Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1871-04-07
From the Lowell Courier of March 7.
Inauguration of the new Town of Aver

From the Lowell Courier of March Z.
Inauguration of the new Town Of Aver.
The Legislature having enacted into law
the unanimous vote Of our neighbors at Gro
ton Junction to be chartered as town named
after our distinguished fellow citizen, DR.. }.
c. Aver, they assembled en- mdsse on Mon
day to celebrate the contamination of their
wishes. AS the crowded trains arrived from
every quarter, cannon boomed from the bills
over the multitude while they assembled in
the hall. This was found to be elegantly
decorated with flags and evergreens, wrought
into festoons and appropriate notices.
| The occasion was honored by the presence
and talents of distinguished men, and will be
long remembered in the annals of Massachu-
setts. Gov. Claflin, whose presence was pre-
vented by the recent death of his father, was
represented by his chief-of-staff, the elegant
and eloquent Adjutant General Cunningham,
and his Secretary, Col. Taylor, and other de-
partments of State, literature and law by able
Representative men, including Hon. Tappan
Wentworth, our late honored Representative
in Congress, Judge Cowley, the historian Of
Lowell, and ex-senator Needham of Grotop,
who ably and eloquently gave away the bride,
and congratulated her on taking name al
ready 80 favorably and widely known. Sem
ator Clark moved the risibility of the crowd
by his inimitable humor fpr the ladies, in
which he so much excels. The speakers paid
their fellow-citizen a handsome tribute of
thanks for the high compliment in the adop-
tion of bis name, and their assurance that it
was worthy of the honor.
| At length the "great medicine man" was
introduced by President Prescott with high
encomiums based on his personal and life long
acquaintance. After thanking the audience
for the cordiality of their greeting, DR.. Aver
spoke as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen
On the western coast of Scotland where it
slopes into the Irish Sea, a river, rising on the
mountains of the inner land, winds down a.
mong the hills and smptes into the Firth of
Clyde. From remote time it has been called
Ayr from an old Scotch word "Ayry," mean
ing an eagles nest-the river of the eagles
nest. Near it's mouth and a contiguous har-
Dor, long stood hamlet which became a
royal burg or town named from the river, and
now about one-third as large as Lowell-the
city of Ayr. For more than thousand years
| it has been noted in the history of Scotland.
|
of his resorts, and was especially favored by
him because he was there cured of leprosy.
Oliver Crom we'll made it one Of the depots
and headquarters of his army in his attack
upon Scotland, and one Of bis old forts is now
the Citadel Of Ayr.
But above all it's distinctions, Ayr was the
birthplace of the poet Burns. And what a
poet! What voice has he given to all the
endearments of home How has he hallow-
ed the cottage and all it covers-weans and
wife, patches and poverty, beans, barley, ale.
hardship and the poor mans toll. How he
wraps with tenderness whatever be names,
even his bleak leagues Of pasture, the stubble
field, ice, snow, sleet, and rain, brooks, birds,
mice, thistles and heather. His Bonny Doom,
John Anderson, my 10 John, Auld Lang
Syne, and Highland Mary roll round the
world in ever ringing symphony with what is
purest and best in human nature. His songs
WOO and melt the hearts of youth and maid
ems, bring solace to the sorrowing and cour-
age to the overburdened by their lot. His
inspiration has set the affections to music 10
strains that are immortal.
No other one man ever made language
classic, but he has rendered that lowland
Scotch Dorc dialect of fame. The name of
his home and his beloved river Ayr was lift
ed on the wings Of his pathos, aud now the
approaching traveller yearns to reach the
spot his genius has sancti6ed.
| Along the borders of the sea in parallelo-
gram and surrounding the town is county
of the same name-Ayrshire.
1t would weary your patience to hear the
history Of my ancestors from one ancient John
of Ayr, then John Ayr, down through the
centuries to this Aver now before you; thro'
their vicisstudes Of poverty and plenty-of
fortune and misfortune; how they have inter-
married with England, Ireland and Scotland,
and later with the Americans, who are an
excellent mixture of them all.
My friends, you have chosen the name
Inherited for your town with an extraordinary
unanimity, and have thereby conferred an
honor upon me. the proper acknowledgment
of which do not feel fully able to express.
But beg you to be assured that it is appre-
ciated and that it will be gratefully remem-
bered with living interest in your prosperi-
ty while life remains to me, and, trust, be-
yond that by my children after me.
If this name has become noted among the
many that are worthier around you, that is
greatly due to its publicity. May be per-
mtted to state whence that came? Until
within few centuries all the civilized nations
of the globe were pent up on the Eastern
continent. Two or three hundred years ago
they leaked over into this; few and fearfulIy
at first, then more and more but always in
their settlements tmidly hugging the Atlant-
ic coast. Within the last two or three gene
rations, they have burst out, as it were, and
overrun these vast continents Of the West
Now they are scattered here and possess these
measureless stretches of mountains and val
leys, hills, plains, forests and pralries with
the boundless pampas and mountain ranges
of South America. Former generations lived
in villages and towns, thickly settled together
where physicians were plenty and near al
hand. Now, the people are widely scattered
10 many sections Of these many Countries
For great numbers the timely treatment o
physicians cannot he had over large tracts
Of country good or competent physicians can.
not be had at all. They can not visit patients
enough many miles apart to live by their pro.
fession, nor can they carry medicines enough
with them on horseback for their require.
ments. Hence has arisen in these modern
times, necessity for remedies ready at hand
with directions for their use--a present re-
course for relief in the exigencies of sickness
when no other aid is near. 1t is a new ne.
~