The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-09-26 00:00:00

THE

the van ; such experiments may distroy a defeated,
but cannot injure a triumphant enemy ; he that sees
his banners floating above the turrets of the capital,
and has changed places with his foes, has nothing to

apprehend five the second war they are waging on
the margin of their own deserted and exhausted ter-
ritories, Let this be applied to the protracted pre-
parations of the Swedish court, and to all the lnven. 1
tions absurdity has contrived to draw a hair from the
tail of the royal beast, When the son of Pmt.'s
negotiated in the capital of Persia, and Lrwts in
the capital of I)ritain, and when the Romans treated
with the vanquished, in all the seats of government
of the civilized world, they never lowered their terms,
because a few discontented patriots tied from the
warm heart to the cold extremities of their dominions,

and uplifted their spears in the absence of the enemy,
whose presence they recreantly tied.
What is the present state of the war ? The Rus.
sian empire, more extensive than that established in
ancient Italy, is, on account of its magnitude, pro. i
vided with two august capitals. Of these, the one is
within the reack of the invader, the other is within
his power. None will, in the present stage of the
contest, doubt, that it is the intention of BON4PASTE
to plant his eagles on the lofty battlements of Mos. I
cow, and as few will doubt that it is within his !
means to accomplish this formidable design; boat 1
1 there are who suppose, that when he has proceeded
thus far, Russia is yet entire. and that the =gni&
I cent seat of empire founded by the great Nun, is
1 capable of sustaining the diadem of the Autocrat,
whO will yet be enabled to preserve the exalted rank
he has held among the potentates of Asia and Eu.
rope. . - ,

A short explanation will remove this prejudice,
The hearts' blood is not more necessary to the sup.

port of animal life, than the country occupied by the
enemy is indispensible to maintain the commerce and
strength, the wealth and power of St. Petersburgh.
This splendid capital was elevated above the surface
of a marsh, because ;its founder was determined to
force his way to the Baltic ; the White Sea, the Sea

of Asoph, the Caspiap, and the Euxine, being in-
sufficient for the purposes of his inordinate am-
bition ; and this policy has led to those measures
which have been directed throughout this vast etnpin,
to throw commerce out of its natural and easy chan-
nel, to order to urge it into the most unfit and in-
cumbered, The lint attempt of this kind was by the
war with Sweden, which termivated in 1721, by the
treaty of Ilystadt, when Swedish Livonia, Cerelia,
and I iigria, were ceded to the EMPEROR. Fifty long
years elapsed, during which, little was obtained
auxiliary to the same purposo ; but the compreben..
sive mind of CATUARINE seised a favourable oppor-
tunity of performing what her illustrious predeces-
sor bad attempted, 'and then was accomplished the
first partition of Poland, nefarious in its cause, but
most important in its effects. It began in 1772, under
`the treaty with the Courts of Berlin and Vienna, when
Polish Livonia, with Witepsk, Mohilow, Minsk,
land Peletsk, with all their dependencies, the present
' seat of war, g.atified the rapacity of the EMPRESS.
This cession was only preparatory to other arrange-
ments, which gave ele whole of Lithuania to her suc-
cessors ; and such were the expedients resorted to, to
supply the insatiate thirst of this monument of human
pride, which having its base in a bog, seemed, for
pearly a century, to absorb all that was drained from
the country, to supply it, without producing any ob-
vious change in its proportions. The labour of an age
was at length rewarded by succeas, and by external
hostility and interior oppression, St. Peteresburgh
alone engrossed half the trade of the Monarchy. It
will scarcely be credited. that the vessels which de-
scended the Ladoga Canal, to arrive at this favoured
emporium, even before the close of the year 1800,
were to the number of 15,000 annually, all convey.
ing the wealth of the land, through the copious ar-
teries with which it is provided, and some of them
commencing their voyage amid the interminable forests
of Siberia, at the distance of 4000 miles.
On this review it will be easy to establish the pro.
position, that these arteries being cut asunder by the i
sword of France, the health and life of Petersburgh is
destroyed, and that the occupation of the line of coun-
try, from the mouth of the Dwina to Moscow, in- :I
teicepting the intercourse with the whole of Europe,
south of this boundary, is the possession of the re-
sources
of the whole empire. The nature and cha- !
meter of the trade of Petersburgh, have no features
of resamblance in coenuan with any other; yet, al-
though supported by commerce, in this splendid city,
there is no appearance of low mechanism ; it is de-
graded by no humble occupations, no massive en-
gines 'disturb its repose, and no offensive furnaces
darken the atmosphere; the porches of the wealthy
merchant are not obstructed by cumbrous sales, or ,
defiled by filthy casks, as in Hamburgh and other
depots of commerce; but all has the appearance'
of an imperial residenee,• where wealth and luxury,
as by a miracle, are alone discovered, without the :
I
laboripus and 'disgusting means by which they are
necessarily acquired. But, althOugh nothing is per- I
formed within the capital, much industry is employ-
ed elsewhere to support its maffeifieence. The three
principal fsivers of Western Russia, the Dying,
the Niemee, and the Borystheness originate in
the same swamp near to
.Sinsteasits, which Is per,
lops the highest srotia4 h Rerepeee Russia. Ad-
jacent is a piece of ground, so compost, that it sight
be included in a Ping Ante, whore all ilia hemp is
,reduced, which; is the pretest yew; Ovoids, the