The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 1, January 1886 | Page 3

man of God for the most important
work of the gospel ministry, the hands of the Philadelphia Association
were strengthened, and their hearts were encouraged, to extend their
designs of promoting literature in the Society, by erecting, on some
suitable part of this continent, a college or university, which should be
principally under the direction and government of the Baptists."[B]

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Mr. Edwards, to whom reference is made in the foregoing, was the
pastor of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, to which he had
recently been recommended by the Rev. Dr. Gill, and others, of London.
He was a native of Wales, and an ardent admirer of his
fellow-countryman, Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island.
Possessing superior abilities, united with uncommon perseverance and
zeal, he became a leader in various literary and benevolent
undertakings, freely devoting to them his talents and his time, and
thereby rendering essential service to the denomination to which he
was attached. He was the prime mover in the enterprise of establishing
the college, and in 1767 he went back to England and secured the first
funds for its endowment. With him were associated the Rev. Samuel
Jones, to whom in 1791 was offered the presidency; Oliver Hart and
Francis Pelot, of South Carolina; John Hart, of Hopewell, the signer of
the Declaration of Independence; John Stites, the mayor of
Elizabethtown; Hezekiah Smith, Samuel Stillman, John Gano, and
others connected with the two associations named, of kindred zeal and
spirit. The final success of the movement, however, may justly be
ascribed to the life-long labors of him who was appointed the first
President, James Manning, D.D., of New Jersey. His "Life, Times, and
Correspondence," making a large duodecimo volume of five hundred
and twenty-three pages, was published by the late Gould & Lincoln, of
Boston, in 1864.
In the summer of 1763, Mr. Manning, to whom the enterprise had been
entrusted, visited Newport for the purpose of arranging for the
establishment of the college in Rhode Island. He was accompanied by
his friend and fellow townsman, the Rev. John Sutton. They at once
called on Col. John Gardner, a man venerable in years and prominent in
society, being Deputy Governor of the Colony, and Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court. To him, Manning unfolded his plans. He heard them
with attention, and appointed a meeting of the leading Baptists in town
at his own house the day following. At this meeting Hon. Josias

Lyndon and Col. Job Bennet were appointed a committee to petition
the General Assembly for an act of incorporation. After unexpected
difficulties and delays, in consequence of the determined opposition of
those who were unfriendly to the movement, a charter was finally
granted, in February, 1764, for a "College or University in the English
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England in
America."
This charter, which has long been regarded as one of the best college
charters in New England, while it secures ample privileges by its
several clear and explicit provisions, recognizes throughout the grand
Rhode Island principle of civil and religious freedom. By it the
Corporation is made to consist of two branches, namely, that of the
Trustees, and that of the Fellows, "with distinct, separate and respective
powers." The Trustees are thirty-six in number, of whom twenty-two
must be Baptists or Antipædobaptists, five Quakers or Friends, five
Episcopalians, and four Congregationalists. Since 1874 vacancies in
this Board, have been filled in accordance with nominations made by
the Alumni of the University. The number of the Fellows, including the
President, who, in the language of the charter, "must always be a
Fellow," is twelve. Of these, eight "are forever to be elected of the
denomination called Baptist or Antipædobaptists, and the rest
indifferently of any or all denominations." "The President must forever
be of the denomination called Baptists."
But though Rhode Island had been selected for its home by the original
projectors of the institution, and a liberal and ample charter had thus
been secured, the college itself was still in embryo. Without funds,
without students, and with no present prospect of support, a beginning
must be made where the president could be the pastor of a church, and
thus obtain an adequate compensation for his services. Warren, then as
now, a delightful and flourishing inland town, situated ten miles from
Providence, seemed to meet the requisite requirements; and thither,
accordingly, Manning removed with his family in the spring of 1764.
He at once commenced a Latin school, as the first step preparatory to
the work of college instruction. Before the close of the year a church
was organized, over which he was duly installed as pastor. The

following year, at the second annual meeting of the corporation, held in
Newport, Wednesday, September 3, he was formally elected,