Untitled

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2191, 21 September 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE DEPOSED EMPEROR OF KOREA. Y.I FIN : A CHARACTER SKETCH. (By F. A: MTCENZIE, in the Daily •Mail.) The front of the palace was guarded (by soldiers, quaint lijtt-le moil, with long faces, tufted:rbeards, and-Euro-pean, uniforms. At one gate a, machine gun, a Ala xi-m-No rdc nf oldt, gleamed -forth sullenly. The great walls, 20ft high, and surmounted -by waitcli towers, seemed to forbid approach.

There was unwonted excitement in the streets -of Seoul. Every no-w. and then a sedan chair drew near t-lie palace, borne by white-robed coolies,; and followed by white-dressed waiting girls. These chairs were admitted inside tho gates. Each covered chair held a shrouded maiden. * It -was the day of the betrothal ,of the Crown Prince. For -weeks; tho governors and prefects had been busy, for word had. gone forth that they were to choose the fairest of the dan-, ghters of their -great men, and send them to the court, candidates for the Prince’s hand. It was then I first saw the Emperor himself. Away, at the hack of the palace, tlie farthest possible distance from the road,,and strictly shut out from nil -strangers, was a littlo house, hui.lt in semiEuropean fashion. AN AFFLICTED BRIDEGROOM. -How I approached it there is no need to tell. The would-bo brides were brought to tho door, and carefully taken in. The waiting maids and the attendants stood without. (Soon two -men, in the long robes of tho Koreans, left the house, and walked to and fro on the verandah. One was small, with a quiet, pleasant, refined face and gentle manners. ,He was the Emperor. The other big, awkward, and vacant-looking, whom he guided to and fro, was his goii, the Crown Prince, whose brains had already been broken by the tragedies of his father’s reign.

Yi Fin is the man who removed the harriers that shut civilisation out from Korea, and who has been destroyed in consequence. Up to 60 years ago Korea was hermetically sealed to the West, One can still see, hanging high on the gates of Pimgyang, the chains of ail American alvip, the General Sherman. Some adventurers .tried to come into Korea on her. The ship was wrecked and burned, the crew were slain, and the chains were displayed in triumph. “Let the barbarian behold what will happen to him if he comes here.”

Then Yi Fin mounted the throne. H e was ail autocrat, with power of life or death over fourteen million people. Four thousand men and women daily dined at his palace tables. His great home, underneath a frowning mountain, was one of tile wonders of Asia. There were hundreds of acres of courtyards. In the centre .was the open liall of audience, made to hold ten thousand courtiers, each at his proper elevation. There was » monster lake, tho lake of the sea of lilies, and over it was built a sumptuous dancing-hall, where hundreds

of geishas awaited tho pleasures of their lord. Even to-day, when ono walks through tho ruined and woodgi;owiiq,buildings, one marvels at their size.

FIRST STEP TOWARDS REFORM. Yi Fill tired of the splendours of liis palace, the singers, and the Court. He wanted novelty. He let the strangers come in—Japanese, English, and American. His principal wife, an intelligent , and courageous woman, persuaded him to give constant and friendly audience to tho foreigners. Concession hunters, diplomats,. and missionaries soon arrived in numbers. The Queen -struck up a warm friendship with several of tho missionaries, and day by. day she and her husband sat listening to atories of tho wonders of the West. Tho influence began to bo felt. Hero and there in tho corrupt Government little improvements appeared. Foreign advisors wore called iii and foreign doctors and teachers engaged. Tho first stops wore taken on the road, to reform.

Korea soon became -a bone of contention between two Great Powers. Japan wanted it, for Korea struck like a dagger -into the heart of her territory. Russia wanted it, for Korea would give -a free and open water port for the coining Trans-Siberian Railway. Japan fought China mainly over Korea. For a time Japanese influence iat Seoul was supreme. This soon gave rise to a terrible tragedy. Tho Japaneso desired absolute control. Now the Korean people, from the Emperor downwards, have -all a strong love of national independence. The Japanese Minister was approached by somo.men who pointed out to him that if the Queen were out of tho way all opposition to Japan would cease. He listened, -and one- evening 60on -after -a party of Japanese soldiers went out from tlie Legation and drew up ill front of t-lie palace. Another party, in disguise, went to the side of the -palace, broke down the wall, and burst into the Queen’s (apartment. A -few minutes. Jater she was a hacked -and mutilated corpse.

Tho Japanese Government recalled its Minister and put him on trial. The Emperor was for -a time kept iprisonor by-the pro-Japanese party, but eventually he escaped -and. found refuge in the Russian Legation. THE ROPES PULLED TIGHTER. The affair was a terrible blunder from every point of view. .Yi Fin became another man,. fearful, compromising, timid. He forsook liis old palace and went to a smaller one, near the foreign Legations. After a time the uproar died down, and tho Court became once more a forcingground -for intrigue, and a favorite haunt for concession seekers. “I have been Emperor -for many years,” Yi Fin -complained to a friend of mine. “I have not yet found one man who talks to me as man to -man, and will tell me the truth. All men. flatter.”

The J-a-panese came -back again, this time with a strong army of mod-ern-trained soldiers. The Emperor, fearing their approach, had entered into many treaties with foreign Powers, by which they pledged their word to respect the integrity of Korea. He had secured a treaty from America,' •tlio great Republic -promising aid if he -were ever in trouble. But when the blue-clad men under General Kigioshi, armed with magazine rifles and able to shoot, drew under the walls, treaties did not seem of much .service. There was nothing -to do hut to submit. Yi Fiii hated his conquerors, even though the conquerors called themselves friends and advisers. He did all in Ills power -to circumvent them. He got them to sign protocols and treaties promising him and his people independence and safety. But, treaties notwithstanding, the ropes ■ were gradually pulled tighter. In one hour of despair -lie sent an American to President Roosevelt, praying for aid. The President would do nothing. Then he asked the American Minister, whose residence adjoined the palace, to let him stay wi-tli him for safety. This was refused. Oil one occasion -the Emperor - had to be pushed hack from the walls of the Legation. Now lie would make a Show of yielding ; but all the while ho w&s biding his time.

A 7 AIN HOPES. He handed all the public offices iu tho working Departments of State to the- Japanese. They -tried to make him sign or formally assent to a treaty surrendering tho foreign relations' of Korea to the islanders-. This he would not do. “I will take poison first,” he passionately declared. They took tlie public funds from him. They took away liis soldiers, his personal guards. They shut out his friends. They put their own police at ©very entrance to tlhe palace, and oven a washerwoman was not allowed admission without strict examination. “Ariel d to us, and all will bo well with you.” But- Yi Fin never yielded. His only hope was that the foreign nations would intervene, especially America, and see that justice was done. Time and time 'again his old Ministers have pleaded with me, thinking -that one might at least toll other white men of their woes and wrongs. Their stories of grim horrors, of wholesale deprivation of land, of suffering of all kinds, wore already familiar. “AV-ill -not your nation help' us?” they would ask. And one would have to reply to them,. and to their master 'through them, that it was useless for them -to expect anything from England. It would have been criminal to bold out false hope.

Yi Fin refused to believe. He was convinced tlia.t if Europe only knew his wrongs it would come to .bis aid. The Hague Conference gave him, be thought, .the opportunity he wanted. He tried to 'make his appeal, and his delegates reached Europe. There was none to listen. The despatch of the delegates afforded the Japanese the excuse they wanted, and caused them finally to decide on his removal.