Material reforms.... growth of conservative feeling.... Russian
influence.... Mr. de Speyer.... his activity.... attack on Dr.
Brown.... England interposes.... establishment of the Empire.... the
Queen’s funeral.... opening of 1898.... Russians over-reach
themselves.... the death of Prince Tă-wŭn.... a paradox....
withdrawal of the Russian employees.... Independence Club beyond
control.... abdication conspiracy.... Yun Chi-ho before the
Emperor.... fall of Kim Hong-nyuk.... attempted regicide.... foreign
body-guard.... Independent program.... popular meetings....
peddlars’ guild.... Independents ask to be arrested.... more
government concessions.... Independents arrested.... final overthrow
of the Independence party.
The first half of 1897 was characterized by three special features in
Korea. The first was a continuance of so-called reforms, all of which
were of a utilitarian character. A gold mine concession was given to a
German syndicate, a Chinese Language School and other schools were
founded and the difficult work of cleaning out the Peking Pass was
completed. It was announced that Chinnampo and Mokpo would be opened to
trade in the Autumn. The second feature was the steady growth of the
conservative element which was eventually to resume complete control of
the government. As early as May of this year the editor of the _Korean
Repository_ said with truth “The collapse is as complete as it is
pathetic. After the King came to the Russian Legation the rush of the
reform movement could not be stayed at once nor even deflected. But soon
there came the inevitable reaction. Reforms came to be spoken of less
and less frequently. There was a decided movement backwards toward the
old, well-beaten paths. But it was impossible to reestablish the old
order of things entirely. We come then to the period of the revision of
laws. Shortly after the King removed to the new palace an edict was put
forth ordering the appointment of a Commission for the Revision of the
Laws. This was received with satisfaction by the friends of progress.
This commission contained the names of many prominent men such as Kim
Pyung-si, Pak Chöng-yang and Yi Wan-yong as well as the names of Dr.
Brown, General Greathouse, Mr. Legendre and Dr. Jaisohn.” But by the
twelfth of April the whole thing was dropped and the strong hopes of the
friends of Korea were again dashed to the ground. The third feature of
this period is the growing importance of Russian influence in Seoul. The
training of the Korean army had already been taken out of Japanese hands
and given to Russians and in August thirteen more Russian military
instructors were imported. It was plain that Russia meant to carry out
an active policy in Korea. Russian admirals, including Admiral
Alexeieff, made frequent visits to Seoul, and at last Russia made public
avowal of her purposes, when she removed Mr. Waeber, who had served her
so long and faithfully here and sent Mr. A. de Speyer to take his place.
There was an immediate and ominous change in the tone which Russia
assumed. From the very first de Speyer showed plainly that he was sent
here to impart a new vigor to Russo-Korean relations; that things had
been going too slow. It is probable that complaints had been made
because in spite of Russia’s predominating influence at the Korean Court
concessions were being given to Americans, Germans and others outside.
De Speyer soon showed the color of his instructions and began a course
of brow-beating, the futility of which must have surprised him. It was
on September 7th that he arrived, and within a month he had begun
operations so actively that he attracted the attention of the world. In
the first place he demanded a coaling station at Fusan on Deer Island
which commands the entrance to the harbor. This was a blow aimed
directly at Japan and sure to be resented. It came to nothing. Then Mr.
Kir Alexeieff arrived from Russia, an agent of the Finance Department in
St. Petersburg. In the face of the fact that Dr. Brown was Chief
Commissioner of Custom and Adviser to the Finance Department, Mr.
Alexeieff was appointed by the Foreign Office as director of the Finance
Department. But the policy of bluff which de Speyer had inaugurated was
not a success; he carried it so far that he aroused the strong
opposition of other Powers, notably England, and before the end of the
year, after only three months of incumbency, de Speyer was called away
from Seoul. As we shall see, the whole of his work was overthrown in the
following Spring.
But we must retrace our steps a little and record some other interesting
events that happened during the closing months of 1897. It was on
October 17th that the King went to the Imperial Altar and there was
crowned Emperor of Tai-han. This had been some time in contemplation and
as Korea was free from foreign suzerainty she hastened, while it was
time, to declare herself an empire. This step was recognized by the
treaty powers within a short period and so Korea took her place on an
equality with China and Japan.
On November 21st the funeral ceremony of the late Queen was held. It was
a most imposing pageant. The funeral procession passed at night out of
the city to the tomb where elaborate preparations had been made, and a
large number of foreigners assembled there to witness the obsequies.
The situation in Korea as the year 1898 opened was something as follows.
The conservatives had things well in hand and the Independence Club was
passing on to its final effort and its final defeat. The work of such
men as Dr. Jaisohn was still tolerated but the King and the most
influential officials chafed under the wholesome advice that they
received and it was evident that the first pretext would be eagerly
seized for terminating a situation that was getting very awkward for
both sides. The reaction was illustrated in an attack on the
_Independent_ by which the Korean postal department refused to carry it
in the mails. The Russians had taken the bull by the horns and were
finding that they had undertaken more than they could carry through
without danger of serious complications. The Russian government saw this
and recalled de Speyer in time to preserve much of their influence in
Seoul. The Emperor, being now in his own palace but with easy access to
the Russian Legation, seems to have lent his voice to the checking of
the reform propaganda and in this he was heartily seconded by his
leading officials. The most promising aspect of the situation was the
determined attitude of the British government relative to the enforced
retirement of Dr. Brown. When it became evident that a scarcely
concealed plan was on foot to oust British and other foreigners in
Korea, Great Britain by a single word and by a concentration of war
vessels at Chemulpo changed the whole program of the Russians; but as it
appeared later the Russian plans were _only_ changed, not abandoned. So
the year opened with things political in a very unsettled state.
Everything was in transition. The Independents and the Russians had some
idea of what they wanted but seemed to be at sea as to the means for
accomplishing it. The conservatives alone sat still and held on, sure
that in the long run they would triumph even if they could not stop the
march of material progress in the cleaning of the streets and the
building of railways.
February of 1898 saw the taking off of the most commanding figure in
Korean public life during the nineteenth century, in the person of
Prince Tă-wŭn the father of the Emperor, formerly Regent. For almost
forty years he had been more or less intimately connected with the
stirring events which have marked the present reign. The things which
specially marked his career are (1) the Roman Catholic persecution of
1866, (2) the determined opposition to the opening of the country to
foreign intercourse, (3) the building of the Kyöng-bok Palace, (4) the
debasing of Korean currency, (5) the feud with the Queen’s party, (6)
the temporary exile in China, (7) the assassination of the Queen.
Whatever may be said for or against the Prince because of his policy he
remains in the minds of the people a strong, independent character, and
they cannot fail to admire the man even though they have to condemn his
policy. His adherents stood by him with splendid loyalty even in the
hours of his disgrace, because he was in some sense really great.
This time was characterized by curious inconsistencies. At the same time
that an edict was promulgated stating that no more concessions would be
granted to foreigners the Seoul Electric Company was organized to
construct a tramway and a lighting plant in Seoul. Material improvements
continued parallel with, but in the opposite direction from, the policy
of the Government. An agreement was even entered into with an American
firm for the construction of a system of water works for Seoul at a cost
of some seven million yen.
The failing hopes of the Independence Club drove it to its final place,
that of protest. Memorials began to pour in protesting against this and
that. In February it complained of foreign control in Korea, directing
the attack apparently upon the Russian pretentions: but if so it was
unnecessary, for by the first of March the Russians decided that their
position was untenable or that a temporary withdrawal of pressure from
Seoul would facilitate operations in other directions, and so, under
cover of a complaint as to the vacillating policy of the Korean
Government they proposed to remove Mr. Alexeieff from his uncomfortable
position vis-a-vis Dr. Brown and also take away all the military
instructors. Perhaps they were under the impression that this startling
proposal would frighten the Government into making protestations that
would increase Russian influence here, but if so they were disappointed
for the Government promptly accepted their proposition and dispensed
with the services of these men. No doubt the Government had come to look
with some anxiety upon the growing influence of Russia here and with the
same oscillatory motion as of yore made a strong move in the opposite
direction when the opportunity came. The Korean Government has been
nearly as astute as Turkey in playing off her “friends” against each
other.
Just one month later April 12th N. Matunine relieved Mr. de Speyer, the
Russo-Korean bank closed its doors, the Russian military and other
officers took their departure and a very strained situation was relieved
for the time being. At about the same time Dr. Jaisohn was paid off and
left the country, the management of the _Independent_ falling into other
hands. This event was important as strowing the hopeless state into
which the Independence Club and all other friends of progress had
fallen. From this time on the tone of the club grew steadily more
petulant. The older men in it who saw that the time was not ripe for
reform withdrew and left the management of the club and the
determination of its policy in the hands of younger men who had not the
experience necessary for the handling of such affairs; and although in
Yun-Chi-ho, the president of the Club, it had a clear-headed and devoted
man he was not able to control the young blood that had begun to run
with something too feverish a course in the veins of the society. The
excited state of the public mind is proved by the fact that several
other daily and weekly periodicals sprang up, debating societies
flourished and people began to talk about things. The conservations laid
all these things up against the Independence Club and awaited their
time.
The summer of this year furnished Seoul with some excitement in the
shape of a discovered conspiracy to force the King to abdicate, place
the Crown Prince on the throne and institute a new era in Korean
history. The plot, if such it may be called, was badly planned and
deservedly fell through. It was one of the foolish moves called out by
the excitement engendered in the Independence movement. An Kyŭng su,
ex-president of the Independence Club, was the party mainly implicated
and he saved himself only by promptly decamping and putting himself into
the hands of the Japanese.
About the same time the Independence Club came into direct opposition to
the Government in its strong protest against the appointment of the
conservative Cho Pyŭng-sik to the vice-presidency of the Council of
State. The commotion, engendered by this, resulted in Mr. Yun Chi-ho
being called before the Emperor, where he made a strong appeal in favor
of the Independence Club and asserted the continued loyalty of the club
toward His Majesty. Unfortunately he asserted that the Emperor having
sanctioned the founding of the club could disband it merely by Imperial
decree. For the time, this appeal sufficed and the immediate object of
the society was secured, but the Emperor did not forget that he had it
in his power to dissolve the club by a single word. As a fact, the mere
sanction of the founding of the Club gave no more power to dissolve it
than the wedding ceremony which a clergyman performs gives the right in
future to dissolve that union. There can be no doubt that from this time
on the Emperor was determined to eliminate this disturbing element at
the first opportunity. He had no sympathy with its platform, one plank
of which was the curtailment of the Imperial prerogative.
August saw the fall of Kim Hong-nyuk, the former Russian interpreter,
who ruffled it so proudly at Court on account of his connection with the
Russian Legation. For a year he had a good time of it and amassed great
wealth, but when the Russians withdrew their influence in March of this
year Kim lost all his backing and thenceforward his doom was as sure as
fate itself. The genuine noblemen whose honors he had filched were on
his track and in August he was accused, deposed and banished. This did
not satisfy his enemies however, but an opportunity came when on
September tenth an attempt was made to poison the Emperor and the Crown
Prince. The attempt came near succeeding and in the investigation which
followed one of the scullions deposed that he had been instructed by a
friend of Kim Hong-nyuk to put something into the coffee. How Kim, away
in banishment, could have had anything to do with it would be hard to
tell. He may have conceived the plan but the verdict of a calm and
dispassionate mind must be that he probably knew nothing about it at
all. However, in such a case, someone must suffer. The criminal _must_
be found; and it is more than probable that those who hated Kim
Hong-nyuk thought he would make an excellent scape-goat. He was tried,
condemned and executed.
About the same time the Emperor came to the conclusion that he would
like to have a foreign body-guard. C. R. Greathouse was sent to Shanghai
to find the material for this guard. Thirty men were picked up, of
various nationalities, and they arrived in Seoul on September fifteenth.
This move caused intense excitement and opposition. The Independence
Club was in the fore-front of the protest that was made. A dozen good
arguments were adduced showing why this should not be done, and so
unanimous was the sentiment that the Emperor yielded to popular clamor
and dismissed the men, but this, again, cannot but have set the Emperor
against the Independence Club, inasmuch as they had been principally
instrumental in thwarting a pet scheme of his own.
The month of September witnessed better things than these, however. The
Japanese obtained their concession for the Seoul-Fusan Railway, an event
of great importance in every way and one that will mean much to Korea.
In September the Independence Club determined that it would be well to
put forward a program of work in place of the merely destructive
criticism which had for some time characterized its policy. An appeal
was made to the general public to assemble, in order to suggest reforms.
Whether this was wise or not is a question. A popular assembly in Korea
is hardly capable of coming to wise conclusions or to participate in
plans for constructive statesmanship. In addition to this an appeal to
the people was inevitably construed by the conservatives as a desperate
measure which invited revolution. In a sense they were justified in so
thinking, for the general populace of Korea never has risen in protest
unless the evils under which they are suffering have driven them to the
last court of appeal, mob law. The move was in the direction of
democracy and no one can judge that the people of Korea are ready for
any such thing.
However this may be, a mass meeting was held at Chong-no, to which
representatives of all classes were called. The following articles were
formulated and presented to the cabinet for imperial sanction.
(1) Neither officials nor people shall depend upon foreign aid, but
shall do their best to strengthen and uphold the Imperial power.
(2) All documents pertaining to foreign loans, the hiring of foreign
soldiers, the granting of concessions, &c., in fact every document drawn
up between the Korean government and a foreign party or firm, shall be
signed and sealed by all the Ministers of State and the President of the
Privy Council.
(3) Important offenders shall be punished only after they have been
given a public trial and ample opportunity to defend themselves.
(4) To His Majesty shall belong the power to appoint Ministers, but in
case a majority of the cabinet disapproves of the Emperor’s nominee he
shall not be appointed.
(5) All sources of revenue and methods of raising taxes shall be placed
under the control of the Finance Department, no other department or
officer or corporation being allowed to interfere therewith; and the
annual estimates and balances shall be made public.
(6) The existing laws and regulations shall be enforced without fear or
favor.
It will be seen that several of these measures strike directly at powers
which have been held for centuries by the King himself and it cannot be
supposed that His Majesty would listen willingly to the voice of the
common people when they demanded such far-reaching innovations. The
whole thing was utterly distasteful to him, but the united voice of the
people is a serious matter. In such a country as Korea the clearly
announced statement of the common people as to their wishes carries with
it the implication that they have come to the point where they are ready
to make trouble if their demands are not complied with. The intensity of
the popular feeling was shown in the general closing of shops and in the
attendance even of women upon the mass meetings. The reactionists were
seriously startled by these demonstrations, and it became necessary to
temporize. These demands were not such as would involve any immediate
changes; they all looked to the future. So it was an easy matter simply
to comply with the demands and wait for the public feeling to subside.
On the last day of September His Majesty ordered the carrying out of
these six propositions.
The trouble was that the conservatives felt that they had not sufficient
physical power to oppose a popular uprising. The temporary concession
was made with no idea of real compliance, and was immediately followed
by measures for securing a counter demonstration. The instrument
selected for this purpose was the old-time Peddlar’s Guild. This was a
defunct institution, but the name survived, and the conservatives used
it to bring together a large number of men who were ready for any sort
of work that would mean pay. These were organized into a company whose
duty it was to run counter to all popular demonstrations like those
which had just been made. No sooner was this hireling band organized
than His Majesty, in pursuance of the hint dropped some months before by
the President of the Independence Club, ordered the disbanding of the
Club. From this time on the Independence Club was no longer recognized
by the Government and was an illegal institution, by the very terms of
the unfortunate admission of its President that the Emperor could at any
time disband it by Imperial decree. Mr. Yun Chi-ho had by this time come
to see that the Club was running to dangerous extremes and was likely to
cause serious harm; and he and others worked with all their power to
curb the excitement and secure rational action on the part of the
members of the Club. But the time when such counsels could prevail had
already passed. The Club knew that the principles it advocated were
correct and it was angry at the stubborn opposition that it met. It was
ready to go to any lengths to secure its ends. Passion took the place of
judgment and the overthrow of the opposition loomed larger in its view
than the accomplishment of its rational ambitions.
[Illustration: _“GREAT ROCK”—TA-BA-WI GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ._]
Instead of dispersing in compliance with the Imperial order the
assembled Independents went in a body to the Police Headquarters and
asked to be arrested. This is a peculiarly Korean mode of procedure, the
idea being that if put on trial they would be able to shame their
adversaries; and incidentally it embarrassed the administration, for the
prisons would not suffice to hold the multitude that clamored for
incarceration. The crowd was altogether too large and too determined for
the Peddlers to attack and another concession had to be made. The
Independents, for it can no longer be called the Independent Club,
offered to disperse on condition that they be guaranteed freedom of
speech. The demand was immediately complied with; anything to disperse
that angry crowd which under proper leadership might at any moment do
more than make verbal demands. So on the next day an Imperial decree
granted the right of free speech. This concession, likewise, was
followed by a hurried muster of all the peddlars and their more complete
organization. Backed by official aid and Imperial sanction they were
prepared to come to blows with the people who should assemble for the
purpose of making further demands upon the Emperor.
Shortly before this the Emperor had consented to the proposition that
the Independence Club should choose by ballot from their own number
twenty-five men who should sit in the Privy Council. This council had
for a time exercised some influence during the earlier months of Dr.
Jaisohn’s residence in Seoul but it had lost all power and had become a
limbo to which were politely relegated those whom the government did not
care to use and yet was unwilling to dismiss. The edict of the Emperor
disbanding the Club would be supposed to countermand this order for
election, but the Independents themselves did not so view it, and the
day set for the election was November 5th. The conservatives now deemed
themselves strong enough to try conclusions with the outlawed Club and
before daylight of November 5th seventeen of the leading men of the
Independence Club were arrested and lodged in jail, Mr. Yun, the
president, narrowly escaped arrest. It was afterwards ascertained that
the plan of the captors was to kill the president of the Club before he
could receive aid from the enraged people.
When morning came and the arrest became known the city hummed like a
bee-hive. A surging crowd was massed in front of the Supreme Court
demanding loudly the release of the prisoners who had been accused, so
the anonymous placards announced, of conspiring to establish a republic!
Again the popular feeling was too strong for the courage of the peddlar
thugs and they remained in the back-ground. The agitation continued all
that day and the next, and the next, until the authorities were either
frightened into submission or, deeming that they had shown the
Independents a glimpse of what they might expect, released the arrested
men. But the Independents, so far from being cowed, hailed this as a
vindication of their policy and attempted to follow up the defeat of the
conservatives by demanding the arrest and punishment of the people who
had played the trick upon the Club. As these men were very prominent
officials and had the ear of the Emperor it was not possible to obtain
the redress demanded. So the month of November wore away in a ferment of
excitement. Popular meetings were frequent but the crowd had not the
determination to come to conclusions with the government. The
conservatives saw this and with utmost nicety gauged the resisting power
of the malcontents. The offensive tactics of the latter were confined
merely to free speech and the conservatives determined to see what they
would do when on the defensive. Accordingly on the morning of November
21st a band of ruffians, the so-called peddlars, attacked the people who
had gathered as usual to discuss the stirring questions of the times.
Weapons were used and a number of people were injured. The Independents
had never contemplated the use of force, and this brutal assault aroused
the ire of the whole people, most of whom had not as yet taken sides.
Serious hand to hand fights occurred in various parts of the city and
the peddlars, conscious that even their most murderous attacks would be
condoned in high places, attempted to whip the people into something
like quietude.
On the 26th of November in the midst of this chaotic state of things the
Emperor granted a great general audience outside the great gate of the
palace. The Independence Club was there in force, and foreign
representatives and a large number of other foreign residents. It was a
little Runnymede but with a different ending. Yun Chi-ho was naturally
the spokesman of the Independence party. He made a manly and temperate
statement of the position of his constituents. He denounced the armed
attacks of the peddlars upon people who intended no violence but only
desired the fulfillment of solemnly made pledges. He called to account
those who imputed to the Independence Club traitorous designs. He urged
that the legal existence of the Club should be again established by
Imperial decree and that the six measures so definitely and distinctly
promised by His Majesty should be carried out. There was no possible
argument to oppose to these requests and the Emperor promised to shape
the policy of the government in line with these suggestions. Again it
was mere promise, made to tide over an actual and present difficulty.
The Independence people should have recognized this. The Emperor was
surrounded by men inimical to the reform program, they had the police
and the army back of them as well as the peddlars. The Independence
party had not a single prominent representative in any really
responsible and influential government office. They simply had right and
the precarious voice of Korean popular feeling behind them. What was
necessary was a campaign of education. The program advocated was one
that could be carried out only under a government whose personnel was at
least approximately up to the standard of that program. This could be
claimed of only two or three members of the Independence Club. Having
secured this public promise of His Majesty the club should have waited
patiently to see what would happen and if the promises were not kept
they should have waited and worked for a time when public sentiment
among the leading men would compel reform. But as Mr. Yun himself
confesses, “The popular meetings had gone beyond the control of the
Independence Club and in the face of strong advice to the contrary they
were resumed on December 6th and their language became careless and
impudent. On the sixteenth of December the Privy Council recommended the
recall of Pak Yong-hyo from Japan. The popular meeting had the
imprudence to endorse this action. The more conservative portion of the
people revolted against the very mention of the name. Suspicion was
excited that the popular agitations had been started in the interests of
Pak Yong-hyo and they instantly lost the sympathy of the people.” The
enemies of the liberal party had probably used this argument to its
fullest extent, and when it was seen that the Independence movement had
at last been deprived of its strongest support, the popular voice, its
enemies came down upon it with cruel force. In spite of voluble promises
to the contrary large numbers of the reform party were arrested and
thrown into prison; not, to be sure, on the change of being members of
this party, but on trumped-up charges of various kinds, especially, that
of being accessory to the plan of bringing back Pak Yong-hyo. And thus
came to an end a political party whose aims were of the highest
character, whose methods were entirely peaceable but whose principles
were so far in advance of the times that from the very first there was
no human probability of success. But, as Mr. Yun Chi-ho said, though the
party dies the principles which it held will live and eventually
succeed.
The year 1899 opened with political matters in a more quiet state than
for some years past, owing to the violent repression of the Independence
Club and the liberal movement. The judgment of the future will be that
at this point Japan made a serious mistake of omission. The aims and
purposes of the Independence party were directly in line with Japanese
interests here and if that powerful government had actively interested
itself in the success of the movement and had taken it for granted that
the plan was to be definitely carried out the succeeding years would
have made very different history than they did. But during all this time
Japan seems to have retired into comparative quietude, perhaps because
she saw the coming of her inevitable struggle with Russia and was not
willing to hasten matters by coming into premature conflict with the
northern power in Korea, pending the completion of her preparations for
the supreme struggle.
Through all this period Russian influence was quietly at work securing
its hold upon the Korean Court and upon such members of the government
as it could win over. The general populace was always suspicious of her,
however, and always preferred the rougher hand of Japan to the soft but
heavy hand of Russia. The progress of the Russian plans was illustrated
when in January of 1899 a mission of the Greek Church was established in
Seoul. This suggests some remarks upon the general subject of mission
work in Korea. The Presbyterian Church of America had established work
here in 1884: the Methodist Episcopal Church of America began work in
1885; the Australian Presbyterian Church in 1889; The English Church
Mission in 1890; the Southern Presbyterian Church of America in 1892;
the Southern Methodist Church of America in 1896; the Canadian
Presbyterian Mission in 1898. Besides these there was independent work
under some smaller bodies including one Baptist organization and one
college mission. When the last year of the 19th century opened these
missions had all become firmly established, and important centres of
mission work were found all over the country, especially in Seoul,
Chemulpo, Pyeng-yang, Fusan, Wonsan, Chun-ju, Kunsan, Mokpo, Tă-gu and
Song-do. From the very first the Protestant Missions adopted the
principle of non-interferance with political affairs and with the
ordinary course of justice in Korean courts. It has not always been
possible to follow this principle implicitly but the people have come to
learn that connection with a Protestant Christian Church will not
absolve them from their duties and obligations toward their own
government nor shield them from the results of misconduct. It has been
found that the Korean temperament makes him easily accessible to the
rational idealism of Christianity. From the very first the form of
Christianity presented by the Protestant missionaries took hold of the
Koreans with great power and by the end of the first fifteen years of
work the various missions had some twenty thousand adherents. The
northern station of the Presbyterian Mission in Korea attained
world-wide notice as being, so far as human estimate can go, the most
successful mission station in the world; and this not merely because of
the number of people received into Church connection but because of the
striking results obtained along the line of self support and independent
Christian work. Hospitals were established in Seoul, Fusan, Wonsan,
Pyeng-yang, Tă-gu and Chemulpo, and schools of various grades both for
boys and girls were established in almost every mission station. The
work of Bible translation was carried on steadily until by the end of
1899 the whole of the New Testament was put in the hands of the people
at least in tentative form. The Korean Religious Tract Society,
established early in the last decade of the century, did heroic work in
putting forth Christian literature of all kinds. Literary work was
represented in various grammars and manuals of Korean, several hymnals,
an unabridged dictionary and the publication of a monthly magazine in
English called _The Korean Repository_.
Before going forward into the new century we should note some of the
more important material advances that Korea had made. Railway
concessions for some 600 miles of track had been granted, half to
Japanese and half to a French syndicate; several new and important ports
had been opened, bringing the total number up to ten, inclusive of Seoul
and Pyeng-yang; mining concessions had been given to Americans, English,
Germans, French and Japanese, two of which had proved at least
reasonably successful; timber and whaling concessions had been given to
Russians on the east side of the peninsula and important fishing rights
had been given to the Japanese; an attempt at a general system of
education had been made throughout the country and the work of
publishing text books was being pushed; students were sent abroad to
acquire a finished education and legations at all the most important
political centers were established; an attempt at a better currency had
been made, though it was vitiated by official corruption and the
operations of counterfeiters; trade had steadily increased and the
imports and exports of Korea passed beyond the negligeable stage; an
excellent postal system had been inaugurated under foreign supervision,
and Korea had entered the Postal Union.
Thus it will be seen that in spite of all domestic political
complications and discouragements the country was making definite
advance along some lines. The leaven had begun to work and no
conservatism on the part of the public leaders could stop the ferment.
The necrology of the closing year of the century contains the names of
Mr. Legendre and Mr. Greathouse, the latter of whom, as legal adviser to
the government, did excellent work in his department and was recognized
by his employers as an able and efficient man in his official capacity.