December 30, 1801 — to George Roberts
CAMDEN, S.C.
ASB_VOL3.PDF, PDF page 289
Many of the Asbury letters are in the nature of reports of the work. This is that kind of letter. It reports the work in the South to George Roberts. It reports not only on the Methodist work but also on the Presbyterian. One could wish that the reference to Asbury Dickins were clearer. He had evidently run afoul of the
government in Washington because of his attacks on Thomas Jefferson. However, this attack on Jefferson does not seem sufficient for the severe language of Asbury.
CAMDEN, S.C.
December 30, 1801
[TO GEORGE ROBERTS]1
My respected Brother:
May great grace attend thee and those of the church of God in Baltimore. I have spent six weeks in the state of Georgia, with great labour and consolation. On the sabbaths our congregations were so large I had to preach most of the days in the woods. I hail the return of peace to bless my native land and all the world. We have some pleasing revivals in the south, of which I shall have narrative letters. I hope you preach in the market house this temperate winter. Poor Thompson the strife is over. I had a strong intimation it would be a match between McE.2 I think the choice is prudent. Oh Asbury Dickins!3 I had dreadful fears of what would befall that young man! His dear Mother! Oh how awful I felt last night. I fear he had committed murder! I wish you had been explicit. Happy Father taken from the evils to come! Now had he been my real son, what a reproach he would have been to his father, but what I feel in mind! Oh that he should bear my worthless name. I hope my soul enjoys religion. I am assisted in preaching frequently, and faithfully. I judge Brother [Sylvester] Hutchinson will go to Kentucky to see his relations, it is not advisable he should travel through Virginia with Brother Whatcoat.4 You may meet N. Snethen5 and me with a letter the first of February at Washington in North Carolina, directed to the care of Mr. Potts,6 merchant. You must be very full of intelligence. I advise you to preach upon the travail of a soul, every sermon, preach very plain and pure, and God will own your work. The work of God is making its way in Carolina, North and South upon this side the mountains among the Presbyterians, union, union is the cry. Bishop Whatcoat and myself have formed a plan to part at New York, one to go east and the other west, to meet each of the conferences, and then meet at the South Carolina Conference and so keep near together through the grand body of the conferences.
I have no doubt but if the Methodists hold out faithfully that they will work their way through these states southward and be joined by the Presbyterians. I have had such a letter fever I cannot be lengthy. Peace be with you all. Present my Christian salutations to all that you speak to, I am as ever,
Yours,
FRANCIS ASBURY
Methodist Historical Society of the Baltimore Conference (Lovely Lane Museum)
Notes (6)
- Pastor of Light Street Church, Baltimore. ↩
- He did not finish the sentence. The reference is not clear. ↩
- Asbury Dickins was the son of John Dickins, first Book Agent. He was born in North Carolina, July 29, 1780, and died in Washington, D.C., October 23, 1861. He passed his early life in Philadelphia, moving there with his father. When John Dickins died, Asbury was only eighteen; but he took over the book business with his mother’s help—Mrs. Elizabeth Dickins, who was a very capable woman. In 1801 Asbury Dickins became associated with the literary genius Joseph Dennie in founding the Portfolio, a literary magazine, in Philadelphia. “Young Dickins single entry into partisan politics concerned the election of 1800. To the question, ‘Shall Thomas Jefferson be the chief magistrate of these states?’ Dickins answered a resounding, ‘God forbid!’ His verbose arguments centered on the contention that Jefferson was not a Christian. This tract had unfortunate repercussions for Dickins in later years when it served as evidence he had become a Federalist.” Dennie was a supporter of the Federalist party. Dennie and Dickins had great success with the Portfolio from the very first. The Portfolio was “like the Tatler, Politics with Essays and disquisitions on topics scientific, moral, humorous and literary.” However, Asbury Dickins was associated with it for only a year, when Elizabeth Dickins, Asbury’s mother, took over his part. Dennie died in five years, and that ended the Portfolio. Asbury Dickins, soon after the Portfolio incident, went to Europe, where he married and spent several years and also got into debt. In 1816 he became first clerk in the United States Treasury Department. From 1833 to 1836 he was first clerk in the United States State Department, where he acted on several occasions as acting secretary of state. From 1836 to 1861 he was secretary of the United States Senate. He was recognized at his death for distinguished service to his country. (See Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 141; Asbury Dickins, “A Career in Government Service,” North Carolina Historical Review, July, 1947, 281, by Ruth Ketring Neuermberger; also The National Intelligencer, Washington, D.C., Thursday, October 24, 1861; The National Republican, Thursday, October 24, 1861.) ↩
- Bishop Whatcoat. ↩
- Nicholas Snethen was traveling with Asbury. ↩
- Ralph Potts, born in England, referred to several times in Journal as a dear friend. ↩