Excerpt from The Early Dawn: Or, Sketches of Christian Life in England in the Olden Time It is the high office of history to restore the Past to a new life. All great events have a twofold life; once, as they actually occurred, and again, as they are revived upon the historic page for the benefit of after times. The historian must first of all give an accurate record of facts in their just order; but more than this is needed, if the Past is to speak persuasively to the Present. It must be so reanimated as to bring to view living men and scenes, that the imagination may be enlisted and the pulse quickened. To the sharp outline of fact, fiction may add its embellishments, and thus allure many who would otherwise pass carelessly by the great lessons of human history. The author of the Chronicles of the Schoberg-Cotta Family is already well known and loved in many households of our land. 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."