Case

This Case is submitted on behalf of the Royal
Academy of Arts for the Opinion of Counsel as to the
right of the Academy to that part of the National
Gallery which they now occupy and for the advice of
Counsel as to the course which should be adopted by
the Academy under the following circumstances.
On the 8^th of April last the Keeper of the Royal
Academy received a letter from Lord John Russell
requesting an interview with him at Downing Street
on the following day _ Such interview took place
and the following is a Copy of the Minutes made by
the Keeper of what passed.
His Lordship named our occupancy of Somerset House
by the Gift of George the 3^rd our removal to
Trafalgar Square _ The Rooms in the Building
of the National Gallery given to the Royal Academy
by William the 4^th _ The desire of the Government
to use the Apartments we now occupy for the
extension of the National Gallery and for the
Vernon Collection.
Lord John wished to know if the Royal
Academy would accept a Grant of £20,000 this
year and £20,000 in the next year in order
to vacate the Rooms they now occupy and find
a site and assist by their own funds in
erecting a Building suitable to all the purposes
1.

now carried on at that Institution
The Keeper assured Lord John that the
Royal Academy was solicitous to meet the
wishes of Government if possible but the
difficulty of finding a site was great _ He
also pointed out the vital importance of a
good site for our respectability and the con=
=tinuation of our means. _
His Lordship acknowledged the justice of
these Observations and named Chandos House
Pall Mall and Leicester Square _.
The Keeper suggested Burlington House in
Piccadilly which seemed to please Lord John
and he observed that no situation could be
more eligible if it could be obtained.
Lord John then told the Keeper that M.^r Hume
had admitted to him that he would not
oppose a Grant to the Academy _ Lord John
then pressed M.^r Hume to be sincere and
support a Grant _ he hesitated but avowed
he would though the Academy was so rich as
not to require it. _
On Mr Hume’s name being thus mentioned
the Keeper enquired if such Grant would
leave the Royal Academy as free from
interference as that Institution was at
Somerset House and His Lordship replied
2.

I should think it great injustice if it did
not _ but no one could prevent any member
of the House of Commons from making
observations but Lord John considered such
conduct would be unlikely Lord John further
said that our Schools were inadequate to our
purposes and the Exhibition Room for Sculpture
was bad.
The Keeper replied that the constant objections
to our tenure at the National Gallery had
occasioned us great discomfort and prevented
improvements anticipated by the Academy for
the advantage of the Schools and also pointed
out the circumstance of a very large portion
of our annual receipts being required by
Pensioners _ Widows of Artists unprovided for
and also the severe demand on the Academy
by the unfortunate the sick and the helpless
in the profession.
The Keeper also endeavoured to impress on
Lord John the desire of the Royal Academy
to do every thing that could be done to meet
the views of Government consistently with
our duty to the Sovereign and a desire to
carry out the will of the Founder
Lord John expressed his satisfaction and
said that he would recommend the Sovereign
3. 

to do us any Grace that might be useful or
agreeable to the Academy and concluded by
stating that he would write a Letter in two
or three days to be laid before the Council
and General Meeting.
On the 22^nd of April the Keeper of the Academy
received from Lord John Russell a letter of
which the following is a Copy.

Downing Street, April 22.^nd 1850.
Sir,
I have the honor to inform you that
in consequence of the want of room in the
present National Gallery for the pictures
belonging to the Collection _ Her Majestys Govern=
=ment have come to the determination of
appropriating the rooms now used by the Royal
Academy for the purposes of the National Gallery
It is the intention of the Government to propose
to Parliament a Vote of £20,000 in the present
year and a similar vote in the next year to
enable the Royal Academy to provide themselves
with a Building suited for the purposes of
Instruction for Students and for Exhibition of
the Works of Artists.
Her Majesty will always be desirous to
evince to the Royal Academy by Her
continuance and protection Her wish for
the success of their endeavours for the promotion
4. 

and improvement of British Art
I have the honor to be Sir
Your most obed.^t Serv.^t
J. Russell.
George Jones Esq:.^re

It will be observed that this letter though expressed
in courteous terms does not at all recognize any
right on the part of the Academy _ to the part of
the National Gallery occupied by them and the
view taken by the Government seems to be that
they are entitled to come to a determination as
to the manner in which such part of the Gallery
is to be appropriated without previously consulting
the Academy on the subject and it would seem
to follow that the proposed Grant of £40,000
is to be regarded rather as proposed out of Grace
and favor than as a compensation for any right
on the part of the Academy to the part of the
Building which they occupy and are now required
to vacate.
A most important question therefore arises as
to whether the Academy can accept the proposed
Grant from Parliament without exposing themselves
to the interference of Parliament in their affairs.
Unfortunately there is too much reason to
apprehend that if the slightest additional ground
is given for such an interference there are many
5. 

who would readily avail themselves of it to renew
the attempts which have already been made to
induce Parliament to exercise a control over the
affairs of the Academy.
The Academicians have no desire to withhold
information from the authority which under the
Deed of Institution of the Academy is alone
entitled to control its affairs and their accounts
are regularly rendered to the Crown, but they
strongly feel that the interference of Parliament
in their affairs would be destructive of the best
interest of the Academy and they would therefore
rather decline the large sum offered than by
receiving it endanger their independence.
The main ground upon which interference has
hitherto been attempted has been that the public
were entitled to some benefit in exchange for the
advantages granted to the Academy in allowing
them to occupy a Building erected with Public
money and it is feared that the Vote by Parliament
of a sum expressly for the Academy may be
considered as furnishing an additional pretext
for such a view.
It will be necessary in order to enable Counsel
to understand the position in which the Academy
is now placed to enter into a short statement
as to its institution and of the circumstances
6. 

which have led to the occupation by the Academy
of the part of the National Gallery which they
now hold.
It will be seen from the Extracts from the
Deed of Institution sent herewith that the
Academy was instituted in the year 1768 by
King George the 3^rd and it will be observed
that the Deed of Institution has only the
Sign manual of the King attached to it
and is not countersigned by any Officer of the
State.
It will be seen also that the King declared
himself to be the Patron, Protector and Supporter
of the Society and that several of the Officers
were to hold their Offices only during His
Majesty’s pleasure and that the 8^th Clause of
the Deed directs “that there shall be a
“Treasurer of the Royal Academy who as
“the King was graciously pleased to pay all
“deficiencies shall be appointed by His Majesty
“from amongst the Academicians that he may
“have a person in whom he placed full
“confidence in an office where his interest is
“concerned” and further directs that the
Treasurer shall after laying the Accounts
before the Council of the Institution lay
7. 

them before the Keeper of His Majesty’s Privy
Purse to be by him finally audited and the
deficiencies paid.
His Majesty took great personal interest in
the Institution as is shewn by the nature of
the provisions of the Deed the privileges which
he granted to the President and Chief Officers
of communicating direct with himself without
the intervention of any Officers of the State
and also by the King having for many years
provided out of his Privy Purse the funds
necessary for the support of the Institution.
We beg to submit to Counsel whether under
these Circumstances the Institution may not
be considered to have been established in his
private rather than in his public character
as King.
Soon after the institution of the Society the
King appropriated to its use some Apartments
in his Palace which stood on the site of
Somerset House but the Exhibition was for
some years held at some Rooms in Pall
Mall _ It appears from the following Extract
from the Minutes of the Council of the
Academy that the permission to occupy some
of the Apartments in the Palace was conveyed
8. 

to the Academy through the Lord Chamberlain
Royal Academy 28^th April 1771.
At a meeting of the Council
______________
Present
The President. J.P. Cepraim
The Treasurer. In.^o Richards
The Secretary. Rich.^d Wilson
Charles Cotton. Nathaniel Dance Esq:^re
William Tylor.
The last Minutes read and confirmed
The President reported that the Lord Chamberlain
had ordered the room next to the Lecture Room
to be appropriated to the use of the Royal
Academy and that the adjoining Rooms should
likewise be given up to the Academy as soon
as Sir James Wright had quitted them which
would be within 3 or 4 months from this
time.
That the Secretary do wait on Sir James Wright
to request that he would order the above Rooms
to be delivered up to the Academy.
Joshua Reynolds, President
F.M.Newton Secretary
___________

9. 

The Palace was part of the Hereditary property
of the Crown having come to it on the attainder
of the Duke of Somerset and about the year 1780
was given up by King George the 3^rd to the
Government in order that it might be used as
Government Offices and the present Building was
we believe then erected but it has always been
understood by the Academy (though we have
no evidence of the fact) that His Majesty reserved
to himself the right of appropriating a part of
the new Building namely the portion fronting
towards the Strand to the Royal Academy, the
Royal Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Society
and the part appropriated to the Royal Academy
was built for the express purpose, a large Room
being provided as an Exhibition Room.
On the new Building being completed the
following letter was addressed on the part of the
Lords of the Treasury to Sir William Chambers
the Treasurer of the Society.

To Sir William Chambers
Sir,
The Lords Commissioners of Her
Majesty’s Treasury having taken into considera=
=tion your Letter of the 27^th of March stating
that the Apartments allotted to the Royal
Academy in the new Building at Somerset House
10. 

are now completely finished and that His Majesty
has directed this years Exhibition of Pictures to be
there and desiring to have an order for delivering
up the same either to the President and Council
or to the Treasurer of the Academy who is
by virtue of his Office to have the inspection
and care both of the Buildings and all other
His Majesty’s effects employed in that Institution
I am commanded by their Lordships to direct
you to deliver up into the hands of the
Treasurer of the Royal Academy all the
Apartments allotted to His Majesty’s said
Academy in the new Buildings in Somerset
House which are to be appropriated to the
uses specified in the several Plans of the
same heretofore settled _ And you are to
signify to the Officers of the Academy that
they their Families Servants Tradesmen and
Visitors are to use for their Apartments the
Stair of Communication only and not to use
the great Stair for any Common purposes and
as the residence of the Secretary in the
Academy is an indulgence lately proposed
which upon trial may be found inconvenient
or the Rooms he occupies be hereafter wanted
for other purposes you are to signify to him
that he holds the same merely at pleasure
11. 

to be resumed whenever it shall be thought
proper and to the end that all the parts of
the new Building may be preserved in good
repair undamaged and undisfigured you
are strictly to direct and order that no tubs
or pots of earth either with or without flowers
or Trees Creepers or other Shrubs be placed in
the Gutters of the said Buildings or upon
the roof and parapets or upon the Court
Areas windows nitches or any other aperture
of the same and also that no plaster papers
or other things be put up plastered or pasted
against any of the Walls thereof under any
pretence whatever _ And you are further to
direct that on no account whatever any
change shall be made in the destination
of the Apartments appropriated to the public
use nor any alteration either in those or in
any others that are or shall be inhabited by
any of the Officers or Servants without the
approbation of this Board and that no
person be permitted to let or lend their Apart=
=ments under any pretext whatever.
I am Sir
Your most humble Serv.^t
John Robinson.
Treasury Chambers
11^th April 1780.
12.

In the year 1787 the following Correspondence took
place between the Treasury and Sir Joshua Reynolds
as President of the Academy _ It is of importance
as shewing the view then taken as to the nature
of the tenure of the Academy and it will be
seen that the Letter of Sir Joshua Reynolds
is afterwards referred to in the Communications
from Lord Grey as shewing what was the
nature of the Title of the Academy to the Apartments
in Somerset House.

Royal Academy, 13^th Sept.^r 1787.
At a Meeting of the Council
The President reported that he had received the
following Letter.
Gent.ⁿ
It appearing to the Lords Commissioners of His
Majesty’s Treasury necessary that the Public
Buildings at Somerset Place should be insured
and it having been presented to their Lordships
that the Apartments allowed for the use of the
Royal Academy should be insure for the sum
of £8,400 I am commanded by their Lordships
to desire that you will forthwith cause the
same to be insured and that you will
continue to do so from time to time at one
of the Public Offices for Insurance against
Fire at the said sum of __________
13. 

£8,400.
I am Gent.ⁿ
Treasury Chambers Your most obed.^t humble Serv.^t
17^th Aug.^t 1787. George Rose
The President & Council
of the Royal Academy
___________________
Royal Academy 14^th Sept^r 1787.
Sir
I have communicated your letter to the Council
of the Royal Academy in which we are Ordered
by the Lords Commissioners to insure the Apart=
=ments allotted to the Royal Academy. _
They beg leave to remark that there is no
established funds for the support of the Academy
and the profits by which it is supported are
altogether precarious _ That such as they are
they are employed not for the benefit of the
President and Council (who have no Salaries)
but for the advancement of art _ That they
Considered the Building as the Kings House
not theirs though His Majesty is so gracious
as to permit them to make use of it and
therefore whether they can undertake from a
fund thus precarious to insure one of the
Kings Houses is submitted to their Lordships
and if they are pleased to order them to
make such insurance they shall certainly obey
They beg leave to add that the little fund
14. 

which they have been able to accumulate after
defraying the expences of the Academy is appropriated
to the relief of such Artists as are rendered incapable
of following their profession or their distressed families
It is from these poor Artists therefore the money
must be taken if the Insurance is insisted on
by the Lords Commissioners
I am with the greatest respect
G. Rose Esq: Yours &c &c
Treasury Chambers. Joshua Reynolds. Pres.^t
________
Sir, I am commanded by the Lords Commissioners
of His Majestys Treasury to acquaint you that they
have taken into consideration your letter of the 14^th
Sept.^r last relative to the mode of defraying the expence
of insuring the Apartments at Somerset Place allotted
to the use of the Royal Academy and that their
Lordships are of opinion under all the circumstances
of the case that the Apartments ought to be insured
at the charge of the Academy.
I am Sir, Your mo: humble Serv.^t
Treasury Chambers. Tho: Steele.
24^th Dec.^r 1787.
Sir Joshua Reynolds.
__________
It having been determined by the Government in the
year 1834 to erect the National Gallery in Trafalgar
Square and the Government being desirous of having
the use of the Rooms occupied by the Academy
in Somerset House _ Communications passed between
15. 

Lord Grey and the President of the Academy as to
appropriating to the use of the Academy the part of
the National Gallery which they now occupy in
exchange for the Rooms which had been appropriated
to them as above mentioned in Somerset House.
The motive of the Academy in entering into this
arrangement was the desire of obtaining more extended
accommodation which the National Gallery would
afford.
The nature of the arrangement which was entered
into between the Government and the Academy to effect
this Exchange is shewn by the following Correspondence

Downing Street May 8^th 1834.
Private
Dear Sir Martin,
I enclose a note and Copy of a Letter from Sir
Joshua Reynolds which I received last night from
M^r Spring Rice which will shew that nothing
has been said or intended which could place the
Royal Academy in a more insecure situation in
the new Establishment than they are in that
which at present exists.
I could add that in the very distant and not
very probable event of the space now assigned to the
National Gallery becoming insufficient I should
hope that means might be found for making such
additions as might become necessary without interfering
with the Royal Academy.
I am with great regard &c &c &c
Grey.
16.

Note from Mr Spring Rice enclosed in the foregoing
letter.
My D.^r Lord, Treasury Chambers _ May 7.^th 1834
What fell from me in the House of Commons
and what stands in the minutes of the Treasury in
respect to the Assignment of rooms to the Royal
Academy in the new Gallery is to the following respect
The Academy will have the same title and tenure to
their new habitation that they already possess at
Somerset House _ That title will neither be improved
or weakened in any respect.
What that title is will I think appear from the
enclosed Copy of a letter from Sir Joshua Reynolds
in 1787 and now remaining registered at the
Treasury in which he disclaims all right of property
and states that the Rooms are the King’s and
not theirs.
The alternative respecting which I was questioned
by M.^r Warburton and others is not very likely
to occur at least in our time. It contemplates
such an addition to the National Pictures as to
make it impossible that they should be contained
in the Wing of the Building _ Surely the
Academy themselves must see that in that
event it would be inevitable that a larger space
must be appropriated for the National Pictures _
care being of course take to provide the Royal
Academy with suitable accommodation.
I have the honor to be my D.^r Lord
Your Lordships obliged & faithful
Spring Rice
______________
My Lord
I have to acknowlege the receipt of your
17 

Lordships letter enclosing a Copy of a letter from
Sir J. Reynolds and also one from M.^r Spring
Rice to your Lordship _ I shall immediately
lay them before the Council of the Royal Academy
but I cannot delay for a moment to offer
to your Lordship my best thanks for the kind
attention which you are so good as to bestow on
the interests of that Establishment.
I have the honor to be my Lord
with highest respects
Your Lordship’s obliged & faithf.^l Serv.^t
M.A. Shee
To Lord Grey
____________
My Lord,
I am authorized by the Members
of the Royal Academy to express to your
Lordship the high gratification they derive from
the assurance which you are pleased to afford
them that the apartments allotted to the Royal
Academy in Trafalgar Square may be considered
as not less securely or permanently devoted to
the purposes of that Institution than those
which they have so long held at Somerset
House.
They are desirous to remark that it never
was their impression or belief that they possessed
any other right in their present apartments than
that of occupancy for the purpose of carrying
on a School of Art, a right graciously conferred
on them by their Royal Founder George the 3^rd
when he was pleased to establish them as
18 

early as January 1771 in His Palace of Old
Somerset House _ When that edifice was made
over to the nation in 1775 His Majesty directed
the plans for a Royal Academy proposed to
form part of the new Building to be laid
before the Members of the Society _ These plans
were approved and signed by the President and
Council and Officers in 1776 and they took
possession of the new residence in 1780 in virtue
of a letter from M.^r Robinson of the Treasury
dated April 11^th of the same year directing the
Architect Sir W.^m Chambers to deliver up to the
Treasurer of the Academy all the Apartments
allotted to His Majesty’s said Academy in the
new Buildings at Somerset House which are
to be appropriated to the uses specified in
several plans of the same heretofore settled.
The letter from Sir Joshua Reynolds of which
M.^r Spring Rice has sent your Lordship a
copy is recorded in the minutes of the Academy
and is they conceive in perfect accordance with
the opinions which the Members of the Academy
always entertained and expressed as to the
nature of the tenure by which they hold
their Apartments for above half a Century _
and which does not appear to have been
subjected to any such contingency as that
which is the cause of their present apprehension
On this subject they beg to observe that the
permanent occupancy of any residence that
may be allotted to the Royal Academy will be
19 

nearly as important as its fitness for the
purposes of that Institution a second removal
would be productive of serious inconvenience to
the Academy _ would be highly injurious to
the various objects of Art collected for the
use of the Schools and in the result would
probably not only disturb the operations of
the Institution as a National Seminary but
fatally endanger the means by which the
Academy are now enabled to devote annually
upwards of £5000 to the cultivation of the
Arts and the Promotion of Public taste.
But the Members of the Royal Academy
rely with full & grateful confidence on your
Lordship’s assurances pursuaded that the liberal
consideration which through your kind and
private influence the Government has happily
extended the Fine Arts, will secure for them
all the encouragement and support that an
enlightened estimate of their importance can
suggest or which may be necessary to assist
the exertions of the Academy in a cause
that concerns the honor and dignity of the
Nation.
I have the honor to be &c. &c.
M.A. Shee
To Lord Grey.
___________
The National Gallery having been completed
in the year 1836 the Council of the Academy
20 

felt it right before giving up the Apartments
appropriated in Somerset House to their use by
King George the 3^rd to ascertain the pleasure of
their Patron His Majesty King William the 4^th
and the address of which the following is a Copy
was presented to His Majesty.
It is important as distinctly shewing the
understanding of the Academy arising out of the
communication of the Government that they were
to have as secure a tenure in the National Gallery
as they had in Somerset House.
Royal Academy 3^rd Aug.^t 1836
At a meeting of the Council
Read the following address to the King.
May it please your Majesty
We the President and Council and the
rest of the Academicians of the Royal
Academy beg leave most humbly to approach
Your Majesty with the warmest feelings of
Loyalty and gratitude for the gracious countenance
and favor invariably extended by your
Majesty to this Institution.
Conscious that we cannot more effectually
secure your Majesty’s approbation than by our
zealous endeavours to extend as far as possible
the advantages which the Arts derive from
the Establishment of the Royal Academy
we beg most respectfully to represent to your
Majesty that Plans for the better accommodation
21 

of the Academy by appropriating to its use
a portion of the new Building in Trafalgar
Square having been laid before us by
direction of the Lords Commissioners of your
Majesty’s Treasury we have felt it our
duty carefully to consider and examine
the same with a view to ascertain the
expediency of exchanging the Apartments
at present occupied by the Academy for
those which have been offered for its
reception and we are unanimously of
opinion that the interest of the Arts at
large and the general utility of the
Royal Academy would be materially promoted
by the exchange proposed.
Under this Conviction we cannot hesitate
to recommend the transfer of your Majesty’s
Academy to a residence which appears well
adapted to its purposes and which we
have been assured we may occupy on
precisely the same terms as those by
which we have so long enjoyed possession
of our present abode.
But although many advantages may be
reasonably anticipated from the removal
which we venture to advocate and though
the plans for the new establishment have
already been honored by your Majesty’s
approbation, yet as the Royal Academy
22 

was originally placed in Somerset House by
the munificence of its Royal Founder King
George the 3^rd and as its residence there
has been so long continued and secured
under the especial sanction of his Royal
Successor and the paternal protection of your
Majesty _ we do not consider ourselves at
liberty to change the local position of
the Academy or resign the Apartments
which are at present in its occupation
without the express consent and authority
of your Majesty.
Humbly awaiting the expression of your
Majesty’s pleasure on this subject we beg
leave to subscribe ourselves
Your Majesty’s
Most grateful and loyal subjects
and Servants

Royal Academy 24^th Aug.^t 1836.
At a Meeting of the Council
The President stated that he had
waited on the King with the Secretary on
the 19^th inst.^t when His Majesty was
pleased to approve and sign the address
voted to him on the 6^th instant.
Martin Arthur Shee Pres^t
H.^y Howard Sec^y
____________
23 

We now proceed to mention the attempts
which have been made to exercise Parliamentary
control over the affairs of the Society.
On the 22^nd of May 1834 an Order was
made by the House of Commons of which the
following is a Copy.
Jovis 22^d die Maij 1834
Ordered
That there be laid before this
House a Statement of the Conditions if
any on which the Apartments at Somerset
House were originally bestowed on the Royal
Academy and of the period for which they
were granted whether unlimited or terminable
at the pleasure of the Crown or otherwise
Ordered
That there be laid before this
House a return of the number of Exhibitors
of the Royal Academy in each of the
last ten years distinguishing the number
of Exhibitors Members from the Royal
Academy from the number of other
Exhibitors.
Ordered
That there be laid before this
House a return of the number of Works
of Art exhibited at the Royal Academy in
each of the last ten years distinguishing
for each year the number of Historical works
24

Landscapes Portraits Busts and Architectural
Drawings respectively contributed by Members of
the Royal Academy from the Historical Works
Landscapes Portraits Busts and Architectural
drawings contributed by other Artists.
Ordered
That there be laid before this House
a return of the number of Professors in the
Royal Academy, of the number of Lectures
required by the rules of the Academy to be
annually delivered by each Professor and of
the number of Lectures which have been
annually delivered by each Professor during
the last ten years.
I.H.Ley
C.L.Dom: Com:
____________________
The course which was adopted by the
Academy on this occasion was to appeal to the
King as their Patron to know if it was His
pleasure that they should make the returns
asked for and such returns were afterwards
made only in obedience to his Command _
What took place on the occasion is shewn from
the following Extracts from the minutes of the
proceedings of the Academy
General Assembly 22^nd July 1834
Read the following Report
25 

The General Assembly of Acadamecians
having referred to the Committee recently
appointed a demand submitted to them
by the President purporting to be orders
from the House of Commons for certain
returns therein specified and the Committee
having been empowered to adopt thereon
such proceedings as to them should seem
expedient.
Your Committee report accordingly.
That considering the relation of the
Academy with the King as their Patron
and Protector they conceived it to be
their duty in the first instance to
ascertain His Majesty’s pleasure respecting
the Orders in question.
The President was accordingly authorized
to communicate with Sir Herbert Taylor
which he immediately did personally and
by the following letter.

Cavendish Square
2^nd July 1834
Dear Sir,
The Document of which I
enclose a Copy and which appears to
be an order of the House of Commons
for certain returns therein specified has
26 

been recently sent to the Royal Academy
_ Although the Members of the Academy
have no objection to supply the information
required, yet as the Royal Academy is
not a Chartered Body but an institution
appertaining to the King, as His Majesty
has been graciously pleased to place
himself in the same relation towards the
Academy as that of His Royal Father
who constituted himself their Patron and
Protector, and as that relation renders the
Royal Sanction necessary to their proceedings
the Members of the Academy conceive
it to be their duty before they give any
answer to the document in question to
refer it to their Royal Protector to whom
alone they consider themselves responsible
and humbly to solicit, His Majesty’s
pleasure thereon.
May I beg therefore that you will
have the goodness to convey to the King
my most respectful request to be allowed
to wait on His Majesty for this purpose;
also to report to His Majesty the demise
of an Officer of the Academy whose
appointment is by a Law of the Institution
vested in the King, and to lay before his
27 

Majesty other Academic business.
I have the honor to be with great
respect
Dear Sir
Your faithf.^l & ob.^t Serv.^t
Martin Archer Shee

Sir Herbert subsequently stated that the
King had appointed the ensuing Thursday
at 5 o’Clock for the President and Secretary
to attend on His Majesty _ He added that
the King had expressed his approbation of
the proceeding of the Academy in referring
the matter to His Majesty and that
every thing respecting it should be settled
wit the Secretary of State for the Home
Department. _
On the 5^th of June the President received
the following letter from Viscount Melbourne
Whitehall 4^th June 1834
Sir,
The King having been pleased
to comply with the prayer of
an humble Address in pursuance
of a resolution of Commons dated
twenty second of May 1834 for
“a Statement of the conditions, if
“any, on which the Apartments at
“Somerset House were originally
28
 

“bestowed on the Royal Academy and of the period
“for which they were granted whether unlimited or
“terminable at the pleasure of the Crown or otherwise,
“a return of the number of Exhibitors at the Royal
“Academy in each of the last ten years distinguishing
“the number of Exhibitors Members of the Academy
“from the number of other exhibitors a return of
“the number of Works of Art exhibited at the Royal
“Academy in each of the last ten years ________
“distinguishing for each year the number of
“Historical Works, landscapes, portraits, busts and
“Architectural Drawings respectively contributed
“by Members of the Academy from the
“Historical Works, Landscapes, Portraits, busts
“and Architectural Drawings contributed by other
“Artists; a return of the number of Lectures
“required by the Rules of the Academy to be
“annually delivered by each Professor and of the
“number of lectures which have been annually
“delivered by each Professor during the last ten
“years.”
I am to desire that you will cause the
said statement and returns to be prepared and
transmitted to me in order that they may be
laid before the House of Commons_
I have the honor to be Sir,
Your Obed.^t Serv.^t, Melbourne
which he acknowledged in the following terms
Cavendish Square, 6^th June 1834
My Lord,
I have to acknowledge the receipt of your
29 

Lordships letter of the 4^th instant requiring me by
command of the King to cause certain returns
&c respecting the Royal Academy to be prepared
and transmitted to your Lordship in order that
they may be laid before the House of Commons
I shall loose no time in obeying His
Majesty’s commands and will forward to your
Lordship the Documents in question as soon
as they can be made out.
I have the honor to be, My Lord, with great respect
Your Lordships obed.^t humble Serv.^t
Martin Archer Shee
Your Committee having thus received the
commands of the King, the only authority as
they conceived through the interference of which
the information sought for by the House of
Commons could be regularly obtained directed the
returns required to be made out (a copy of
which will be laid before you by the Secretary)
and these returns having been finally approved
of were transmitted to Lord Melbourne with
the following letter.
Cavendish Square
June 19.^th 1834
My Lord,
In obedience to the commands of the
King as communicated to me in a letter from
your Lordship dated the 4^th instant and
requiring me to cause certain returns therein
specified respecting the Royal Academy to be
prepared and transmitted to your Lordship
in order that they may be laid before the House
30 

of Commons I now transmit to your Lordship
herewith the returns in question made out as
accurately as the nature of the questions proposed
and the materials in the possession of the Academy
admit.
I have the honor to be my Lord with great respect
To Your Lordships obed.^t & humble Serv.^t
Viscount Melbourne M.A. Shee
&c &c &c
The President and Secretary had the honor of
an audience of His Majesty on Thursday the
5^th of June according to appointment when the
King expressed himself in very gracious terms
respecting the Royal Academy.
(Signed) on the part of the Committee
Martin Archer Shee – President
_______________________
In 1836 the President and Secretary of the
Academy were examined before a Committee of the
House of Commons and gave evidence as to the
affairs of the Academy and in answer to the
unjust attacks that had been made on the
Academy by other Witnesses who had been
examined before the Committee.
In the Session 1837-8 an attempt was made
on the Government proposing a vote for the completion
of the National Gallery to require the Royal Academy
to admit the Public at certain periods without any
charge and there were some members including Visc.^t
Sandon the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Sir
Walter James who were in favor of such a proposition
31 

We mention this in order to shew how little the
Academy can depend on a correct view being taken
even by Gentlemen who are so high in position of
what is best for the interests of the Academy and
the advancement of the Arts.
The grounds on which this claim was made
were that the Government should require some
equivalent for the accommodation afforded to the
Academy at the Public Expense and that the
Academy must be considered either as a public or
private Institution _ If the former that the
Exhibition should be free _ If the latter then they
had no right to occupy a Public Building.
In the year 1839 an Order was made by the
House of Commons at a late hour of the night
without opposition for “a return of the amount
of money received for admission and of the number
of persons who visited the Royal Academy of
Arts in each of the years 1836, 1837 and 1838
distinguishing the entrance money from the proceeds
by the Sale of Catologues together with the amount
paid in Salaries and perquisites to each person
employed in that Establishment in each of those
years also the Miscellaneous expences under
separate heads in each of those years and the
average number of Students who have attended
the life School and that of the Antique in
each of those years.
It was felt by the Academy that this
order necessarily involved the question of the right
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of Parliament to interfere in its affairs and it was
therefore determined to Petition the house and endeavor
to get the order of the House rescinded.
This Petition sets forth most ably and fully the
Case of the Academy and a Copy of it is sent
herewith.
A debate in the House of Commons took place
on the subject on the 30^th of July 1839 upon the
Motion of M^r Hume that the return to the
Order be made forthwith – this was met by a
motion made by Sir Robert Inglis that the Order
be rescinded which latter motion was carried but
by a Majority of 5 only – 72 Members having
been present.
It may be important to state the views
expressed on this occasion by some of the leading
Members of Parliament, Sir R. Peel contended for
the right of Parliament to make the threatened
enquiry though he deprecated the exercise of such a
power on that occasion and voted against the
Order for the return. Lord John Russell though
he was against the enquiry on the ground that
the Academy had stated it would interrupt the
pursuits yet he did not dispute the power of
Parliament to make such an Order. The Chancellor
of the Exchequer for the enquiry and contended
that if the Public interest was involved in the
conduct of the Royal Academy the Public and
the House had a right to enquire into everything
connected with that Institution.
33 

These are the Chief attempts that have been
made in Parliament to interfere with the Royal
Academy and they naturally led to an anxious
desire on the part of the Academicians to
avoid being exposed to a repetition of them.
The Academicians have however nothing to
conceal and they are confident that the most
rigid examination of their affairs would only
manifest the purity of the motives by which they
are actuated and the success of the disinterested
efforts which have been made by them for the
advancement of the Arts.
Nor are they desirous of assuming to them
selves an irresponsible control over their affairs _
They would be disposed cheerfully to obey the
commands of the Queen to whom by the Deed
of Institution full power of control is given the
Academy being bound to render their accounts
to the Keeper of Her Majesty’s Privy Purse
and several of the Officers of the Institution
being removeable according to her pleasure.
But what the Academicians naturally feel is
that such a body as the House of Commons is
not a fit tribunal to decide what is most for
the advancement of the Arts and that any discussion
before them of the affairs of the Academy must
be unsatisfactory especially as the Academy could
not even be properly heard before the House
except by inducing some Member to interest himself
in their affairs.
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At the same time the Academy would be
indisposed on any light ground to refuse the large
sum that has been offered and which would most
materially assist in erecting a new Building in a
suitable situation though if the effect of accepting
such a grant would be to expose them to any
interference by Parliament from which otherwise they
would be safe they would consider any benefit to
be gained from the grant to be more than
counterbalanced by the interruption to the
advancement of the Arts which the Grant would
thus occasion.
In order to obtain a correct view of the effect
and consequences of such a grant as that proposed
it will be necessary to consider the nature of the
interest of the Royal Academy in the part of
the National Gallery which they now occupy and
as closely connected with this of the interest which
they had in the rooms at Somerset House which
were given up in Exchange.
If it can be clearly shewn that the nature
of the claim of the Academy is such as that they
cannot in common fairness be deprived of the
accommodation at the National Gallery without
being provided with another Building in Exchange
then the Grant may perhaps be considered as
made in compensation of the right which they
would give up in vacating the National Gallery
and there is reason to expect from the personal
communication the Keeper of the Academy has
had with Lord John Russell that there would be
35 

every disposition on his part to propose the grant
in the least objectionable manner_ But if on the
other hand there is no sufficient claim on the
part of the Academy to which the grant could
be referred it would then be said that the Grant
might have been made out of favor and for the
purpose of advancing the Arts and Parliament
would in consequence have a right to enquire as
to the proceedings of a body to whom they have
entrusted money.
If the matter were to be considered in reference
to the strict rights of the parties it might perhaps
be successfully contended that Somerset House being
part of the Estates of the Crown King George 3^rd
had no power to grant the Academy any greater
right to it than he himself possessed namely an
Estate for life and that therefore however large may
be the terms which in the letter from the
Treasury in 1780 is expressed it could at most
only give the Academy a right co extensive with
the life of King George the 3^rd._
It might too be further contended that the
Academy cannot have obtained any legal right
without a Deed having been executed
It would seem to follow that if the Academy
had no legal title to the Apartments in Somerset
House that they cannot have obtained any better
title to the part which they occupy of the National
Gallery.
But it is evident between two such bodies as the
36 

Government and the Royal Academy that no question
of strict legal right can arise
The question that will have to be considered is
rather whether the circumstances which we have
detailed do not give to the Academy such a
claim to be provided with similar accommodation
to that which they are about to be deprived of as
no English Government could disregard.
It cannot we think be doubted that it was
the intention of the Government in 1834 to give
to the Academy the same title to the part of
the National Gallery as they had at Somerset
House _ M^r Spring Rice the then Chancellor of
the Exchequer in his letter of May 7^th 1834
says that the Treasury Minute on the subject
was to the effect that “the Academy will have
“the same title and tenure to their new habitation
“as they already possess at Somerset House that
“title will neither be improved or weakened in
“any respect”.
It is true that M^r Spring Rice in order
to shew what he thought that title was refers
to Sir Joshua Reynold’s letter in 1787 as
disclaiming all right of property and stating that
the Rooms are the Kings not the property of
the Academy and that the President of the
Academy in his reply to M^r Spring Rice’s
letter adopts Sir Joshua Reynold’s view of the
rights of the Academy as being in “perfect
“accordance with the Opinions which the Members
“of the Academy have always entertained and
37 

“expressed as to the nature of their tenure”. But
we apprehend that the claim of the Academy
must depend and depend only upon what
was the fact of its real nature rather than
upon the view which may have been taken
of it by M^r Spring Rice or the President
of the Academy though it must be admitted
that the understanding which has existed
on the subject cannot be considered as immaterial
The expression in the letter of Sir Joshua
Reynolds which appears to have been written
with the approbation of the Council is “that they
the Council consider the Building is the Kings
House not theirs though His majesty is so
gracious as to permit them to make use of
it” If this were a correct view of the tenure
of the Academy the result would be that they
have merely a permissive occupation which might
at any time be revoked by the King and
therefore we apprehend by the Government who
have now the control of the Royal Domains.
But if the claim of the Academy depends
as we should submit it does on a proper
construction of the letter of the Treasury under
which the Academy took possession of the
Apartments in Somerset House it would appear
then to be of a different nature. For it will
be observed that such letter states expressly that
such Apartments had been allotted to the
Royal Academy and speaks of their being
appropriated to the uses described in the plans
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and draws a distinction between them and the
rooms of the Secretary permission to occupy which
was only granted during pleasure.
It will be observed too that there is no limit
of time for which the allotment was made and
the Document altogether appears to us to shew
an intention to give to the Academy a right in
the Apartments which had been erected for them
of which they could not be deprived without a
breach of faith.
If such was the nature of the right which
was intended to be conferred on the Academy
by King George the 3^rd we would submit that
when the Estates of the Crown passed from the
King to the Government the Government must be
considered to have taken them subject to the
fulfilment of all obligations which the Sovereign
would have felt himself bound by and that if
the permission to occupy the Apartments could
not with propriety have been revoked by the
Sovereign the Government could not in fairness
adopt any different course.
But even if this is a correct view of the
interest of the Academy in the Building they
now occupy and their claim to it is of such
a nature as to be a fit subject for compensation
and the proposed grant can be obtained expressly as
a compensation to the Academy on giving up
such claim an important question will still
remain to be considered.
May it not still be said that the Ground
39 

at Somerset House on which the Rooms were
built belonged to the King in His public
Character and that at all events it became the
property of the Public on the transfer of the
Crown revenues to the Commissioners of Woods
and Forests and that the Building at Somerset
House was erected out of the Public monies
and that consequently the claim of the Academy
whatever be its nature must have been derived
from Public property and the Academy therefore
responsible to Parliament
On the other hand if the Grant is declined
by the Academy although the danger of
Parliamentary interference would be thus diminished
and of the main arguments for it removed can
the Academy be considered safe from such
interference?
The argument used by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer that if the public interest was
involved in the conduct of the “Royal Academy
“the public and the House had a right to
“enquire into everything connected with that
“Institution” would still be open and if an
address to the Crown for any information which
the House might desire were carried would the
Crown decline to desire the Academy to give the
information sought for or could the Academy
decline to obey the expression of such a wish.
Another question which will have to be
considered is whether it may not be right for the
Academy before determining upon any course to
consult Her Majesty as Patron of the Institution
40 

With reference to this Counsel will observe that
Lord John Russell in his letter mentions Her Majesty
as if she were aware of his communication.
It will have to be considered too whether the
effect of applying to Her Majesty will not be to
impose an obligation on the Council to adopt such
course as she may be pleased to direct
Counsel is requested to advise the Royal
Academy
As to the nature of the interest
of the Academy in the part of the
National Gallery of which the
possession has been given them under
the above mentioned circumstances
and also
As to the expediency of accepting
the Grant of £40,000 proposed by
the above letter of Lord John Russell
And generally to advise the
Academy as to the course which
they should adopt to secure their
independence of Parliamentary
interference or control.
In order to determine the course which it will
be most advisable for the Royal Academy to
adopt upon the present occasion, it is necessary to
ascertain what are their exact rights with reference
to their occupation for so many years of rooms
in Buildings either belonging to the Crown or
being public property – Looking to their establishment
at Somerset House, originally in a portion of the
41 

Palace given up to them by the Sovereign and
afterwards in a part of a building there which was
erected at the public expense it appears never to have
been contemplated that they would be at any time
disturbed in their possession and yet we do not think
that they acquired a right as tenants in the strict
sense of that term, or that to the last they were
anything more than mere occupants at pleasure _
But although no legal right appears to us to have
grown up by lapse of time yet the longer the
Royal Academy remained in the enjoyment of the
rooms so assigned to them the stronger became their
moral claim not to be disturbed or if the public
exigencies required that they should be removed, that
they should be reinstated elsewhere with the same
privileges and advantages which they had for so many
years enjoyed accordingly ^when in 1834 the Government
wished to take possession of the rooms occupied by
them at Somerset House this claim was recognized
for they were expressly told by the Chancellor in
his letter of the 7^th May 1834 that they would have
the same title and tenure to their new habitation
as they already possessed at Somerset House” And
anticipating the possibility of the Academy being
compelled at some future time to give way before the
demand for additional room for the National
Pictures he distinctly admits their claim in that
event to be provided with “suitable accommodation”
elsewhere. The contemplated event has now arrived and
the Royal Academy are informed that Her Majesty’s
42 

Government have come to the determination of appropriating
the rooms now used by them to the purposes of the
National Gallery _ We entertain no doubt that the
Government possesses the strict right to resume possession
of these rooms and to remove the Academy from them.
But it is also stated that it is “the intention of the
Government to propose to Parliament a vote of £20,000
in the present year and a similar vote in the next
year to enable the Royal Academy to provide
themselves with a Building suited for the purpose
of instruction and for Exhibition. Now it is to be
observed that in the letter of Lord John Russell
conveying this intimation the suggested grant is not
proposed to be asked for upon the principle of a
compensation to the Academy to which they have become
entitled under the terms upon which they were transferred
from Somerset House to Trafalgar Square, but apparently
upon the footing of a mere gratuity – And apprehensions
may be reasonably entertained that if the Academy
should accept a Grant of public money merely as such
they may place themselves in such a situation as not only
to invite but to justify the more frequent interference of
the House of Commons with their concerns _ at present
however connected as the Royal Academy is with the
Sovereign and established as it must be considered to
have been “for National and public objects” it would
be very difficult to contend successfully against the right
of the House to institute enquiries respecting the
management, the accounts and the affairs generally of
the Institution or (in the absence of any actual
right) to resist the exercise of the power. But still
we think it possibly might prejudice the Royal Academy
43 

if they were to accept the grant in the exact mode
in which it is presented to them in Lord John
Russell’s letter and that it would be desirable to
extract from him (if possible) some admission that the
grant is intended as a satisfaction of the claim of
the Academy arising out of the promise contained in
Lord Grey’s and Mr Spring Rice’s letters in 1834_
For this purpose it will be necessary to be very
careful in framing the Answer to Lord John Russell’s
proposal, so as to make it result rather in a
compensation for the relinquishment of a right, than
the acceptance of a gratuity. It will in our opinion
be extremely desirable to have Her Majesty’s sanction
to the course proposed to be adopted and therefore
that no letter ought to be sent without previously
obtaining the Queen’s approval of it; for we cannot
help feeling that it is most important for the
Royal Academy to preserve their close connection
with the Sovereign to which they owe their origin
and from which they have since derived no
inconsiderable portion of their importance and
distinction.
Temple. Fred Thesiger
23^rd May 1850. Edward Smirke

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