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ever the comes by her motion to have the same declination as the planet, to which she is directed, the part of fortune has the same; therefore there is no necessity for directing the part of fortune to the zodiacal parallels, but directing the only, and the part of fortune is always the same.

I am, &c. J. M.

To the Editor of the Monthly Correspondent.

SIR,

THE circumstance of a fossil human skeleton having been found in Guadaloupe, and brought to this country by admiral Sir A. Cochrane, naturally excited much curiosity, as hitherto nothing of the kind had ever been found. It is deposited in the British Museum; and Mr. Koenig, the keeper of the minerals in that natural establishment, has given a short, but not very satisfactory, description of its external appearance, in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, which was read to the Royal Society, on the 2d instant. According to this gentleman, who is better known as a botanist than mineralogist, the whole mass, containing the skeleton of a man, is eight feet long, two feet broad, and weighing about two tons. The nonexistence of fossil human skeletons has been considered a very satisfactory proof that our terrestrial globe has had a beginning; and, that the origin of mankind must have been subsequent to its great convulsions, which ingulfed the numerous animals found in the bowels of the earth, in all 'countries; otherwise no reason can be assigned why the bones of men are not as frequently found as those of animals. Nearly half a century ago an attempt was made to prove, that a fossil human skeleton was discovered in this country; but the first physiological examination of the alleged human bones removed all controversy on the subject. The present fossil man is therefore the first which has yet been dis

covered; it was found in a mass of calcareous rock, composed chiefly of madrapores and other analagous substances, below high-water mark, and in the neighbourhood of the volcano called the Souffriere, in Gaudaloupe. Unfortunately the skeleton wants the skull and the vertebræ of the neck; some of the ribs are also broken, and an arm is imperfect; in other respects it is in tolerable preservation. The mass or stone is a very hard, granular lime, resembling calcareous sand-stone, and contains a few shells, some of which are not known, others are venuses, &c. Mr. K. does not venture to guess at its probable antiquity; but Sir Joseph Banks, whose observation is more extensive, concludes, that it is very modern. The local circumstances fully justify this opinion of the learned President, who has himself had opportunities of witnessing how rapidly coral reefs, and similar calcareous rocks, are formed by marine insects. Other fossil bones have been found in the same vicinity: add to this, that the contiguity of a volcano, and the consequent increase of temperature in the water, furnish an easy explanation of this pheno-. menon, as we know that hot water dissolves a considerable quantity of carbonat lime, and deposits it in masses of very hard stone. For instance, we find kettles, used in boiling New-river water, become coated on the inside with a solid plate of carbonat of lime, above a quarter of an inch thick, in a few months; and, at the end of a year or two, the weight, solidity, and hardness of the mass will surprize those unaccustomed to observe such effects, or calculate the rapid formation of calcareous stones. If then a few months can effect so much by the diminutive powers of our culinary fires, what may not a volcano effect in a few years? The discovery, then, of this fossil human skeleton does not militate against the conclusion already stated, if, indeed, it may not be considered as tending to confirm it. Should, however, any of your Correspondents, Mr. Editor, be able to give a

better explanation of this phenomenon, I shall be happy to see it in your respectable publication.

Feb. 20, 1814.

I am, Sir, yours, P. P. P.

To the Editor of the Monthly Correspondent.

SIR,

THE following Nativity exhibits a striking proof of astral influence, as it respects the prematurely extraordinary genius and celebrity of the native; indicating at the same time an eventful life, active, bustling, and various; more especially till after 25 or near 26 years of age.-The Moon and Mercury being in cardinal signs, the Moon in Aries in zodiacal trine, and in mundane sesqui-quadrate to Mars; denote a bold, enterprising, and aspiring mind: and it is to be particularly noticed, since such positions are rare, all the planets, the Sun excepted, are in fiery or airy signs, which aptly denote precocity or premature genius, and which was aided and made popular and splendid by a series of good directions, affording him friends, encouragement, and unbounded applause, from 8 or 9 to near 16 years of age; such as the midheaven to the conjunction of Jupiter, the Sun to the parallel of Mercury, both direct and converse; and the Sun to the sextile of Mars in the Zodiac, and to the zodiacal parallel of Jupiter, and the ascendant to the quintile of Venus, and midheaven to the conjunction of Mercury, and the Sun to the conjunction of Jupiter; but he has had a rugged train of evil configurations since 16 years of age; and, in general, his fate will be extremely checquered, various and fluctuating considerably till rather more than 25 years of age: travelling is certainly denoted; and I should judge the native will feel strongly inclined either to attach himself to the army, or apply himself to the study or profession of physic or divinity, as the Moon is in Aries so powerfully aspected by Mars.

London,

Feb. 23, 1814.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, J. H.

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BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES OF RICHARD SAVAGE.

In the year 1697, Anne, Countess of Macclesfield, having lived some time on every uneasy terms with her husband, thought a public confession of adultery the most expeditious means of obtaining her liberty, and therefore confessed the child, with which she was then pregnant, to be the offspring of earl Rivers. Upon this, her husband applied, not to the ecclesiastical courts for a divorce, but to parliament, for an act, by which his marriage might be dissolved, the nuptial ontract annulled, and the children of his wife illegitimated.

This act he obtained; and on March 3d was separated from his wife, whose large fortune was of course returned to her ; and in a short time she was married to colonel Brett.

While lord Macclesfield was prosecuting this affair, his wife was, on the 10th of January following, delivered of a son, whom earl Rivers appeared to consider as his own, by being his godfather, and giving him his own name, which was, by his direction, registered in the records of St. Andrew's parish, Holborn. The earl probably imagining, that a child, whose birth had caused a separation from a husband whom she hated, would be an object of great tenderness and regard to his mother. This, unfortunately for the helpless infant, left him solely to her care. It is difficult to discover what motives could be found to over-balance the natural affection of a parent, or what interest could induce her to treat her offspring with neglect and cruelty, instead of supporting and defending; to delight in seeing him struggle with misery, caused chiefly by her inveterate persecution from the first to the last hour of his life.

But whatever were her motives, no sooner was this son born, than disowned by her. She committed him to the care of a poor woman, whom she directed to educate him as her own, and enjoined never to inform him of his true parents. Thus, Richard Savage, though born with a legal claim to honour and to affluence, was in two months illegitimated by the parliament, and disowned by his mother, doomed to poverty and obscurity, and launched into the ocean of life, only that he might be swallowed by its quicksands, or dashed upon its rocks.

His mother could not indeed infect others with the same cruelty. To inquiries, dictated by the curiosity or tenderness of her relations, she was compelled to reply; and her mother, the lady Mason, probably to prevent more criminal contrivances, engaged to pay the nurse for her care, and to superintend the education of the child; in which charitable

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