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. 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. [Sidenote: Free Education.] Free education was given a place in the Government programme of 1891, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Goschen, was able to produce a surplus of £2,000,000 in his Budget--just about the sum estimated as the cost of remitting school fees out of the public funds; half of it was taken in order to render elementary education free from September 1 following. [Sidenote: Death of the Duke of Clarence.] The mysterious epidemic which, for want of a more precise term, is known by the Italian one of influenza, carried off a very large number of persons in the winter and spring months of 1892, 1893, and 1894. Of these the most distinguished by position was the Duke of Clarence, eldest son of the Prince of Wales, and consequently ultimate heir to the throne of Great Britain. He died on January 14, 1892, shortly before the date fixed for his marriage with the Princess May of Teck. [Illustration: _Baron H. von Angeli._} {_From the Royal Collection, by permission of the Artist._ HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, 1890.] [Sidenote: Mr. Gladstone's Fourth Midlothian Campaign.]