LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A.,
1830–1896.
Frederick Leighton was born at Scarborough. Painter, sculptor, musician, and polished orator, he will long be remembered as the ideal President of the Royal Academy. The portrait represents him in his robes as D. C. L.
From a Photograph] [by Russell & Sons.
SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, P.R.A.,
1829–1896.
Born at Southampton; exhibited his first picture in 1846, and in 1848 became a member of the “Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood” with Rossetti, Holman Hunt, F. Madox Brown, and others. Elected President of the Royal Academy on the death of Lord Leighton, he survived him only six months.
Parnell died on October 6, 1891. |Deaths of Parnell and W. H. Smith.| On the same day the Queen lost one of her most devoted servants, and the House of Commons its leader, in the person of William Henry Smith, whose health had broken down under the strain of constant attention to the ever-increasing work of Parliament. Added to this anxiety came the financial crisis brought about by the failure, in November 1890, of the great house of the Barings to meet their enormous liability of £22,000,000. The stability of the whole of British finance was threatened, but the Governors of the Bank of England came to the rescue, undertaking the liquidation of the concern and opening a guarantee fund, which was subscribed readily, and thus the disaster was averted.
The two measures by which Lord Salisbury’s second Administration will remain distinguished in the memory of most people were immediate and exceedingly far-reaching in their effect; that, namely, which revolutionised the whole system of local government by the creation of County Councils, and that which rendered elementary education free of payment of school fees. |County Councils.| Of the first of these measures, Mr. Ritchie, President of the Local Government Board, was the author, and it was produced during the session of 1888. Member though he was of a Conservative Cabinet, the most ardent Radical could not complain that Mr. Ritchie had not dealt with ancient institutions in a sweeping manner. The levying of county rates, the maintenance of roads and bridges, asylums, the conduct of registrations, and nearly all the duties hitherto reposed in country gentlemen in their capacity of members of Quarter Sessions, were transferred to purely elective councils chosen by the ratepayers. London, as defined by the Metropolis Management Act, was constituted a county, and the old Metropolitan Board of Works ceased to exist.
Baron H. von Angeli.] [From the Royal Collection,
by permission of the Artist.