d therefore forlorn, insomuch that a
college edifice was hardly thought of." But the interest manifested in
the exercises of Commencement, and the frequent remittances from
England, "led some to hope, and many to fear, that the Institution would
come to something and stand. Then a building and the place of it were
talked of, which well-nigh ruined all. Warren was at first agreed on as
a proper situation, where a small wing was to be erected, in the spring
of 1770, and about eight hundred pounds, lawful money, was raised
towards erecting it. But soon afterwards, some who were unwilling it
should be there, and some who were unwilling it should be anywhere, did
so far agree as to lay aside the said location, and propose that the
county which should raise the most money should have the college."
Subscriptions were immediately set on foot in four counties, but the
claimants for the honor were finally reduced to two, viz., Providence
and Newport. The question was finally settled, at a special meeting of
the Corporation held in Warren, February 7, 1770. "The people of Newport
had raised," says Manning, in his account of this meeting, "four
thousand pounds, lawful money, taking in their unconditional
subscription. But Providence presented four thousand, two hundred and
eighty pounds, lawful money, and advantages superior to Newport in other
respects." The dispute, he adds, lasted from ten o'clock Wednesday
morning until the same hour Thursday night, and was decided, in the
presence of a large congregation, in favor of Providence, by a vote of
twenty-one to fourteen.

Soon after this decision, the President and Professor Howell, with
their pupils, removed to Providence, occupying for a time the upper part
of the brick school-house on Meeting Street, for prayers and
recitations. On the fourteenth day of May, 1770, the foundations of the
first college building, now called University Hall, were laid; John
Brown, one of the "Four Brothers," and the famous leader in the
destruction of the _Gaspee_ two years later, placing the corner stone.
It was modelled after "Nassau Hall" in Princeton, where President
Manning and Professor Howell were graduated. The spot selected for it
was the crest of a hill, which then commanded a view of the bay, the
river, with the town on its banks, and a broad reach of country on all
sides. The land comprised about eight acres, and included a portion of
the original "home lot" of Chadd Brown, the associate