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