Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-09-14
GOVERNOR BEAVER WRITES.
His Letter in Reply to Rev. j. j. Jones
Invitation.

Governor Beaver, Of Pennsylvania,
sends the following reply to The invita-
tion of Rev. J. j. Jones to be present in
Wheeling on Emancipation Day:
BELLEFoNTE, PA, August 20, 1891.
J. J. Jones' Esq. Wheeling, ". Va.
My DEAR SIR:-Your letter of the 18th
instant, inviting me 10 be pretent at the
Triple-Siate Emancipation Proclamation
Celebration of Ohio, Pennsylvania and
West Virginia, TO be held at the State
Fair Grounds September 22nd next, has
been received. The invitation to attend
such a celebration would Of itself be
sufficient inducement, if it were possible,
for me to so. When you add the additional
inducement of an invitation to deliver an
address upon Abraham Lincoln, it is diff
cult for me TO forego the pleasure. My en-
gagements are Of such character, how
ever, that very much fear l shall not be
able to attend. The uncertainty is such
that do not think it would be fair to you
to hold out any expectation OF my being
able to deliver the address and therefore
beg that you will select some other person
more competent than l am TO
make the address upon the life
Lincoln You NAV choose many who will
be able more satisfactory TO prepare and
deliver such an address, but am sure that
You will find no one who has a greater ven
Grafton or warmer love for the great
Emancipator than |. The day Of his death
was one Of the gloomiest in my life and
seemed to portend nothing but evil for the
country. The sense of personal loss occa-
stoned by his death has never left me. We
have seen many changes in the gov
ernment aud it is impossible for us
TO say what the result might have been if
Lincoln had lived There are no ''ifs' in
Gods economy, however, and we must &C
cept every event in the history of our coun-
try as well as those which appear in our
individual lives as being ordered by Him.
1t may be that the tragic character OF Lin
cons death has led 10 greater veneration
for his character than il he had died as
men ordinarily do. 1t is difficult 10 imagine
that, even If he had lived, he could have
added anything 10 his fame. His work
was done, and his title 70 the foremost
place in American history rests now a1d
will rest in the future very largely
upon his proclamation declaring those
previously held in slavery, free. This
would Of itself have rendered his name i'm
mortal, but the proclamation was only the
realization of the hopes and aspirations OF
the man and the conSumuation of what
he believed 70 be inherently and eternally
right He issued it not because il was
coed politics, not because there was pop
ular demand for il. not because it met the
views Of his own friends even, but because
he had made a vow 70 the Almighty that
il should be done in certain contingency
because ne believed the smile of God would
rest upon it. and because il was in keep
ing with his whole life and char
acter aud met the longings Of his own soul
for freedom for himself and for all men
You do well to celebrate the event, and in
the celebration of il you do well 70 magni-
fy the nameand the fame, the life and the
character Of Abraham Lincoln than
whom, in my Judgment. no greater AmerI-
can ever lived wish / could join you 10
express, at greater length, my admiration
for the man and my veneration for his
character and work. Thanking you very
heartily for the invitation TO join, and re-
GREETING my inability to do so, am most
cordially yours,