They are great possessions
for any intelligent community. The tone of society will be sensibly
affected by the presence of a considerable number of highly educated
men, whose quiet and simple lives are devoted to philosophy and
teaching, to the exclusion of the common objects of human pursuit. The
University will hold high the standards of public duty and public
spirit, and will enlarge that cultivated class which is distinguished,
not by wealth merely, but by refinement and spirituality.
"I felicitate the State of Maryland, whose Chief Magistrate honors this
assembly with his presence, upon the establishment within her borders of
an independent institution of the highest education. The elementary
school is not more necessary to the existence of a free State than the
University. The public school system depends upon the institutions of
higher education, and could not be maintained in real efficiency without
them. The function of colleges, universities, and professional schools
is largely a public function; their work is done primarily, indeed, upon
individuals, but ultimately for the public good. They help powerfully to
form and mould aright the public character; and that public character is
the foundation of everything which is precious in the State, including
even its material prosperity.
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