PREFACE. 
Tue 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 some- 
thing of his experiences of life, his trials, his difficul- 
ties, his successes, and his failures. 
I use these words as an introduction to the fol- 
lowing 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 soci- 
ety. He was a shoe-maker then; he is a shoe-maker 
still. For nearly thirty years he has fought the bat- 
tle of scientific poverty. He is one of those men 
who live for science, not by science. His shyness 
prevented him pushing himself forward; and when 
he had done his work, he was-almost forgotten. 
How he pursued his love of nature; how he sat- 
isfied his thirst for knowledge, in the midst of trials, 
difficulties, and troubles—not the least of which was 
