In December 1799, John Ward Fenno, Junior, editor of the leading Federalist newspaper, Gazette of the United States, published an editorial claiming the United Irishmen in the United States were plotting a rebellion. He identified the suspected leaders of the organization: Dr. James Reynolds, William Duane, Matthew Lyon, John Daly Burk and James and Mathew Carey. It was a devastating accusation. Mathew Carey demanded that Fenno retract it. Fenno did not comply. Instead he published statements by Mathew and James. Mathew admitted he had once attended a meeting, but denied being a member. With cheek, James denied ever attending a meeting. He stated if he were asked to join, he would.[1] William Cobbett reprinted Fenno’s dangerously incriminating charges in his paper.
Carey’s finances were strained. He depended on loans from banks. Any implication that he was a radical trying overthrow of the government would have destroyed him. He had been imprisoned for sedition in Ireland. Carey knew the improper use of his pen could damage him professionally and personally. He prudently hedged his bets. In January 1799, Carey ran an advertisement that read, “Books Selling Very Cheap. Mathew Carey, Proposing to quit the Book Selling business, offers his large and valuable collection of Books for sale.”
Carey cleverly avoided a trap that Cobbett had set for him. He countered Cobbett’s attack with a satirical poem publishing A Plumb Pudding for…Peter Porcupine, on January 16, 1799. He delivered it to his nationwide network, and circulated 6,000 broadsides with portions of the poem entitled “a slice of the plumb pudding.” Cobbett responded by delivering slices of venison in jelly sandwiched between two plates to Carey’s shop at 118 Market Street. Carey sent the venison back to Cobbett in the hands of a burly Irishman, directing him to drop the plates in front of Cobbett, with intent to break them.[2]
On March 2, Carey attacked again, this time with The Porcupiniad: A Hudibrastic Poem. He quoted Cobbett turning his invective phrases into cleverly crafted verse. In April, Carey continued the campaign with two more poems. Using satire, Carey gained public support, effectively silencing Cobbett.[3]
The Society of United Irishmen in the United States was founded in 1797. Members took an oath of secrecy calling for the “attainment of Liberty and Equality of Mankind, In Whatever Nation” the members lived. Early historians point to his involvement. Carey associated with many suspected members. He was prominent in the Irish community and active with immigrants. Fenno’s charges were probably correct.[4]
Next: How New England’s Federalists Regarded the Union
Look for it Monday, December 16.
[1] Edward C. Carter II, “Political Activities of Mathew Carey, Nationalist, 1760-1814” PhD. Dissertation, Bryn Mawr College, 1962, 258-9.
[2] Mathew Carey, Autobiography (Brooklyn: Research Classics, 1942) 34.
[3] Carey, Autobiography, 32-9.
[4] Carter, “Political Activities of Mathew Carey,” 277 ff 23; 262-3. David A. Wilson, United Irishmen, United States: Immigrant Radicals in the Early Republic, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998) 11.
