388 RESIGNATION. CHAP. xvm. 



After abandoning photography as a means of sub- 

 sistence, he returned to his old trade. " As a last 

 and only remaining source," he said in June 18*75, 

 " I betook myself to my old and time-honoured friend, 

 a friend of fifty years' standing, who has never yet 

 forsaken me, nor refused help to my body when weary, 

 nor rest to my limbs when tired my well-worn 

 cobbler's stool. AND HERE I AM STILL on the old 

 boards, doing what little I can, with the aid of my 

 well-worn kit, to maintain myself and my family ; 

 with the certainty that instead of my getting the 

 better of the lapstone and leather, they will very soon 

 get the better of me. And although I am now like 

 a beast tethered to his pasturage, with a portion of 

 my faculties somewhat impaired, I can still appreciate 

 and admire as much as ever the beauties and wonders 

 of Nature, as exhibited in the incomparable works of 

 our adorable Creator." 



