PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



THE history of the humblest human life is a tale of 

 marvels. Dr. Johnson said that there was not a man 

 in the street whose biography might not be made 

 interesting, provided he could narrate something of his 

 experiences of life, his trials, his difficulties, his suc- 

 cesses, and his failures. 



I use these words as an introduction to the 

 following biography of my " man in the street." 

 Yet Thomas Edward is not an ordinary man. 

 Eighteen years since, I mentioned him in Self- 

 Help, as one of the most extraordinary instances of 

 perseverance in the cause of science that had ever 

 come under my notice. 



Nor was he a man of any exalted position in society. 

 He was a shoemaker then ; he is a shoemaker still. 

 For nearly thirty years he has fought the battle of 

 scientific poverty. He was one of those men who 

 lived for science, not by science. His shyness pre- 

 vented him pushing himself forward; and when he 

 had done his work, he was almost forgotten. 



