The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1804-06-14 00:00:00

RU)SIAN COMMERCE.

Whilst France and England are combating for
their reciprocal manufaflories, and commercial in-
dustry, and exhausting their strength, and diminish-
ing their population, for distant and unhealthy colo-
nies, Russia, without any pretension to internal
commerce, or external colonies, grows rich in pro-
portion as its population augments ; mid twenty
years uninterrupted peace will make that extensive
empire the most flourishing and powerful in the
universe. Vergennes said, " that the fetters of tha
world were forging in the north ;" what would
have been this Minister's opinion, had he lived to
see the official report of the Russian Minister of

Count de Romanzow ? This report, so
interesting, though sn alarming, to the freedom of
the world, contains twenty-one articles, in which
is published the general state of the Russian trade
with foreign nations, or rather the trade of f ,reign
nations with Russia. The 1 lth and l!tth articles
are very curious, and ought to be distinguished, as
they give an era& account of the benefit Russia ob-
tains from the commerce of transit between Europe
and Asia. These articles are again divided into
five parts, containing the particulars, concerning-
1, the Commerce on the Baltic ; '2, on the White
Sea ; 3, on ehe Black Sea I 4,13 n the -Caspian Sea ;
and 5, on the Internal Commerce. During the
year 1802, the importations from the Baltic alone
amounted to 32,964,418 roubles ; and the exporta-
tion amounted to 46,917,131 roubles. The clear
profit was, therefore, 13.!,33,716 roubles, to whisil
is to be added the sum of t,,ur millious of roubles in
gold or silver, imported either in money or in bul-
lion ; in a manner that the commerce of the Baltic
pr. cures to Russia. ar.nu.illy, a clear gain of near
eighteen millions of roubles for raw prodtiftions
alone. During tie same year, al-,e importations to
Archangel, and to other ports in the White Seas
amount only to 5410,734 roubles ; whilst the expor-
tations amount to 4,796,017 roubles, or a benefit
enormous, considering the importations, of the
great sum of 4a46,1;15 roubles. l be profits of Russia
on the Black Sea, and on the Caspian Sea, are
equally great, in proportion to its trade on those
seas. Do not these fads clearly prove the immense
resources of use Russian empire, and that they are as
real as the danger, all other c..untries have to appre-
hend from them, should the sovereign.of that empire
know his true interest, and continue only for the
fourth of a century In peace with all the world ?
During that time, the trade of Russia must necessa-
rily improve and increase; yes, that ptriod is suf-
ficiently long. to coiled all the treasures of the uni-
verse in Russia, and to reduce 'England to a state of
penury and beggary, which, it is to be wished, for
the welfare of mankind, that it had never left. The
resources of Russia are real, those of England artifi-
cial: let the English Government cease to pay its
creditors ; let the artificial credit of the Endrr ite
Blnk lose a too long possessed confidence;
Britain is ruined without resource, while all the
failures or stoppages in the world, the blowing up
of the banks of London and Amsterdam, or those of
Vienna and Madrid, will not make more impression
upon the political, in litany, and financial tituation
of Ratio, than the Games of Vesuviiss, or the hur-
ricanes on the coast of India. Next to Russia, France
certainly possesses within herself the most real inter-
nal resources ; but luxury, the conseqnence of the
height of civilisation, to which she exelatioely is ar-
rived, makes her external and artincial wants great-
er than those of Russia, yet only half cu- bud. %Vere
not this the case, the Lnglish shopkeepers. in the
midst of their magazine', crowded with the most
elegant productions of India, would be starving.
The time, however, when this will be the case, can-
not he distant. Our riovernment has already
sounded the alarm, shewn all nations their in-
terest, and most ports in Europe are Arcady shut
against those tyrants of the seas ; who support their
extravagant', and unnatural pretensions only by the
want of spirit, honour, and patriotism, in other na-
tions. (be ifemeriti Anti arstaaniques, by Barrete.

The Monibior of the 2d contains the following
article, datcd Paris, Ist June:—" Mr. Deane went
to Dresden, where he bad a long conference with hi.
lfT.'oi rya mins. The Ei.ccr on caused it to be
signified to him, that his principles.did not permit
him in receive in his territories a man ordered to
quit Munich, for having dishonoured the first and
most sacred of charaders. Mr. DILAKZ was
to leave Dresden, and embark in Denmark for
England."

LAW NTELLIGENCIP..

COURT OF PSG's SENC”, WESTMINSTER, ./ums 13.

DUELLING.

THE RANO C. WATHIM ANO OTHERS.
In the course of last term, Mr. ERSKIN.: obta'ned
a Rule in this case, Os a criminal informatiou %aunt
the Defend.uns, for sending a challenge to Mr. &sr-
Jon, a private in the Severn Volunteer Riflemen ;
he this day applied to nta)ce, the Rule absolute.
The particulars of the.original motion we have
..;given in a former paper.. . ,
• Mr. Gaaaow showed cause against the Rule, and
contended that. the information should nut be per-
mitted to go against the Dofendants. The first, Mr.
Nathaniel-Pierce Wathen, was a Captain in the
Stanley Corps of Volunteer Sharp-shooters, and the
other two Gentlemen were Members of the same
Corps ; the circumstances from which the matter
originated were nearly as follow : It was'agreed upon
that ten privates" of each cozps should meet fur a
trial of skill in firing at a targit. It happened, that
the Severn Corps gained the day, and the viElors and
vanquished retired together, i.s the utmost harmony
and good.humour, to partake of an excellent dinner
which had been prepared for them, and which, 11
agreement, was to beet the expence of the conquer-
ed party. After the bottle had taken a few rounds,
and the party were growing merry, Captain Samuel
Wathen, of the Stanley Corps, proposed the fol-
lowing toast : •

" May tie Gallic Cock newer roost ors British oak—hut,
should he land, may the Severn Corp. do their duty, while the
Stanley Corps remains in the rear and looks on."

This was drunk with hilarity and great pleasantry,
and was considered a good natured kind of blundering
compliment to the one corps, without moaning the
slightest offence to the other. Some time after this,
the party broke up in the utmost harmony and good
hunwir with each other; and fortunate would it
have been, the learned Counsel observed, had all
the company been as harmless in their thoughts, as
the toast-master; but this was not the ease; Mr.
Bitrdon, who was a drawing-roaster at Gloucester,
was there ; and he could not resist the temptation of
drawing a pimnre with his caricature pencil ; th s
sketch of the shooting-match, the dinner, and the
toast, he nest day presented to the Editor of Tsc
Glosseister Journal; but not before it received a few
finishing touches from Captain Samuel Wathen ; it
then appeared in public print, not according to the
original, but so represented, as to degrade the one
corps, and raise the other. It was proposed that
Burdon should corre'l his misrepresentation by an
explanatory advertisement. This he refused, and
some words passed, intimating a challenge from
Mr. Lewis ; the answer to this was, who is Mr.
Lewis ?" Why he is a tradesman ; Mr. Burdon
is an artist, and therefore above him, but, in point
of manners and education, he, Mr. Bunion, was on
a footing with Mr. Nathaniel Pierce Wathen ; and
if he would take it up, he would give him any an-
swer lie might require," intimating, that he had no
objenion to fight, if he met a man whom he con-
sidered his equal; however, the Defendant's, with
a true spirit of conoliption, previous to any appli-
cation to the Court, erased 1 paragraph to be in-
serted in the Newspstpieh which they hoped would
at once put an end to the dispute, and reconcile all
parties to each tither. On these grounds, he hoped
the Court would not think it a case, upon which
their Lordships would grant an information.
Mr. Wiocav followed on the same side.
Mr. ERSKI mt supported the rule: he said he al-
ways entertained a disposition to keep up hairs ony
among persons in this most honourable service, and
from the recent fatal catastrophes which have oc-
curred in duelling; and considering that there are
now 350,000 men in arms, he trusted their Lord-
ships would interfere to prevent such matters in fu-
ture; after the paragraph had been published, and
that Mr. Burdon found it was likely to create some
unpleasaat business, be wrote a most gentlemanly
and honourable letter to Captain Samuel Wathen,
which was a most liberal, handsome, and complete
apology; but, notwithstanding, this, one challenge
followed another, and at last be was told there were
20 men now ready to fight him, and that one of
them, Lewis, would meet him the next morning,
and fight him with swords, pistols, or rides. Upon
the whole, there was such a perseverance towards a
breath of the peace as loudly called for their Lord-
ships interference.
The Rule was made absolute.
Mr. GARKUW moved for an attachment to be
made absolute against Captain John Temple,.
the Royal Navy, for having rescued himself out of
the custody of the Sheriff's Officer.
Capt. Temple attended in Conrt, for the purpose
of surrendering himself : he is a Captain of one of
His Majesty's ships of war, stationed at the mouth
of the Thames; and, as it appeared, that he bad
used no violence whatever at the time cf the rescue,
the Court discharged him, upon his paying into
Conn the debt and all die costs.