Chapter 7 Obstinacy 
AW-ABIDING citizen though he was 
—a devout churchman and, in politics, a 
Steady Conservative—Mr. Smith had no 
great liking for the local authorities and 
no inclination at all to sit down patiently under 
any imposition of theirs that he could throw off. 
How he opposed the Frimley Council in the 
matter of a surface-drain has been told. In that 
case direct opposition was the course he took. I 
feel sure it gratified some natural stubbornness in 
him. But with equal stubbornness he had long 
previously followed a more exasperating policy in 
opposing the Vestry. 
This may have been in the old Farnborough 
days—the affair cannot be dated; but indeed it 
doesn’t matter; for, early or late, he was always 
capable of standing up for himself immovably 
though with good temper. What had happened 
was that, all unknown to him, the Vestry had 
appointed him Parish Overseer. Whether he was 
right or wrong in holding that the appointment 
might not be declined I do not know. Certainly 
he accepted the office like a lamb, though he had 
hardly heard that it was his before casuals began 
coming to him, for orders for admission to the 
workhouse. ‘Then he realised too well, if he had 
58 
