The Sunday tatler and Jersey City express. (Jersey City, N.J.) 1883-1886, 1885-09-20
Downing ReY. DoMnes.

The Rev. Mr.. Downes, Of Boston, de-
serves some attention. He is the pastor of
the Bowdoin Baptist Church of that city.
For years he plodded his inconspicuous
way through more or less virtuous paths
and like many another tenth rate divine
was never heard of beyond the compass
of bis own individual lungs. But he is no
longer obscure. He has bounded into
fame. He has become public institu-
ton. He is on exhibition People are
invited, for small admission fee, to step
up and gaze upon him. And what is the
cause of this transmutation? Whence
does this clergyman derive his present
importance? What has made him who
was formerly unknown outside of his con-
gregation, so incomparably eminent among
the priesthood of his beloved country?
The answer to these queries is simple,
though perhaps somewhat astounding.
The Rev. Mr.. Dowues is suspected of
adultery. To be more accurate we might
say that the Rev. Mr.. Downes is trifle
more than suspected-he is pretty
positively convicted-of this offense.
And hence his present distinction as a
minister and his commercial value as a
show The crop of sacredotal adulteries
in the Baptist persuasion has hitherto
been distressingly small. Indeed there is
no church whose clergy have been and
still are more persistently virtuous. This
fact has perhaps added additional glory to
the enterprising Downes; for, among a
priesthood of such uniform purity, the
man who combines in bis person the quail
tiles of a real, genuine adulterer and of an
able-bodied perjurer must necessarily
shine with peculiar lustre. Ever since this
excellent gentleman was accused of being
too familiar with one of his female lambs
he has suspended practically the preach
ing of the Gospel and has been going up
and down throughout The land bending
the energies of his wind and the eloquence
of his tongue to the discussion of himself
and his alleged offense. Judging from his
reported utterances it would be difficult to
say what is his precise position in regard
to the charge made against him. To be
sure he denies his guilt, but he denies it
with a sort of moral wink, as if he would
have you understand that his denial is a
mere matter of form and that really and
truly he is guilty and is nightly proud of
it. But perhaps. after all, his eXaltation
on this account is not entirely profitable.
There are thousands of humble and un-
pretentious men in this world who have
committed adultery and have never al
lowed themselves to become pulled up on
that account But if we are mistaken
about the Rev. Mr.. Downes's attitude, and
ifhe is sincere in bis protestations of inno-
cence, he should recollect that his proud
boast that he never committed adultery
scarcely entities him to any consideration
There are good many plain, simple folks
men, women and children-wbo never
committed adultery, and it has never oc-
Cured to them to hire halls and brass
bands for the purpose of celebrating their
abstinence from this particular form of
indulgence. So that it will be seen that
whether the Rev. Mr.. Downes bases his
aspirations to celebrity upon the fact that
he did commit adultery or upon the fact
that he did not commit adultery be is in
either:eveut equally and awfully mistaken.
To our minds it seems that the true ground
upon which this worthy person might
safely and deeply lay the foundations of
an enduring fame is that among all the
contemporaneous sons of man he is be-
yoDd all comparison
The Most Transcendant Ass.