Father Tom Maguire, a prominent Roman Catholic priest in Killeshandra, Ireland, of the parish of Innismagrath, was one of the most celebrated men of his time. He was a splendid orator, trained at Maynooth; he was a high liver--everything consisting of meat and drink on his table was of the best; his wines were excellent, and he kept the best stable and the finest greyhounds in Ireland. He was a bold fox-hunter; rode over ditch, hedge and five-barred gate, and when his good Bishop interdicted these sports of the Irish clergy, says he, "I will give up my hunting," says he; "but if I must give up my greyhounds, there is a little Protestant parish church hard by waiting for me." Whether this threat had the desired effect is not known. It is said that he abjured his church and died a heretic. How much of this we can believe depends altogether upon the amount of our credulity. It may be true, and, alas! it may not! Father Tom, as the great Roman Catholic controversialist, was challenged to decide by argument, the superiority of the Romish Church over that of the Established Church of England, by the Rev. Richard T.P. Pope, a clergyman of the latter persuasion. The controversy took place in the Rotunda, at Dublin, about forty years ago.[1] Crowds of spectators assembled to witness the religious contest. Of course the ladies, who always take a great interest in religious disputations, were present in great numbers. The beauty and the fashion, the graceful, the wise and the witty of Dublin assembled to hear these knotty points discussed. The Rev. Mr. Pope, who was a very learned scholar, but unfortunately a timid man, based his great argument upon the Bible itself. So long as he stood upon this ground his arguments were unassailable. But Father Tom, by one of those dexterous twists so well known in polemics, managed to get Pope to shift his ground from the Bible to the Fathers. The dispute, which had occupied several days, up to this time had been in favor of Pope, but when Father Maguire got him entangled in the Fathers, and hurled at him quotation after quotation from St. Austin, St. Chrysostom, and others--poor Pope, who knew very little of the Fathers, became so dumb-founderd that he was incapable of making a reply, and the victory rested with Father Tom. But after the controversy was over the Rev. Mr. Pope took up the Fathers, and to his surprise _could not find any of the quotations that Father Tom had cited_! Like a true scholar, he published a book, exposing the fallacies of his antagonist. But the time had gone by. Few people cared to read it, fewer still had patience to wade through laborious denials of the smart sayings of Father Tom in the Rotunda; the sparkle was off--the champagne had ceased to effervesce--and Mr. Pope never recovered the ground he had lost.