THOMAS EDWARD. 49 



The passion for Natural History which possessed 

 Thomas Edward from his earliest years, was not in- 

 herited from his father or mother, for neither parent 

 appears to have had even the most ordinary proclivities 

 for the study of nature. The father of Edward at the 

 time of his birth was a militiaman, and Thomas saw the 

 light of day at Grosport, where the regiment was at that 

 time stationed. This took place on Christmas Day, 1814, 

 and a few years afterwards, on the disbanding of the 

 militia, the father and mother took up their residence in 

 Aberdeen, where they remained for some years. 



How Edward first acquired a taste for natural history 

 he never knew, but it is very certain that from his earliest 

 years he displayed the most precocious tendency for 

 insects, and in fact, any representative of the animal 

 world which came under his notice. When asked the 

 question in his old age what was the origin of his love 

 for natural history, by Dr. Samuel Smiles, who has 

 devoted one of his most readable and instructive bio- 

 graphies to Thomas Edward, he replied, " I suppose it 

 must have originated in the same internal impulse which 

 prompted me to catch those flies in the window." (This 

 he had made vigorous attempts to do when a mere babe 

 in his mother's arms.) " This unseen something — this 

 double being, or call it what you will, inherent in us 

 all, whether used for good or evil, which stimulated the 

 unconscious child to get at, no doubt, the first living 

 animals he had ever seen, at length grew in the man 

 into an irresistible and unconquerable passion, and 

 engendered in him an insatiable longing for, and earnest 

 desire to be always amongst such things." This was 



r. 



