ence of our systems of education in many states of the Union, and
the vital and pervading influence of the schools upon the public mind,
reaching as they do, and improving even those that remain ignorant of
letters, do not allow us to see the full extent of our obligation to
them. This remark applies to all civilized countries where any systems
of general education are adopted, but perhaps not to so great an extent
in any other country as in our own.

The evils which flow from ignorance are deplorable enough in the case of
individuals, although, as we have seen, the disastrous consequences are
limited in the case of those who live surrounded by an intelligent
community. But the general ignorance of large numbers and entire classes
of men, unreached by the elevating influence of the educated, acting
under the unchastened stimulus of the passions, and excited by the
various causes of discontent which are constantly occurring in the
progress of human affairs, is not unfrequently productive of scenes, the
contemplation of which makes humanity shudder. The following extract
from a foreign journal affords a pertinent illustration of the evils
which flow from popular ignorance. It relates to the outrages committed
by the peasantry in a part of Hungary in consequence of the ravages of
the cholera in that region.

"The suspicion that the cholera was caused by poisoning the wells was
universal among the peasantry of the counties of Zips and Zemplin, and
every one was fully convinced of its truth. The first commotion arose in
Klucknow, where, it is said, some peasants died in consequence of taking
the preservatives; whether by an immoderate use of medicine, or whether
they thought they were to take chloride of lime internally, is not
known. This story, with a sudden and violent breaking out of the cholera
at Klucknow, led the peasants to a notion of the poisoning of the wells,
which spread like lightning. In the sequel, in the attack of the estate
of Count Czaki, a servant of the chief bailiff was on the point of being
murdered, when, to save his life, he offered to disclose something
important. He said that he received from his master two pounds of
poisonous powder, with orders to throw it into the wells, and, with an
ax over his head, took oath publicly, in the church, to the truth of his
statement. These statements, and the fact that the peasants, when they
forcibly entered the houses of the land-owners, every where found
chlo