Irish Rebel.

By the time he was twenty-four Mathew Carey had been condemned by the British House of Commons for his outspoken defense of Irish Catholics and jailed for publishing criticism of Parliament. Born in Dublin on 28 January 1760, Carey fled to France, where a priest introduced the young printer to Benjamin Franklin. The American colonial agent then introduced Carey to the Marquis de Lafayette, who was keenly interested in Ireland's revolutionary sentiment because France was considering an invasion of Ireland. Carey fled to America in September 1784, dressing as a woman to escape detection by British authorities.

Philadelphia.

Carey arrived in Philadelphia with just a few dollars and no friends. Another passenger from the ship went on to Mount Vernon, Virginia, and in the course of casual conversation with George Washington and Lafayette, who was visiting, mentioned Carey. Lafayette came to Philadelphia, found Carey, introduced...