A few days after I received a note from Mr. Hope, asking me to call on him. I called next day, and he told me that Mr. Smith had been to see him, with a bitter complaint of my insubordination and defiance of his authority, which he would not endure, and he asked me to tell him what the trouble was about. I told him substantially as above related. “Is that all?” said he. I assured him that it was all the trouble that I knew of. Mr. Hope replied, “I cannot express my amazement at his interference with your management. That must be absolutely entrusted to you, and he ought to see it. He is a rational man and I can easily show him his error, and that you _must_ take the stand you have done. I don’t think you will have any more trouble.” I did not hear again from Mr. Hope for a fortnight, during which time I had no occasion to meet Mr. Smith. Finally a letter came from him, telling me that I must prepare for the worst; he had exhausted all his efforts on Mr. Smith, and found him absolutely immovable, declaring that I must go, I was of no use there, anyway. Mr. Hope said he told him his conduct was outrageous and suicidal. If I went, that I would be the end of the business. He snapped his fingers at that, saying, “Mr. Goodfellow can make the engines, and I can sell them; what more do you want?” He declared that no business could succeed unless the will of the president was law. They had several very disagreeable conferences, which Mr. Smith always closed by saying, “Repay me my investment in this company,” which he figured at $24,000, “and I’ll give you my stock.” He had announced to Mr. Hope his determination to call a meeting of the directors to discharge me, and as he had a majority of votes, having some time before given to each of his two sons qualifying shares and had them elected members of the board of directors, he held the power in his hands to do it. Directly after, I received a copy of a notice of a regular meeting of the board, convened strictly according to law. I could see no ray of light. The night before the meeting I walked the Third Avenue bridge half the night. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Smith at the appointed hour. Mr. Hope was absent. Mr. Smith said Mr. Hope had sent word to him the day before that he might be detained, but if so would come up on the next boat, which ran hourly, and asked Mr. Smith to wait that time for him. So the meeting was adjourned for an hour, when Mr. Hope arrived. Mr. Smith prefaced the resolutions discharging me from my position as superintendent and electing Mr. Goodfellow in my place, by quite an oration, setting forth the solemn sense of his Christian duty which left him no alternative, and the necessity of proper subordination in any business, if it was to be successful, and the especially aggravated character of my offense, and the demoralizing nature of my example.