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DIPLOMACY
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severely reproached him for his insincerity, and admonished him to consider well the situation before it was too late.

But the news that now reached Seoul made the whole situation clear. Admiral Tei-jo-sho, who had returned to China some days before, again arrived in the Corean port of Nunyo with six ironclads and two transports with six garrisons of picked soldiers under Li-Hung-Chang. On the 23rd, a few hours after the departure of the Japanese mission for Ninsen, the Chinese messenger, Baken-chiu, entered Seoul in the palanquin of the highest Corean official, with the Corean soldiers as forerunners. It was this messenger, no doubt, for which the Corean Government was waiting, or had to wait, before entering into negotiations with Japan. The situation in which the Japanese mission now found itself was an extremely vexatious one, for its retreat to Ninsen looked like a flight before the stronger Chinese. When the secretary of the Japanese Legation left Seoul on the 24th, the Coreans already threw stones at him in contempt.

There is no doubt that the Chinese preparation was meant to threaten Japan in case our demands were exorbitant, but our wise moderation seemed to have induced Baken-chiu to take a different course than he had first intended. On the 24th, while Hanabusa was still staying in Ninsen, Baken-chiu came to him and proposed to mediate between Japan and Corea, assuring him at the same time that he was interfering with the affairs of Corea, not as a dependency of China, but on purely friendly grounds. Hanabusa declined the offer, but Baken-chiu earnestly desired that the former should postpone his departure, as there was definite hope of an amicable solution of the difficulty. On the 25th Hanabusa returned the visit of Baken-chiu in Chemulpo, who returned to Ninsen immediately afterward.

Then followed the most high-handed stroke of policy on the part of the Chinese Government, reminding us of the fate of Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria, four years later. The Chinese officers, Go-cho-kei, Tei-jo-sho, and En-sei-gai, enticed Tai-in-kun into their camp, and, depriving him of his liberty, conveyed him in captivity to Tientsin, and thence to Po-tieng, where he was to be confined for several years! The Chinese now posted up placards in the chief places of Seoul, with inscriptions to the following effect:

‘Corea is a tributary of China, from which she derives her morals and manners. For several years, influential Ministers have usurped power, and government is made an affair of private families, giving rise to endless abuses and misdemeanours, which finally brought on the great disturbance of last July. To threaten the life of the Queen, to dishonour the King, injure the people, and maltreat the officials, are disorders of the gravest kind. But to every disorder there must
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