The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-02 00:00:00

7.FIE SELF-DEFENCE OF CANADA.

The following, from La Minerve, aFrench Cana-
dian journal, would lead us to suppose that the in-
habitants of L-Aver Canada are thoroughly imbued
with a determination to resist invasion :
At the time of the secession of the South from
the United States, and of the outbreak of the war
between what is now called the Federal and Con
federate States, we began to believe that it would
be prudent for us Canadians to defend our coun-
try in case of danger. We know that General
Sir W. F. Williams wrote to England to this effect,
requesting the sending of more troops, and that the
Imperial Government answered his demands by
immediately increasing the military force of this
country. These troops having already seen much
active service, we are certain of great help, should
we be attacked; but their numbers are not sufficient
to be very effective. If during the present winter
I our neighbours would desire to trouble us, which
may take place, if we judge from the many compli-
cations that have and are taking place almost every
day, and in particular after the sanction by the
Congress of the Federal States of the arrest of the
Messrs. Slidell and Mason, lye would find ourselves
in the vexatious petition of being unable to be aided
by England. It is therefore urgent, and at the
same time extremely necessary, that the provincial
government should take measures to immediately
organise the sedentary militia, who have before done
great service to this province.

The Government should call together the officers
of the sedentary militia, ordering them to form one
company in each parish or township of Lower
Canada, and to discipline such militia as soon as
possible. We well know that without discipline a
militiaman is useless, and we also know that it
would take some time to discipline a body of them.
But the Government can easily surmount all theie
obstacles by immediately acting in the matter. It
is only necessary to call to a special district an offi-
cer of militia from each parish, and to instruct such
officers assembled in the manual exercise, and the
proper military discipline, which could be done in a
short time, and the officers would then return to
their respective parishes and form their companies.
By this means, and in a little while, the militia
would soon become effective.

It would not be requisite at present to arm these
companies, as we all know that the habitants gene-
rally possess guns. They might use them for drill,
and when called into active service the Government
would be prepared to furnish them the necessary
arms. By this means we could soon form a sufficient
force in-Lower Canada, who would have received
their first lessons of the manual exercise, and be pro-
perly disciplined. The following simple calculation
is an estimate of the army that would thus be raised
if this plan were put in execution :—Let us say
that there are 200 parishes in each district of Mon-
treal and Quebec, and 60 parishes in each district
of St. Hyacinthe and Three Rivers; if, therefore,
one militia company, composed of 100 men, all under
40 years of age, was formed in each parish we would
have 52,000 disciplined men ; we might also add to
this 10,000 which could be formed in battalions
in Montreal and Quebec, and we would find our-
selves with 62,000 sedentary militia, exclusive of
the active force and the Queen's troops.
If Upper Canada would do likewise, we should
have 124,000 men, who would be ready for active
service in case of need, and this without scarcely
any expense to the Government. If there would
be any difficulty in raising one hundred men in each
of the new parishes, we might form more than one
company in the more populous parishes, and we
would thus make up the deficit. All these soldiers,
divided into different battalions, might be concen-
trated together in a certain district in about 15 days.
The old Volunteer corps throughout the colony
are assembling for drill, and new corps are being
actively formed ; also a project, which is meeting
with considerable favour, is on foot for organising
a corps for naval service on the lake, states the
Montreal Gazette. The nucleus for such a force
already exists in the Royal Canadian Yacht Club,
the members of which are well adapted for any
service requiring a knowledge of the coast and of
nautical affairs generally, Mr. Armstrong, the
secretary of the club, is, we learn, endeavouring to
procure the names of those willing to serve. The
Hon. Captain Elmsley is spoken of as the com•
mander of the corps, which we hope soon to see
fully organised.

THIS DAY'S ,01ARKETS.

CORN EXCHANGE.

131 t ERIAL WEEKLY AVERAGES. Wheat, 61s 4d ;
barley, 36s 4d ; 0at5,!223 6d ; rye, 35$ 10d ; beans, 41s
4d ; and peas, 41s Ild.
THE Six WEEKS' AVERAGES. - Wheat, 60s 9d ;
barley, 36s 9d ; oats, 22s 7d ; rye, 35s 9d ; beans, 42s 4d ;
peas, 44s ld,
ENGLISH GRAIN SOLD LAST WEEK.—Wheat, 75,104 ;
barley, 101, 835; oats, 16,362 ; rye, 95 ; beans, 4,704 ; peas,
2,263 quarters.