The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-13 00:00:00

NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION.

Yesterday the greater part of the programme of
this meeting was brought to a close, and all the con-
tests for the great prizes that remained to be com-
peted for were finally adjudged. The most im-
portant prize was that for the Rifle Derby, for
which there were nearly 300 entries and upwards
of 170 competitors. The shooting for this was very
good indeed. At one time it seemed certain that
Mr. Ross had carried off this great prize, he scoring
as high as 26. Sergeant Gibbs, of Bristol, how-
ever, not only attained the same score, but when
the ties were shot off beat Mr. Ross, and thus be-
came the winner of the first prize.

The order in which the three winners stood was
as follows:

Sergeant Gibbs, Bristol , . . • • • 26
Mr. Ross, Cambridge University .. .. 26
Mr. Ryrie, 2d Cumberland .. .. .. 25

The winner of the first prize received half the
entire entries, or about £180; Mr. Ross, as second
prizeman; received three-fifths of the other half ;
and Mr. Ryrie two-fifths. The follovi ing is the
score made by the best shots at each range, and the
total score of 22 points and upwards :

200
Sergeant Gibbs, Bristol 1 y ds. 500 60801 7 Total
25
E. Ross, Cambridge University .. 14 8 4 26
Mr. Ryrie, 2d Cumberland .. 12 7 6 25
Captain Hadden, Robin Hood Rifles 11 7 7 25
Captain J. H. Astley, 49th Regiment 12 7 5 24
Sergeant Duggan, 26th Lancashire 9 9 6 24
J. Hendrie, 7th Ayrshire .. 11 7 5 23
Captain Grant, 6th Regiment .. 11 7 5 23
Captain Pipon, 7th Sussex .. 12 5 6 23
Sergeant Dillon, School of Musketry 10 5 8 23
Major Talbot, Unattached .. 11 6 5 22
T. Dunn, 55th Regiment .. 11 6 5 22
Sergeant Tyler, School of Musketry 9 7 6 22
Sergeant Moyreagh, ditto .. .. 13 5 4 2'2
Dickens, Victoria Rifles .. 9 7 6 22
Wilson, Hythe .. 12 6 4 22
Sergeant Murdoch, Edinburgh .. 10 7 5 22

The Association Cup was won by Mr. Ross, sen..
after a very hard and spirited competition, which
was more evenly fought than any of the matches.
The score of the best marksmen was as follows :
Captain Ross, 6th Kincardine .. 14
Captain Wigram, Coldstream Guards.. .. 13
Colonel Lindsay, St. George's .. .. 13
Count de Gendre, Swiss.. 12
Captain A. Lewis, Artists' .. .. 12
Colonel Scott, St. George's 12
Blackburn ..
.. 12
0. P. Pell, Inns of Court .. 12
T. Tappin, Indian Army .. .. 12
G. Holloway, sth Glocester .. 12
Sergeant Dillon, School of Musketry 12
Captain Ingram, Ist Lanark .. .. 12
Leece, Manchester .. .. 12
Catain Heaton, Manchester .. 11
Captain Jackson, Ist Cheshire .. 11
Captain Rowland, 55th Regiment .. 11
Stewart, St. George's 11
Captain M‘Gregor, Midlothian.. .. 11
Bingham, Bristol.. 11
Captain Haddon, Robin Hood .. 11
Ensign llassall, Bristol 11

The Prince Consort's and the Duke of Cam-
bridge's prizes both brought forth a long list of
competitors, though the former, as being shot for at
800, 900, and 1,000 yards' range, was considered,
of course, a higher trophy than the Duke's, which
was competed for at 500 and 800. The shooting for
the Prince's prize, however, was most unequal. All
the best shots made splendid averages, but the dis-
tance between their scores and those of their less
skilful competitors was more marked than we have
seen it at any previous match. The best points
made at each range were as follows, Major Moir
being the winner :

800 900 1,000 Total.
Major Moir, Stirling .. 8 6 7 21
Norsworthy, Oxford University 8 6 6 20
Brooks, 12th Middlesex .. 4 8 8 20
Hendrie, 7th Ayrshire .. .. 5 8 5 18
Smith, Mid-Lothian .. 7 7 4 18
Viscount Fielding, 4th Flint .. 7 6 5 18
Capt. Wigram, Coldstream Guards 5 6 - 6 17
Ensign Oxley, 4th Surrey .. 7 6 4 17
Capt. Bridgman, West Middlesex 4 6 5 15
E. Ross, Cambridge University 5 7 2 14
Peterkin, ditto .. 8 3 3 14
Leece, Manchester, .. 2 4 7 13
G. Holloway, sth Glocester 6 7 0 13
Major Margary 8 1 4 13

The Duke of Cambridge's was won by Mr. Ross,
sen., by one point, and after a very close contest.
We subjoin the best scores :
Captain .Koss, 6th Kincardine .. 16
Ensign Dunlop, London Scottish .. .. 15
Captain Heaton, 3d Manchester .. 15
Captain Ick, 78th Lancashire .. 14
Sergeant Duggan, 26th Lancashire .. 13
Lord Bury, Civil Service .. 13
Lord Vernon, 2d Derby 12
Lieutenant Lacy, 12th Foot .. 12
Lieutenant Yates, 2d Lancashire .. 12

The keenest and best fought, as well as most in-
teresting =itch, was that for the Dudley Prize,
which was finally competed for at 800 yards by the
winners of prizes only. Viscount Fielding at one
time appeared certain of gaining this, and, in fact,
only lost it to Mr. Rowe by one point. The shoot-
ing was seven shots at 800 yards, and the best scores
made at this were so remarkab:y good that they
deserve being recorded :

Rowe, Ist Devon.. .. .. 10
Viscount Feildin g •11 •• 9
Simons, Victoria Rifles'i.. 9
Sergeant Duggan, 26th Lancashire 8
Gibbs, Bristol .. . • •• • 8
Greig .. • . .. 8
E. Ross, Cambridge University .. • • 7
Blackburn, Edinburgh .. .. • • 7
Dickens, Victoria •• •• • . 7
Ruston, Robin Hood Rifles .. • • •• 7
Thornbury, Victoria .. .. • • • • 6
Hendrie, 7th Ayrshire .. • • • • • • 7
Plaskett, Civil Service .. • • • • •
Young, Ist London .. • . .. 5
Captain Wizram . 5
Bingham, Bristol.. ..
The shooting for the Duke of Wellington's prize
was from a rest, and, singularly enough, the firing
here was the worst of the day. Sergeant Potter
of Hythe won the cup by as low a score as seven
points. For the possession of Mr. Bennett's gold
watch there was a very fair contest, in which Mr.
Buller, of the Queen's, and Sergeant Stapleton, of
the Coldstreams, shot off for ties, and the latter
won the watch. During the practice one of Whit-
worth's rifles, belonging to Mr. Lewis, of the
Artists' Corps, burst badly at the breech, though
fortunately without doing any injury; It was said
on the ground that it was loaded with a double
cartridge, and also that the barrel had a flaw in it;
but for the accuracy of either of these on di ts we
cannot vouch. Great satisfaction was expressed all
over the ground with the performances of Henry's
rifle, and during yesterday and the day before
Storm's breech-loading rifle was exhibited on the
ground. A description of this most perfect of all
breech-loaders has already appeared in our columns,
and its immeasurable superiority over all other
weapons of the same kind is so well known now
that further praise is needless.

On Thursday evening, Mr. Mackley, surgeon,
who has been committed for trial on the charge of having
murdered his housekeeper, was removed from Bradford to
York in custody.
CENSUS OF CIUME.—The commitments for trial
for indictable offences are commonly taken as a measure of
the amount of crime, and the year 1860 has no reason to
shrink from this test, for the commitments in England and
-Wales fell from 16,674 in 1859 to 15,91 9 last year. But
since the Criminal Justice Act came into operation in 1655,
transferring a number of cases to the summary jurisdiction,
the commitments have given a more imperfect idea of the
prevalence of crime ; last year upwards of 30,000 charges of
stealing, or attempting to steal, were disposed of by the
magistrates. A better test may be found probably in the
number of offenders sentenced to gaol by courts and magis-
trates; and the following short table, made up on that
principle, shows the continued decrease of crime :-
1851. 1857. 1658. 1859. 1860.
Sentenced on indict-
-14,734.. 15,307 .. 13,246 ..12,470 12,068
ments
Sentenced to gaol by I
/7 719 85 795.. 83,128..74,759 70,151
magistrates .. - ' '
1-02,102.. 96,371..87,239 82,210
The capital convictions in 1860 were only 48, the smallest
number yet recorded. Tire extreme penalty of the law is
virtually confined to murder, no execution having taken
place for any other crime since 1841. The case which oc-
curred in that year was for an attempt to murder, where
life was seriously endangered. The average of convictions
for murder in the last 10 years has been 17, and that was
the exact number in 1860. In five cases the punishment
was commuted to one c) penal servitude; in 12 the sentence
was inflicted. It is only in these cases that we have in our
statistical returns any attempt to tabulate "motives to
five are described as being
for Of tbc.se murdheratsw;roed
,froortrne jealousy,from
exe
i t
twoof robbery,
rfosireetthede slaokvee,
ninee excitement °bug;
drink, and in one instance no • •
Motive is assigned.