CHAPTER XVIII. 
CONCLUSION. 
Epwarp’s labors were now drawing to a close. He had 
fought the fight of science inch by inch, until he could 
fight no more. He had also fought the fight of honest pov- 
-erty—a great triumph and a great glory. 
“The honest man, though e’er sae poor, 
Is king o’ men, for a’ that.” 
It is said that the man who can pay his way is not poor. 
Edward could always do that. He was in no man’s debt. 
He had lived within his means, small though they were. 
Toward the end of his life he could-only earn about eight 
shillings a week. But his children were now growing up ; 
and as he had helped them in their youth, they now helped 
him in his age. 
He had become prematurely old. His constitution had 
been seriously injured by. his continuous exposure to the 
night air. He had repeated illnesses—inflammations of the 
throat and lungs, inflammations of the stomach and bowels 
—each attack rendering him weaker than before, until at 
last he altogether gave-up his researches, and confined him- 
self to shoe-making — occasionally attending as curator at 
the museum. 
Yet he never could get rid of his love of nature. He 
continued to admire the works of the Creator as much as 
ever. On recovering from one of his illnesses, he went to 
Huntly for a change of air. His wife accompanied him. 
