Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-01-22
DEsTRET EVENING NEWS. SATURDAY, JANUARY e. 1898.

spirit and the methods of the muse OF
| history. To-day interest Is awak-
ened not In the general but In the
soldier: not in the king but In the sub
ject; not in the noble but in the arti-
san. The historian ha., discovered that
makers of history. 1t is the people that
are the builders of nation.
1t is no longer the pyramids
OF Cheops but the Pyramids
of Egypt; II is not the Parthenon of
Pericles and Phldias. but the glory
that was of Greece" The three hum
dred patriots at Thermopylae are i'm
mortalized no less than Leonidas, their
leader. 1t IL realized that the Arch of
llperius was neither conceived nor
erected by the Roman emperor. 1t
was the thought of a nameiess archi-
tect. wrought out by an unknown
mechanic. The Coliseum of Vespasian
is less n monument OF that cruel and
heiiish monarch than of the obscure.
artist who planned it. the tolling
masses who erected It. and of the mar
tyrs "butchercd to make Roman
holiday"
Coming down nearer to our own
time. We find the minds of men are no
longer bcwitched by the genius of
Napoieon. all eyes are turned to the
third estate and that proletarat that
shattered one of the oldest and most
snook the political foundations of the
Old World to their very center. As IL
was in the Old World, so II Is In the
Sew. History to be true to her mis-
SION must recognize the masses. And
especially In this land of politIcnl
equality and freedom must it tell tho
story OF those namelcss heroes of all
tiine-the masses of the people. who
nave Fought the battles. builded the
slties. and wrought the fabric of civ
iiization, into an enduring monument
10 the worth of human Industry and
.he value OF human liberty. History
~ one OF the most comprehensive
studies in the broad field of literature.
AS a bare record of facts and events
IT loses half It's charms for the general
student. but when investigated in
connection with geography and
chronology, which have been called its
two eyes, 1t becomes a panorama of
human lives. series of vivid pictures
IN which we live the lives of nations
long passed away.
Mr.. President, congratulate you
and the members of this association
the suspicious event that we are here
met to celebrate this evening, viz.
The birth of the State Historical So
ciety of Utah. Dating its existence
from the Semi Centennial Jubilee year
of our settlement as a territory, 1t has
well as before II. The history OF
Utah does not begin even
with our honored Pioneers. The ex-
plorations of Gardenas, La Houtan Es-
calante, Bridger. Fremont the intrepid
Pathfinder Ashley and Bonneville are
worthy of preservation in the ar
chives of our society as landmarks that
blazed the way for civilization and the
advent of Brigham Young and the
hardy Pioneers. And 1t is well that
this society has been formed before
the last Of that noble band have ira
veied their long journey to that home
whence no traveller returns" and while
they are still possessed of mental
vigor and physical strength to record
the events of the Pioneer days.
1--WE should also appreciate the fore
thought OF those who in diary and
Journal have preserved a history of
those times that tried mems souls
and who thus laid broad foundation
upon which future historians may safe
~ build. Perhaps no State in the
Union affords n wider scope for the
genius of the true historian than Utah.
rapid rate. Take for instance the his
tory of education in Utah. We can
most of us remember. less than
twenty years Sago, the little adobe
schoolhouses, bare of every educational
facility but books and benches, with
teachers poorly equipped as to
knowledge and methods, in which the
majority of our citizens imbibed their
first rudiments of education: and from
these unprontsing beginnings the
thirst for Knowledge grew and
strengthened until 1t has eliminated In
the magnificent free school system
which is the pride of our community,
and the Expectancy and rose of the
fair State" 1t needed more than the
faith of prophet and the imagination
of a poet to foresee the evolution of our
stately University from so humble an
ancestor. May the Historical Society
of Utah live, grow and flourish. and
may it stand as beacon light in the
history of our progress and a star Of