The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-02 00:00:00

NATION-4.L

MEETING THIS DAY.

This afternoon a public meeting of the members of this
society was held at Willis's Rooms, St. James's. The
Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, MX., presided, and there
was I also present Lord Elcho, Earl Spencer, Lord
West, Sir John Mildmay, Sir J. Burgoyne, Mr. G. Silk,
and other gentlemen.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, said he
regretted that he had not :been able before to take any
part in the deliberations of the Council of the National
Rifle Association, and he need not say that he
should have been happy to have done so, but for
the amount of business which had pressed upon
him. For all that no one had taken a warmer
interest in the movement, or had watched its progress with
greater satisfaction than he had, and he had seen with
surprise not only the enormous number which had been
collected, something far beyond what was originally con-
templated by its meat sanguine supporters, and he was
surprised at the spirit and perseverance with which the
drudgery and details of drill had been gone through, and
which had given a practical refutation to all those sinis-
ter prophecies which met the original movement, and
which said that it would be merely child's play, that the
corps would consent of uniforms and no other, and that
the volunteers would put their Lacks to the thing, and that
consequently they never would be able to become practically
acquainted with the movements they were to practice in the
field. He did not know whether he might be allowed to
allude to it, but he thought he might report from " an-
other place " that they had last night a very satisfactory
discussion upon the subject of volunteers. Threats
had been made and great attacks held out, but they
were not made, but silence had . taken the place of
the fireworks which they had expected, and there had been
a unanimous feeling in the House of Commons that the
progress of this association, and the efficiency which the
movement had acquired, put all attempts at attacking it
out of the question. (llear.) He would state briefly the
history and progress of the association. It was established
with a view to give a central authority and neucleus
as a point of communication for all corps in different parts
of the kingdom, and spreading throughout our population
a taste for the use of the rifle, and to nationalise that which
had hitherto been very much neglected. He saw constant
allusions to the times when every man practised at a butt
with a long bow, but that had gone out until last year, and
no other weapon had b3en substituted. This country had
been so engaged in civil matters that military affairs had
been neglected, except in so far as they had been left to the
regular array. Our civil population had almost lost all inte-
rest in military affairs. The National Rifle Association was
established in January last, and went through all the usual
preliminaries, and they were extremely indebted to those
who put the council in motion. The manner in which
the funds of the association had been spent, ought to
be mentioned. The preliminary committee enjoyed offices
in Trafalgar-square, at the rate of 100 guineas a-year, and
furnished them with the usual necessaries. The gentle-
man to whom the secretaryship was first offered, declinedit,
but it was felt that his services were so necessary, that an-
other application was made to him, and he accepted it.
The gentleman alluded to was Capt. Mildmay, a gentleman
who had had much experience in the Austrian service. Hi,
salary had been fixed at £3OO a year, which he thought
was not too high, considering that the Agriculrural Society
gave its secretary £4OO a year and a house. With regard to
the finances, he was happy to say that he had a very good
budget to produce. There were 232 life subscribers, who
produced £1,346 a year ; 501 annual subscribers, who
produced £526 a year ; and 25 donors, producing £289.
There were some other items received since the balance-
sheet was made up, and the total receipts for the
year had consequently been £3,308. An ongst these
one class of subscriptions deserved to be remarked upon,
namely, that of the rifle corps, who contributed
to the the finances of the association. (Hear, hear.)
Amongst these were the Queen's Westminster Volunteers,
the Ist Dorset, the 12th Middlesex, the sth Chester, the
Ist Wilts, the 2d Surrey, the 2d Essex, the Middlesex, the
11th Norfolk, the 11th Somerset, the Wimbledon, the
Northamptonshire, and the St. George's. He would
not enter into the question of the prizes which ware to be
awarded at the meeting at Wimbledon, but he might be
permitted to state, on the part of the Government of which
he was a member, that they looked with the greatest anxiety
upon the future of the volunteer corps. There was certainly
some danger of the corps melting away when the first
blush of excitement was passed, but if anything could give
stability to the movement it would be the existence of that
association.

Lord ELcito said he did not know what the right hon.
gentleman meant by a satisfactory budget, except he went
upon the principle of that of his own Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer which promised a defeat for the next year. The asso-
ciation had a balance in hand of £2,200, but the expenses
would be very heavy at Wimbledon and would take all the
money they had, if not more. He might remark that the ap-
proaching const was founded upon the model of a practice
which prevailed in Switzerland and which had been proved
to be very effective. The expenses of the association would
be very heavy. There were 120,000 men at present con-
nected with the rifle corps, and if they would subscribe a
shilling a piece towards the funds of the association it would
give an income of £GOO a-year, which wouhl be a very hand-
some sum.

In answer to a question from Lord Fielding,
Lord ELcno said that there would bo only two limita-
tions imposed upon candidates, namely, that the weight of
the rifles used should not exceed 101bs., and that no hair
triggers should be used.
Lord FIELDING remarked that the Wimbledon meeting
was fixed for a rather early date.
Lord FIELDING proposed a resolution affirming that, in
the opinion of the meeting, the National Rifle Association
was worthy of national support.

Mr. ROUPELL, M.P., seconded the motion, which was
unanimously adopted.

Sir J. BURGOYNE moved a vote of thanks to the Chair-
man, and in doing so entered into some details in reference
to rifle practice. The motion having been carried by accla-
mation,

The CmuumAN said he was extremely flatttered by and
obliged for this vote, and he felt it a great honour to see
amongst them an officer so accomplished as Sir John Bur-
goyne, one who had passed through some of the greatest
campaigns -which the world ever saw, taking so lively an
interest in the proceedings of the association. He held in
his hand a letter front another veteran, one who had not
served in the field, but who was one of the best lawyers and
the most acute debaters ever known. He had reached an
extreme old age, but still had retained not only all the acute-
ness of his mind, but all the fire of his earliest youth. The
letter was as follows :

" George-street, May 26.
" Dear Lord Elcho,—l regret extremely that it will not be
in my power to attend the meeting in support of the Na-
tional Rifle Association. I need not add, that I feel the
deepest interest in the success of this important national
object, and, above all, in the permanence of the system.
A free people, if worthy of their character, must be ready
at any moment to defend their freedom, and resolute in
taking the necessary steps to render that defence effective.
The impression which the measure has already produced on
the continent of Europe is, as I learn, most satisfactory.—
I remain, my dear Lord, yours faithfully,
"Lord Elcho. " LYNDHURST."
He (Mr. S. Herbert) thought that when they received such
testimoney as this they might reasonably hope the complete
success of their association. (Cheeas.)
A vote of thanks to Lord Elcho terminated the procoed-
ings.