, 1876-03-04
BOWEN.

4
and runs nway when attacked, but tu,us
about and pursues ita enemy II it discr ,vors
any evidence Of fear it runs away y. plr-
sued; it pursues il run away from, Mr.,
IIENnY G. DowEs, Of Brooklyn, soo' MS to hayo
some B1,ch nature as tho blaok s'aoke, Ever
since tho first whisperings Of the DgEcuEn
scandal, this man Bowen Inns been playinQ
hile.aud-seek with plymouth. Ch,,rcl, aud tho
pubio,-now pretending t, know everything,
now nothing; now profe saing a Willingness
to reyeal what ho Inns Pr blended to know, and
again announcing him self as under tho most
"sacrea pledge of q '.icnco"; seeking his hole
when he was cough t, md protruding his ugly
presence when 20 thought tho Plymouth
Church people Tscro running away from him.
At lust it would appear that Mr.. Bowen Inns
been run do. .wn, and. the exact amount Of bis
original" information pretty definitely
hseertMno d, though ho still declines to give
names ld dates except to select committee
OF tAr &c, sworn to secrecy. This silly prop
oa1tifIn is in keeping with BowEs's previous
cor duct, md it seems to have been made be-
e. .use he WIS convinced that it would not be
accepted What good could sccrct CON-
/ mittee accomplish? If they Withhold their
| evidence, their report would not influences
single person in tho whole world. If thoy
pronounced Mr. BEEcHEa guilty, his friends
md partisana would danounco them If they
pronounced linn innocent, those who believe
A1r. DEEcnEn guilty would simply dismiss
their report as that Of d packed committee.
No report, unaccompnnied by the evidence
r,pon which ID was founded, would change in
the least tho present situation; and 1t would
be waste Of time aud tho public patience to
enter into any such investigation Of ''sworn
secrecy" as Bowen has proposed. It was
probably becauso ho was fully persuaded that
80 ridiculous q proposition would DO rejected
that ho mado it, thus furnishing him with an
otlsrr rretnd for protesting knowledge Of
| things unrevealed, and to tovivo tho farce ho
! las boon playing for years, with the refrain
~ could nm would"
Yet thoro aro reports which gecm to DO
sufficiently authentic Of what bfr. BowEs
would reveal to his investigating committee
"sworn to accrocy"; and these revolutions,
according to such reports, would bo tho nj.
legged confessions Of Mrs. T1ToN to her
brother and brother'a wife, aud to Mira
STANTON and bliss ANTHONY. There IL noth-
ing now in all this. Tho only way In which
these rnnored confessions could bo brought
before tho public with any effect would be
as evidence in d court of law, either in trial
Of DEEcuEn and Mrs. TuToS for adultery, or
in trinl OF 31oULToN or ono Of tho othora
for Rlaudar. Mr.. BowEs repetition Of theso
stories gives them no weight. They havo
| s,u1, IN III, In alt,
has como to be pretty generally believed
that such confessions were ,nado, and that
they camo to him secondhand Ia Of no very
groat importance. 1t may strengthen AIr.
DowEN'a right to believe DEEcnEn guilty OF
ata1ltery; but it cuts no figure az bo.
tween BOWEN and the public, Tho public
doea not care what Bowen thinks but Il
lal been led to bolievo TINT BowEN WAS In
possession of faots, and could adduce proofs
Of DEEcuEn'a guilt, This is what Bowzs
himself lad led the public to expect Now
Htanco that Bowen claims to have knowledge
Of which would point to BExoHEA's guilt
anil this is communicated In 90 vague ant
indeterininate way as not to command cre
dcnce in its present shape, at least.
seema, according to hin story, that Bow'Es
waa mado the repository Of Boue complaint
of q jealous woman, whose uame he does no
give, but who told him somo ten years ag'
that she had hold criminal relations with Mr
DKEcuEn, extending oyor considerable term
.I'hiA confession docs not seem to have bee,
prompted by auy repentance TN the par
OF tho woman, but by jealousy ut seeing an
/ ali, t.,1. H.