but Mr. Smith did not see fit to
follow it, choosing rather to yield his position than his principles.
However, he did not send a resignation, but a few days later wrote Mr.
Brady the following letter:

"F. P. Brady, Esq., Asst. Supt., Farnham.

"DEAR SIR,--On account of circumstances which I could not in any
way control, I have been obliged to delay answering your letter
of the 9th of July last. I regret very much to notice that you
have had occasion to refer again to complaints made against me,
which you say are numerous, and not only from shippers, but from
the public generally. In a former letter to you I denied any just
cause for complaint.

I have now been fifteen years or more in the service of the
Company, and during that time I have endeavored to render, I
trust, a faithful service. I have also received another letter
from you, dated September 4th, asking me to send you my
resignation by the first train, and ordering me to vacate the
Company's premises at the earliest possible moment, so that they
can be occupied by the new agent. I wish you would explain why
you order me to resign, because I delivered a temperance lecture
at Richford, as I have a leave of absence from the Company for
the present, and supposed I had a right to lecture off duty on
any occasion, time or place. You perhaps cannot realize how much
I value my honor and reputation, as it is about the only thing
that I have in the world to protect, and I must ask you to supply
me with the names of those making complaints against me and the
nature of their complaints, and as you also state the public
generally have made complaints, I trust there should be no
hesitancy on the part of the Company to supply me with the
information asked for, as you can readily see it is beyond the
realm of privacy. Please reply.

"W. W. SMITH.

"_Sutton Junction, Sept. 7th, 1894._"

This was Mr. Brady's reply:

"W. W. Smith, Esq., Sutton Junction, Que.

"DEAR SIR,--I have your letter of the 6th inst.; my letter of
July 9th to you was perfectly plain. It told you that you must
either quit temperance work or quit the Company. It makes no
difference whether you are on duty or off duty so far as this
Company is concerned. They demand the whole and entire time