A DISGRACED BOSTON PARSON.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1520, 19 February 1886, Page 3

A DISGRACED BOSTON PARSON.

Boston, Nov. 29 Rev. W. W. Downs' audience to-night was enormous— fully ten thousand people being gathered within the walls of Mechanics' Hall—and his utterance* were of an entirely new nature. It seems that Downs has abandoned the idea of posing as a martyr, and will hereafter abuse all who believe him guilty. So to-night he let fly at his enemies in the Bowdoin-Square Church and at the Baptist denomination as a whole, while Mr. Taber came in for a generous share of condemnation. The crowd, which packed the hall to its utmost capacity, was as a rule, well behaved, bat applaudel in a manner not at all suggestive of a Sunday evening, or of a religious service, as this was alleged to be. They were drawn undoubtedly by an announcement that there would be a baptising during the evening, and the big wooden washtub which had been improvised as a baptistry and stood in front of the desk, was the centre of attraction all through the preliminary exercises. The five candidates, two men and three women, ascended the platform with Downs, clad in their baptismal robes, and occupied seats while the "sermon" was in process of delivery. The text was, "Let them shut the doors and bar them " (Nehemiah vii. 3), and after announcing it Downs launched forth in an extraordinary harangue which lasted nearly an hour. He first gave the obvious reasons for baptising in this place. These people, it will be remembered, were refused admission to membership at the last church meeting. Had they been admitted they would have given the Downs party control of the meeting. Downs devoted his entire remarks, after making this explanation and eliciting frequent bursts of approval from the audience, to a vituperative attack on every one who has indicated or expressed opposition to him within or without the church, terming the writer of a recent article in the Watchman " a slanderous, tsa'icious, libellous liar," and tearing a copy of the paper in shreds. After applying similar epithets to various other persons—being always careful to mention no dne by name—he said that he had long prayed for crowds in his church ; he had tried the attractions of music and decorations, but the Almighty said not yet At length the Lord has chosen the net called scandal, and that drew the people in. It was nobody's business if God chose that method. The conspirators against him, Downs said, were still at their nefarious work, and might triumph fir a time, but he would come through all right, and this was the proudest, happiest moment of his life.

The immersion followed the collection, and terminated the evening performance. The ceremony wai performed in the usual manner, the vast audience standing on the seats and watching every movement curiously. Special to Chicago Times