course," and I will agree with you that, unfortunately, there are some exceptions. I use the word unfortunately advisedly, for if there were no exceptions, and disastrous results were sure and inevitable, even the most thoughtless would be appalled, and refrain from such marriages. During the forty years in which I have been employed in school-teaching it has been my sad fate to have many semi-imbeciles and some complete idiots consigned to my care, and the incomprehensibly wearisome task given me of trying to educate them. In a certain county the number of such unfortunates was so great that my curiosity was aroused to find out the cause. Investigation proved that every one of these miserable creatures were the offspring of cousins, and some of double first cousins. Further inquiry has also brought to light the fact that nine-tenths of the pig-headed men and women of my acquaintance claim near relationship in their parents' families. Many of these are good, law-abiding citizens, but so narrow-minded and with such lopsided brains that it is impossible for them to view any subject correctly, as they can only see one side. One such worthy old gentlemen assures me, in the most earnest manner, that all the woes and all the hard times which have afflicted our Commonwealth for the past thirty years have been brought about by the building of railroads. "When I was young," says he, "there were no railroads, and times were good and money plenty, and if |