Now to have _dreamt_ of G., his old school-fellow and friend, looking calmly at him, would not have been anything shocking nor even surprising; it would not have been even _uncommon_ among dreams--it would have been nothing out of the ordinary course of nature. Dreams seldom shock or even surprise us--surely not unless there is something intrinsically shocking represented by them; but when we see the phantasm of a person whom we know cannot be there--that is unusual, that is not in the ordinary course of nature, as we are accustomed to observe nature, and it surprises us, shocks us, perhaps frightens us; but it does so because we are awake and can reason about it and compare its strangeness with the usual order of things. Lord Brougham was awake, he did so reason, and was accordingly shocked. So vivid was the apparition that he tumbled out of the bath and fainted. It is only some time after this, when writing up his diary, that he has no doubt that he had fallen asleep. Preconceived theories about apparitions now come up in his mind and get him into trouble; he must _explain_ his vision. Now for the explanation. Lord Brougham finds, on returning to Scotland, that his former friend is dead, and that the time of his death corresponded with the time at which he had seen his apparition in Sweden, December 19th. "Singular coincidence!" That is Lord Brougham's explanation; and that is the usual explanation; but it is ill-considered--it is weak--it does not cover the ground. Lord Brougham had but two theories from which to choose: namely, Chance and Supernaturalism; and of the two horns of the dilemma he chose the easier one. Let us, however, place ourselves, for the moment, on his ground, namely, that (1) It was a dream; and (2) dreams are so numerous that it is not surprising that some of them coincide with contemporaneous events.