THE ROYAL ACPEMY AND THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
MR. Humes motion that the House of Commons do enforce its order for certain returns of the receipts and expenditure of the Royal Aca- demy, became a " diopped notice " by the House being counted out on Tuesday last ; but Mr. HUME has reannounced the motion for Tuesday next. The case of the Royal Academy will be discussed then ; the Chancellor of the Exchequer having expressed a wish to that effect, in a conversation which took place on Wednesday relative to the subject. This conversation is remarkable for the utter igno- rance (real or pretended) displayed by Ministers, both of the fitcts and philosophy of the case. Now it is by the ignorance, and consequent indifference of the Government and the country, that the Royal Aca- demy has been suffered to acquire power and consideration under false pretences : not even the Academy would have ventured to present a petition so full of fallacious mystification, had they not presumed on the general want of exact knowledge of the Jointer both in and out of the House.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL repeated the tricky objection of the Academy to furnish the returns—that the information had already been affinded to Mr. EWART'S Committee—without first having satisfied himself of its validity. It is not true: Mr. Hum: calls for returns of the receipts and expenditure of the Royal Academy for the last year they were in Somerset House, and for the two years since they have occupied the National Gallery, in order to show the increase of the receipts from the exhibition. Now, at the time their President and Secretary gave evidence before the Committee, not one exhibition had taken place in the new building. This is a specimen of the Academy's veracity. Mr. SPRING RICE quoted several passages of the Academy Petition in his speech, in which they gave themselves an excellent character on the strength of the most monstrous assumptions ; and though he admitted that they had not (as we showed last week) any right of possession of the National Gallery, and only held their apartments as a loan. during pleasure, he at the same time said, that " he for one would be sorry to disturb them in their possession." here is a Minister of State giving an ex parte opinion on a case that is coming. on for consideration ; quoting the defendant's own statement as thet ; and that, too, in the teeth of a number of witnesses whose evidence is on the table of the House, proving the ease against the Academy beyond a doubt. This is no new subject : it has been a topic of controversy for years, though it now comes before Parliament as a question to be settled, in consequence of the club of artists calling themselves a Royal Academy having been suffered to occupy a national building erected for other uses. Ministers may not be bound to know what takes place out of doors, but to be ignorant of the proceedings of the House of Commons only a year or two ago, is disgraceful ; and to affect ignorance, if better in- formed, is worse. In one sentiment of 3Ir. RICE we fully concur : " these returns," said he, " involve very great considerations." They do indeed : they involve the consideration whether the arts of the country and pro- fessors of those arts shall be at the mercy of an unconstituted, irre- sponsible body, who have already done serious injury to them by their injustice to individuals, their narrow-minded and apathetic indifthrence to time interests of art generally, and the utter worthlessness and ineffi- ciency of their boasted instruction to students. They involve the con- sideration, whether a set of men shall occupy a public building, who, if they chose, might elect one of their porters to be their President— might exclude from the exhibition the works of the greatest genius that ever lived--might refuse to recognize another RAmtam, if such existed—might hang the finest pictures where they could not be seen— who might commit these or any similar outrages ; and they are proved to have been guilty of some such in past times, by their treat- ment of \Vim:1i: in his early days, of BARRA-, MARTIN. Havoox, and others who ha ve p.,eheted their wrongs, or sunk under the blight of their ■ •■■mlifol hopes. They involve the consideration, whether a set of men p.)-sesed of such despotic power, and who have shown that they can exercise it too—fir the mere possession of absolute power tempts men to abuse it—whether, we say, such an anomalous, unaccountable body, id:A be suffered to occupy a national building for their own trading uses : parading themselves in the eyes of the many, and of foreigners, as a public institution enjoying the confidence of Government and the respect of the country, and actually standing in stead of a National In- stitute of art.
These are a few of the "very great considerations" that the question involves, which the House of Connnons has to deal with on Tuesday next.
One word more. 'Phe "students of the Academy," forsooth, pre- sented a petition echoing the modest prayer of their ahna mater. Here is testimony- to the virtues of the Academy ! I )id any one of the youths who were invited to sign it dare refuse ?—for, observe, the petition was got up fur them, not by them : yes, at the risk of being a marked man through life—of being subjected to all sorts of petty annoyances during his pupilage—of having his efforts passed unrewarded—of seeing his pictures placed out of sight—of being regarded with cold looks and more injurious sneers—in short, of withering under the cold shade of the Academic ban : this is the penalty any one would be liable to, who refused to sign—we hope none has incurred it.
But where is the petition of /Lc artists? A body so liberal, so just, so generous, so beneficial to the arts, and withal so powerful, surely might command the spontaneous suffrages of artists in their favour. No ! the Academy's power is the object of the fear and hate of the artists, who all hope to share it some day as a recompense for having been sub- jected to its tyranny. They dare not petition against it ; but they do not raise their voices in its behalf. The utmost influential belong to other societies, and are indifferent ; the others will not venture to brave the despotism : or if some few bold and independent men are disposed, they fear to appear ridiculous by standing in a small minority.
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