Excerpt from Collections of the Nebraska State Historical Society, Vol. 17 In the preparation of what I am about to say in this address, I had in mind a broader purpose than merely inter esting the members of the Nebraska State Historical Society in the wealth Of its possessions and the work it is doing. I wish as much as possible to interest all the people of the state in the variety and character of the material that has been collected and is preserved in the museum and in the extent and scope Of the reference library of the society. I wished to create, if I could, in the minds of the people a desire to visit our rooms and to look at what we have. I hoped to induce the state to be sufficiently liberal in its appropriations to properly maintain and house these priceless records of its history. History, of all studies, contains the greatest amount Of instructions and of principles and of ideas in the facts which it relates. Humanity, viewed as a whole, is the most interesting subject for man. Every man that comes into the world should make himself acquainted with the place he occupies in the order of time, the increasing or decreasing of civilization, age by age. The picture of humanity should be painted with broad strokes, as a Turner would use the brush, for the eyes of the people to see and enjoy it. History develops thought because it contains the elements of reflection, and by this process it develops con science in the people. These are but glimpses of some Of the primary purposes Of state historical societies which make them worthy Of state support and of the patronage Of the people. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.