Beside the death-bed of King Ch‘ul-jong.... a bold woman.... rise of the Tong-hak.... its founder killed.... the King’s father becomes regent.... his two mistakes.... he selects a Queen.... Russian request.... the Regent pushed by the conservative party.... death-warrant of.... Bishop Berneux.... French priests executed.... priceless manuscript lost.... a French priest escapes to China and tells the news.... China advises Korea to make peace.... shipwreck of the “Surprise”.... face of the “General Sherman”.... persecution renewed.... French reconnoitering expedition.... blockade of the Han announced.... French expedition under Admiral Roze.... preparations for defense.... correspondence.... French defeat.... the French retire Koreans exultant.... persecution redoubled.... the Kyung-bok Palace rebuilt.... American expedition under Admiral Rodgers.... American victory on Kang-wha.... the fleet retires.... monument erected in Seoul.

The events of the present reign, which began in January 1864, are fresh in the memory of many still living, and the account here given is taken largely from statements of eye-witnesses of the scenes therein described. A detailed history of the present reign would fill a volume in itself and of course we can but briefly touch upon the leading events in it.

The circumstances which ushered in the reign are graphically described by Dallet and are substantially as follows. King Ch’ul-jong had been suffering for some time with a pulmonary affection, but in January of 1864 he seemed better and he began to walk about a little. On the fifteenth, feeling greater uneasiness than usual, he went into his garden for a walk. There he was suddenly taken with faintness and was just able to drag himself back to his room, where he fell in a dying condition. The Minister Kim Choa-geunChoa-geun, his son Kim Pyung-gu and three other relatives were immediately in attendance. As they were deliberating, the nephew of the Dowager Queen Cho, widow of the King Ik-jong, happened to pass, and seeing what was going on, he hastened to his aunt’s apartments and exclaimed, “What are you doing here? The king is dead.” He advised her to hasten to the king’s apartments, gain possession of the royal seals and nominate to the throne some one of her choice, declaring him to be the son and heir of King Ik-jong, her husband. This woman thereupon hastened to the side of the expiring king where she found the attendants, as we have said, and with them the queen, who held the royal seals in a fold of her skirt. The Dowager Queen peremptorily demanded these seals, and when the queen demurred she snatched them violently from her. No one dared oppose the determined woman who thus took fortune by the forelock and in the course of a moment turned the course of empire. She then made proclamation in the name of the king, saying “The king says the royal seals shall be in charge of Queen Cho. The throne shall go to Myung-bok, second son of Prince Heung-sung (whose name was Yi Ha-eung). Minister Chong shall be executor of the king’s will and Minister Kim shall go and find the newly appointed king.” The Dowager Queen Cho thus became Regent and the queen’s party, the Kim family, had to retire from power.

It was at the very beginning of the reign that the peculiar sect called the Tong-hak arose in the south. Its founder was one Ch'oe Pok-sul of KyÖng-ju in Kyung sang Province. The great formula of the sect was the mysterious sentence Ch’un Ju cho a chung yung se bul mang man sa eui, which means “May the Lord of Heaven aid our minds that we may ever remember, and may He make all things turn out according to our desire.” The adherents of this sect would sit and sing this formula by the hour. They would also dance, brandishing swords in a sort of frenzy, and pretend to be rising to heaven. The name Tong-hak or “Eastern Sect” was given by themselves to distinguish themselves from the Su-hak or “Western Sect,” namely Roman Catholicism. So at least some affirm. Its rise was exceedingly rapid and soon it had enrolled an enormous number of people. The government was at last obliged to take cognizance of it, and a body of troops was sent south, who captured and put to death the founder of the sect. This put an end for the time to its active propagandism but it was by no means dead, as we shall see.

The Dowager Queen Cho was a violent opponent of Christianity and filled all the offices with enemies of the Roman Catholics. But she was not to hold the reins of power long. The king’s father in view of his son’s elevation to the throne had received the title Prince Ta-wun, or Ta-wun-gun as he is usually called. He was a man of commanding personality and inflexible will and on the whole lie was the most striking character in modern Korean history. He has been variously estimated. Some have considered him the greatest statesman in Korea; others have taken him for a mere demagogue. His main characteristic was an indomitable will which took the bit in its teeth and swept toward the goal of its desire irrespective of every obstacle, whether of morals, economics, politics or consanguinity. He was withal unable to read the signs of the times. The two great mistakes of his life were, first in supposing he could eradicate Roman Catholicism by force, and second in supposing that he could prevent the opening of Korea to treaty relations. The regency naturally passed into his hands and he tacitly agreed to uphold the principles of the conservative party that had raised him to power.

His first act was to order a remeasurement of the tilled land of the country with a view to the increasing of the revenue. The treasury was empty and he had plans in mind that would require money. One of these plans was the erection of a new palace on the ruins of the KyÖng-bok Palace, an enterprise which the finances of the country by no means warranted. His next act was to betroth his son the king to his wife’s niece. His wife had two brothers one of whom was living but the other had died leaving one daughter. It was this daughter of Min Ch’i-rok who became queen. She was the king’s senior by four years. As her father as dead she became the foster child of her uncle Min Ch’i-gu. In this union, as every one knows, the Regent sought to cement his own power, but, as every one likewise knows, he made a serious mistake.

In January 1866 a Russian gunboat dropped anchor in the harbor of Wun-san and a letter was sent to Seoul asking for freedom of trade with Korea. The answer given was that as Korea was the vassal of China the matter must be negotiated at Peking, and an envoy was dispatched for that purpose.

It is said that Roman Catholic adherents made use of the great uneasiness which prevailed in government circles respecting Russia to compose a letter urging that the only way to ward off Russia was by making an alliance with France and England. It is said that the Regent received this communication and gave it special and, as some believe, favorable attention. We are told that the Roman Catholics were all in a most hopeful state, of mind, fully believing the hour had come for the awakening of Korea. In the light of subsequent events it is difficult to determine whether the Regent’s interest in the plan was real or whether it was a ruse whereby to make the final coup all the more effective. All things considered, the latter theory fits the facts more perfectly. The French themselves believed the Regent was pushed on to the great persecution of 1866 by the violent anti-Christian party that had put him in power, and that it was simply another case of “If thou do it not thou art not Caesar’s friend.” They found fault with him for harboring the idea of a combination with this foreign element and demanded the death of the foreign priests and a general persecution. It is said the Regent reminded them of the burning of the Summer Palace at Peking and the taking of that Imperial Capital, but that they answered that they had killed Frenchmen before without harm resulting, and they could do it again.

Whatever may have been the pressure brought to bear on him, he finally signed the death warrant of all the foreign priests in the land, and on February 23rd Bishop Berneux was seized and thrown into the common jail, but two days later he was transferred to the prison where noble prisoners were confined. On the 26th he was brought before the tribunal where he gave his name as Chang. He said he had come to save the souls of the Koreans and that he had been in the country ten years. He refused to leave except by force. As the government had made up its mind as to its course, his death warrant was then made out, and it ran thus: “The accused, Chang, refuses to obey the king. He will not apostatize. He will not give the information demanded. He refuses to return to his own country. Therefore, after the usual punishments, he will be decapitated.” While he was awaiting his end, BreteniÈres, Beaulieu, and Dorie were taken, and after similar trial were condemned to death. All four of these heroic men were decapitated at the public execution ground near the river on the eighth of March and their bodies were buried together in a trench, from which they were recovered six months later and given burial by Roman Catholic adherents. Four days later two more priests, Petitnicolas and PourthiÈ were executed at the same place. It was the latter who lost at this time not only his life but his priceless manuscripts, a Korean Grammar and a Latin Korean-Chinese Dictionary, on which he had been at work for ten years. Three more of the priests, Daveluy, Aumaitre and Huin were seized soon after this and put to death, but not till the latter had despatched a letter to China, which was destined to turn up long afterward. There were three priests left, Calais, Feron and Ridel. The last of these was selected to attempt the journey to China and give information of these terrible events. After almost incredible labors he succeeded in getting away from the shore of Whang-ha Province in a junk together with eleven native believers, and made his way to Chefoo. From there he hastened to Tientsin and informed Admiral Roze of the death of his fellow-countrymen. The Admiral promised to hasten to the rescue of the remaining two and the avenging of those who had been slain; but a revolt in Cochin-China prevented him from redeeming his promise until the following September.

The Chinese government, through the annual embassy, informed the king of Korea that the killing of foreigners was an exceedingly foolish proceeding and that he had better make peace with France on the best terms possible, for if China could not withstand her surely Korea could not. The Regent replied, however, that it was not the first time French blood had remained unavenged in Korea.

On June 24th an American sailing vessel, the “Surprise,” was wrecked off the coast of Whang-ha Province. Her captain and crew were hospitably treated and conducted to the Chinese border with great care, by order of the Regent, who thus illustrated the truth of the assertion that Korea would do no harm to men who were ship-wrecked on her coast. Even in the midst of an anti-foreign demonstration of the most severe type, these men were humanely treated and sent upon their way.

Early in September the sailing vessel “General Sherman” entered the mouth of the Ta-dong River. She carried five white foreigners and nineteen Asiatics. Her ostensible object was trade. The governor of P‘yung-an Province sent, demanding the cause of her coming and the answer was that they desired to open up trade with Korea. Though told that this was impossible, the foreign vessel not only did not leave but, on the contrary, pushed up the river until she reached a point opposite Yang-jak Island not far from the city of P’yung-yang. It was only the heavy rains in the interior and an exceptionally high tide that allowed her to get across the bar, and soon she was stuck in the mud, and all hopes of ever saving her were gone. This rash move astonished the Koreans above measure. Something desperate must be the intentions of men who would drive a ship thus to certain destruction. After a time word came from the Regent to attack her if she did not leave at once. Then the fight began, but without effect on either side until the Koreans succeeded in setting fire to the “General Sherman” with fire-rafts. The officers and crew then were forced to drop into the water, where many of them were drowned. Those that reached the shore were immediately hewn down by the frenzied populace. The trophies of this fight are shown today in the shape of the anchor chains of the ill-fated vessel, which hang in one of the gateways of P’yung-yang. No impartial student of both sides of this question can assert that the Koreans were specially blame-worthy. The ship had been warned off but had rashly ventured where no ship could go without being wrecked even were all other circumstances favorable. The Koreans could not know that this was a mere blunder. They took the vessel, and naturally, to be a hostile one and treated her accordingly.

In September the persecution of Roman Catholic adherents was resumed. This is said to have been caused by a letter from one of the Christians to the Regent urging a treaty of peace with France. But by this time Admiral Roze was ready to redeem his promise, and on the tenth of that month Bishop Ridel boarded his flag-ship at Chefoo. The French authorities had already informed the Chinese at Peking that France did not recognise the suzerainty of China over Korea and asserted that the land about to be conquered would be disposed of as France wished without reference to the Pekin government. It was decided to send the corvette la Primauguet, and the aviso, le DÉroulÈde, and the gunboat, Tardif, to make a preliminary survey of the approaches to Seoul. Bishop Ridel accompanied this expedition in the capacity of interpreter. Arriving off Clifford Islands on the twentieth, the little fleet entered Prince Jerome Gulf, and the following day le DÉroulÈde was sent to explore the entrance to the Han River. Finding the channel between Kang-wha and the mainland satisfactory, she returned to the anchorage and together they steamed up the river the only casualty being the loss of the false keel of the Primauguet. These vessels steamed up the river as far as the river towns opposite the capital, silencing a few forts on the way. Bishop Ridel used all his powers of persuasion to induce the commander to leave one of these boats here while the others went to China to report, but without avail. They all steamed away together.

Meanwhile there was panic in Seoul. The end had come, in the estimation of many of the people. A general stampede ensued and nearly a quarter of the citizens of Seoul fled away, leaving their houses and goods. We will remember that when Ridel escaped from Korea he left two companions behind. These made a desperate attempt to communicate with the French boats on the river, but so fierce was the persecution and so watchful were the authorities that they were quite unable to do so. They finally escaped, however, by means of junks which carried them out into the Yellow Sea, where they fell in with Chinese boats that carried them to China.

Before the surveying expedition sailed back to China Bishop Ridel was informed by native Christians of the burning of the “General Sherman” and the fate of her crew, the renewal of the persecution and the order that all Christians be put to death after only a preliminary trial. He urged the commandant to stay, but the fleet sailed away and reported in China, where the real punitive expedition was rapidly preparing. On October eleventh the blockade of the Han River was announced to the Chinese authorities and to the various powers through their representatives at Peking, and then the French fleet sailed away to the conquest of Korea. The flotilla consisted of the seven boats Querriere, Laplace, Primauguet, Deroulede, Kienchan, Tardif and Lebrethom.

But while these preparations were going on, other preparations were going on in Korea. The total complement of troops throughout the peninsula was called into requisition. Arms were forged and troops drilled. The Japanese government, even, was invited to take a hand in the war that was impending, but she did not respond. Japan herself was about to enter upon a great civil war, and had no force to spare for outside work, even if she had had the desire.

On October thirteenth the French fleet reached Korea and three days later the attack on Kang-wha commenced. In an hour’s time the town was in the possession of the French and large amounts of arms, ammunition and provisions were seized, besides various other valuables such as treasure, works of art, books and porcelain. This reverse by no means disheartened the Koreans. Gen. Yi Kyung-ha was put in charge of the forces opposed to the “invaders.” This force was led in person by Gen. Yi Wun-heui who found the French already in possession of the fortress. The Koreans were in force at Tong-jin just across the estuary from Kang-wha, and, fearing that the vessels would attempt to ascend the river, they sank loaded junks in the channel. This channel must have been much deeper than it is today.

The Regent swore that any man who should suggest peace with the enemy should meet with instant death. A letter was sent to the French saying that the priests had come in disguise and had taken Korean names and had desired to lay their hands on the wealth of the land. It declared that the priests had been well killed. In reply the French said they had come in the name of Napoleon, Sovereign of the Grand French Empire, who desired the safety of his subjects, and that since nine of his subjects had been killed, it must be explained. They also demanded the three ministers who had been foremost in the persecution and in the killing of the priests should be handed over to them and that a plenipotentiary be appointed for the ratifying of a treaty. To this letter no answer was received.

Meanwhile Gen. Yang HÖn-su had led 5,000 men to the fortress of ChÖng-jok on Kang-wha where a celebrated monastery stands. These men were mostly hardy mountaineers and tiger-hunters from Kang-gye in the far north, the descendants of those same men who in the ancient days of Ko-yuryu drove back an army of Chinese 300,000 strong and destroyed all but 700 of them. This fortress is admirably situated for defense, lying as it does in a cup formed by a semi-circle of mountains and approachable from only one direction, where it is guarded by a crenellated wall and a heavy stone gate.

The great mistake of the French was in supposing this place could be stormed by a paltry 160 men. The whole French force could not have done it. No sooner had this little band come well within range of the concealed garrison than it was met by a withering fire which instantly put half of them hors de combat. After some attempts to make a stand in the shelter of trees, huts, rocks and other cover, a retreat was called and the French moved slowly back carrying their dead and wounded. They were closely pursued and with difficulty made their way back to the main body. The result would probably have been much more serious had not the retreating party been met by a body of reinforcements from the main body. The next day orders were given to fire the town and re-embark. This caused great surprise and dissatisfaction among the men, but we incline to the belief that it was the only thing to do. The number of men that had been mustered to effect the humiliation of Korea was ridiculously small compared with what was necessary. Six thousand French might have done it, but six hundred—never. We need seek no further than this for the cause of the abandonment of the enterprise. To be sure, it had done infinitely more harm than good, and if it had been possible to succeed even at a heavy cost of life it would have been better to go on; but it was not possible.

The effect of this retreat upon the Regent and the court may be imagined. Peking had fallen before these “barbarians” but the tiger-hunters of the north had driven them away in confusion. If the reader will try to view this event from the ill-informed standpoint of the Korean court, he will see at once that their exultation was quite reasonable and natural. The last argument against a sweeping persecution of Christians was now removed and new and powerful arguments in favor of it were added. The fiat went forth that the plague of the foreign religion should be swept from the land. No quarter was to be given. Neither age nor sex nor quality were to weigh in the balance. From that time till 1870 the persecution was destined to rage with unabated fury and the French estimated the number killed at 8,000. The hardships and sufferings of this time are second to none in the history of religious persecutions. Hundreds fled to the mountains and there starved or froze to death. The tales of that terrible time remind one of the persecutions under the Roman Emperors or the no less terrible scenes of the Spanish Inquisition.

But to return to 1866. There were other events of interest transpiring. The pet scheme of the Regent to build his son a new palace was being worked out. The palace was in process of erection, when suddenly the funds gave out. Here the Regent committed his next great blunder. This time it was in the realm of finance. He entertained the fallacy that he could meet a deficit by coining money. Of course the only way to meet a deficit in this way was to debase the currency. He did it on a grand scale when he once determined upon it, for whereas the people had from time immemorial used a one-cash piece, he began to mint a hundred-cash piece which was actually less than fifty cash in weight. One of these was given as a day’s wage to each of the workmen on the palace. This coin bore on its face the legend “The great Finance Hundred Cash Piece,” but it proved to be very small finance indeed, for of course its issue was immediately followed by an enormous rise in the price of all commodities, and rice went up two hundred per cent. The government was thus plunged deeper in the mire than ever; but the Regent had set his will on this thing and was determined to carry it through at any cost. His next move, taken in the following year, was to bring in old, discarded, Chinese cash literally by the cart-load, across the border. This he had bought in China at auction prices and forced on the people as legal tender. At the same time he forced the people to work in gangs of 300 at a time on the palace without pay. In this way the work was finished, but it is safe to say that to this day the country has not recovered from the effects of that mad financiering. Wealthy citizens were called upon to make donations to the building fund, and this gained the soubriquetsoubriquet of “The Free-will Offering.”

The year 1868, which meant so much for Japan, was not otherwise signalised in Korea than by a demand on the part of Russia that Korean refugees beyond the border be recalled. It also beheld the publication of the work “The Six Departments and their Duties.” In September alone 2,000 Christians were killed, five hundred of them being residents of Seoul.

The United States had not forgotten the fate of the “General Sherman.” She had no intention of letting the matter drop. In the early spring of 1871 minister Frederick F. Low, at Peking, received instructions from his government to go in company with Rear-admiral Rodgers to the shores of Korea and attempt to conclude a treaty relative to the treatment of American seamen who might be cast upon the shores of that country. He was also instructed to try to make a trade convention with Korea looking toward the opening of Korea to foreign commerce. The fleet consisted of the war vessels Colorado, Alaska, Bernicia, Monocacy, and Palos. These vessels rendezvoused at Nagasaki and on May sixteenth they set sail for Korea. Minister Low’s correspondence with his government shows that he had accurately gauged the probabilities of the situation. A long acquaintance with the Korean could not have rendered his diagnosis of the case more accurate than it was. From the very first he considered it to be a hopeless case, and he was right. But this in no way lessened the care he exercised in doing every thing in his power to render the expedition a success. After fourteen days of struggle against dense fogs, tortuous channels and swift tidal currents the fleet dropped anchor off the islands known as the Ferrierre group, not far from EugÉnie Island. This was on May 30th. They had not been there long before they were boarded by some small officials with whom Minister Low was of course unable to treat, but through them he sent a friendly message to Seoul asking that an official of equal rank with the American envoy be sent to confer with him on important matters. The Koreans had already received through the Chinese an intimation of what the Americans desired but they argued that as their policy of carrying ship-wrecked mariners safely across the border was well known abroad and as they did not care to open up relations with other countries, there was no call to send an envoy to treat with the Americans. The Regent shrewdly, though mistakenly, suspected that the “General Sherman” affair was at the bottom of this, as the death of the French priests had been the cause of the French expedition and he decided to garrison Kang-wha and deal with the Americans as he had with the French. Gen. O-Yo-jun was sent with 3,000 troops to Kwang Fort on the island of Kang-wha. A part of this force was stationed as garrison at Tok-chin, a little fort at the narrowest part of the estuary between Kang-wha and the mainland, where the tide runs through with tremendous force and a dangerous reef adds to the difficulty of navigation.

Thus it was that when the Monocacy and Palos steamed slowly up the channel on a tour of inspection they were fired upon by the guns of this little fort. No special damage was done, and as soon as the gunboats could be gotten ready to reply to this unexpectedunexpected assault they opened fire upon the little fort and speedilyspeedily drove its garrison out. The Koreans supposed these gunboats were approaching for the purpose of assault. Indeed, as no intimation had been given the Korean government that such a reconnoitering expedition was planned, and as this narrow passage was considered the main gateway of approach to the capital, the Koreans argued strictly from the book and the American contention that the attack was unprovoked was groundless, for to Korean eyes the very approach to this stronghold was abundant provocation.

When the fort had been silenced, the two gunboats steamed back to the main anchorage and reported. It was instantly decided that an apology must be forthcoming from the government, but as none came, retaliation was the only thing left to vindicate the wounded honor of the United States. A strong force was despatched, which, under cover of the ship’s guns was landed near the fort, and after a hard hand to hand struggle in which every man of the garrison was killed at his post the place was taken. Thus was the tarnished honor of the Great Republic restored to its former brightness. But mark the sequel. The Admiral plainly was entirely unequal to the task of pushing the matter to the gates of Seoul, and so he withdrew and sailed away to China exactly as the French had done. The great mistake in this lay in ignorance of the Korean character. The government cared little for the loss of a few earth-works on Kang-wha. In fact, even if the Americans had overrun and ravaged half the peninsula and yet had not unseated the king in his capital or endangered his person, their departure would have left the Koreans in the firm belief that the foreigners had been whipped. In the last decade of the twelfth century the Japanese overran the country, forced the King to flee to the very banks of the Yalu, killed hundreds of thousands of the people and for seven years waged equal war in the peninsula, and yet when Hideyoshi died and his troops were recalled Korea claimed that the Japanese had been defeated; and it was true. The approach of United States gunboats up to the very walls of the “Gibraltar” of Korea was nothing less than a declaration of war, and the paltry loss of the little garrison was a cheap price to pay for their ultimate triumph in seeing the American ships “hull down” in the Yellow sea.

When this glad news was published in Seoul the already plethoric pride of the Regent swelled to bursting. Another brilliant victory had been scored.

Another of the great powers of the West had been humbled. Korea could show her great patron China how to handle the barbarians. He immediately ordered the erection in the center of the city of a monument which had been in preparation since 1866. The inscription ran as follows.

“The Western Barbarians have attacked and injured us, with a view either to making war upon us or to forcing treaties upon us. If we consent to the latter it will mean the betrayal of the country. Let our descendants to the ten thousandth generation bear this in mind. Made in the PyÖng-in Year and set up in the Sin-mi Year.”

All the court and the nobility vied with each other in congratulating the regent upon the completion of this work and declared that the people were pleased with the prospect of excluding all foreigners and preserving the time-honored seclusion of the land.