an this--that the unreal
reformer sees in front of him one certain future, the future of his fad;
while the real reformer sees before him ten or twenty futures among
which his country must choose, and may, in some dreadful hour, choose
the wrong one. The true patriot is always doubtful of victory; because
he knows that he is dealing with a living thing; a thing with free will.
To be certain of free will is to be uncertain of success.

The subject matter of the real difference of opinion between Dickens and
the public of America can only be understood if it is thus treated as a
dispute between brothers about the destiny of a common heritage. The
point at issue might be stated like this. Dickens, on his side, did not
in his heart doubt for a moment that England would eventually follow
America along the road towards real political equality and purely
republican institutions. He lived, it must be remembered, before the
revival of aristocracy, which has since overwhelmed us--the revival of
aristocracy worked through popular science and commercial dictatorship,
and which has nowhere been more manifest than in America itself. He knew
nothing of this; in his heart he conceded to the Yankees that not only
was their revolution right but would ultimately be completed everywhere.
But on the other hand, his whole point against the American experiment
was this--that if it ignored certain ancient English contributions it
would go to pieces for lack of them. Of these the first was good manners
and the second individual liberty--liberty, that is, to speak and write
against the trend of the majority. In these things he was much more
serious and much more sensible than it is the fashion to think he was;
he was indeed one of the most serious and sensible critics England ever
had of current and present problems, though his criticism is useless to
the point of nonentity about all things remote from him in style of
civilisation or in time. His point about good manners is really
important. All his grumblings through this book of _American Notes_, all
his shrieking satire in _Martin Chuzzlewit_ are expressions of a grave
and reasonable fear he had touching the future of democracy. And
remember again what has been already remarked--instinctively he paid
America the compliment of looking at her as the future of democracy.

The mistake which he attacked still exists. I cannot imagine why it is
that social equality is somehow supposed to mean socia