ld find his head taken from his shoulders. General Matthews wore his
Revolutionary sword and cocked hat, and he succeeded in convincing the
servant that he was not to be trifled with. He was promptly admitted
into the presence of Mr. Adams, and, with the touch of Irish brogue he
had caught from his father, he made himself and his business known. He
introduced himself, and then said to the President,--

"Now, sir, I understand that you nominated me to the Senate of these
United States, to be governor of the Territory of Mississippi, and that
afterwards you took back the nomination. Sir, if you had known me, you
would not have taken the nomination back. If you did not know me, you
should not have nominated me to so important an office. Now, sir, unless
you can satisfy me, your station as President of these United States
shall not screen you from my vengeance."

Mr. Adams at once made himself agreeable, for he had nothing but good
will for the stanch Georgia Federalist. The outcome of the meeting was
that the President promised to appoint the general's son John to be
supervisor of the revenue, and this promise he carried out.

Governor Gilmer, in his racy reminiscences of the people who settled
in the Broad River region, draws an interesting portrait of General
Matthews. He describes him as a short, thick man, with stout legs, on
which he stood very straight. "He carried his head rather thrown back.
His features were full and bluff, his hair light red, and his complexion
fair and florid. He admitted no superior but General Washington. He
spoke of his services to his country as unsurpassed except by those of
his great chief. He wore a three-cornered cocked hat, top boots, a shirt
full ruffled at the bosom and wrists, and sometimes a long sword at
his side. To listen to his talk about himself, his children, and his
affairs, one would have thought that he was but a puff of wind. Trade
or talk of history with him, and he was found to be one of the shrewdest
of men. Fight with him, and he never failed to act the hero. He was
unlearned. He spelled 'coffee' k-a-u-g-h-p-h-y. He wrote 'Congress' with
a K."

When it is considered that he had small opportunity to train himself in
any direction except rough fighting, General Matthews must be regarded
as one of the most remarkable men of his time.

Another remarkable man who figured largely in both the military and
political history of the State was General John Clarke, son of the