§ SIR A. ROLLITI beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works whether he is now in a position to inform the House the terms and conditions of the tenancy of Burlington House by the Royal Academy?
§ * THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OP WORKS (Mr. H. GLADSTONE,) Leeds, W.The main building of Burlington House is held by the Trustees of the Royal Academy on a lease from the Commissioners of Works for a term of 999 years from Christmas, 1866, at the rent of £1 per annum. There are provisions in the lease involving its forfeiture in the event of the Academy dissolving itself, or in case of the premises being disposed of without the consent of the Government, or used for any purpose inconsistent with the existing objects of the Academy. The Academy undertook to erect an additional storey and other buildings, and to keep the whole of the premises in repair and insured against fire. It was decided by the then First Commissioner of Works (Lord John Manners) not to insert any definition of the objects of the Academy, but hon. Members will understand the circumstances and conditions under which the grant was made by referring to Sessional Paper 227 of 1866. I may, however, call the attention of the House to the fact that, under a guarantee given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1835, the Government were bound, on calling upon the Academy to vacate the eastern portion of the present National Gallery, to provide an equivalent for the Academy elsewhere.