The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-23 00:00:00

MAY 23, 1868.

' fruition of a hundred -victories. It announces the
present purpose of the President of the United
States to supersede the blockade at New Orleans
and several other important seaports. For a year
all the energies of the Government and the country
have been absorbed in war measures. Here is the
first measure of peace—a peace possible, however,
only by passage through the Red Sea of war. The
announcement is not more gratifying to us than it
will be to foreign nations, whose commerce has
been shackled, whose industries have been para-
lysed, and whose tempers have been tried by the
bar which for 12 months it has been the duty of
our Government to lay on all intercourse with the
long line of insurgent coast. . . . The Presi-
dent's proclamation, which may be looked for In a
day or two, will throw open half•a-dozen Atlantic
and Gulf ports to the trade of the world. For-
tunately, the present situation of affairs is such
that not only will foreign vessels find free ingress
to Southern ports, but there is every prospect that
foreign nations will now really be able to obtain a
supply of the staples they are in want of, which is
more than could have been said some months back;
for those powers have had a chance to learn that it
was not the blockade alone that kept back cotton, but
primarily the action of the so-called Confederacy, to
which they gave a certain importance by their re-
cognition of it as a belligerent. The Confederate
agents at the European capitals, as is revealed by
their lately published diplomatic correspondence,
did not hesitate boldly to announce to England and
France that the one condition of cotton was the re-
cognition of the Confederacy' as a nation, and that
without that they should get no cotton, blockade or
no blockade. With this view the Richmond
usurpers, at the inception of the war, took the
staples under their own wing, and put a strict em-
bargo on its export. This policy they could carry
out just so long as they controlled the seaboard.
But this sceptre has passed from them. The chief
Southern seaports, and hundreds of miles of the
nrn now held by the forces of tho
United States ; and it is, of course, at such puiuta
only that the re:axation of the blockade is contem-
plated. The despotic rebel sway being thus broken,
and the protecting power of the Union restored,
there may be no doubt that commerce will resume
its customary channels. Cotton must move to the
seaboard when there are gold and silver and other
articles of merchandise to exchange for it. The
only limitation to trade will be such a surveillance
as the Government has hitherto exercised along the
Kentucky and Tennessee line for the purpose of
preventing the ingress of articles contraband of
war."

A despatch from Washington states that Minister
Adams has presented a claim to the British Go-
vernment for the restoration of the ship Emilie
St. Pierre, the captain of which rose upon the prize
crew and conveyed her to Liverpool after her cap-
ture by the United States fleet for violating the
blockade.

The famous iron-clad frigate Ironsides was to be
launched at Philadelphia on the 10th. The chris-
tening was to be done by the veteran Commodore
Charles Stewart, formerly commander of the frigate
Constitution, commonly called " Old Ironsides."
United States Marshal Millward, of Philadelphia,
having been placed in charge of the prize steamers
Bermuda and Florida, had had them hauled into
the dock at the foot of Queen-street, where they
were to remain until sold, if the Court should con-
demn them. The Bermuda, says the Nero York
Tinges, "Is an iron steamer of about 1,000 tons, and
is in all respects a superior vessel. She was built in
England in 1861, and is as good as if just off the
stock. Her cabin and officers' quarters are below i
deck, and are handsomely fitted up. There are six
state rooms, and accommodations for passengers
besides. Her engine is a very powerful one, capable
of moving her, it is said, at the rate of 18 miles an
hour. The cabin furniture remains as it did when
the steamer was captured. The steamer Florida is
a wooden vessel, and was built at New York. She
is probably six or eight years old. Her cabin and
officers' quarters are upon deck. They are plainly
fitted up. The Florida is not so large as the Ber-
muda, her tonnage not being so much by 200
or 300."

The prize schooner Belle (British, of Nassau, New
Providence), Prizemaster Cooper, from Port Royal
in seven days, arrived at New York on the 9th. She
was captured on the 26th of April, off Charleston,
while attempting to run the blockade, by the
United States' gunboat Santiago de Cuba. She was
from Nassau, New Providence, and her cargo con-
sists of coffee, sugar, salt, &c. The prize schooner
Mersey (British, of Nassau, New Providence), Act-
ing-Master Coggeshell, from Port Royal in seven
days, also arrived the same day. She was captured
on the 23d of April, off Cape Carnival, by the
United States' gunboat Santiago de. Cuba. She
was from Nassau, New Providence, bound to
Charleston, with an assorted cargo.

DIR. LOUIS BLAA C ON THE SOCIAL

CONDITION OF FRANCE.

Yesterday evening M. Louis Blanc commenced,
at the Beaumont Institution, Mile-end, a series of
lectures illustrative of the various influences which
contributed to bring about the first revolution in
France, the subject he selected for the occasion be-
ing " The Mysterious Personages and Agencies in
France towards the End of the 18th Century." The
leeturer commenced by alluding to the rationalism
which prevailed throughout France during the
middle of the last century, when every belief, every
faith, and every hope that could not be logically
explained by human reason was discarded as un-
true. This was succeeded by a violent reaction,
when the love of the marvellous became the fa-
vourite malady of both rich and poor, and when men
who did not believe in a God were supplanted by
men who professed to raise the dead, thus proving
that a very slight line divides the utmost scepticism
from the most absurd credulity. After the destruc-
tion of the superstitions inculcated by the Jesuits,
pretended gold makers, diamond blowers, fixers of
mercury, and concocters of elixirs, although dwel-
ling in dirt and squalor, succeeded in gaining an
ascendancy over men's minds. The first great pre-
tender to necromantic art was the Count St. Ger-
mains, who alleged that he had lived several lives,
and had been the friend of Socrates and Julius
Caesar, while his servant professed himself unable
to describe some event that had occurred about
one thousand years before, on the ground that he
had only lived with his master for 500 years.
(Laughter.) Yet this man obtained credence among
the highest nobility of France, and it was said that
even King Louis XV. condescended to spend whole
evenings with him, and that he showed his Majesty,
in a magic mirror, his grandson, Louis XVI., lying
bleeding on the scairold. The mere met that such
a prophecy was made so many years before the event
occurred, even if it were a rash gaess, showed that
men's minds were already prepared for some strange
and terrible change. In justice to his country, how-
ever, he must observe that the love of the marvel-
lous was not confined to France alone, but prevailed,
with the exception of England, over the principal
countries of Europe. A short time after the dis-
appearance of the Count St. Germains, a calm,
prepossessing man engrossed the public attention of
Paris—well known as Mesmer. He professed to
cure all manner of complaints, and to do everything,
in fact, but to grind old ladies young. (Laughter.)
The patients were introduced into a large luxurious
apartment, their hands were placed on bars of
polished steel, fixed upright in a wooden tub con-
taining sulphurised water, while delicious perfumes
pervaded the room, and the sweetest harmony
charmed their ears. Presently one and then another
either fainted or fell into convulsions, when they were
removed into a second room, called " The Hell for Con-
vulsions," where both sexes remained for some time
dashing themselves against the floor and walls, until
Mesmer appeared and quieted their paroxysms by
touching them with a small wand. Whatever truth
and reasonableness there might be in Mesmerism, one
point was quite clear—namely, that Mesmer him-
self was quite unaware of it, and merely acted in the
matter like the echo which unconsciously reverbe-
rates sounds full of meaning without comprehending
them. The discovery of the air-balloon, made about
this time, also had a great effect in preparing men's
minds to believe what had until then been deemed
impossibilities, and, of course, the human intellect
was almost powerless to restrain the flood of cie-

dulity that was overwhelming it. Ladies seriously
thought of paying visits to the heavenly spheres—
by. the-bye, Et splendid field for the indulgence of
feminine curiosity—(laughter—and a celebrated)
politician of the day regretted the discovery, as
he was afraid" perfidious Albion" would be enabled
to rule in the air as she had up to that time done,
the sea. (Hear, and laughter.) Thus was the land
almost universally given to believe in the marvel-
lous, through the reaction from scepticism which
had taken place in the minds of the people. When
reason attempted to scale heights she was unequal
to surmount, exhaustion soon ensued, and the mind
being overtaxed was soon lulled to sleep, and
fevered dreams arose over which reason had no con-
trol. (Hear, bear.) To believe relieved the mind
from the fatigue of thinking ; faith was the sleep of
thought. But the brilliant career of all previous
necromancers was far surpassed by a mysterious
stranger who arrived in Strasburg in 1781, who
astonished Talleyrand himself by his marvellous
cures and boundless munificence. He was de-
scribed as being of a middle age, of exceedingly
prepossessing appearance, and his eyes seemed to
give light to the room. He was attractive, yet at
the same time repulsive, and well fitied in every
respect to obtain the homage and the fear of the
multitude. He had travelled all over Europe,
foretelling the future, restoring rosy tints to faded
complexions, and turning iron into gold, for which
latter attribute he was almost worshipped. He
was careless, imperious, prodigal of wealth, kind to
the poor, but took great delight in humbling the
rich. He refused to see princes and bishops unless
they were ill, when he tendered his services to effect
their cure. He played high, and always lost to
ladies. There could be no doubt but that his wealth
was immeasurable, and every one was puzzled to
discover how it was obtained. A great mystery
hung over his origin, and it was impossible to dis-
cover the country where he was brought up by his
speech, as he spoke all languages, but all very
badly. (Laughter.) He went to Paris in 1785, where
he took up his residence at the Rue St. Claude, auil
proceeded to foretell the fortunes of the persons of
rank who flocked in crowds to his apartments. He
predicted the destruction of the Bastile, and worked
his admirers into a belief that it was within his
power to create those magnificent gems, one of
which he had presented to Cardinal de Rohan, who
;vas fully persuaded that he himself had seen it
manufactured. He caused phantoms to come through
the walls of the room, and to sit in a row of chairs
provided for them. So infatuated were people with
him that an officer threw up his commission rather
than fail to keep an appointment with him. His
bust of marble or of bronze was in every palace, and
his picture was worn by every lady, inscribed
" The Divine Cagliostro," when an event occurred
which compelled him to leave Paris. HE alluded
to the celebrated story of the diamond neck-
lace, purchased by the Cardinal de Rohan to
present to the. Queen, which was lost, it was sup-
posed, through the agency of the Countess de la
Motte. On the latter being tried for stealing it,
Cagliostro was involved in the trial, but was, after
a fierce debate in Parliament, pronounced innocent
of any complicity in the matter. On that trial he

made the most extraordinary statements. He did
not hesitate to say that for years the bankers all
over Europe had been commissioned to supply him
with funds, and if it were untrue he would surely
have been contradicted. The King, notwithstand-
ing his having been acquitted, ordered him to leave
the kingdom, and in 1790 he was found in prison at
Rome, in the hands of the Inquisition, who sen-
tenced him in the first instance to death, which was
eventually commuted to imprisonment for life, not
for murder or forgery, but for having been instru-
mental in the distribution of new political ideas,
and for having founded Egyptian masonry. 11, hat
was Cagliostro ? Most persons had entirely mis-
_ _

conceived his character. Carlyle described him as
being a low swindler; but he was nothing of the
sort. His pretended miracles were only performed
for the purpose of firmly establishing his influence

in order to promulgate the views of the secret so-
ciety of the " Illuminati," of which he was the ser-
vant, but still the handsomely remunerated servant.
The object of that society was to establish a mighty
association between men belonging to all coun-
tries, wherein they would all have been compelled
to render obedience to the uncontrolled power of
unknown rulers, and thus to overturn every Govern-
ment. They required some person of influence
to travel over all European countries, and the per-
son they chose to fill this office was Cagliostro, who
had up to the time of his initiation been an obscure
individual, living in the Queen's Bench Prison in
London, where he was confined for debt. Was he
a mere enthusiast ? No ; for true enthusiasm never
siooped to fraud. (Hear, hear.) He was undoubtedly
an impostor, and so he must be branded in history.
He was as much an impostor as some men were who
had been successful, and were called great states-
men. It was the magnitude and the success of the
attempt that made the actor great. A man that
stole a purse was locked up in gaol ; but a man that
successfully seized upon half the world and enslaved
his fellow-creatures, was called a great victor, or a
clever politician. (Hear, hear.) Did the philosophy
of that day, acting on men's minds under those ex-
citing circumstances, bring about the revolution—

the all-devouring and self-devouring revolution
which shook all Europe? He thought it did. It
was that ill-directed philosophy which produced
that shock which was at once the wonder, the ad-
miration, the pity, and the terror of mankind. M.
Louis Blanc then sat down amid loud applause.
The next lecture, entitled "Philosophers and
Philosophy in the Salons of Paris in the 19th Cen-
tury," will be delivered at the same institution on
Thursday, May 29.