In Italy, the land of art and of beauty, the proportion of those who can read is from twenty to thirty in a hundred, while among the inhabitants within a circle of thirty miles around Rome, there is not one in a hundred, it is said, who can read. Not only in these countries, but in more than half the globe, the masses submit to oppression, because it is the policy of their oppressors to hold them, spell-bound, in ignorance. If they are ever elevated to the social and political rank which the God of Nature designed them to occupy, it must be done by the school-master, armed with his text-books and sustained by the efforts of an enlightened Christian philanthropy. For this ultimate object God works, and man should work. There can be no doubt but natural scenery, as well as climate, exercises a decided influence in the formation of national character. Whether we advert to Palestine, Switzerland, or New England, it is easy to discover that the mountains of these countries have by their silent eloquence inspired the masses of the people, not only with reverence, but with a love of freedom. In the sublimity of the cloud-capped mountains, they seem to recognize a divine presence which has taught them to look skyward, and to feel that they are destined to ascend in the scale of existence; while in low and level countries, especially on the plains of Russia and Asia, the inhabitants take horizontal views of things, and consequently submit to oppression, and never dare, like mountain-bred men, to break their fetters or question the decrees of fate. The ancient Hebrews, as everybody knows, were not only brave in warfare, but were distinguished above all other nations as a reverential and God-fearing people. Their form of government was essentially theocratic. In the earthquake they recognized the footsteps of God; in the solemn thunder they heard his voice; in the lightning's flash they saw an expression of his anger; in the rainbow they beheld a token of his promise,--in a word, they were a peculiar people, who have, in the record of their experiences, transmitted to mankind a sacred inheritance. Switzerland is emphatically a land of mountains and of heroes. Almost every hill and vale within her borders has its consecrated spots and its sanctified memories. In the recesses of her mountains the love of freedom ever burns with a pure and a holy flame, because it is a love which was born of the mountains. In New England it is equally apparent that the silent grandeur of her mountains contributes to inspire her inhabitants with lofty sentiments, and with a love of civil and religious liberty,--a love which can never be subjected to the reign of oppression, nor be misdirected in its action, except by its own enthusiasm.