SUDDEN DEATH OF PROFESSOR MACGUIRE, F. T. C. D.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVII, Issue 1, 26 April 1889, Page 7

SUDDEN DEATH OF PROFESSOR MACGUIRE, F. T. C. D.

Kably on Tuesday (says the Dublin Freeman of 2nd March) the news reached Dublin that Dr. Maguire, whose name bad been mentioned so prominently ia the case of the Times at the Parnell Commission , had died in London suddenly. It will be remembered that he was one of the " private friends " who lent Mr. Houston money, hla contribution to the purchase of the letters amounting to £850. Coming after the sensational news of the morning, the intelligence startled many people who had previously not known much about tbe deceased, or, for a student, his straaga career. In Dublin he was well-known, although he had lived but a comparatively short time in the city. He bore an Irish name, but was born in 1832 at the Mauritius, where his father, who was a native of the North of lieland, held a Government appointment. Coming to Ireland, he availed himself of the opportunitea afforded him, and speedily made his mark. In Trinity College he was the first Cathclic sizar since the Reformation. Here he carried off tbe Madden Scholarship in addition to a scholarship in law, and was soon after called to the English bar. He did not appear to have m&de any determined attempt to become a practising lawyer for after a short stay in the Mauritius he returned to Ireland, and was appointed to a professorship at tbe Queen's College, Oalway. Duiing the earlier part of his stay at tbe seat of learning in the City of the Tribes ha did not distinguish himself by any 'assiduous attention to his duties, and he rather gained a reputation as a learned man who had eschewed the midnight oil, He lived close by the town in a true bachelor's residence, and soon became remarkable for for peculiar opinions. In religion he was a professing Catholic. At times he had an odd twist in his natme which he declined to hide. Now he occupied h»s more sober moments in writing a treatise on the *' Existence of Purgatory," then suppressed it, and next quarrelled with the clergymen cf the place with a virulence that was all his own. In 1879 he obtained a Fellowthp in Trinity College. For two years he led a changed life, and read with an applioatiau that his close friends (and he bad some) state leit deep traces behind. Be left the Queen's College without regret, and took to his uew life with an ardour that was as unexpected as it was resolute. In Trinity College he was appointed lecturer in Greek and Latin composition, and after two year's residence was inducted to the chair of moral philosophy, holding both appointments concurrently. His lectures on philosophy were marked by great ability, and soon won for h:m an admiration that was nox altogether anticipated. As an author be has not left anything behind him that can staid as a monument to his undoubted attainments, as his essayH on the •' Platonic Idea " and " Platonic Ethics," while clever in a sense, were far from remarkab c. la religion Dr. Mag lire professes Catholicism, but both in his writings and conversation he showed a spirit deeply hostile to the Church, and on the education question he was, since his connection with Trinity College, an open and bitter enemy of any settlement on the lines laid down by the Catholic hierarchy and clergy. In politics Dr. Maguire was a rabid anti-Nationalist, and be hired bis pen and voice to the I.L.P.U. Some incidents in his life in Dublin embroiled him in controversies *hich it were far better for his memory he had never uttered. One of the pamphlets which he indited on behalf of the Unionists was entitled •' England's Duty to Ireland," in which he displayed a vitriolic bitterness, and resorted to some illustrations borrowed trots the worst literature of the Ueign of Terror. On this epoch of his lifa there is no need to dwell, and it might not be mentioned were it not that it coloured so many of his subsequent acts. At a convocation of the Royal University he caused many s'ormy scenes, and on one occasion his disphy wap so offensive to the Catholics present thattho Most Bey. Dr. Healy was obliged, after his protest against the couduct of Professor Maguire, to withdraw. Professor Maguire was unmarried, and waß a devoted and affectionate brother, tending his two sisterß with the gieatest kindness and watchful affection. It i« nut easy to aseign any reason, or even motive, for the actions of his latter life, save that being tbe son of an official, and spending his life amid surroundings alien to the Irish people, he fell a victim to circumstances. Only last year he published a pamphlet, written with earnestness, controverting the statements of tiir James Stephen in reference to the Catholic Cburoh. He went to London on Wednesday last, against the advice of bis friends, although suffering from a severe attack of inflaoutiou of tbe trachea. While ia London he got seriously ill and was atte ided by two doctori, and in his last moments received tbe consolations of tbe Catholic Church.