372 THE CAUSES OF THE xi 



that good kind of people that I was talking of a 

 little while ago. And he might say, " Oh, my dear 

 sir, you are certainly going on a great deal too 

 fast. You are most presumptuous. You admit 

 that all these occurrences took place when you 

 were fast asleep, at a time when you could not 

 possibly have known anything about what was 

 taking place. How do you know that the laws of 

 Nature are not suspended during the night ? It 

 may be that there has been some kind of super- 

 natural interference in this case." In point of 

 fact, he declares that your hypothesis is one of 

 which you cannot at all demonstrate the truth, 

 and that you are by no means sure that the laws 

 of Nature are the same when you are asleep as 

 when you are awake. 



Well, now, you cannot at the moment answer 

 that kind of reasoning. You feel that your worthy 

 friend has you somewhat at a disadvantage. You 

 will feel perfectly convinced in your own mind, 

 however, that you are quite right, and you say to 

 him, " My good friend, I can only be guided by 

 the natural probabilities of the case, and if you 

 will be kind enough to stand aside and permit me 

 to pass, I will go and fetch the police." Well, we 

 will suppose that your journey is successful, and 

 that by good luck you meet with a policeman ; 

 that eventually the burglar is found with your 

 property on his person, and the marks correspond 

 to his hand and to his boots. Probably any jury 



