LORD LYNDURSTrose, pursuant to notice, to call the Attention of the House to the Royal Academy, and to the proposal to remove the Establishment form 1242 the National Gallery to a new Situation, and the Conditions of such Removal, and said:—My Lords, shortly after the meeting of Parliament, in answer to a question put to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the other House of Parliament, the right hon. Gentleman stated, according to report, that there was an intention of removing the Royal Academy from their present residence in Trafalgar Square to a new site, upon certain terms which were not distinctly stated. My Lords, I consider that much misapprehension has existed respecting the tenure under which the Royal Academy hold their apartments at present in the National Gallery Much misapprehension appears to me also to exist as to the character, the duties, and the means of performing the duties of the Royal Academy, and much misrepresentation has taken place in consequence of such misapprehensions. I am, therefore, desirous to have an opportunity of entering into an explanation upon these points, because I think it will be satisfactory to your Lordships, and will redound to the credit of the society to which I have referred. I hope, my Lords, I shall not be charged with going out of my province in entering upon this subject. My justification, or rather my excuse may be, or must be, that in the course of last Session I presented a petition to your Lordships from the Royal Academy, requesting your Lordships to pass some Bill for the purpose of extending the law of copyright to paintings and other works of fine art. In consequence of this, I have received repeated communications from members of the Royal Academy, and they recall to my recollection many circumstances of my early life when I attended the lectures of Sir Joshua Reynolds, of Mr. Barry, and other professors, when I was very much associated and very conversant with the proceedings of the Royal Academy, and when I was intimately acquainted with many of its members. My Lords, there is ore circumstance, and a remarkable circumstance, that distinguishes the Royal Academy in this country from all the other academies that exist on the continent of Europe. There is not a single academy for the purpose of promoting the fine arts upon the Continent 1243 of no charge whatever to the State, and in this respect resembles many other of our institutions, which would in foreign countries look for aid to the Government, but which in this country are supported by the energy, the vigour, and enterprise of individuals. This is a peculiar characteristic of our free State, and it does, I think, great honour to the independence and spirit of our people. Some persons have said that the Royal Academy is to be considered as a society of private gentlemen united for the purpose of promoting the fine arts; while others have said that it is to be viewed as an incorporation. It is a singular circumstance, that at the institution of the Royal Academy there was an Incorporated Society of British Artists then in existence, consisting of a numerous body of professional gentlemen. In consequence, however, of disputes among that body and the disorders consequent upon them, some of the leading members applied by memorial to George III. for the purpose of establishing an academy under his patronage. After some consideration, the King assented to their request, and established the Royal Academy, exclusively under his protection and support. A code of laws was prepared under the immediate superintendence of the King, and he himself devoted a considerable portion of time to their consideration. Many alterations were proposed; but at last the code was complete, and it was then handed over under the sign manual to the Royal Academy; so that the Royal Academy exists, not as a private assemblage of individuals, but as an establishment under Royal authority, and under the sign manual. As for these laws I may describe them in a few words. The society consists of forty Academicians and twenty Associates, and it is provided that when there is a vacancy it shall be supplied by election, that election to be conducted by the Royal Academicians. But no person is allowed to hold the office of Royal Academician except with the assent of the Crown, and before he is placed in that situation he must have a diploma from the Crown, pointing out his rank and position in the society. Part of the system is the establishment of a very extensive and gratuitous school for the instruction of students in the fine arts. Certain professors are appointed, four or five in number, and also certain officers who are necessary for carrying on the establishment. I remember hearing manyyearsago—nearly 1244 seventy years ago—that the whole system and code of laws were referred to and considered by Lord Camden. I find that at this time Lord Camden was the possessor of the Great Seal, and we know, according to the practice of those days, that the Lord Chancellor was in daily private communication with the Crown. It is therefore almost impossible that a scheme of this kind should be established, and this system of laws could not indeed well be constituted, without the King taking the advice and opinions of the Lord Chancellor. I own, my Lords, that the various documents under the sign manual are not countersigned by any officer of the Crown, and there might be some doubt raised whether this Academy is to be considered an institution, patronised and under the support of the Crown in its private or its public character. My Lords, I do not think it very material to enter into these nice distinctions. What I am stating relates to the frame, the constitution, and the circumstances tinder which the endowment was placed. Now, my Lords, a word or two in respect to its local position. The Royal Academy was founded in 1768. Three years afterwards, in 1771, it was transferred from its original place of residence in Pall Mall to the old palace of Somerset House, by the authority of the Crown. It remained at the old palace of Somerset House until the new building was erected. That building, or series of buildings, was erected under the authority of an Act of Parliament. That Act of Parliament pointed out the particular offices which were to be accommodated in this building; I think they were to be ten in number; and it provided that on the site of the old palace such other buildings and offices should be erected as His Majesty should think proper to direct. It was under this reserved clause that His Majesty directed that that part of the present building which fronts the Strand should be erected for the accommodation of the Royal Academy, the Royal Society, and the Society of Antiquaries. The keys of that part of the building intended to be occupied by the Royal Aademy, were directed by His Majesty to be handed over to Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was then the President. It is clear that at that period the apartments which were assigned to the Royal Academy were held as part of the old palace of the Sovereign, and at the will and pleasure of the Sovereign. They continued in the occupation of those apartments undisturbed for a period of nearly 1245 sixty years. At the expiration of that time it was found convenient to transfer the Royal Academy from the position they then occupied, in order that other offices should be established on that position; but on that occasion a special engagement was entered into between the Crown and Parliament, in which the Royal Academy joined. By virtue of that agreement, and with the consent of the Crown, the Royal Academy was transferred to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. It was stipulated at the time as part of the arrangement that they should hold those premises precisely on the same tenure and with the same rights and privileges as they formerly held the premises in Somerset House. His Majesty consented to this arrangement, Sir Martin Archer Shee being at that time President of the Academy. Thus the matter stands as to the right of the Royal Academy to the apartments they now occupy. They do not hold them of the nation, but of the Crown, and at the pleasure of the Crown. I pass over that part of the subject. I have stated that the Society is self-supporting; the source from which they have derived their income is the annual exhibition. The profits of that exhibition have advanced by degrees to their present amount. The average for the last ten years has reached the sum of £7,000 a year. From the very first the Academy has conducted itself in the management of that fund with great discretion. They have set apart a sum for accumulation with a view to the perpetuity of the establishment. I know, my Lords, some persons suppose that the members of the Royal Academy may apply this fund as they think proper. Some think they have distributed a portion of it among themselves. Nothing can be more unfounded. They have no power whatever over the fund. They cannot dis. pose of any part of it without the consent of the Crown. Upon one or two occasions they have advanced large sums towards the aid of the country in times of emergency. In 1798 they voted £500 for that purpose in aid of the Government. They voted afterwards a similar sum for a similar object; but the Crown refused its consent, and the money was not advanced. I have shown, therefore, that these funds are held not for the purposes of the members of the Society, but that they must be disbursed according, to regulations provided for their application. For what purpose is the fund then to be applied? There are certain officers appointed with the view to the schools 1246 and the instruction of the students; among others, a professor of sculpture, a professor of architecture, and a professor of anatomy—all branches of art necessary for an artist, the importance of which is duly recognized. These and certain other officers receive stipends on a very moderate scale for the discharge of the duties devolving upon them. But the great object of the institution has reference to the schools. The schools are on a most liberal establishment. Any of Her Majesty's subjects have a right to claim and to receive gratuitous instruction there; nothing more is requisite for that purpose than the production of a certificate of good moral character and of a qualification in drawing. With those qualifications they are admitted to the schools and are instructed gratuitously during as long a period as they think proper to remain. Many hundreds of students have been instructed in the schools connected with the society. At this very moment the number of students is something like 400. Your Lordships may ask what has been the result of this instruction? The answer is most satisfactory. During the last fifty years by far the larger proportion of eminent artists in this country have been taught in those schools. Two-thirds of the present Royal Academicans had their education in those schools. I have a list in my pocket of the names of those to whom I refer; but I could not trouble your Lordships to read them all, and to read a few would be invidious; but I will repeat in distinct and precise terms that the most eminent men that have figured in the arts of this country have been educated in those schools—that two-thirds of the present Royal Academicians were so trained and so educated. There is another circumstance worthy of mention. Not long ago it will be recollected that premiums were offered for cartoons to be employed in the decoration of the Houses of Parliament. Eleven premiums were so assigned, and more than two-thirds of them were awarded either to students of the Royal Academy or to persons who at some former time had been students of that society. I happened to be in Paris at the time of the exhibition there of works of industry and art. A room was allotted there to the leading schools, including the English; and I have reason to know that many foreign artists of eminence expressed their admiration of our native works of art there, and their surprise they had known so little of the 1247 English school. I think, then, that so far as relates to the duties of this society, and the mode of their performance of them, I have given most satisfactory evidence. My Lords, besides what I have stated as to the application of the society's funds, I must mention that there are medals and premiums awarded to students who attain a high degree of proficiency, and that there is also a fund appropriated to defraying the expenses of promising young men in travelling on the Continent for the purpose of visiting the Schools of the Ancient Masters, with the view to their improvement. My Lords, there is another application of their funds, which I am sure will meet with your Lordships' hearty concurrence. There is no profession which affords more immediate pleasure and delight than the profession of the arts; but, unfortunately, pecuniary reward to any extent does not always accompany exertion in that vocation. Occasionally from advancing life band its failing energies, sometimes from loss of sight, those who devote themselves to it are unfortunately reduced to poverty and distress. The Royal Academy also appropriates a portion of its funds to the relief of persons of that class, and of widows of artists who may have been left destitute. These are charitable objects, but they are not confined to the members of the institution, the aid is distributed freely to the profession at large; and a much larger sum is given to those members of the profession who are not and never were connected with the Academy than to those who are so connected. I find that about £400 a year is subscribed for the relief of persons connected with the institution, and upwards of £900 for that of persons in the profession not so connected. I think your Lordships will feel that that application of the funds in the manner I have described has been a correct, beneficial, wise, and prudent application, and that the administrators are deserving of our thanks for the manner in which they have exercised their rights and performed their office. My Lords, there are one or two objections which have been made to which I wish to refer before I sit down. It is sometimes complained that the walls of the Academy and the Exhibition are too much confined to Royal Academicians, members of the society. Whether that be the case or not I cannot undertake to say, nor whether the exhibition would be better and more profitable if the works of Royal Academicians were reduced in number and those of 1248 other artists admitted in greater numbers. I will not enter upon that subject, because, as it is understood that more extensive buildings are about to be erected, that complaint, if well-founded, can be removed in future. Another point to which I wish to allude is an objection which is sometimes made that favouritism prevails in the selection of the members. Where election is not made by the public voice it is impossible to say that favouritism may not sometimes exist; but here it is held in check by the voice of the profession, who have always their eyes directed towards the proceedings of the Academy, when an election takes place, and it is still further controlled by the influence and authority of the Sovereign, who must be satisfied of the propriety of each nomination, for no person elected can hold office until his election has received the sanction of the Sovereign and a diploma of appointment. But this I will say, that during the last fifty years no artist of eminence has lived in this country willing to become a member of the society who has not in course of time been elected a member. There have been one or two exceptions, the reasons for which I will not enter upon, because they are of an unpleasant character; but I say generally in broad terms, that every artist of eminence who has existed in this country during the last half century has been a member of the Royal Academy. My Lords, I feel considerable satisfaction in being able to state these facts to your Lordships, and through you to the country. Now, one word before I sit down upon the proposed change of site. I believe that as far back as 1830 it was suggested that it would be proper to remove the Royal Academy from its present position in order to afford more room for the National Gallery, and I think in 1854 Lord John Russell proposed to advance £40,000 to enable the Academy to procure another residence. What was the result of that offer I do not know, except that it was never completed; but this I do know, that it was not very favourably received by the Royal Academy, and for a very obvious reason. They have always considered themselves to be under the immediate supervision of the Crown. If they consented to receive a sum of money from the public purse they considered, and properly so, that they might be called upon from time to time by the House of Commons to make returns, to be examined, and to assume a political character quite foreign to the tranquil state so 1249 necessary for the well-being of art. Therefore I am sure the offer could not have been accepted by them. But other offers have since been made, and now it is proposed that a site should be granted in fee to the Royal Academy upon part of the ground occupied by what is known as Burlington House. No situation can be better for this purpose. They are grateful for that offer; but still they fear what I have before suggested, that a grant from the nation, unless an equivalent was offered by themselves, would place them in the position I have just mentioned. Their object is, and always has been, to remain solely under the control and supervision of the Crown. Therefore what they now propose is this—they will accept the grant upon the condition that they on their part shall he allowed to expend an amount equal to the value of the site in the construction of buildings necessary for the Academy, to be permanently applied for the purposes of art. Thus the grant from the nation will be paid for by that equivalent, because both the land and the buildings to be erected upon it are to he devoted in perpetuity to a great public object. I think that if this kind of arrangement can be carried out it will not affect the position of the Royal Academy, and they will remain, as before, under the immediate supervision, control, and government of Her Majesty. I was anxious, my Lords, to make this explanation, because I was sure, as regarded the conduct and management of the Academy, I could say nothing but what would redound to the credit of that body. I think also your Lordships will not object to the view they take as regards the proposed change of site, that the acceptance of a grant should be conditional upon the arrangement which I have mentioned. What is the precise sum they will expend I ant not prepared to state at present; but I imagine it will be some £40,000 or £50,000, which will be a complete equivalent for the land to be granted to them. I am sorry to have troubled your Lordships at such length, but I was glad to have an opportunity of addressing you upon a subject which, from the position I now stand in, and in which from the earliest days of my life I have stood in relative to these matters, naturally possesses great interest for me.
§ THE EARL OF DERBYI am sure the House is indebted to my noble and learned Friend for the statement which he has addressed to us. He has explained with 1250 his usual clearness and precision the various arrangements which have been made from time to time between the Crown and the Royal Academy. My noble and learned Friend has referred to the beneficial influence exerted by the Royal Academy; and, without entering into details. I think the principle is now recognized on all hands that, while the Royal Academy has no right to claim exclusive possession of this or that particular building, yet it has a right to claim on the part of the public that they shall have some means provided for carrying on their labours, from which I readily admit the public have for a series of years derived the greatest benefit. I believe my noble and learned Friend has only done justice to the zeal with which these labours have been undertaken, and to the services which the society rendered to the fine arts in this country. I should not have risen now, as there is no particular point involved in the remarks of my noble and learned Friend, but that I think it is expedient your Lordships should be put in possession of what is the real position of the Government and the Royal Academy towards each other. Your Lordships are aware that for a series of years there has been a growing feeling that the building constituting the National Gallery, occupied partly by the national collection of pictures and partly by the Royal Academy, was insufficient for both purposes, and that it was desirable to separate one portion from the other. For a long time the question has been agitated whether the National Collection should be removed and the Academy left in possession of the original site; but the result of inquiries by Commissions and Committees appears upon the whole to be that there is no site better calculated than the existing National Gallery for the exhibition of the pictures which belong to the nation. That being the case, it was thought that some other place should be found for the Royal Academy, and the society has hail under consideration the offer of other sites for a building. In that state of things the late Government purchased the valuable property called Burlington House, with the gardens and courtyard attached. In order to give some idea of the extent of space required, I may state that the superficial extent of the National Gallery is 13,000 square feet, while the superficial area of Burlington House and grounds is 143,000 feet, or nearly eleven times as much. It must not, however, be supposed that there are not 1251 numerous claims on this valuable site. Engagements have been entered into with various other societies for portions of that space. I have here a list of those societies which have received promises of accommodation. They are the Royal Academy, the London University, the Royal Society, the Linnæan Society, and the Chymical Society. But, besides these, the Astronomical, the Geological, the Antiquarian, tile Ethnological, the Asiatic, and the Water Colours Societies, which are now located in Somerset House, are claimants for accommodation in Burlington House, while strong recommendations have been made to the Government of allotting a portion of this site to the Geographical and Statistical Societies. Under these circumstances you will, I am sure, admit that it is a matter of some difficulty to meet those various conflicting claims; but the principle on which the arrangement with the Royal Academy is to be carried out has been entirely agreed upon, the settlement of details being left as a matter for future consideration between it and the Government. The principle of the arrangement is this—it appears to me to be a reasonable one,—that, in order to secure the Royal Academy from the inconveniences attendant upon frequent change of place, to afford them more ample accommodation than they now possess, and, at the same time, to provide for the public at large that amount of space which is necessary to the adequate realization of the specific objects which the Academy has in view, they should, out of their own funds, obtain for themselves a site, to be conveyed to them in freehold. whereby they would be relieved from all apprehension of future removal, while the advantage would be secured to the country of having a building suited to the purposes for which the Royal Academy is designed. The proposition made to them, therefore, was that a considerable portion of the site of Burlington House should be appropriated to their use, and should remain over to them in fee simple, upon condition that upon that site they should erect a building adapted to the purposes of the Academy, and not in its style and character incongruous with those other buildings which were now or might hereafter be erected in the same locality. Neither the precise site nor the exact extent of space to be allotted at Burlington House to the Academy has as yet been decided upon. Those points are under negotiation; but I understand that they desire to have half of 1252 the entire frontage of the present building facing Piccadilly, and also a large portion of one of its sides. Now, that application for no less than half of the site occupying 143.000 square feet is one, I cannot help thinking, with all due respect for the labours of the Royal Academy, of rather an extensive character, considering that there are six other societies to whom, as I have already said, promises of accommodation have been made, and seven or eight whose claims have been strongly pressed upon the attention of the Government. Her Majesty's Ministers, however, have deemed it right to ascertain, in the first instance, what amount of space the Royal Academy may reasonably be supposed to want; and, in the next place, before they allot them so large a portion of ground, to be assured that the amount of their funds is such as would enable them to cover, either now or at some future time, with buildings adapted to the objects of the institution, the whole of the site which they require. We have taken this course because it appeared to us it would be extremely undesirable and impolitic to assign to the Royal Academy, or to any society, a considerable space of valuable land, part of which, while they did not need it themselves, they would prevent others from occupying. Of course, so far as the advantages of securing to them a particular aspect and a sufficient amount of light are concerned—matters so necessary for the purposes of the Academy—Her Majesty's Government are disposed to deal with them with the utmost favour and liberality in making their selection of a site. The price paid for the entire site of Burlington House amounts to no less a sum than £140,600; and, if, therefore, we should comply with the wishes of the Royal Academy we should be allowing them a space of ground of the value of £70,000, which is a very considerable sum to dispose of to any one society. I think it right to make this explanation to your Lordships, and to inform you that the site to be set apart for the Royal Academy, and the principle on which we propose to act in dealing with it, have been agreed upon. As to the amount of land to be alloted to them, and the particular position which they are to occupy at Burlington House, I can only say that these are questions the solution of which must, to a certain extent, depend upon the claims of those other societies to whom promises have been made, and also upon the sufficiency of the funds 1253 of the Royal Academy to enable them adequately to occupy the ground which may be assigned for their use.
§ LORD MONTEAGLEwished to call the attention of their Lordships to one fact, and that was that neither the Royal Academy nor any other of the learned societies having apartments at Somerset House could have any Crown right derived from the original occupation of their official residences, the fact being that Somerset House was public property, and had been erected at the public expense. What right they had had been inferred from usage, and an occupation during pleasure and had never been confirmed by Act of Parliament, which would have been indispensably necessary to give them the vested interest which the noble and learned Lord had argued they possessed. In respect to the future, the noble Earl at the head of the Government proposed, however, most properly, in consideration of the erection of the new Gallery at the expense of the Academy, to solve the question by granting them by statute a site in fee, so that now for the first time the Royal Academy would possess an indefeasible right in the land upon which the building they occupied stood. Any title to the building in Trafalgar Square, derived from the delivery of the keys to Sir M. Shee, the President of the Royal Academy, was wholly untenable. The Crown had no power of creating such a title in that or any other way but by Act of Parliament. The building neither was nor ever could be the property of the Crown. He was glad to hear the explanation which had just been given by his noble Friend opposite, and in no portion of his statement did he more cordially concur than that from which it appeared that the Government were prepared to pay due regard to the claims of other societies, and not to allow a site of such immense value as Burlington House, situated as it was in the centre of the metropolis, to be monopolized by any one single body. The services rendered to the public by the Royal Academy were such, he was prepared to admit, as entitled them to the utmost consideration; but he regretted to hear any claim advanced of exemption from the power of Parliament. He was not desirous that Parliament should intermeddle officially in the management of the Academy, nothing could in his opinion tend more strongly to defeat the success of the negotiations now in progress or of their successful termination, than that the friends of the Academy should endea- 1254 vour to place that institution beyond the scope of Parliamentary examination and inquiry. It was contrary to our Constitution, and to their own interests that they should endeavour to do so.
§ EARL STANHOPE, after expressing his gratification at the statement of the noble Earl at the head of the Government, wished to observe that as far as the Antiquarian Society was concerned, they made no claim whatever upon the Government for a portion of the site of Burlington House. That society had held apartments at Somerset House, but a short time ago a new arrangement had been made with the Government, which was perfectly satisfactory to the council, and they had no intention to make any claim upon the ground at Burlington House.