The Sun.
London, England, 1824-02-09 00:00:00

ANCIENT RELIGIONS.

MR. EDITOR—As long as the human mind was
left to its own resources, deplorable indeed were
its abberrations upon religious matters. Early
impressed with a consciousness of his entire de-
pendauce upon causes and effects, and of his total

inability to controul the course of events, man
soon felt a disposition to believe in the existence
of some • being or beings superior to himself, and
his tivsire to propitiate them, laid the "foundation
of every-religion,. system. Although this senti-
Ment,be'at first a mere mechanical. and indeter-
roinate,disposition ; it sought, at an early period,
souse object upon which it might fix. It might.
tie imagined that the spiendour of the starry fir-
.
roarnent, and the evident benefits arising from the
iufluenee of the sun, must have made the heavenly
bodies the first objects of adoration, yet this does,
t appear to have been the case. True it is that
we find sabeism, established among some of the

most ancient nations of antiquity ; but it .seems
to have prevailed only after they had attained no
inconsiderable degree of civilization. Of the.first
Zoroaster, who is considered as having intro-
duced it into Persia, we know only the name ; and
the few fragments we have of the writings of the
second, seem to haye been addressed to a people al-
ready emerged from barbarism. The worship of
the stars prevailed also in Mexico, when it was
discovered by the Spaniards ; but even though the
.people had attained a certain degree of civiliza-
tion, they still worshipped idols, the elements,
and even some of the insect tribe. Divine honours
were paid to the sun, in Peru, and it is somewhat
remarkable, not only that this worship was in all
things similar to that of the ancient magi, but
moreover, that the institution of the virgins of the

sun, bears a striking resemblance with that of
the vestal virgins. The duties of their office
were nearly the sari ; both were obliged to make.
a vow of perpetual chastity; and the infringe-
ment of this vow was punished with no less seve-
rity by the Romans than by the Peruvians.
'Of all ancient worships, that of Fetish, such
-as we find it still prevail among the ludian-tribes
of America, as well as amidst the Negroes of
Africa, seems to have more especially belonged
to the infancy of society. It is at once the most
ancient, and the most ridiculous. Yet is it found
amidst nations represented as civilized, and even
enlightened. The Egyptains worship not only
animals, but also reptils, and even vegetables..
Stones were. an object of adoration amongst the
ancient Arabs, the Syrians, the early Greeks,'
the Druids, Sic. no less than amidst the modern,
lia.planders, the Samoyeds, some of the North
.American Indians, &C. High places were held
as objects of peculiar veneration, even by the
Jews, but more so by most of the early Pagans.
The Germans paid divine honours, to groves,'
fountains, streams, lakes, shapeless logs of wood,
objects held in veneration also -by the Druids.
Shapeless blocks of wood or of stone, seem to
bave • been the earliest deities of the Greeks, as
was the case with the celebrated Palladurn, the
Venus of Paphos, the Thespian,Juno,
Among the negroes, where veneration for the
'Fetish chiefly prevails, every individual pins-his
faith upon some substance or.another. species
of stripped snake is the national divinity of the
.people of Inidah ; hut in other parts, whilst one
man chooses a piece of wood, others take.indif,
ferently, the teeth, the head, or some other part
of any animal. These inferior divinities bear a
strong resemblance to the penates, Tares, &c. of,
the more enlightened Romans.
The more enlightened arry_nig the savage tribes
Flo not indeed, consider their Fetish, as any thing
but an inferior- deity ; and. ,many among them
have an imperfect notion of a being, the Creator
of all things, even of the
.Fetish. ,But they still
consider these latter, as especially charged with
furnishing them with whatever :they 'require.
Hence, it is'to these" Fetish only, that they ad-
dress their prayers -and expose their wishes.
and their necessities. If these people .have
only an indefinite and imperfect -notion of a
Supreme Being, the ideas
.they .entertain of .the,
Fetish are scarcely more precise. The only rea-
son they Ow for honouring these Deitiesis, that'
ancient tradition informs them, that to these
fish they are indebted for all the enjoyments of
.life ; whilst these beings, not -less formidable.
than beneficent, can also occasion them much mi-
sery and distress.
Thus did men, when" left to the natural absur-•
dity of their ideas, adore either dillerent sub.-
stances, or tIOXiOU-S and useful -animals. In fact
the opinions and. whims of mankind are not more
various titan. were the objects to which they paid
(ti,,i.40,101.11.5.. The
;prevalence of this religion
in every "eittne, whenever we. find men .in the
infancy- of society, proves a singular similarity in
the religious disposition of -human reason, which
is not disCoveresl in many of its abberrations.
Manners, customs. tastes .have ever-been every-
where widely dill-Prent whilst the irrational
doctrine of Ectishism,, has prevailed at one time or
another amongst- all the known nations of the
world.

The case is. very different with respect to Sa-
beim, or the worship of the •heavenly bodies,
wlitch we meet only anion 'a few nations, with
whasse Origin and infant,. state we are, however,
not acquainted. Erroneous as • this doctrine as-
suredly is, there is still in it sotnething more ra-
tional and more elevated. The spendour. of the
heavenly host, which calls •forth the admiration of
the most.enlightened,might well.awaken the re.
ligious feelings of the snore ignorant ; and the
paying of divine ltattours to them, may be there-
fore justly considered as indicative of a marked
inaprorement tit the mental faculties of man.
idhu rst. • • A. F. 1

THE ARMY.

[From the LONDON GAZETTE of Saturday.]

Wa: Office, Feb. 6.
2d Regiment of Life Guards—To be Captains—Lieutenant
George Greenwood, by purchase, vice Smith, who retires;
Captain Robert Montgomery, Lord Belhaven and S ten ton ,
from half pay 11th Foot, vice Thomas Marten, who exchanges,
receiving the difference.
To be Lieutenant, by purchase—Cornet and Sub-Lieutenant
William Milligan, vice Greenwood.
To be Coronet and Sub-Lieutenant, by purchase--Ensign Sir
William Scott, Bart., from the 51st Foot, vice Milligan.
2d Re6riment of Dragoon Guards—Coronet Francis John
Swaine Hepburn, from half pay 19th Light Dragoons, to be
Cornet, vice Craufurd, appointed to the-21 Dragoons.
6th Ditto—Captain John Stephenson to be Major, by pur-
chase, vice Fitz Clarence, promoted. Lieutenant Henry Ste-
phen Nooth to be Captain, by purchase, vice Stephenson.—
Cornet Hood Richards to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice
Nooth. Edward Jerningham, gent., to be Cornet, by purchase,
vice Richards.

2d Regiment of Dragoons-Cornet Robert Gregan Cranford,
from the 2d Dragoon Guards, to be Cornet, vice Chas. Gaspar
Edleman, who retires upon half-pay 19th Light Dragoons.
4th Regiment of Light Dragoons—Capt. Gerard S. Moore,
from half-pay 65th Foot, to be Captain, vice Michael 'Kirby,
who exchanges, receiving the difference.
11th Ditto—William Henry Warrington to be Cornet, with-
out purchase, vice Partridge, who resigns.
14th Ditto—Surgeon Thomasiorster, from the 46th Foot,
to be Surgeon, vice Q'Flaherty, who exchanges.
16th Ditto—Lieutenant John Vincent, from the Nth Foot,
to be Lieutenant, vice Macdougall, who exchanges.
Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guiu-as—William George
Carter, Gentleman,, to be Solicitor, vice NVilkinsort, deceased.
7th Regiment of Foot—captain Richard Beauchamp, from
half-pay lath Light Dragoons, to be Captain, vice Hulme,
appointed to the 96th Foot.
13th Regiment of Foot--Ensign Edward Pearson, from the
92d Foot, to be Ensign, vice Shawe, who exchanges.
14th Ditto—Lieutenant John Liston, from the 38th Foot, to
be Lieutenant,. vice Ware, who exchanges..
17th Ditto—Captain Thomas Marten, from half-pay 11th
Foot, to be Captain, vice William Elliott, who exchanges, re-
ceiving the difference.
20th Ditto—Captain John Byrne, from the 35th Foot, to be
Captain, vice Gethin, appointed to the 96th Foot. Ensign
Duncan Darroch to be Lieutenant, without purchase, vice
Robinson, deceased. Richard Tasker Furlong, Gent. to be
Ensign, vice Darroch.
24th Ditto—Captain Henry Dive Townshend, from the 41st
Foot, to be Captain,, vice Brown, who exchanges.
25th Ditto—Lieutenant Martin M'Leod, from half-pay
22d Light Dragoons, to be Paymaster, vice Biddulph, de-
ceased.

28th Ditto—Granby Halea Calcraft, Gent. to be Ensign, by
purchase, vice Phelps, appointed to the 51st Foot.
29th Ditto—Lieutenant George Foskey, from the 54th Foot,
to be Adjutant and Lieutenant, vice Weir, who resigns the
Adjutancy only.
• 31st Ditto—Major Duncan M'Gregor, from half-pay 78th
Foot, to be Major, vice Nicholls, appointed to the 96th Foot.
33d Ditto—,Surgeon James Gowen, from half-pay 6th West
India Regiment, to he Surgeon, vice Thomas, whose appoint-
ment has not taken place.
•, 35th Ditto—Lieutenant Thomas 'Walsh, from half-pay 2d
Garrison Battalion; to be Lieutenant, vice Davies, appointed
to the 94th Foot.

38th Ditto—Lieutenant Bobert Ware, from the 14th Foot,
to be Lieutenant, vice triton, who exchanges.
41st Ditto—Captain Robert Brown, from the 24th Foot, to
be Captain, vice Townsend, who exchanges. I.icut. Francis
Dickinson, from the 69th Foot, to be Lieutenant, vice Nor-
man, who exchanges.
44th Ditto—Brevet Major J. Chilton L. Carter to be Major,
without purchase, vice Gotherie, deceased.
To be Captains, without ikurehase—Lieut. Daniel Caulfield,
vice O'Reilly, deceased ; Lieut. Frekrerick Hemming, vice Car-
ter, promoted.
To be Lieutenants—Ensign Bterington Browne, vice Caul-
field; Ensign Henry Dick Carr' vice Hemming ; Ensign
Henry James Shaw, vice Sergeant, deceased.
To be Ensigns—Hemsworth Usher, gent., vice Browne ;
(lore Browne, gent., vice Carr ; Henry ;Nixon, gent., vice
Shaw.
Robert
sol abt rer ,tr t whoAYd fromre
the 14th Light Dragoons, to be Surgeon,ex-
changes.w4sth Regiment of Foot—Surgeon Danvieicl.CeoeFl
94th th Foot, to be Assistant-Surgeon, vice Assistant-Surgeon Richard Hewst, from half-pay
M'Munn, who exchanges.
51st Ditto—Ensign ,Ferdinand Phelps, from the 28th Font,
to be Ensign, vice Sir William Scott, appointed to the 2d Life
Guards.
59th Ditto—Lieutenant Alexander Macdougall, from the
16th Light Dragoons, to be Lieutenant, rice Vincent, who ex-
changes.
69th :Ditto—Lieutenant John Smith to be Captain, without
Purchase, vice Lane, deceased ; Lieutenant William Norman,
from the 41st Foot, to be Lieutenant, vice Dickson, who ex-
changes.
71st Ditto—Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond,
G.C.8., from the 88th Foot, to be Colonel, vice General Dun.
das, deceased ; Lieutenant George Home Lightbody to be Ad-
jutant, vice Torriano, who resigns the Adjutancy only.
76th Ditto—Lieutenant Thomas Hunt Grubbe, from half-
pay of the.43d Foot, to be Lieutenant, vice Charles Eliot, who
exchanges, receiving the difference.
82d Ditto—Lord Charles Wellesley to be Ensign, by Pur-
chase, rice Harford, promoter!.
83d Ditto—Captain Botell Trydell, from half-pay 16th Foot,
to he Captain, vice Richard Fitzgerald Holmes, who exchanges.
Ensign Aretas Sutherland Young to be Lieutenant, without
purchase, vice Hingston, promoted in the Royal African Colo-
nial Corps. Henry Francis Ainslie, Gent., to be Ensign, vice
Young.
85th Ditto—Lieutenant John Watts to be Captain, without
purchase, vice Ball, deceased. Herbert Edward Taylor, Gent.,
to be Ensign, without purchase.
:86th Ditto—Lieutenant Charles Macdonald, from half-pay
York Light•lnfantry Volunteers, to be Lieutenant, vice Wil-
liam Home, who exchanges, receiving the difference.
87th Ditto—Major Henry Browne to be Lieutenant-Colonel,
without purchase, vice Miller, deceased. Brevet Major Henry
C. Streatfield to be Major, vice Browne. Lieutenant John Day
to be Captain, vice Streatfield. Ensign Lawrence W. Hal-
stead to be Lieutenant, vice Day.
'To be Ensigns, without purchase—Eugenius De L'Etang,
Gentleman, vice Doyle, promoted in the 4th Light Dragoons ;
Nicholas Milley Doyle, Gentleman, vice Halstead.
88th Regiment of Foot—Lieutenant-Gen. Sir Henry Fred.
Campbell, K.C.8., to be Colonel, vice Sir Gordon Drummond,
appointed to the command of the 71st Foot.
92d Ditto—Ensign Adderley Shaw, from the 13th Foot, to
be Ensign, vice Pearson, who exchanges.
94th Ditto—Lieutenant Thos. Hart Davies, from the 35th
Foot, to be Lieutenant, vice Orr, whose appointment has not
taken place. Surgeon Samuel Tilt, from half-pay 27th Foot,
to be Surgeon. Assistant-Surgeon Wm. Lorimer, from half-
pay 91st Foot, to be Assistant-Surgeon.
95;h Ditto—Lieutenant Augustus Tweed, from half-pay 3d
West India Regiment, to be Lieutenant, vice Sperling, whose
appointment has not taken place.
96th Ditto—Major-General Joseph Fuller to be Colonel ;
Lieutenant-Colonel John Berries, from half-pay 100th Foot,
to he Lieutenant-Colonel. _ _ _ _ _

To be Majors—Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel George William
Paty, from half.pay Major Thomas Samuel Nicholls, from
the 31st Foot.

o be Captains—Brevet Major William Hulme, from the
7th Foot; Brevet Major Robert Christopher Mansel, from
half-pay 93d Foot ; Captain Alexander Cairncross, from the 2d
Royal Veteran Battalion ; Captain Richard Gethin, from the
211th Foot; Captain John Garland, from half-pay 73d Foot;
Captain Henry Barry Hyde, from the lat Royal Veteran Bat-
talion ; Captain James Waller Samo Waller, from the 31st
• Foot; Captain Redmond Brough, from half-pay Stith Foot.
To be Lieutenants—Lieutenant Richard Sprott, from the
Bth Foot; Lieutenant Thomas Kennedy, from half-pay Royal
West India Rangers ; Lieutenant Joseph Dowling, from the
let Royal Veteran Battalion ' • Lieut. Loftus Francis Jones,
from the 2d Foot; Lieutenant William Kidman, from the 20th
Foot; Lieutenant Archibald Robertson, from the Ceylon regi-
ment ; Lieutenant Pierce Stephen Nugent, from the half-pay
17th Foot; Lieutenant William Lucius Cary, from half-pay
17th Foot; Lieutenant Alexander Mackenzie, from half-pay
24th .Foot ; Lieutenant William Ouseley, from the 30th Foot.
To be Ensigns—Ensign Richard Cross, from half-pay 11th
Foot; Ensign Joseph Telford, from half-pay 9th Foot;
Ensign Jonas Oxley, from the Ist Royal Veteran Battalion ;
Ensign Dudley Costello, from half-pay 34th Foot ; Ensign
George Walter Story, from half-pay 17th Foot; Ensign.
Dotiough O'Brien from half-pay 65th Foot.
2tl West Lndia Regiment—Lieutenant William Locke, from
the Ist Life Guards, so be Captain, by purchase, vice Stepney,
who retires.

Ceylon Regiment—Second Modena= Theodore Myilus to
be First Lieutenant, without purchase.
To be Second Lieutenants, without purchase—Second Lieu-
tmant James Stewart, from half-pay 2cl Ceylon Regiment;
Second Lieutenant Alegunder Madcap, from half-pay 2d Cey-
lon Regiment ; Robert Bradford M4Crac, gent.
Cape Corps—Assistant—Surgeon Thos. Clarke to be Surgeon.
Royal African Colonial Corps—LieutenantJamea Hingston,
f/131/1 the 83d Foot, to be Captain, withoutpurchase.
To he Ensigns, without purchase--James White, gent.;
Michael O'Halloran, gent.; George Foss, gent ; James

Tiniacke, gent. ; Charles Lizard, gent. , John Godwin, gent. ;
Richard Fitzgerald Ring, gent.
st Royal Veteran Battalion—To be Captains—Capt. John
Stirling Hamilton, from half-pay 99th Foot, vice Crai, g ap-
pointed to the 94th Foot • Capt. William, WTillshire, fromhalf-
pay, vice Hyde, appointed to the 96th Foot.
To be Lieutenants—Lieut. John Thorns Weyland, from
half-pay Bth Foot, vice Nicholls, appointed' to the 94th Foot;
Lieut. Charles Morgell Christian, from half-pay 34th Foot, Vice
Dowling, appointed to the 96th Foot.
_ _

To 6t:" krisigns—Ensign John Ward, from half-pay 66th
Foot, vice Alexander, appointed to the 94th Foot ; Ensign
Thomas Tait, from half-pay 78th Foot (repaying the difference
he received on exclunging), vice Oxley, appointed to the
96th Foot. •

2cl Royal Veteran Battalion.—To be Captains—Captain John
Casemir Harold, from half-pay Ist Garrison Battalion, vice
Cainacross, appointed to the 96th Foot; Captain Duncan
Stewart, from half-pay 42d Foot, vice Kirkman, appointed to
the 95th Foot.

To he Lieutenants—Lieutenant Francis Walsh Small, from
half-pay New. Brunswick Fencibles, vice Stewart, appointed to
the 94th Foot; Lieutenant William Harloe Phibbs, from half-
pay 27th Foot, vice Dickens, appointed to the 95th Foot. .Lieu-
tenant John Trydell, from half-pay 37th Foot, vice Hartley,
appointed to the 94th Foot ; Lieutenant George Ford, from the
29th Foot, vice Isaac Herbert, who returns to his former situa-
tion on the Retired Lint.

To be Ensigns—Ensign Charles John Deshon, from half-
pay 85th Foot, vice Bunbury, appointed to the 95th Foot;
Ensign William Senhouse, from half-pay 40th Foot, vice Har-
rison, appointed to the 95th Foot.
3d Royal Veteran Battalion—,To be Lieutenants—Lieu-
tenant James Miles Milne, from late sth Royal Veteran Bat-
talion, vice Dickson, appointed to the 95th root; Lieutenant
Robert Travers, from half-pay 10th Foot, vice Saunders, ap-
pointed to the 93th Foot; Lieutenant Charles Frederick
Sweeney, from half-pay 26th Foot, vice Sadleir, appointed to
the 94th Foot.

UNATTAcinus—Lieutenant.Lord Edward Hay, from the
20th Foot, to be Captain, by purchase, vice Krumm, who
retires.

GAlllt.lsows—Lieutenant-Colonel James Hawker, of the
Royal Artillery, to be Lieutenant-Governor of Gravesend and
Tilbury Fort, vice Honourable James De Courcy, deceased.
HOSPITAL STAFF To be Assistant-Surgeons .to the
Forces—Assistant-Surgeon Michael Sweeney, from half-pay
7th Foot, vice John Liggertwood, who exchanges; Assistant-
Surgeon Thomas Rhys, from half-pay 2d West India Re-
giment.
MEMORAIIDA.—The commission of Brevet Lieutenant-
Colonel Roberts, of the 62d Foot, as Lieutenant-Colonel in the
Army, has been antedated to 19th April, 1824. The commis-
sion of Lieutenant Cole, of the 85th Foot, has been antedated
to 26th December, 1822, but he has not been allowed any
back pay.
Office of Ordnance, Feb. 6.
Corps of Royal Engineers.;—First Lieutenant Thomas Bug-
den, from the half-pay, to be First .Lieutenantotiee Sperling,
retired, on half-pay.