In Maryland was the first Methodist Church in America, and it was
natural that here too should be the first Methodist College in the
world. There was no permanent organization of this denomination in the
United States, until John Wesley, on the petition of the American
churches, consecrated Rev. Thomas Coke, Superintendent for the United
States, in 1784. Dr. Coke sailed directly from England, and arrived in
New York on November 3, 1784. He thence traveled southward and, on the
15th of the same month, met Francis Asbury at Dover, Delaware. At this
first meeting, Coke suggested the founding of an institution for higher
education, to be under the patronage of the Methodist Church.[25] This
was not a new idea to Asbury; for, four years previous to this meeting,
John Dickins had made the same suggestion to him. The earlier idea had
contemplated only a school, on the plan of Wesley's at Knightwood,
England, and for that purpose, a subscription had been opened in North
Carolina in 1781.[26]
Coke's suggestion, to have a college, was favorably received and, at the
famous Christmas Conference at Baltimore in 1784, the Church was
formally organized, with Coke and Asbury as Bishops, and the first
Methodist College was founded. Thus the denomination which has increased
to be the largest in the United States, recognized the paramount
importance of education at its very foundation.[27] To the new
institution, the name of Cokesbury was given, in honor of the two
Bishops, from whose names the title was compounded. For this College,
collections were yearly taken, amounting in 1786 to £800 and implying
great self-denial by the struggling churches ill-supplied with
wealth.[28]
As early as January 3, 1785, only two weeks after the College was
decided on, its managers were able to report that £1,057 had been
subscribed, a sum that put the enterprise on a firm footing. The site
was next to be chosen, and Abingdon in Harford County was pitched upon.
Of the 15,000 Methodists in the Union in 1784, over one-third were in
Maryland, and hence, it had the best claim for the College, and the
beauty of the situation of Abingdon charmed Coke so much that he
determined upon placing the College there. It was also a place easy of
access, being on the direct stage line from Baltimore to Philadelphia
and near the Chesapeake Bay. Bishop Coke, the most zealous advocate of
the College, contracted for the building materials; but was prevented
from being present at the laying of the corner-stone. Bishop Asbury,
however, was present and preached a sermon on Psalms 78, verses 4 to
8.[29] In this sermon, "he dwelt on the importance of a thoroughly
religious education, and looked forward to the effects, which would
result to the generality, to come from the streams which should spring
from this opening fountain of sanctified learning." The building was
built of brick, one hundred feet in length and forty in width, faced
east and west, and stood on "the summit and centre of six acres of land,
with an equal proportion of ground on each side." It was said to be in
architecture "fully equal, if not superior, to anything of the kind in
the country." Dormitory accommodations were provided in the building;
but it was intended that "as many of the students as possible, shall be
lodged and boarded in the town of Abingdon among our pious friends,"[30]
Gardening, working in wood in a building called the "Taberna Lignaria,"
bathing under supervision of a master, walking, and riding were the only
outdoor exercises permitted. The students were prohibited "from
indulging in anything which the world calls play. Let this rule be
observed with the strictest nicety; for those who play when they are
young, will play when they are old."
In 1785 the Bishops issued a "Plan for Erecting a College intended to
advance Religion in America." It is quite long and many of its
provisions are very quaint. From it we learn that Cokesbury is intended
"to receive for education and board the sons of the elders and preachers
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, poor orphans, and the sons of the
subscribers and other friends. It will be expected that all our friends,
who send their children to the college, will, if they be able, pay a
moderate sum for their education and board; the others will be taught
and boarded and, if our finances allow it, clothed gratis. The
institution is also intended for the benefit of our young men, who are
called to preach, that they may receive a measure of that improvement,
which is highly expedient as a preparation for public service." Teachers
of ancient languages and of English will be provided, and no necessary
branch of literature shall be omitted. "Above all, especial care shall
be taken that due attention be paid to the religion and morals of the
children, and to the exclusion of all such as continue of an
ungovernable temper." "The expense of such an undertaking will be very
large, and the best means we could think of, at our late conference, to
accomplish our design, was to desire the assistance of all those in
every place who wish well to the cause of God. The students will be
instructed in English, Latin, Greek, logic, rhetoric, history,
geography, natural philosophy, and astronomy. To these languages and
sciences shall be added, when the finances of our college will admit of
it, the Hebrew, French, and German languages. But our first object shall
be, to answer the designs of _Christian_ education, by forming the minds
of the youth, through divine aid, to wisdom and holiness by instilling
into their minds the principles of true religion--speculative,
experimental, and practical--and training them in the ancient way, that
they may be rational, spiritual Christians. We have consented to receive
children of seven years of age, as we wish to have the opportunity of
teaching 'the young idea how to shoot' and gradually forming their
minds, through the divine blessing, almost from their infancy, to
holiness and heavenly wisdom, as well as human learning. We shall
rigidly insist on their rising early in the morning (five a.m.), and we
are convinced by constant observation and experience, that it is of vast
importance, both to body and mind.
"We prohibit play in the strongest terms, and in this we have the two
greatest writers on the subject that, perhaps, any age has produced (Mr.
Locke and Mr. Rousseau) of our sentiments; for, though the latter was
essentially mistaken in his religious system, yet his wisdom in other
respects and extensive genius are indisputably acknowledged. The
employments, therefore, which we have chosen for the recreation of the
students are such as are of greatest public utility:--agriculture and
architecture.
"In conformity to this sentiment, one of the completest poetic pieces of
antiquity (the Georgics of Virgil) is written on the subject of
husbandry; by the perusal of which and submission to the above
regulations, the students may delightfully unite the theory and practice
together."
There is something extremely ludicrous in the idea of making the average
student delight in spending his leisure hours in farming, by means of a
study of the Georgics in the original. But we can hardly laugh at these
men, they were too much in earnest. To return to the circular, "The four
guineas a year for tuition, we are persuaded cannot be lowered, if we
give the students that finished education, which we are determined they
shall have. And, though our principal object is to instruct them in the
doctrines, spirit, and practice of Christianity, yet we trust that our
college will, in due time, send forth men that will be a blessing to
their country in every laudable office and employment of life, thereby
uniting the two greatest ornaments of human beings which are too often
separated: _deep learning_ and _genuine piety_."
As soon as the building was under roof, a preparatory school was opened
and the Trustees applied to John Wesley for a President. He suggested a
Rev. Mr. Heath, and this suggestion was accepted on December 23,
1786.[31] His inauguration occurred a year later and was a grand affair.
Asbury presided on each of the three days of the ceremony, and his text
on the second day, "O man of God, there is death in the pot,"[32] was
looked on by the superstitious, in time to come, as a presage of
disaster. The faculty was filled up and all seemed to bid fair for
prosperity; but Mr. Heath remained in charge of the College less than a
year, resigning because of certain charges of insufficiency, which seem
rather trival. Another professor left to go into business and Asbury's
soul was tried by these "heavy tidings."
The good Bishop was indefatigable in his care of Cokesbury. His visits
were frequent, and while there, he was very active, examining the
pupils, preaching, and arranging the affairs, both temporal and
spiritual. Abingdon became a centre of Methodism, families moved there
to enjoy the educational advantages, and the Conference regularly
visited the College, coming over from Baltimore for that purpose.
Dr. Jacob Hall, of Abingdon, was the second President, and had under him
a faculty of three professors and a chaplain. The school prospered and
had public exhibitions of its students' proficiency from time to time.
It is doubtful if sufficient care was exercised in the expenditure of
money and, in December, 1790, the Trustees felt obliged to contract a
loan of £1000. The charitable contributions fell off, and Asbury was
forced to go from house to house in Baltimore, "through the snow and
cold, begging money for the support of the poor orphans at
Cokesbury."[33] The instruction was good, and Asbury could write to
Coke, then in England, that "one promising young man has gone forth into
the ministry, another is ready, and several have been under awakenings.
None so healthy and orderly as our children, and some promise great
talents for learning."[34] Still, "all was not well there," and on
October 2, 1793, he "found matters in a poor state at college; £500 in
debt, and our employes £700 in arrears." A year later, matters were
desperate and the good Bishop wrote that "we now make a sudden and dead
pause--we mean to incorporate and breathe and take some better plan. If
we can not have a Christian school (_i.e._ a school under Christian
discipline and pious teachers), we will have none."[35] The project of
incorporation was not favored by some, who feared that the College would
not be thereby so directly under the control of the Conference, but was
carried through, and the charter bears date, December 26, 1794.[36] By
it, the institution was allowed to have an income not exceeding £3,000.
How a charter was to avoid increased indebtedness does not appear and
the College's debt had so increased, that the Conference in 1795 decided
to suspend the Collegiate Department and have only an English Free
School kept in the buildings.[37]
Misfortunes never come singly: an unsuccessful attempt to burn the
buildings had been made in the fall of 1788, and now, on December 4,
1795, a completely successful one was made, and the building and its
contents were consumed. Rewards to discover the incendiary were offered
in vain, and Asbury writes:[38] "We have a second and confirmed report
that Cokesbury College is consumed to ashes--a sacrifice of £10,000 in
about ten years. If any man should give me £10,000 to do and suffer
again what I have done for that house, I would not do it. The Lord
called not Mr. Whitefield, nor the Methodists to build colleges. I
wished only for schools; Dr. Coke wanted a college. I feel distressed at
the loss of the library."
Asbury despaired, but Coke did not and, going to work, he raised £1,020
from his friends. After the determination was made to move the College
to Baltimore, the Church there gave £700, and a house to house
solicitation brought in £600 more. A building originally erected for
balls and assemblies was purchased and fitted up. It stood next the old
Light Street Methodist Church and a co-educational school was opened
therein on May 2, 1796. The high course planned for girls is especially
noticeable at this early period. The school opened with promises of
success, and within a month there were nearly 200 scholars.
Fatality pursued the enterprise, however, and a year to a day from the
burning of the first building, this second one was reduced to ashes,
with the adjoining church and several houses.
Asbury writes rather philosophically:[39] "I conclude God loveth the
people of Baltimore, and he will keep them poor to make them pure;" but
even Coke gave up hope at this new disaster, and it was twenty years
before a second Methodist College was attempted.