THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1907. THE ABDICATING EMPEROR.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8494, 25 July 1907, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1907. THE ABDICATING EMPEROR.

The abdicating Emperor of Korea is another who had greatness thrust upon him. Yi Hyong, Emperor of Korea, King of the Ten Thousand Islands, Chief of Chosen, Lord of the Land of Morning Calm, has ruled for forty-three most troublous years. The monarch before him died suddenly. While he lay unconscious on the floor of his apartment, surrounded by the Queen and a few other relatives, the Dowager Queen burst in. snatched the seals from the Queen, and proclaimed Yi Hyong: the successor. So the unfortunate Yi Hyong was summoned from his kite-flying to a throne at the age of twelve. Though a royal personage, his father had been obliged to support his family by dealing in curios, and the future Emperor had lived among the lower classes. He entreated his supporters with tears to allow him to remain a private person. He has been described by a resident in Korea as having "graceful manners, fluency of speech, a dignified yet obliging ;:i.', all of which, coupled with his deliberative but charming appearance, constitute a character that impresses one as that of an approachable private individual rather than as that of the ruler of an Empire." But ha is inconsistent, secretive, and deceitful. His energy has been directed towards the maintenance of the .royal house rather than the welfare of his country, and to him every means has been justifiable that would strengthen his court. Yi Syek, the new Emperor, is thirty-three. When he contemplated marriage a couple of years ago an edict was issued that there should be no marriages until the Crown Prince had chosen his bride, an incident which is illustrative of the absolutism of the throne. The hatred felt by the Koreans for the Japanese is old. It dates from 1592, when an army of 150,000 men in-

vaded the country and fought a six years' war with the Korean and Chinese troops. The country was desolated and the artists and art treasures taken to Japan. Korea never recovered from this blow.