Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-03-14

The Council OF American Notabfes-
They re-nOmfnafe old Abe for the

Under the above ca ption Wilkes Spirit of the
Times. an ultra anti MCCLELLAN paper contains
the following slashing criticism of the schemes of
the men who have control of the Government. to
perpetuate power in their hands. The portrait
Is most vivid and truthful and connot fail to in
terest the reader. The work Of disintegration is
going on in the Republican ranks. and nothing
but the cohesive power of public plumber will
hold the organization together through another
political canvass. and il is doubtful whether that
inaunce will be powerful enough to cement the
ciscOrdant materials Of which it is composed.
Already We have the evidence that there is
much, If not more, bitterness between the con-
tending factions. than either have manifested to-
ward the Democracy. Says Wilkes Spirit of
the Times:
IL cannot have escaped the observation Of the
public that two distinct campaigns are being
pressed from Washington. One OF these is the
war against the rebels in the field; the other a
raid against the voters Of the country for the cap
ture and control of the next four years of spoil.
In both these Abraham Lincoln is the general
issimo. His principal sub commanders of the
military stamp are Grant, Butler, Banks and
Meade; his chief lientenants in the second enter
prise are Weed Seward, Blair and Bates The
ostensible aim of the first of these campaigns is
to recover possession of the seeded States; the
object of the second is to subjugate the express
sion of the loyal North, and take the next Pres-
dency and its plumber BY surprise As the latter
campaign is by far the most important to those
who manage both, the military march is subor-
dinated TO the civil one, ard our arms are con-
stantIy required to -ause, that the latter pro-
gramme may be incidentally hitched forward to
It's degisnaIed prominence. The civil campaign.
moreover, has natural advantage over the mil
itary one in the fact that its leaders are station
airy, through the favor Of the President, and not
subject to perturbation and removal on the point
of being too successful The cases of Fremont
and Butler are striking instances of this superior
strategy. The early opening Of the Mississippi
by the former, and the premature conquest of
Texas by the latter, were decOrOusly postponed
BY the Administration, in order that Gen. Seward
might FIRST conservative Missouri, and next bring
in, il possible. the malignants of the lower
States TO vote for Abraham Lincoln out of sheer
gratitude for scotching the malice of the ultra
radicals, and for his practical abFogation OF the
cOnfiscation acts. The theory laid down in the
Seward dispatch of April, 1861, that the rebels
should not be subjugated by the force of arms,
was to be maintained till it made an impression
on their hearts; and they were then to be tolled
in with a ten per cent. olive branch, to support
the leaders who so magnanimously sheltered
them from the penalties of treason.
The main triumphs of this policy over military
progress were undoubtedly the prompt counter
manding of FremOnt's emancipation edict in the
West, and the suppression OF the first Texas ex-
petition By the sudden displacement of Butler
from the Department of the Gulf It's secondary
successes were the abandonment of Pope to the
joint treachery of Potter and Mcclellan, the CON-
pIete immunity OF Lee from pursuit after his dis
astrous defeat at Gettysburg, aud the late fur
Tough to imperiled Richmond, through the mis-
sion of the reprieved assassin Boyle. All of
these incidents doubtless we're considered by our
civil nOtables wholesome checks to military
rivalry; but should Sherman now be cast away
in the endeavOr to carve out Lincoln delegation
from reconstructed Mississippi, as Gilmore was
wrecked in the late in-advised effort to snatch
three Rominating votes from Florida, we doubt if
the people will not decide that these Presden-
tial gamblers have overplayed their hand
Though Dir. Lincoln is not entirely to blame
for this subordinate aud selfish scheme, he must,
as the main party ostensiby in interest, be held
responsible for its disastrous effects. The true
criminals, however. are those unprincipled politi
cal Bourbons who have involved his feeble and
unsteady nature with false ambition, and who,
instead of nstrucIing him to thank Heaven hum
bly, for the undue honors which sarcastic Fortune
earelessly pinned upon his back, have tempted
him to believe that the sway OF "great ruler" is
his natural inheritance. Unfortunately for the
a
coin has not been imposed upon him, as were the
simulated royalties of that equally illustrious
character, Kit Sly, for the mere purposes of mer-
riment. 1t is not designed BY his scheming
courtiers that he shall cast aside the ermne al
the proper point, and, sufficiently honored by a
broad gugaw, return with grotesque caper to
his ttbOat or his ass; but it is deliberately medi-
tated he shall be showed again into the robes
Of State. that they may hold the line which
marks his range, and grind the music to regulate
his PAGES. 1t is they who TO be the Govern
ment-they. not he They to receive the silver;
be TO attract the audiences aud that simply is the
reason why we. though loyal to the warlike poll
cy OK the Administration, are opposed to the
whole OF this underplot and play The game is
entirely for Seward, Weed and Blair Poor
Abraham, whom they ca ged as soon as he was
caught, is the mere screen from behind which
they strike the country and accumulate their
spoil; and TO vote for him again, is merely TO
repeat Seward aud his cold Bourb0ns as the mas
tiers Of our future. That Is the truequestiOn now
proposed Bankrupt in character themselves
below the possibility Of public chance they dan
gle him forward for the amusement of the ground
hngs. IN the hope, while lurking artfulIy in his
grOtesque shadow, to seize upon his skirts and
swing once more upon the platform Of control.
The manner in which these tFicksters have
worked" this misplaced gentleman i character
istic Of their practice and their principles They
took him fresh from an ardent programme and
cOunseied him To recedc to harDonize the coun-
try With souls too small to appreciate the time
or il they do, with veins too cold TO sympathize
with its progression. they made him deal with
treason like an old policeman, and yield liberty
and per centage to the irire utfen lerS that they
might not be discouraged OF future exploits and
partnership together. Political corruption is the
meanest form OF treason. Themselves dislOyal
through the very intensity of -el6shness these
BourbOns naturally look With lenient eve upon
traDsgTessors who differ from them only by the
phase of courage; aud due sequel to their early
pledges to protect slavery anu the rebellion, is
the late repeal of the COn6ScatiOn Act. through
their attorneys of the districts The Emaucipa-
ton edict. ON which they repose for de
Tense, was wrung from them by the clamor OF
the people; aud they would not even invite the
rebels to repentance. in their Bull of Amnesty,
without giving them till the eleventh hour OF
doomsday to persist in the experiment of arms
There has been neither principle, good faith nor
dignity in their administration; and it is mere i'm
pudence to ask that they be perpetuated in their
power.
Indeed. there is something worse than impu-
dence in the manner they have attempted to
forestall the expression OF the country and dictate
themselves for the succession. Like the n0tables
of Mexico, who elected Maximilian they have
usCrped the functions OF the popular conven-
tiOHs, and, through unlimited promises and a
monster patronage. have induced the Hessians OF
the State Legislatures to domineer the judgment
Of the people. Purses and prizes Of all sorts
and sizes have beeu distributed among these
supple henchmen; aud IN the glow of Drema-
ture and spurious triumph. this whole crowd of
vIrtuOus expectanfs and crammed employees ar
raign the patriotism Of every loyal man whose
fudanandaoca ouosfforz thar audacfnus nro-