One of his novels_ A Tale of Two Cities_ is a story of the French Revolution. The story shows that, in common with the rest of the world then living, Dickens' outlook on life had been powerfully affected by the French Revolution, as our world to-day has been vastly changed by the Great War. The watch words of the French Revolution were Liberty, Fraternity, Equality. They rang like bells to waken all men's hearts against injustice; their echoes are ringing still. During the Revolution which began in 1789, a little more than twenty years before Dickens was born, and in the years following the Revolution, there were terrible excesses of cruelty, murder and bloodshed {17} by the revolutionists. But the spirit of revolt against wrong was in men's minds everywhere. In every country change and revolution were impending, either violent change and revolution with bloodshed, or silent change and a peaceful revolution. In Great Britain, it appears reasonably certain that the works of Dickens had much to do with preventing a violent revolution. Well-to-do people read these books, and their minds became more kindly to their fellowmen. They were eager to help the poor and oppressed. The poor and unfortunate read Dickens' stories and were filled with the spirit of brotherhood to everyone, to the rich as well as to those who were poor as they themselves were poor. Dickens showed, not that the poor were unhappy, but that they were unjustly and harshly treated. The living spirit of happiness and of Christmas is found in the house of the Cratchits. The Cratchits are poor, but they are wonderfully happy. People in many other countries as well as England rushed to the help of the poor because of the happiness of the Cratchit family. Tiny Tim and his crutch touched the heart of the world, and the heart of the world was made the better for it. We still are made better by the story of the Cratchits. Above all, Dickens' novels overflow, not only with tenderness and indignation against wrong and cruelty, but with abounding good temper and inexhaustible mirth. It has been said that danger of a violent revolution in Great Britain was swept away by the gales of good-tempered and hearty laughter which seized upon thousands of people who were reading these great stories. It was a {18} splendid achievement for any novelist, or for any man or woman. To help to bring about a peaceful revolution, instead of one in which blood is shed, is a claim that can be made on behalf of few people in the history of the world.