The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-08 00:00:00

THE WAR.

A form of prayer, in the present crisis, has been for-
warded to the bishops of the province of Canterbury. In
a lettey to the Bishop of London- the AreltiishDp of
Canterbury says :—" As at present advised, I find
that the precedents are against the issuing of
such a form, while the United Kingdom and
the rest of her Majesty's dominions are mercifully
preserved from any-participation in the war. In common,
however, with yourself and all others with whom I have
conferred on the subject, I feel that in prospect of the
miseries now threatening two great nations, with which
our country is most, intimately connected, the English
people are bound to present their supplications to God for
the restoration of peace.
" 0, Almighty God, King of all Kings, whose power
no creature is able to resist, to whom it belongeth justly to
punish sinners, and to be merciful to them that truly re-
pent ; assuage, we beseech Thee, the horrors of this war,
which Thou past permitted to break forth in Europe ; re-
strain the passions of the combatants; inspire the con-
querors with mercy. and the vanquished with submission
to Thy will; give patience to all who suffer'; prepare for the
summons those who .are called to die ; and set to this war-
fare bounds which it may not pass, We pray Thee, 0
God, speedily grant peace to the nations, and so over-
rule, in Thy good providence, the course of all events,
that our present anxieties may end in the spread of
righteousness, enlightenment, and true liberty, and thus
Thy Kingdom may at last be established on earth.
And this we pray through the merits and medi ttion of
Jesus Christ, onr Lord and Saviour, the Prince of Peace.
Amen.

How PARIS RECEIVED THE. FIRST DEFEAT.—
Even during the most fortunate campaign occasionai
reverses must be expected ; but it
.was quite pain-
ful —and, I may add, to a thoughtful observer,
not a lirtle . disquieting —to see that expression
of anger and mortified surprise painted on every coun-
tenance as each reader in turn, having secured, not with-
out difficulty, an evening paper, took in at a glance the sad
meaning of the official note. There was no necessitp to read
it twice—no misunderstanding it ; we had suffered defeat, a
general had been killed, and one gun taken. I witnessed
the distribution of the evenings papers at a railway
terminus where I was going to embark on a dinner ex-
pedition to a country house at some distance from Paris.
In. general, such places, at those hours, are a scene of
noisy, chattering merriment, but yesterday there was
gloomy silence. I3oth at the terminus and in the
train every man had his newspaper, and when he had
read it he said nothing to his neighbour. Now and
then there would be a characteristic exception to
this rule, when some one with true French im-
patience would strike the odious official communi-
cation with the back of his hasid, muttering, " And they
don't say what they are going to do next. They are not
going to leave the Prussians there, I suppose 1" Knowing
them well, as I do, even I could scarcely have imagined
that so trifling a reverse would have created so mach
soreness and disappointment. It shows how little the
real nature of the struggle in which we are engaged has
been understood by the general public hem—French Cor-
respondent of the Times.

ENTIIUSIASTIC MEETING OE GERMANS.--The in-
telligence of the two most recent victories last night
-brought together a large number of Germans at the Ger-
man Gymnasium, Old St. Pancras-road. The latest
editions of the Observer were read in succession, and their
contents produced extraordinary enthusiasm. A telegram
congratulating the King of Prussia upon the success of
her armies, and styling him " the future Ruler of United
Germany," was sent to Berlin in the course of the evening.
Many patriotic songs were sung, and the toasts, "The
German Army," " Success to the German Arms," and
" United Germany," were most enthusiastically responded
to. It was, writes an eye-witness, most touching to wit-
ness the effect of the war news on all present. Germans
from the far North and South, from Austria and Hanover,
embraced each other like brethren, in the firm belief
that the German soil is saved from the common foe for
ever.

NAVAL AND MILITARY.— In addition to the
armour-clad vessels of war now building and fitting at
Chathem, instructions have been received from the Ad-
miralty for the commencement of another large ironclad
vessel, to be named the Raleig!t which is to be built from the
designs of Mi. Reed, C. 8., the late chief constructor of the
navy. The Raleigh is intended to be cased with wood over her
armour-plating, and is designed to be of 4,066 tons bur-
den, with machinery of 1,000 horse power (nominal), but,
with the improvements now made in marine engines,
capable of exerting a 6,000 horse-power. Her armament
will consist of 27 guns of heavy calibre, which will be-
mounted in her central main deck battery, and on her
upper deck. The Raleigh is to be forthwith taken in hand,
and will be pushed :orward as -rapidly as the resources of
the dockyard will permit.