THE PASSING OF LEOPOLD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 701, 21 December 1909, Page 3

THE PASSING OF LEOPOLD.

Brussels, December 18. King Leopold passed away at 2.30 o’clock this morning, embolism being the cause. His death was peaceful. The King suddenly said to the doctor, “I am choking.” Morphia was injected, but he died almost immed 1 ely. Prince Alb' his heir and successor, arrive snortly afterwards, and reverently kissed the dead monarch. Baroness Vaughan’s presence at the King’s bedside angered the Belgians. The priest who administered the Extreme Unction was questioned regarding her morganatic marriage, and admitted that Leopold’s position was en regie with the Church. In the closing moments of the monarch, Princesses Stephanie and Clementine, Leopold’s daughters, whom he refused to see, were admitted to the death chamber. If reports concerning the doings of this monarch are true, and the fact of his refusing at the last to see his daughters, is sufficient evidence of his heartlessness, then the world has not lost much. Here is part of the indictment made by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the other day at a public meeting in London against Leopold; ‘‘l believe in my heart that the administration of the Congo is not only a crime, but the very greatest crime ever committed in the history of the world. Consider, first, the enormous space covered with the result of the crime, the stripped and devastated villages ; secondly, the number of those who have lost their lives. There has never been a census, but people think that no fewer than 10,000,000 have expired under Belgian rule. Towns have been swept away, and the river banks deserted. Thirdly, the cause of the crime. There is no question of patriotism, nor religion, there is no question of anything except the most sordid commercial gain. The crime is the crime of one brain only—the astute, perverse brain of King Leopold, who has to bear the guilt of this terrible transaction.”

WHAT THE POPE SAYS. The Pope states that the religious marriage between King Leopold and the Baroness Vaughan was celebrated at San Remo last year. BRITISH COURT IN MOURNING. THE NEW KIFTG. Brussels, December 19. Only doctors and nursing nuns were present at the death, which was very sudden. The funeral takes place on Wednesday. Prince Albert, the successor to the throne, will be sworn in on Thursday. The British Court goes into mourning for twelve days.