The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1867-03-20
M6cDougall, of California.

The term of this senator has expired. He
is better known, of late, for his follies than
for his talents; yet he is, or has been, a man
of most decided ability. A Washington cor
respondent thus speaks of him
McDougall is in many respects an extraor-
binary man. He has repeatedly entered the
senate chamber in condition, to all appear
ances, of absolute stupor, top heavy and heel
heavy,a unable to walk straight or stand
straight, and, after listening few minutes to
what was going on, risen to reply to an ar
gument he seemed scarcely in condition to
comprehend, and delivered speech which,
for force of reasoning and beauty of diction
would do to transfer uaaltered to the pages
of school book. One illustration will read
lily occur to the reader as one of the incidents
attending the passage of the Civil Rights
bin over the President veto, last winter
Senator Dixon was absent on account of iii
ness and the democrats, who expected his
| assistance. asked for postponement of the
question till the next day. Mr.. Wade was
unwilling to accede to this request, and eX-
pressed himself in favor of using all the ad
vantages which God had placed at his dispo-
sal that is, of taking advantage of Dixon S
sickness to pass the bill. McDougall had
| Just come to the senate in time to hear the
singular, harsh and uncouth speech of the
! Ohio senator. Rising, as Wade sat down,
he delivered one of the most appropriate lit
| tie speeches ever heard in thesenate, Justly
rebuking Mr.. Wade's irreverent political zeal
| at the same time that he entertained the few
around him who were able to hear what he
| said. muttered as it was rather than spoken.
l write this paragraph to illustrate this pecu-
| liar trait in the wayvard senator from Cali
fornia, and I can do so no better than by
quoting the first few sentences from the
| speech / allude to. Tie reader will please
bear in mind that they were uttered by a
man who had been on a continuous spree for
two years, and was, at the precise time of ad
dressing the senate, in even a worse condl
ton than was common for him
"Mr President, the senator from Ohio is in the
habit of appealing to his God in vindieation o.
| his judgement and his conduct it is q common
thing for him to do so; but in view of the present
| demonstration it may well be asked, Who anC
| what is his God In the the old Persian myth
ology there Ormudz and Arhiman-a
god of light and beauty, and god of darkness
4 and death. The god of light sent the sun t
shine, and gentle showers to fructify the fields
the god of darkness sent the lightning and tn
thunder, the tornado and the tempest, blasting
the nations with pestilence and death, And il
old Chaldean times men came to worship Arhi
man, the god OF darkness and famine and hi
priests became multitudinous !; they swarmed tn
land, and whom men prayed then their offerin G
were, Eve will not sow field of grain we vii
not plant a tree These were the offerings to tn
dark spirit of evil, until q prophet came who re
deemed that ancient land but he did it after cru
cifxion, like our Great Master. The followers o
Arhiman always appealed to the same spirit in
voked by the senator from Ohio. Death is to b
one of his angels now to re-establish liberty
Sickness suffering, evil are to be his angels an,
he thanks the Almighty-his Almighty-tha
sickness, danger and evil are abroad. 1t may b
| good god for him, in this world; but if there i
any truth in what we learn about the orders o
religion in this christian world, his faith will
help him when he shall ascend up and ask en-
tradce at the chrystal doors"