The following instances were supplied to Chambers's Journal by a gentleman engaged in legal business, at a town in the south of Scotland: -

'In the autumn of 1835, I dreamed that a near relative of my own, who died two years before, came to my bedside. I felt fully conscious of being in my own bed, and of raising myself on my elbow when my friend approached. I was also fully sensible that he was dead; and though in his morning gown, his countenance bore the impress of death. He mentioned my name, and presented to me a coffin-plate, bearing the name, age, and death of a lady - the latter was 25th December, 1835. I said, "Where have you got that?

Mrs.------is still in life; and besides, the date there has not yet arrived." He answered, "Take it, and keep it for her, she will require it." This lady was no relative of mine; I was only slightly acquainted with her. She was married, and had gone to a distance a considerable time before, and I had never seen nor heard of her since. When at breakfast, I in a casual way mentioned my dream, when some one remarked that I must have been thinking of her, and that to dream of death was always, a marriage. We thought no more of the matter, nor did it attract the particular attention of any of us, until, in the course of the day, a lady happened to call, and in course of conversation asked if we had heard of the distressing illness of Mrs.------. We all declared we had not: when the lady stated that she passed through a neighbouring town, yesterday, on her way to her father's house, from the north, and that she was so ill that she was obliged to remain some time at a friend's house, before she could proceed. This was so far an association with the dream, that it struck us all as a remarkable coincidence. The more extraordinary part remains to be told. On the 31st December, 1835, I attended her funeral, and the coffin-plate, with age and date as distinctly delineated in the dream, presented themselves to my gaze. It is needless to observe that the impression on my mind was of a very peculiar kind, and equally so on the minds of those who some months before, had heard the narrative of the dream.

'Another striking, though less interesting case, occurred at a more recent date. I dreamt that on going to my office in the morning, I found seated at his usual desk a clerk, who had left me a twelvemonth or more previously, and had since been in Edinburgh, where I had little or no communication with him. I said, "Mr. D. how do you happen to be here; where in the world have you come from?" I had the most distinct answer, that he had come into the country for a few days, and with my leave, would wish for a day to enjoy the reminiscence of his former happy feelings at that desk. I replied, "Certainly; I am glad to see you. Write that deed, and then take your dinner with me." Such was the dream, and though apparently of no importance, I happened to observe at the breakfast-table that I had dreamt that my old clerk, Mr. D., had returned to the office. After having walked out half-an-hour, I directed my steps to the office, and my surprise was not a little excited when I found Mr. D. seated exactly as he had been represented in the dream. It might be supposed that following out the dream I put the question which it had suggested, but I am sure it was on the spur of the moment, and without reference to the dream, that I put that question, and my astonishment was doubly aroused when his answer corresponded almost verbatim with what I have stated. I immediately returned and stated the circumstance to my friends, who would only be satisfied of the fact by my calling Mr. D. into their presence.

'I shall just notice one further instance, out of many equally striking in my experience. My wife and I, with our only child, a girl of about a year old, were at a friend's house, some miles from home. The child was then in perfect health. I dreamt that on going to my room I found my wife walking about with the child in her arms, closely wrapped in a shawl. I had the impression that she was in health. I opened the shawl to take the child in my arms, and what was my horror to see only a withered branch in place of my blooming child. It was but a dream: but so painful was the impression, that I could not help saying to a friend in the morning that I dreaded we were to lose our child, I had so unpleasant a presentiment in my dream. He ridiculed the idea; but within one short month the darling branch gradually withered, and was consigned to an early tomb. This is one of those cases which is not wrapped in so much mystery, as it may be conceived that a parent's anxiety, even about a healthy child, might present itself in a dream in some distorted form. Still, it is an illustration of the mystery attending the mind when the senses are prostrated.

'I shall just mention one case which was told me by an advocate. He had arranged to accompany a friend to Newhaven, to bathe; and they were to set out at six o'clock in the morning. Immediately before getting out of bed, he dreamed that he was struggling in the water to save a young man from drowning. Within little more than an hour of the dream, he was, in reality, engaged in saving the life of a boy. He had just reached the sea-side when he saw the boy beyond his depth, and without fully undressing, he rushed in and saved him.

'I could not have the slightest hesitation in giving you the names of every one whom I have referred to in these observations, though I should neither like their names nor my own to be made public.' - Chambers's Journal, May 17, 1845.