This radical change of opinion was not brought about in a day, nor in a year. The progress of the mental revolution was slow, but certain, and by degrees the past of Thomas D'Arcy McGee stood revealed to him in all its insufficient barrenness. He fought against his steadily-strengthening convictions as long as he could, but his judgment and good sense at last won the day. In the month of August, 1852, he liberated his mind in a letter published in the _Celt_, and addressed to his friend Thomas Francis Meagher. In that letter he unfolded with much frankness the process by which he had been led to modify his opinions, and referred to the scheme of the past as "the recent conspiracy against the peace and existence of Christendom." His emancipation was complete, and from this time forward there was an entire revolution in the tone of all his writings and public speeches. Instead of writing diatribes against the irrevocable he adopted "Peace and good will among men" as his motto. Amicable relations were restored between him and the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and erelong, at the request of the late Bishop Timon, of Buffalo, he removed the office of publication of the _Celt_ to that place. He continued the publication for about five years after the removal, during which time he made many friends and achieved a fair share of worldly prosperity. He was a diligent, albeit rather a fitful student, and amassed a considerable fund of political and general knowledge. His paper was regarded as the chief exponent of Irish Catholic opinion on this continent, and as a standard authority on all matters connected with Irish affairs. Some of his ablest lectures were composed and delivered during this period, and some of them were the means of greatly extending his reputation. Among those which evoked the most flattering criticism from the press, those on "The Catholic History of America," "The Irish Reformation," and "The Jesuits" occupy the foremost place. The many demands upon his time did not prevent him from engaging in various laudable enterprises for ameliorating the moral and social condition of his countrymen in America, and from putting forth many valuable suggestions for their guidance. It was his special object, says one of the most sympathetic of his critics, to keep them bound together by the memories of their common past, and to teach them that manly self-respect which would elevate them before their fellow-citizens, and keep them from political degradation. He strove to make them good citizens of their adopted country, lovers of the old cradle-land of their race, and devoted adherents of what to them was "the sacred cause of Catholicity." Among other schemes vigorously propounded by him for their material advancement was that of colonization--"spreading abroad and taking possession of the land; making homes on the broad prairies of the all-welcoming West," instead of herding together in the tenement houses of the large cities. In