Book Description

Excerpt from The Rise of South Africa, Vol. 1 of 4: A History of the Origin of South African It has been said that History unenlightened by Philosophy is no better than an old almanac This surely cannot mean that the simple narration of the events which have led to, or in themselves may have been so many steps in, the development of a country, is without value. It is sincerely hoped that this is not so, for in the present work there will be found nothing of the nature of a philosophical disquisition on the springs of human conduct, or on the origin and growth of civil society, nor any views respecting the right principles to be adopted in the formation and government of Colonies; yet it is believed that a straightforward, unbiassed account of the circumstances of hardship, endurance and perseverance under which the Eastern Province took its rise and continued to struggle for so many years will be read with interest, and the lack of philosophy pardoned. The present work was commenced about seventeen years ago - and is still continued - as a recreation. Arriving in Grahamstown in 1891, my curiosity was soon aroused in many of the old military buildings which still remain, particularly the old Drostdy House. On seeking information regarding their history I came into contact with many old people who remembered clearly much which seemed to be worthy of being put on record. This led to numerous interviews, during which all they could tell me was written down. 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.