Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-05-27
THE RECENT LINCOLN MEETING
IN new YORK.
A Gathering of Ghouls.
from The New York Herald, MAY ao.l

from The New York Herald. May 2o.l
The Lincoln meeting at the Cooper Insti-
tute last Friday evening was one of the
most disgraceful exhibitions of human de-
pravity ever witnessed in this wicked world.
1t was a gathering Of ghouls, vultures, hy-
enas and other feeders upon carri0n, for the
purpose of surfeiting themselves upon the
slaughter of the recent battles. We re-
member nothing like it In the history of
politics. The great ghoul at Washington,
who authorized the meeting, and the little
ghouls and vultures who conducted 1t, have
succeeded in completely disgusting the peo-
pie of this country, and have damaged
themselves irretrievably.
In the midst of the terrible conflicts of
the past three weeks, while thousands of
lives were being sacrificed for the national
cause, and while every patriotic man was
watching with intense and anxious interest
the painful progress Of events, these ghouls
thought only of Lincoln's denomination, the
control of the Baltimore Convention and
their own chances for petty offices. At the
sound of the cannon which was to decide
the fate of the country, these ghouls hur-
ried down from the emountains, these vultures
fiocked from the plains, these hyenas sneaked
out of their holes to feast upon the bodies
of the slain and gorge themselves with the
BILE conclave in the Cooper institute, and
proceeded to dig up the graves of our SOL
diers, to tear up the wounds of the wound
ed, to riot amid the carnage and make them
selves fat with gore. .t.,ft.
There was Clay Smith, the Kentucky
ghoul, and Oglesby, the military ghoul, and
Arnold, the Congressional ghoul, and Spen-
Ger, the legal ghoul. These were the ora
tors of the meeting, and they all devoted
themselves to praising Lincoln, the great
Presidential ghoul, and advocating his re-
nomination and reelection. Their argu-
ments were corpses. Their rhetoric was
blood. The SMILES were drawn from death
and wounds. Their logic was, that because
Lincoln had killed so many men he ought
to be allowed another term to kill as many
more. They cared nothing for the country,
for the nation, for the Union; but they re-
joiced in carnage, because they hoped it
would advance their fortunes, and they
gloated over the red river of blood, because
they hoped that it would float them into
power again. We repeat that so Disgrace
full and disgusting an exhibition is nowhere
chronicled in the history of politics before.
1t is without parallel or comparison, and
we lack words to stigmatize it as it de-
serves. H- -.... ...
If Lncoln's reelection were not impos-
the criminalities for which he is responsi-
BILE had not placed him out of the Presiden-
tial ring; if the people had not long ago
decided that General Grant is to be our
next President this ghoul-like meeting
would alone destroy his chances and render
his defeat foregone conclusion. The trick
of claiming credit for carnage and trying
to make capital out of wholesale slaughter
was too transparent and too boldly played.
In ancient times the ghouls stole slyly to
their abominable festivals at midnight by
the pale glimmer of the sickly moon; but
these modern ghouls parade themselves in
open day, advertise their purposes in the
daily papers, and gather publicly in hall
lit with the blaze Of gaslight as if anxious
to be universally abhorred and despised.-
The head ghoul at Washington had not
sense enough to forbid the meeting. The
ghouls and vultures here had not sense
enough to postpone it. With brazen faces
they confronted an audience whose friends
and relatives they were about to devour,
and begged for longer lease of power
Could the force of unblushing depravity
much further go? o9