25 DECEMBER 1909, Page 1

The funeral of King Leopold was held on Wednesday in

pouring rain. The ceremony is described as most impressive, though no signs of emotion in the populace were observable. In the Chamber the Socialists, headed by M. Vandervelde, demanded a public debate on the Address to the new King, and withdrew when their request was refused. The Address records its inviolable attachment to the dynasty, and its gratitude to King Leopold for the acquisition of a vast Colonial Empire. King Leopold's death is described as a great national lose, and Prince Albert is welcomed for the proofs be has given of his patriotic interest in the development of the nation's life and his sympathy with the lot of the workers. We may add that the death of King Leopold has only silenced. for a moment the voice of scandal. In his will he merely bequeaths to his children the inalienable prbperty which- he inherited; and makes no mention of the great fortune he is believed to have amassed by his commercial ventures in the Congo and

elsewhere. The bulk of this, it is alleged, has been settled on his morganatic wife, the Baroness Vaughan; and this settlement, it is said, will be contested by his daughters.