the fund was merged in the general property of the Academy, a mistake which eventually led to the discontinuance of the scholarships. For the next ten years the financial condition of the Academy continued to fluctuate. In July 1853 the Committee of Management (which was totally unprofessional in its constitution) summoned the professors, revealed to them the decline of the funded property, and asked their counsel as to the remedies to be adopted. The professors advised that the management should be made entirely professional. This course was so far adopted that a Board of Professors was appointed to advise the Committee.
The first act of this Board (Sept. 1853) was to recommend the discontinuance of the practice of students lodging and boarding on the premises. This recommendation was adopted, and since that time the Academy only receives day students. The Board formed in 1853 was disbanded by Lord Westmorland in 1856, but after his death in 1859, a new Board was formed; this, however, found itself obliged to resign in 1864. Before its resignation it drew up a memorial to government, praying for an annual grant. After a conference with a deputation of Professors, Mr. Gladstone, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, inserted in the estimates for the year a sum of £500 'to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending March 31, 1865, for enabling the Directors of the Royal Academy of Music to provide accomodation for the Institution.' In 1866, upon the change of Administration, suggestions were made to the Committee on the part of the government, and were renewed personally in 1867 by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, in consequence of which the Committee was induced to expend the whole of its funds, in order to accommodate the institution to the designs in which it was invited to participate. In 1867, Lord Beaconsfield (then Mr. Disraeli), in reply to a question as to the grant, announced in the House of Commons that 'the Government were of opinion that they would not be authorised in recommending any enlargement of the grant, the results of the institution not being in fact of a satisfactory character.' This was followed by the total withdrawal of the grant, in order (to quote from an official letter addressed to Sir Sterndale Bennett) simply to give effect to the opinion that it was not so expedient to subsidise a central and quasi-independent association, as to establish a system of musical instruction under the direct control of some Department of Government.' In this emergency the Committee decided to close the establishment. The funds (including the sum devoted to the King's Scholarships) were totally exhausted. The Professors met in 1868 to consider what could be done, and generously offered to accept a payment pro ratâ. It was then however announced that the Committee had resigned the Charter into the hands of the Queen. Upon this the Professors obtained a legal opinion, to the effect that the Charter could not be resigned without the consent of every member of the Academy. As many of the members protested at the time against the resignation of the Charter, it was returned, and by great exertions on the part of the Professors, a new Board of Directors was formed under the Presidency of the Earl of Dudley, who appointed a new Committee of Management, in which the professional element formed an important ingredient. From the time of this change the institution has continued to prosper. In 1868, on the return to office of the Liberal Ministry, Mr. Gladstone restored the annual grant of £500. In 1876 the number of pupils had so increased, that the lease of the house adjoining the premises in Tenterden Street had to be repurchased out of the savings of the institution. This house was joined on to the original premises, and a concert-room was formed out of part of the two houses, which though small has proved a great boon not only to the students for their regular concerts, but to many concert-givers for whose purposes the more extensive rooms of St. James'a Hall, Exeter Hall, etc., are too large [App. p.776 "add that the room was not available as a public concert room for a few years, the license being withdrawn for some time"]. In July 1880 Mr. William Shakespeare was appointed conductor of the Students' Concerts, vice Mr. Walter Macfarren. [App. p.776 "Mr. Shakespeare was succeeded in this capacity by Mr. Barnby in 1886."]
The following have been the Principals of the Academy from its foundation to the present time: Dr. Crotch (1823–1832), Cipriani Potter (1832–1859), Charles Lucas (1859–1866), William Sterndale Bennett (1866–1875), George Alexander Macfarren (1875). [App. p.776 "add date of death of Sir G. A. Macfarren, 1887, and that of the appointment of his successor, Dr. A. C. Mackenzie, 1888."]
The Academy is supported by the Government grant, subscriptions, donations, and fees from students. It is under the direction of a President (Earl Dudley), three Vice-Presidents (Sir Thos. Gladstone, Sir T. T. Bernard, and the Rev. Sir F. A. G. Ouseley, Bt.), and twenty-four Directors, amongst whom are Sir Julius Benedict, Sir G. J. Elvey, Professor Macfarren, and Messrs. Cusins, Garcia, Halle, W. H. Holmes, W. Macfarren, Osborne, Randegger, and Brinley Richards. The Committee of Management consists of the Principal, Sir Julius Benedict, and Messrs. Cox, Dorrell, Garcia, Leslie, Low, Lunn, W. Macfarren, Randegger, Brinley Richards, Sainton, Sparrow, Wood, and Dr. Steggall. There are seventy-eight Professors (including assistant and sub-professors), and the course of instruction comprises harmony and composition, singing, pianoforte, organ, harp, violin, viola, violoncello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet and cornet, trombone, military music, elocution, acoustics, and the English, French, German, and Italian languages. There are also classes for sight-singing, string quartets, and opera. The annual fee for the entire course of study is thirty guineas, with an entrance fee of five guineas, the only extras being two guineas a term for the operatic class, and one guinea for the classes for the study of English, French, German, Italian, and acoustics. The library of the institution has been noticed in the article on Musical Libraries (vol. ii. p. 420.)
The following are the principal Scholarships
