YI FIN.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13389, 12 September 1907, Page 7

YI FIN.

THE DEPOSED EMPEROR-. A CHARACTER- .SKETCH. The front, of the was guarded by soldiers. quaint little m-n, wllh I " ,; ° faces, tufted beard,;. ami European ui il'orms (writ es Mr F. A. m the "Daily Mail. I At one machine?" - gun. a Maxim - Xordenfehu, gleamed forth sullenly. 111? great wall.-, twenty feet high, and surmounted l<y walcli towers, seemed to forbid appro:)' :i. Xh-.'sv was unwonted excitement in ili: streets of Seoul. Every now and then a sedan chair drew near the i>alac-;', borne by whitj robeel coolies. and followed bv wh!te-dr'.-sed waiting-girls. These chairs were admitted inside the gates. kadi covered chair held a shrouded maiden. It was the day of the betrothal of the (ji",vn Prir.ce. Fur weeks Ills governors and pivf.ets had been inoy, for word lr:d gone forth that Hijv wer.- to ihoore ih.i fairest of the dnvghitiii ' f their great in -n and stnd them to the Court, candiclufe:> for the prince's hand. Ji was then that T fiist era- the Emperor himself. Aw:;y at ilie back of the palace, the fai'thn-! distance from the road, -.1 :;*! strict iy from all strangers, was a little hoe.se, built in sani-Eui opean fashion. Yi Fin is the man who removed t.V barriers that shut civilisation out from Korea, and who has been destroyed in con.-eqiienee. IJ;> to thirty years ago Korea w;i; hermetically sealed to the West. One can sliil >ve, hanging high on the gates of Phig-yang, the chains of an .American ship, the General Sherman. Some advent ure::s tried to come irto Korea on her. The thip . was wrecked and burned, the crew were slain. a-:id, the chain? Were displayed in triumph. "Let the barbarian behold what will happen to him- if he enmev here.'' Then Yi Fin- mounted the throne. He was an autocrat, with power of life or death over fourteen million peop-e. Four thousand men and women daily dined at his palace tables. His great home, underneath a frowning mountain, was one of tlis wonders of Asia. 'Fin re were hundreds of acres of courtyards. In the centre was the open hall of audience, made to hold ten thousand courtiers, each at hi? proper elevation. There was a monster lake, the lake of the sea of lilies, and over it was built a c-umptuous dancing hall, where hundreds of geisha awaited the pleasure of their lord. Even to-day, when one walks through the ruined and weedgrown buildings; one marvels at their size. FIRST STEPS TOWARDS REFORM. Yi Fin tired of the splendours of K-s palace, the singers, and the Court. He wanted novelty. Hf let the strangers come in—Japanese. English, and American. Hi? principal wife, an intelligent and courageous woman. prirsitaded him to give constant and friendly audience to the foreigner?. Concession hunters, diplomats and missionaries r>oon arrived in Th° Queen struck up a warm friendship with several of the missionaries, and day by day oh? and her h"sbnnd sat listening to storks of the wonder?: of the Wist. The influence began to be felr. Here and there in the corrupt Government- little improvements! appeared. Foreign advisers were called in and for- ! cign doctors and teachers engaged. The first step* were taker, on the road to reform.

Korea soon became a bone. of contention between two Great Powers. Japan want ed it. for Korea struck like a dagger into the heart of her territory. Rug: la wanted it, for Korea would give a f: ss and open_water port for the coming Trans.Siberian railway. Japan fought- China mainly over Korea. For a time Japanese influence at Seoul was supreme. This soon gave rise to a terrible tragedy. The Japanese dashed absolute control. Xow the Korean people, from the Emperor downwards, have ail » strong love of national independence. The. Japanese Minister was approached by seme men wlio pointed outi to liim. if the Queen were out of the way all opposition to Japan would cease. He- listened, and-one evening soon alter a party of Japanese uoldiers went out from the Legation and drew up in front of tlio palace. Another party, in disguise, went down, to the side of the palace, broke down the wall, and burst into the Queens apartment. A few minutes later she. was a hacked and mutilated corjjse. The Japanese Government recalled its Minister, and put him on his trial. The Emperor was tor a time kepD prisoner by the pro-Japanese party, but eventually he escaped and found refuge in the. Russian Legation. THE ROPES PULLED TIGHTER, ' xhe affair was a terrible blunder from every point of view. Yi Fin became ;mot-her 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 the court became once more a forcing ground for intrigue and a favourable haunt of concession seekers. "I have been Emperor for many years," Yi Fin once 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. Ail men flatter." The Japanese came back again, this time with a strong army of moderntrained soldiers. 'The Emperor, fearing their approach, had entered into many 1 treaties with foreign Powers, by which they pledged their word to respect the integrity of - Korea. He had_ secured a treaty from America, the 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, treat!:*:-; did not seem of much service, -there was nothing to do but to submit. Y i Fin hated his conquerors - , even though the called themselves fr.'ends and advisers.. He did all in his 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 he sent an American to President Roosevelt, praying for aid. The President would do nothing, i Then he asked the American Minister, whose residence adjoined the palace, to let him stay with him for safety. This was refused. On one occasion the Emperor had to be pushed back from the walls of the Legation. Xow lie would make a show of yielding; but all the while- he was biding his time. V'AIX HOPE.S. He handed all the public effiics in ilie working departments of State to the Japanese. They tried to make him sign or formally absent- to a treaty .--i: r. nckr:i;g til.: foreign relations of Korea to the inlanders. This he would not do. "i will take pi-i-on iirst." he pas>ionate!y declared. They took the public funds from him. They took away liis soldiers, his p. re.onal guards. They shut out his Xiknds. They put their own police at every entrance to the palace .and even a washerwoman was not- allowed admission without strict examination. "Yield to us-, and all will be well with you." But Yi Fin never vk-lded.

F.is on© 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 lead i ;01l other white men of their woes and wrongs. Their stories of grim horrors, of wholesale deprivation of land, of suffering of all kinds, were already familiar. "Will not your nation help us", the would ask. And one would have to reply to them, and to their master through them, that, it was useless for them to expectanything from England. It- would have been criminal to hold out false hope. Yi Fin refused to believe. He wins convinced that if Europe only knew hiswrongs it would come to his- aid. The Hague Conference gave him, he thought, the opportunity lie- wanted. He tried io make his appeal, and his delegates n ached 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 hk removal.