cHap. xvi.] Money Considerations. 327, 
of things if I had not. What working-man, especially 
what journeyman shoe-maker, could have brought up and 
educated a large family without at times feeling privation 
and the pressure of poverty ? There are other trades which 
have their dull seasons; but, unlike most other tradesmen, 
shoe-makers are not, from their low pay, able to lay any 
thing by, even when they have plenty of work. And, asa 
matter of course, this made the struggle, when it did come, 
all the worse to bear. 
“From these facts and others which I have told you be- 
fore, I say, and am ready to maintain against every oppo- 
sition, that no one who steps this earth, or even crawls upon 
it, need ever despair, after what I have done, of achieving 
whatever of good they have once set their minds on. Firm- 
ness of purpose and the will to do and dare will accom- 
plish, I may say, almost any thing. The will is the key 
that opens the door to every path, whether it be of science 
or of nature, and every one has it in his power to choose 
the road for himself.” _ 
Notwithstanding Edward’s power of will and indomita- 
ble perseverance, and the amount of useful scientific work 
which he has accomplished, it was easy to see that he was 
rather disappointed at the results of his labors. It is true 
that his zoological labors did not enable him to earn mon- 
ey: indeed, he had not worked for money considerations. 
Natural science is always unremunerative, especially to those 
who have to work for their daily bread.* Nor had his self- 
imposed labors lifted him above his position in any way. 
He began life as a shoe-maker, and he continued a shoe- 
maker to the end. Many called him a fool because he 
gave himself up to “beasts.” He himself says, “I have 
been a fool to nature all my life.” 
* We are sorry to observe that the late Mr. Jonathan Couch, for 
whom Edward made so many of his researches at Banff, died in re- 
duced circumstances, rendering it necessary for his daughters to go 
out in search of employment. 
