 Downing was undoubtedly a man of great political, diplomatic, and financial ability, but his character has often been maligned by his enemies because of his willingness to make the most of changing political circumstances, and to brutally betray former comrades in order to win favour from his current masters.Today his reputation is undergoing a revision among scholars of the period as his contributions as a financial reformer and diplomat are again recognised.Many of his contemporaries accused him of meanness, and his miserliness is recorded in some detail by Samuel Pepys, although Downing's rapid rise from obscure poverty to riches was considered socially undesirable in a generally conservative society, and it generated suspicion, envy accusations of a range of vices.